Joy to the World!

(From Silar, Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(Nativity scene at the Christ the King Church in Sanok, Poland, 2010.)

Shepherding is a comparatively new occupation, compared to hunting and knapping.

The earliest evidence we've found so far puts the first shepherds north of Sargon's Akkadian Empire, where the Hittite Kingdom was, a dozen or so centuries later. I've mentioned them before. (August 21, 2015; October 16, 2015)

That was about the time someone carved a bit of siltstone into the Narmer Palette, and folks started building Stonehenge; and that's another topic.

Around the time Emperor Ping died, leaving Wang Mang in charge — he was either a great reformer or conniving scoundrel, depending on who you read, and that's yet another topic — the Roman Emperor ordered an empire-wide census.

That obliged a nine-month-pregnant young woman and her fiance to visit Bethlehem. Or maybe her husband. Either way, Mary got pregnant before she and Joseph married. There's a reasonable explanation, and it's not what one might expect. (Matthew 1:19-24; Luke 1:26-38)

I'll get back to that.

An Official Birthday Celebration

The Christmas "Mass at Dawn" actually started at 10:30 in the Our Lady of Angels parish here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

It's part of a four-Mass marathon: the Vigil Mass, Mass at Midnight, Mass at Dawn, and Mass During the Day. By the time that's over, someone attending all four would have heard Matthew 1:1-25 — yeah, the whole first chapter — Luke 2:1-14; Luke 2:15-20; and John 1:1-18.

I was at the "Mass at Dawn," but not the others. We've got rules about Christmas Mass;¹ but as far as I know nothing says I must be at all four, and I'm wandering off-topic again.

So: why make such a big deal of Christmas? Short answer: it's when we celebrate out Lord's birthday. We don't know exactly which day and month Jesus was born, and that's okay.

The way I explained it to our kids is that it's an official birthday.

The British monarch's birthday celebration is celebrated in May or June, since Commonwealth countries are in Earth's northern hemisphere, and those months generally have nice weather. Sometimes the actual birthday is within a few days of the official one: but that's a coincidence.

My guess is that Christmas is just a few days from the northern hemisphere winter solstice because that's when folks here were celebrating daylight's return. My pagan forebears saw that part of Earth's seasonal cycle one way. I see it as a handy symbol for our Lord's arrival:

"^{1 2} In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

"He was in the beginning with God.

"³ All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be

"through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;

"⁴ the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
(John 1:1-5)

Human on His Mother's Side

Like I said, Mary became pregnant before she and Joseph got married. I talked about her decision to accept a high-risk mission last year. (December 21, 2014)

I've heard Jesus described as "a nice Jewish boy who obeyed his mother and went into his Father's business." It's not the most conventional way of expressing what we're told in Luke 1:26-38, John 2:1-5, and John 5:17-20; but it's basically accurate.

I can't explain how Jesus is human and God. Some things we can't fully understand, like exactly how the Trinity works. (May 31, 2015)

There's a pretty good discussion of Jesus, the Word become Flesh, true God and true man, in Catechism of the Catholic Church, 456-478.

Where was I? Shepherds, emperors, birthdays. Right.

Luke 2:1-14, that's the Gospel reading for Christmas Mass at Midnight, includes this:

"⁴ Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.

"The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.

"The angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

"⁵ For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.

"And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.' "
(Luke 2:8-12)

Shepherding wasn't a high-status job. Night watchmen and night shift convenience store clerks might be equivalent occupations these days.

Back to Luke's narrative:

"When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.'

"So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.

"When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.

"All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.

"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

"Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them."
(Luke 2:15-20)

Two millennia later, that birth is still a big deal. Jesus grew up, spending part of his childhood in Egypt — I'll be talking about the magi and Herod's execution of kids in Bethlehem in another post. That sad account is in Matthew 2:13-18.

"Goodness, Life and Truth"

Our Lord grew up; and said that we should love God, love our neighbors, and see everybody as our neighbor.² Then Jesus was tortured, executed, and buried:³ and stopped being dead. (Luke 24:15-33)

I've talked about that before. (December 20, 2015; August 30, 2015; April 5, 2015)

That's why Christmas is such a big deal: it's when we celebrate God's coming to live with us, as one of us. The Old Testament let us know that God takes a personal interest in human affairs. When Jesus arrived, we saw that God is personally involved.

"...let us take another step; what gives rise to this joy? I would say that it is born from the heart's wonder at seeing that God is close to us, that God thinks of us, that God acts in history; it is therefore a joy born from contemplating the face of that humble Child because we know that he is the Face of God present for ever in humanity, for us and with us. Christmas is joy because at last we see and are certain that God is the goodness, life, and truth of human beings and that he stoops down to them to lift them up to him...."
(Benedict XVI (January 4, 2012)⁴)

(From NASA/ISS, used w/o permission.)

