3rd Sunday Advet 2007: Giving
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT 2007 5:30 PM
There can be no doubt that the lilting or solemn music of magical Christmas carols adds a beauty to the Christmas season as joyfully magnetic as that first choir on that Silent Night.
The Christmas carol, “Good King Wenceslaus,” has always been one of my favorites, even though it is not sung that much.
It seems to me that this carol embodies the true Christmas spirit without all the jingle-bells sentimentalism.
A king giving food and drink to a poor stranger.
The Christmas carol says that what Wenceslaus did occurred on the feast of St. Stephen. The day after Christmas. The day after Christmas gifts have been exchanged.
The day after the Christmas celebration is finished.
The day when there is a bit of a let down because Christmas day, for which you have been preparing for so long, ends like a blown fuse.
But it was on this day that Wenceslaus continued the Christmas spirit, as you should do all the year through, with your spirit of caring and generosity.
Note: Wenceslaus knew that the care and generosity he gave to the peasant could never be returned. His action put flesh on Jesus’ instruction: “…when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.”
This carol has Eucharistic overtones. Jesus, the King of glory, who comes on Christmas day as a helpless babe, eventually would give you his body and blood as your food and drink.
Wenceslaus’ giving the material gifts of food and drink might stir a discussion on the materialism of Christmas.
To say that Christmas is too materialistic is to miss the point; the paradox is that Christmas is not materialistic enough. To do away with the materialism of Christmas is to remove the symbols that give you a deeper meaning of the underlying spirit of Christmas.
The so-called secular customs, stories, cards and material gifts of Christmas do not demean the feast; if anything they enhance it. They attempt to extend and expand the central story of Christmas: God as gift in the Babe of Bethlehem.
If anything is demeaned, it is your failed imaginative response to see beneath these so-called secular Christmas expressions of our culture to the religious riches they symbolize.
There are those who berate the commercialism of Christmas; they may be forgetting that commercialism was first introduced by the Magi with their gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh and continued by Wenceslaus with his gifts of food and drink.
Commercialism is not inherently bad as long as the gifts are symbols of the selflessness of the gift-giver.
Christmas itself is the symbol of the total fulfillment that comes out of the total selflessness of giving.
It is this selflessness of giving away himself that King Wenceslaus showed to the peasant. A true Christmas selflessness of giving.
Wenceslaus is more than a character in a Christmas carol. He was an historical person and a genuine saint.
Wenceslaus lived in the 10th century. At age 15 he was crowned king of Bohemia. He was known for giving himself to works of charity and mercy.
But his predominant work was that of giving himself to unifying Bohemia. But here he ran into the buzz saw of opposition. Princes, Counts and Dukes did not want to surrender their power to one monarch. It was an out and out turf war.
In the palace there was the shroud of secret intrigues. His brother, Boslislaus, was filled with jealousy and hatred.
One morning when Wenceslaus was on his way to the chapel for early morning Mass, his brother and his supporters attacked Wenceslaus and killed him.
Wenceslaus was no longer. But he left behind the legacy of the Christmas spirit: giving yourself to caring, generosity, peace and unity. The primary virtues you see when you gaze at the Christmas crèche.
The death of Wenceslaus resonates with Jesus’ words, “There is no greater love than to lay down your life for others.”
Jesus who was laid in a manger, was finally laid on a cross so great was his love for us.
Like Wenceslaus, you need to work for unity within your human family. You can begin this work, for example, by striving for peace in all your relationships, not just a Christmas time, but all the year through. And by being generous without looking for a return, without asking what’s in it for me?
To extend Christmas peace is to actively take down all the barriers between yourself and others, to be open and accepting of others, to be vulnerable not defensive.
Isn’t this what your Christmas giving symbolizes?
On this feast of Christmas and all year long, ask St. Wenceslaus to intercede for you that you will be a generous peacemaker, always working diligently for unity.
Ask St Wenceslaus to help you to give yourself generously to others, especially to the members of your family.
HUMOR: There is a humorous story about giving:
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation
of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer,
she said, “Now, class, if I stood on my head, the
blood, as you know, would run into my head, and I
would turn red in the face.”
“Yes,” the class responded in sing-song fashion.
“Then why is it that while I am standing upright
on my feet the blood doesn’t run into my feet?”
A little fellow shouted, “Cause your feet ain’t empty.”
THOUGHT: Give yourself to others to become more of who you are.