Our joy isn't a fairytale 'and they lived happily ever after' thing. Tomorrow we'll be celebrating Herod's mass murder of the Holy Innocents. Yesterday was St. Stephen's feast day. (October 18, 2015)

Our joy is the best news humanity's ever had: God loves us, and wants to adopt us. All of us. (John 3:17; Romans 8:15; Ephesians 1:3-5; Catechism, 1-3, 52, 1825)

"For God so loved the world that he gave ⁷ his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn ⁸ the world, but that the world might be saved through him."
(John 3:16-17)

More reasons to celebrate:

• "Advent and a Sense of Scale"
  (December 20, 2015)
  Particularly:
  • Jesus of Nazareth
  • Love
• "Truth and the Big Picture"
  (November 22, 2015)
  Particularly:
  • Kings and Questions
  • The Man Who Wouldn't Stay Dead
  • Truth and the Long Run
• " 'Have No Anxiety At All' "
  (October 18, 2015)
  Particularly:
  • Why Take Jesus Seriously?
  • Rejoice!
• "Gideon, Gabriel, Mary, and Guts"
  (December 21, 2014)
  Particularly:
  • Mary and 'Happy Days' America
  • Submissive? Maybe
• "Joy and Standing Orders"
  (October 5, 2014)
  Particularly:
  • Joy, Zest, and Mud
  • Rejoice!
  • Move Out!

---

¹ Regulations for laity are fairly straightforward, like the Sunday obligation detailed in Catechism of the Catholic Church -2183 and Code of Canon Law Book IV Part III Title II Chapter I 1248.

It's different for priests and bishops: Code of Canon Law Book II Part II Section II Title I Chapter II Article 2 3 and Book IV Part I Title III Chapter III 951, for example.

I'm okay with that. The way I see it, my position as a Catholic layman is a bit like a foot soldier's: and I'm quite content to let the officers deal with administrative details. (December 28, 2014; October 12, 2014)

² Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1789

³ Matthew 27:26-54; Mark 15:34-39; Luke 23:14-47; John 19:1-40.

⁴ More about joy and Christmas:

• "Nativity of the Lord, Mystery of Joy and Light"
  General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI (January 4, 2012)
  (From w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2012/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20120104.html (December 26, 2015))
• "Feast of Saint Stephen"
  Angelus, Pope Francis: (December 26, 2013)
  (From w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/angelus/2013/documents/papa-francesco_angelus_20131226.html (December 26, 2015))

Advent and a Sense of Scale

Today's first Bible reading doesn't include the last part of Micah 5:4.

"¹ But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times.

"² (Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, And the rest of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.)

"He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock by the strength of the LORD, in the majestic name of the LORD, his God; And they shall remain, for now his greatness shall reach to the ends of the earth;

"³ he shall be peace...."
(Micah 5:1-4A)

I'm guessing that's because we see these verses mostly as they relate to our Lord's birth, about seven centuries later. Folks in Micah's day had more immediate concerns:

"³ he shall be peace. If Assyria invades our country and treads upon our land, We shall raise against it seven shepherds, eight men of royal rank;

"⁴ And they shall tend the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod with the drawn sword; And we shall be delivered from Assyria, if it invades our land and treads upon our borders."
(Micah 5:4-5)

Micah lived around Isaiah's time, a bit over 27 centuries back. Assyria's leaders were trying to unite the (western) world into a single empire, and succeeding: for the moment.

Assyria had invaded Israel back in Menahem's day, and been paid to leave. (2 Kings 15:19-21)

Ahaz had trouble with Assyria, too, of a different sort. He'd seen an altar in Damascus, and been so impressed that he "...sent to Uriah the priest a model of the altar and a detailed design of its construction." (2 Kings 16:7-18)

Hezekiah — son of Elah and Abi, daughter of Zarchariah — sorted out that mess: and that's another topic. (2 Kings 18:1 and following)

Assyria

(From Ningyou, via Wikimedia Commons, used w/o permission.)
(The mighty Assyrian Empire , from the reign of Shalmaneser III to Esarhaddon's victory over Pharaoh Taharqa.)

Assyria started out as Assur, a Sumerian city-state. They'd been part of Sargon of Akkad's Akkadian Empire, arguably the world's first emperor: I've mentioned him before. (August 21, 2015)

That wasn't where the story starts, of course. I'll skip over the first few billion years after this universe cooled down: it's still cooling, and that's yet another topic. Topics. (October 23, 2015; August 14, 2015; June 14, 2015)

Where was I? Micah, Assyrians, Sargon, the universe. Right.

The first humans — Adam and Eve aren't German — made a profoundly bad decision, and we've been living with the consequences ever since. (September 27, 2015; February 1, 2015)

Later, after we'd started using bronze, but before internally-reflective optic fiber began being replaced by photonic-crystal fiber, Abram moved to land just east of the Mediterranean, had his name changed to Abraham, and that gets me back to Micah.

We don't have many records from the last years of Ashurbanipal's reign. He was the Assyrian ruler after Esarhaddon, we have a copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh found in his library, and that's yet again another topic. (November 1, 2015)

I figure that's likely because the Assyrian empire fell apart after he died.

With folks like Ashur-etil-ilani, Sin-shumu-lishir, and Sinsharishkun, scrambling for power; and an environmental disaster in progress; there probably wasn't much interest in maintaining the imperial archives.

Yes, there are worse things than election-year politics.

Empires, Achaemenid and Roman

(From Hansueli Krapf/Simisa, via Wikimedia, used w/o permission.)
(Pārśa, some two dozen centuries after the Achaemenid Empire's heyday.)

Kūruš founded the Achaemenid Empire about a century after Micah's time. He and Dārayava(h)uš brought a measure of peace and stability around the time Confucius was touring China. I've mentioned them before, too. (October 18, 2015; July 3, 2015)

The Roman Kingdom became the Roman Republic, generations of Senatorial mismanagement ended with Julius Caesar, an assassination, assorted warfare and suicide; followed by several centuries of Roman emperors: good, bad, and Elagabalus, and that's still another topic.

A bit over a half-century after Julius Caesar's assassination, folks who looked a bit like me obliterated three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. That's not why there's a decorated tree in the living room, though.

Jesus of Nazareth

My family and I, along with the rest of Christendom, are celebrating Advent.

It's a time when we review events leading up to our Lord's birth: like that prophecy in Amos; and Luke 1:39-45, where Mary visits Elizabeth and John the Baptist leaped in her womb. Elizabeth's that is. (Luke 1:41)

The other Scripture reading, Hebrews 10:5-10, explains in part why our Lord came.

Next Friday, Christmas, we'll celebrate our Lord's birth. A dozen days later comes Epiphany — a very big deal for gentiles like us, or should be. I'll get to that in another post.

The next major celebration is Ash Wednesday: February 10, 2016, this time. That kicks off the Easter season, when we review events leading to our Lord's death.

What really made the surviving 11 Apostles sit up and take notice, I think, were the 40 days after Jesus stopped being dead. It took several meetings and at least one meal to convince them that they weren't seeing a ghost. (October 5, 2014)

That's why Christmas is important to my family. It's when we celebrate our Lord's birth, when the Second Person of the Trinity came into our world as one of us:

"For God so loved the world that he gave ⁷ his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn ⁸ the world, but that the world might be saved through him."
(John 3:16-17)

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so too will God, through Jesus, bring with him those who have fallen asleep."
(1 Thessalonians 4:14)

Love

That was two millennia back now. The Roman Empire is gone, Egypt's pharaohs are literally ancient history, and hardly anyone talks about Ashurbanipal any more.

But we're still celebrating the aftermath of a messy execution: because Jesus stopped being dead, and offers life to anyone who's interested and willing to join the family. (Matthew 28:5-7; 1 Timothy 1:15-17; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 52, 638-655, 1825)

By any reasonable standard, that is a big deal.

So is trying to live as if loving God and my neighbor, seeing everybody as my neighbor, and treating others as I want them to treat me, matter. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism, 1789)

Jesus may return later today, or we may still be celebrating when the Assyrian and Roman Empires, and whoever was rich and famous during Christmas in the year 2715, seem roughly contemporary.

Meanwhile, as I keep saying, we have work to do. (July 5, 2015; November 30, 2014)

One more quote, and I'm done.

"Who will condemn? It is Christ (Jesus) who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.

"What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?...

"...For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, ⁹ nor future things, nor powers,

"nor height, nor depth, ¹⁰ nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 8:34-35, 38-39)

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Advent: Looking Both Ways"
  (November 29, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Review and a Chesterton Quote
• " 'Have No Anxiety At All' "
  (October 18, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Why Take Jesus Seriously?
  • Rejoice!
• "Pope Francis and Nietzsche"
  (September 27, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Original Sin: Not a Design Flaw
• "Angst, Hope, and Building a Better World"
  (July 5, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Doomsday Predictions and Fashionable Melancholia
  • Love and Responsibilities
  • Looking Ahead
• "Caesar, Civilization, Dealing With Change — and Building a Better World"
  (August 31, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Fear, Flappers, and Europe Flambé
  • It's the End of Civilization as We Know It: And About Time!

Advent: Looking Both Ways

It's been nearly a week since I've seen someone's announcement that the end of days are upon us.

False alarms are nothing new. It's been about 18 centuries since St. Hippolytus of Rome figured the Second Coming would happen in the year 500.

Swedenborg speculated, in 1758, that the Last Judgment happened in the previous year — I give him points for originality — and Harold Camping got it wrong twice. (January 25, 2015; April 19, 2015)

Me? I believe what our Lord said: including what's recorded in Mark 13:32-37, which ties in with today's Gospel reading, Luke 21:25-28, 34-36. That's about an advent that hasn't happened yet, and ends with pretty good advice:

" 'There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.

"People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens ⁸ will be shaken.

"And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory...."