There can be no doubt that the lilting or solemn music of magical Christmas carols adds a beauty to the Christmas season as joyfully magnetic as that first choir on that Silent Night.
The Christmas carol, “Good King Wenceslaus,” has always been one of my favorites, even though it is not sung that much.
It seems to me that this carol embodies the true Christmas spirit without all the jingle-bells sentimentalism.
A king giving food and drink to a poor stranger.
The Christmas carol says that what Wenceslaus did occurred on the feast of St. Stephen. The day after Christmas. The day after Christmas gifts have been exchanged.
The day after the Christmas celebration is finished.
The day when there is a bit of a let down because Christmas day, for which you have been preparing for so long, ends like a blown fuse.
But it was on this day that Wenceslaus continued the Christmas spirit, as you should do all the year through, with your spirit of caring and generosity.
Note: Wenceslaus knew that the care and generosity he gave to the peasant could never be returned. His action put flesh on Jesus’ instruction: “…when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.”
This carol has Eucharistic overtones. Jesus, the King of glory, who comes on Christmas day as a helpless babe, eventually would give you his body and blood as your food and drink.
Wenceslaus’ giving the material gifts of food and drink might stir a discussion on the materialism of Christmas.
To say that Christmas is too materialistic is to miss the point; the paradox is that Christmas is not materialistic enough. To do away with the materialism of Christmas is to remove the symbols that give you a deeper meaning of the underlying spirit of Christmas.
The so-called secular customs, stories, cards and material gifts of Christmas do not demean the feast; if anything they enhance it. They attempt to extend and expand the central story of Christmas: God as gift in the Babe of Bethlehem.
If anything is demeaned, it is your failed imaginative response to see beneath these so-called secular Christmas expressions of our culture to the religious riches they symbolize.
There are those who berate the commercialism of Christmas; they may be forgetting that commercialism was first introduced by the Magi with their gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh and continued by Wenceslaus with his gifts of food and drink.
Commercialism is not inherently bad as long as the gifts are symbols of the selflessness of the gift-giver.
Christmas itself is the symbol of the total fulfillment that comes out of the total selflessness of giving.
It is this selflessness of giving away himself that King Wenceslaus showed to the peasant. A true Christmas selflessness of giving.
Wenceslaus is more than a character in a Christmas carol. He was an historical person and a genuine saint.
Wenceslaus lived in the 10th century. At age 15 he was crowned king of Bohemia. He was known for giving himself to works of charity and mercy.
But his predominant work was that of giving himself to unifying Bohemia. But here he ran into the buzz saw of opposition. Princes, Counts and Dukes did not want to surrender their power to one monarch. It was an out and out turf war.
In the palace there was the shroud of secret intrigues. His brother, Boslislaus, was filled with jealousy and hatred.
One morning when Wenceslaus was on his way to the chapel for early morning Mass, his brother and his supporters attacked Wenceslaus and killed him.
Wenceslaus was no longer. But he left behind the legacy of the Christmas spirit: giving yourself to caring, generosity, peace and unity. The primary virtues you see when you gaze at the Christmas crèche.
The death of Wenceslaus resonates with Jesus’ words, “There is no greater love than to lay down your life for others.”
Jesus who was laid in a manger, was finally laid on a cross so great was his love for us.
Like Wenceslaus, you need to work for unity within your human family. You can begin this work, for example, by striving for peace in all your relationships, not just a Christmas time, but all the year through. And by being generous without looking for a return, without asking what’s in it for me?
To extend Christmas peace is to actively take down all the barriers between yourself and others, to be open and accepting of others, to be vulnerable not defensive.
Isn’t this what your Christmas giving symbolizes?
On this feast of Christmas and all year long, ask St. Wenceslaus to intercede for you that you will be a generous peacemaker, always working diligently for unity.
Ask St Wenceslaus to help you to give yourself generously to others, especially to the members of your family.
HUMOR: There is a humorous story about giving:
A teacher was giving a lesson on the circulation
of the blood. Trying to make the matter clearer,
she said, “Now, class, if I stood on my head, the
blood, as you know, would run into my head, and I
would turn red in the face.”
“Yes,” the class responded in sing-song fashion.
“Then why is it that while I am standing upright
on my feet the blood doesn’t run into my feet?”
A little fellow shouted, “Cause your feet ain’t empty.”
THOUGHT: Give yourself to others to become more of who you are.
posted by The Ronald | 11:58 AM
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