"...Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.' "
(Luke 21:25-27, 36)

The second petition in the Lord's prayer, "thy kingdom come," is mostly about our Lord's return: "Marana tha," "Come, Lord Jesus." (Catechism, 2817)

That doesn't mean we can just sit back, ask God to speed things along, and relax. We've been living in 'end times' ever since Pentecost, and we've got a whole lot of work left to do: working for justice and peace, getting ready for the kingdom of God. (Catechism, 2816-2821)

"Watch!" Plus Two Millennia, and Counting

This is the first Sunday after Black Friday, which used to be America's day to start overspending on Christmas gifts. Stores started opening Thanksgiving day a few years back, and that's another topic.

It's also the start of Advent: so how come the Gospel reading is about signs in the sky and the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory?

Advent is the season when we look back at our Lord's first arrival — and ahead, to the day the Son of Man returns. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 524)

Our Lord's return has been "imminent" for about two millennia now. Jesus said we should "be prepared," since we wouldn't know when that will be. (Matthew 24:44; Catechism, 673)

Apparently Jesus didn't, either:

" 'But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.

"It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.

"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.

"May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.

"What I say to you, I say to all: "Watch!" ' "
(Mark 13:32-37)

Accepting that our Lord will return, and that the Son of Man's arrival will be an epic event, is not even close to assuming that someone knows more than Jesus did. (Catechism, 1038-1041)

I've wondered if 'end times' predictions enjoy lasting popularity because folks like drama — and get impatient. Two millennia is a long time, by our standards. On the other hand, we're still working on those orders outlined in Matthew 28:19-20.

Evangelization and eschatology are important. So is how I live. I'm expected to love God, love my neighbors, see everyone as my neighbor, and treat others as I'd like to be treated. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1789)

It's simple, but not easy: and that's yet another topic.

Review and a Chesterton Quote

During Advent, we'll be reviewing events leading up to our Lord's first coming, putting Christmas in perspective. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 524)

That'll give me plenty of material for these posts. The next two Sunday Gospel readings focus on John the son of Zechariah, and the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception comes up December 8, for example.

I'll probably talk about "the true meaning of Christmas," too.

"Any one thinking of the Holy Child as born in December would mean by it exactly what we mean by it; that Christ is not merely a summer sun of the prosperous but a winter fire for the unfortunate."
("The New Jerusalem," G. K. Chesterton (1920) via BookRags)

And that's yet again another topic.

More:

• "Time, Decisions, and the Long View"
  (August 12, 2015)
  Particularly
  • Looking Ahead
• "It Started With the Magi"
  (January 4, 2015)
  Particularly
  • "Only the Beginning of a Great Procession"
  • "This Mission is Still Only Beginning"
• "Gideon, Gabriel, Mary, and Guts"
  (December 21, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Mary and 'Happy Days' America
  • Submissive? Maybe
• "Advent: Another Year of the Long Watch"
  (November 30, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Watching, Working
  • Advent: Remembering and Looking Forward
• "Victory and Standing Orders"
  (November 23, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Ragnarok - - -
  • - - - and Mutant Squirrels
  • On Standby Alert: Two Millennia and Counting
  • Sheep, Goats, and Me

It Started With the Magi

Some folks, like the magi and shepherds, were happy about our Lord's birth. King Herod, not so much. Today's Gospel reading, Matthew 2:1-12, talks about this mixed reaction.

Two millennia later, I'm on the same page as the shepherds and wise men. I think our Lord's birth is cause for rejoicing. (Matthew 2:10; Luke 2:20)

"Only the Beginning of a Great Procession"

"For the Church which believes and prays, the Wise Men from the East who, guided by the star, made their way to the manger of Bethlehem, are only the beginning of a great procession which winds throughout history...."
("Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Homily of Benedict XVI," (January 6, 2013))

Today is Epiphany Sunday, when the wise men arrive at the nativity scene in our living room, and we remember Matthew's account of the magi. As usual, there's quite a bit going on.

Herod apparently saw our Lord as a feared rival: but told the magi he wanted to "do him homage." The magi, "warned in a dream not to return to Herod," bypassed Jerusalem on their way home. Then Herod had all male infants and toddlers in and around Bethlehem killed. (Matthew 2:8, 12, 16)

I'm not surprised that this particular set of killings ordered by King Herod weren't recorded.

By the time he died, Herod had arranged the deaths of one wife and three sons: plus quite a few other folks. Bethlehem was a small town, so reasonable estimates of the number of children killed range from a half-dozen to twenty. (Holy Innocents, Catholic Encyclopedia)

At the time, a handful of infants killed in some obscure town probably didn't seem important.

Joining the Great Procession

Meanwhile, Jesus was growing up in Egypt, and that's almost another topic.

Epiphany Sunday and the magi are very important to me, since the magi are "representatives of the neighboring pagan religions." They were the first of many gentiles who recognized Jesus as Son of God and Savior of the world. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 528)

As I've said before, I'm about as gentile as it gets, west of the Urals. When the magi arrived in Bethlehem, my ancestors were somewhere in the barbarian lands north of the western Roman Empire. (August 4, 2013)

We eventually started worshiping God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; stopped conducting human sacrifices; and joined the great procession. (January 19, 2010)

Epiphany is the end of the Christmas season. The next big set of holidays is the Easter season, when we remember and celebrate our Lord's life, death: and return to life.

I'm a little rushed this weekend, since there's a big family get-together that I don't want to miss: so I'll wrap this up with a few quotes.

"This Mission is Still Only Beginning"

"⁵ Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.' "
(John 8:12)

---

"He said to him, ²² 'You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

"This is the greatest and the first commandment.

"The second is like it: ²³ You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

"²⁴ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.' "
(Matthew 22:37-40)

---

"¹¹ Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, ¹² and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. ¹³ And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)

---

"When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.

"While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.

"They said, 'Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.' "
(Acts 1:9-11)

---

"...Twenty centuries have passed since that mystery was revealed and brought about in Christ, but it has not yet reached fulfilment. My beloved Predecessor, John Paul II, began his Encyclical on the Church's mission by writing: 'As the second Millennium after Christ's Coming draws to an end, an overall view of the human race shows that this mission is still only beginning' (Redemptoris Missio, n. 1)...."
("Homily of Benedict XVI on the Solemnity of the Epiphany," (January 6, 2007))

More of my take on the great procession:

• "Advent: Another Year of the Long Watch"
  (November 30, 2014)
• "Neighbors, Love, and Upping the Ante"
  (October 26, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Basic Principles - - -
  • - - - and the Long Haul
• "Following my Lord to the End of the Universe: And Beyond"
  (June 1, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Standing Orders and Human Nature
• "Hosannas: Still Upsetting the Status Quo"
  (April 13, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Sauk Centre, Minnesota; Assisi, Italy - - -
  • "... Until the End of the Age"
• "I Worship a Jew"
  (April 3, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Jews, Gentiles, and Me
  • Jesus is a Man? AND God?

Gideon, Gabriel, Mary, and Guts

(From John William Waterhouse, via FineArtAmerica.com, used w/o permission.)

This morning's Gospel reading is Luke 1:26-38. That's the bit that starts with:

"¹⁰ In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

"to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary.

"And coming to her, he said, 'Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.' "
(Luke 1:26-28)

This comes a little after an account of Gabriel's interview with Zachariah, Luke 1:10-20. That's when Gabriel personally delivers God's response to Zachariah's prayer: and Zachariah demands proof.

Zachariah got proof, all right. He wasn't able to talk for for months. That didn't stop until he agreed with his wife about his son's name: in writing. Elizabeth's name for the boy was John, the same name Gabriel had specified:

"¹⁸ When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,

"but his mother said in reply, 'No. He will be called John.'

"But they answered her, 'There is no one among your relatives who has this name.'

"So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.

"He asked for a tablet and wrote, 'John is his name,' and all were amazed.

"Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God."
(Luke 1:59-64)

Different Questions, Different Responses

I don't know why Zachariah's and Mary's questions got different responses. It's hard enough to figure out what goes on in the head of another human, let alone one of the few angels named in the Bible, and I'm getting off-topic.

Maybe it's my imagination, but Gabriel's response to Zachariah seems a tad testy:

"And the angel said to him in reply, 'I am Gabriel, ⁸ who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news.

"But now you will be speechless and unable to talk ⁹ until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.' "
(Luke 1:19-20)

Now that I think of it, Zachariah's question was unnecessary: if Elizabeth was pregnant, he'd have his proof in a few months. Mary's question made more sense: "how can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"

Besides, Gabriel would know that he'd be taking orders from this young woman: and I'm getting ahead of the story. (November 1, 2014; August 18, 2013)

Tacky Religious Art and Idolatry

Not all Americans believe that Catholics worship Mary and follow the antichrist, but some do. A few of these goofy assumptions have a bit of truth in them: a tiny bit.

Tacky religious art and fallout from Henry VIII's takeover don't help.

It was decades before I realized that Guido Reni's painting didn't make Mary look like she'd been coshed — or had one too many margaritas — and that's another topic. Topics. (August 17, 2013; September 2, 2012)

The Catholic Church has rules, but we're not actually forbidden to do much. One of the 'don't do this' items involves Mary, Saints, and the tree outside my window.

As a Catholic, I must worship God: nobody, nothing, else. No exceptions. We call putting Mary, Saints, family, Elvis, or any other creature, above God idolatry. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2083-2084, 2112-2114)

We should, anyway. Catholics, like anyone else, don't always act the way we should, or understand our faith: and that's yet another topic.

We respect Mary and the other Saints, but we don't worship them. Veneration isn't worship, and I've been over that before. (April 16, 2011)

Mary and 'Happy Days' America

More recently — by my standards, which means in the last half-century — there's been a new criticism of Catholic attitudes toward Mary. I've read that she's a terrible role model because she's submissive.

Attitudes and assumptions about women in 'Happy Days' America didn't help. My opinion. I remember the 'good old days' when "she's smart as a man" was supposed to be a compliment, and never, ever, want to go back. (February 9, 2014; May 26, 2013; February 3, 2009)

I was one of 'those crazy kids' in the '60s and early '70s, and thought change was needed: but I didn't didn't buy the notion that men and women are different because we're raised differently. I'd seen men and women. On average, we don't look — or act — alike. Most of us like it that way, and I'm drifting off-topic again.

Then there were dreadfully 'spiritual' stories about Mary - - - Mary isn't the only one with a bowdlerized biography. I think we're getting past the days when Jesus gets presented as a wispy, inoffensive, Caspar Milquetoast. I hope so, anyway. (April 7, 2010; February 15, 2010)

Submissive? Maybe

Moses tried to talk his way out of being sent to Egypt, Gideon complained when an angel told him "The LORD is with you, O champion!" (Exodus 4:1; Judges 6:13)

After Gabriel outlined how she could have a son, Mary said:

"Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.' Then the angel departed from her."
(Luke 1:38)

Remember: Mary was almost certainly in her teens at the time, unmarried, and living in a society that was unsympathetic at best toward unwed mothers.

Maybe her "may it be done to me" was "submissive."

I think it also took guts, and grit: a quality she'd need, a third of a century later. (April 22, 2011)

More about Mary, people, and getting a grip:

• "Elijah and the 12-Star General"
  (November 1, 2014)
• " 'They Have no Wine' "
  (May 11, 2014)
  Particularly
  • Queen, Yes: Passive, No
  • A Woman of Few Words
• "Married to a Black Belt"
  (May 26, 2013)
  Particularly
  • Those Dreadful Days of Yesteryear
  • Not a Doormat
• "Mary, a Message, and a Mural in Minnesota"
  (August 18, 2013)
  Particularly
  • Two Millennia, One Message
  • Mary, Elvis, and Mayonnaise
  • Veneration, Not Worship
• "Jesus, Mary, and Occam's Razor"
  (December 18, 2012)

Suicide, Sin, and Dealing with Depression

Like I said last week, 'tis the season to be frazzled. It's also a time of year when folks get together with family, including folks like Yogi Yorgesson's "goofy relations:"

"...After dinner my Aunt and my wife's Uncle Louie
Get into an argument; they're both awful screwy
Then all my wife's family say Louie is right
And my goofy relations, they yoin in the fight.
Back in the corner the radio is playing
And over the racket Gabriel Heater is saying
'Peace on earth everybody and good will toward men'
And yust at that moment someone slugs Uncle Ben...."
("I Yust Go Nuts At Christmas," via eLyrics.net)

Oddly enough, December is generally a month with the fewest suicides each year in America. ("Holiday Suicides: Fact or Myth?," Injury Prevention & Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (December 31, 2013))

Digging a little deeper, I noticed that those 'December suicides' statistics may or may not include murder-suicides: the sort of thing I talked about in "Psycho Santa's Slaying Spree - The Catholic Connection," back in 2008. That's not quite another topic.

Maybe folks get the idea that suicides spike during the holidays because we read or listen to the news. It's the old 'man bites dog' is news thing. Sort of.

Think about it: John Doe kills himself, and it's July 17. That's a big deal for John Doe and anyone who knew him: but not the sort of thing that makes headlines. John Doe kills himself, and it's December 24: odds are there'll be a "Christmas Eve Suicide" headline somewhere in the paper.

Knowing When — and How — to Get Help

I take suicide personally, since that's how I lost a dear friend: and I've felt the impulse occasionally. Basically, it's not always someone else; or 'those people.'

Depression is one of suicide's risk factors, along with a family history of suicide, loss, and, as the CDC put it, "unwillingness to seek help because of the stigma attached to mental health and substance abuse disorders or to suicidal thoughts."

Before I forget it, here's some contact information I ran into while scraping this post together:

---

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
800-273-TALK (8255)
800-273-8255
A free, 24/7 service that can provide suicidal persons or those around them with support, information and local resources.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

---

I like the "free" part: that puts it in my budget.

I get verklempt sometime during Advent, each year. A procedural glitch in getting some prescriptions filled helped make this year's session particularly interesting, and I'll get back to that.

Depression: It's Treatable

Major depression gets called major depressive disorder; clinical depression; unipolar depression, or unipolar disorder; or, if it happens off and on, recurrent depression.

I'm among the 96.6% with major depression who haven't killed themselves.

This isn't the occasional blue funk folks can 'snap out of.' It's real: and, happily, treatable.

In my case, all it took was a combination of extremely powerful antidepressants: which sure beats downing a dozen cups of ultra-strong coffee a day to stay vaguely focused. I go through withdrawal when the paperwork doesn't go through promptly: but it's still better than the pre-pill decades. Lots better.

If medicos had known more about depression when I was growing up: well, that's water under the bridge. I'm very glad to be living now, when we have access to this sort of information:

• Depression (major depressive disorder)
  • Symptoms
  • Causes
  • Complications
  Mayo Clinic

There's more at the Mayo Clinic site: I just hit the high points, or low points, or whatever.

I'm not likely to kill myself, but like I said: I've had the occasional impulse — including a really strong urge during my teens, while driving over a bridge.

I'd been having an unusually unsavory day. It took a few seconds to realize that I was stubborn as a mule: and could probably out-endure what was going on.

Turns out, I was right.

I'm still stubborn, I'm still working on fortitude, and that is another topic.

SAD, Depression, and Soap Opera Amnesia

That 'crossing a bridge' thing happened during summer, by the way: not midwinter. My Advent angst may get a boost from SAD, but I'm nearly certain that it's connected to what happened around Christmas, when I was in 7th grade.

There's a 'hole in my mind,' a gap in my memory that runs from before that Christmas to the next spring.

It's not, I think, really a hole: more like roadblocks. The memories of are most likely still in there, but my brain apparently purged their indexing. That's a horribly mixed metaphor, but you get what I mean.

I've been told that's going on in my head acts a bit like PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, including feeling hopeless about the future and "not remembering important aspects of the traumatic event."

That illustration shows which parts of the brain handle fear and stress. It's from this fact sheet:

• "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Research"
  NIMH Fact Sheet, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
  (From www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-research-fact-sheet_34428.pdf (December 13, 2014))

Wait a minute.

"Feeling hopeless about the future?" Aren't Christians supposed to be just simply oozing hope?

Yes, but my faith doesn't depend on how I'm feeling at the moment. My hope is more of a decision than an emotion, and I'm still working on it.

"HOPE: The theological virtue by which we desire and expect from God both eternal life and the grace we need to attain it (1817).
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary)

Back to depression, suicide, and similarly-cheery topics.

Complications of PTSD include depression and suicidal thoughts or actions.(Mayo Clinic)

Or, in my case, not remembering that the traumatic event happened.

Unlike a soap opera amnesia case, I've never forgotten who I am. All that's missing from my autobiographical memory is a few blocks of episodic memory. There's a Wikipedia page about Psychogenic_amnesia, which sounds cooler than hysterical amnesia, but it's pretty much the same thing: also not much fun, and that's yet another topic. Topics.

Mortal Sin and Not Losing Hope

There wasn't much of anything religious or theological in my decision to out-wait my troubles on that bridge. I've learned quite a bit since then: which led to my becoming a Catholic. Yet again more topics.

Since I'm Catholic, I must believe that human life is sacred; which makes murder wrong, even if I'm the victim as well as the murderer. (Catechism, 2258-2262, 2268-2269, 2280-2283)

Suicide is a particularly bad idea because once we're dead, our options are severely limited.

Murder and suicide are mortal sins: acts that destroy charity. While we're alive, we can decide what we did was wrong, take responsibility for our actions, and repair the damage we've caused. Getting that done after I've killed myself would be — difficult. (Catechism, 1021-1022, 1033, 1451-1460, 1855, 2283)

The Catholic Church does not, however, say that all suicides go to Hell. Suicide is a monumentally bad idea, but I'm not allowed to lose hope for folks who killed themselves.

God can do things we don't and can't understand: even allowing postmortem repentance. "...The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives." (Catechism, 2283)

"Here Shall They Hang," and Clueless Critics

That picture is Gustave Doré's illustration for Canto XIII of Dante's "Divine Comedy, Inferno."

Dante and Virgil are walking through the 'Forest of Suicides' on their way across the Seventh Circle of Hell. They're the two chaps you see toward the back of that scene.

Dante's epic poem is not an official Church document: but he knew his faith.

I'm not a soul riding in a body: I'm a human being, a living body and soul. The material and spiritual parts are designed to work as a single unit. Death separates body and soul: but they're reunited before the Last Judgment. (Catechism, 362-365, 990-991, 1005, 1038-1041, 1059)

In his imagined Forest of Suicides, souls of folks who had killed themselves were waiting for the Final Judgment, when they'd be unpleasantly reunited with their bodies.

"Here shall we drag them, to this gloomy glade;
Here shall they hang, each body evermore
Borne on the thorn of its own self-slaughtering shade."
("The Divine Comedy," Inferno, Canto XIII, lines 106-108)

Some folks in Dante's day didn't know much about poetry:

" 'here shall they hang:' Nowhere, perhaps, does Dante assert more clearly than in this moving an terrible image his conviction of the intimate and unbreakable bond between spirit and flesh. The Suicides willed the death of the flesh, but they cannot be rid of it: their eternity is an eternity of that death. (The absurd charge of heretically denying the resurrection of the body was brought against Dante on the strength of these lines, but only by those to whom the language of poetic imagery is a sealed book.)"
(Dorothy L. Sayers' footnote to "The Divine Comedy," Inferno, Canto XIII, line 107; "The Divine Comedy 1 Hell," Dante Alighieri, Translation by Dorothy L. Sayers (1949); Penguin Classics reprint)

And that's still another topic.

Here's that contact information again:

---

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
800-273-TALK (8255)
800-273-8255
A free, 24/7 service that can provide suicidal persons or those around them with support, information and local resources.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

---

More about life and health:

• "Robin Williams, Suicide, and Hope"
  (August 17, 2014)
• "Christopher Marlowe's '...Doctor Faustus:' Despair, a Dagger, and a Helpful Demon"
  (December 19, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Despair, Suicide, Hope, and Prayer
• "Prayer, Medicine and Trusting God"
  (March 4, 2010)
  Particularly
  • Major Depression isn't Fun
  • Weak-Willed? Proud? No: Smart
  • But Don't Religious People Rely on God?
• "Medication for Depression? Yeah: The Catholic Church is Okay With That"
  (February 25, 2010)
• "Facts, Frustration, and Fear"
  (January 28, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Christmas: What a Bummer
  • 'There's a Hole in My Mind'
  • Suicide is Not an Option

Background and advice, mostly for folks who aren't 'at risk' for suicide:

• "Putting Knowledge into Action to Prevent Violence"
  National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/asap.html (December 13, 2014)
• "Preventing Suicide through Connectedness"
  National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (From Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/asap.html (December 13, 2014)
• "Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide"
  (From American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, www.afsp.org/news-events/for-the-media/reporting-on-suicide (December 13, 2014)

Bah! Humbug! Christmas and Plastic Reindeer

"...'What else can I be,' returned the uncle, 'when I live in such a world of fools as this? ... If I could work my will,' said Scrooge indignantly, 'every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas" on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!'..."
("A Christmas Carol," Charles Dickens (1843) via www.gutenberg.org)

'Tis the season to be frazzled.

Advent is when some Americans max out their credit cards, buying presents and setting up holiday parties: while others kvetch over bright lights and holiday music played in stores.

I sympathize with pre-ghost Ebenezer Scrooge, to a point. My culture's Christmas season can be more hustle than holiday.

But I like bright lights, hearing "Jingle Bells" doesn't make me go out and buy stuff, and seeing inflated candy canes in these short winter days doesn't disgust me. At all.

Then there's anguish over greetings.

I like "Merry Christmas," myself: but don't go berserk when someone writes "Xmas."

Carefully avoiding mention of "Christmas" seems silly: considering the profusion of red-and-green store decorations, and recurrent "commercialization" rants online. This holiday is firmly embedded in my culture.

"Happy Holiday" covers the Advent, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Saint Sylvester's, and assorted other midwinter celebrations: and sidesteps angst over diversity, real or imagined.

"Happy Holiday" isn't entirely safe, though:

• "Happy" discriminates against people with mood disorders
• "Holiday" sounds too much like "holy day"
• "Winter" discriminates against folks living in the southern hemisphere
  (2011)

That's enough snark for one post, I think. Maybe too much. Or too little. Never mind.

Where was I? Scrooge. Credit cards. Feeling frazzled. Right.

My household's yard isn't lit up with inflatable snow globes, plastic reindeer, and flashing LEDs; the family van doesn't sport a Christmas wreath; but if other folks like to light up the night — that's okay with me.

We're not supposed to be all alike, and that's another topic.

More snark and sense:

• "Advent, Seasonal Strangeness, and Me"
  (December 2, 2012)
• "My Take on the News: Jingle Bells, Jangled Nerves, and Good Advice"
  (December 16, 2011)
• "Why I Don't Go Ballistic Over Xmas"
  (December 23, 2010)
• "Millions of Dollars in Decorations on a Tree: And a Tale of Two Camels"
  (December 19, 2010)
• "Three Things That Go By the Name of Christmas"
  (December 24, 2009)

Advent: Another Year of the Long Watch

Today's Gospel reading starts on the second verse of this excerpt:

" 'But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

"Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.

"It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.

"Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.

"May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.

"What I say to you, I say to all: "Watch!" ' "
(Mark 13:32-37)

Watching, Working

As I said last week, we've been on standby alert for about two millennia. (November 23, 2014)

There's plenty to keep us busy while we wait. One of our jobs is making "disciples of all nations," and passing along ethical standards our Lord gave us. (Matthew 28:18-20)

The basics are simple: love God, love our neighbors, see everyone as our neighbor, and treat others as we'd like to be treated. (Matthew 5:43-44, 7:12, 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31; Luke 6:31 10:25-27, 29-37; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1789)

Consequences and Hope

I think one reason the job is taking so long is that we're expected to live as if "respecting the transcendent dignity of man" matters. That starts inside each of us, with an ongoing "inner conversion." (Catechism, 1888, 1928-1942)

It's not easy. Humans, like all creatures, are basically good. But our first parents decided to ignore God's will. We've been dealing with consequences of that choice ever since. (Catechism, 385, 388-390, 397-409)

God did not abandon us, though. After we lost harmony within ourselves and with the universe, God kept calling us back. (Genesis 3:15; Catechism, 410-412)

It's been a long wait: and that's another topic. (February 23, 2014)

Advent: Remembering and Looking Forward

"In the fullness of time," about two thousand years ago, the Word became one of us, grew up, and was executed. We're celebrating because our Lord didn't stay dead: and because God wants to adopt us. (John 1:1-5, 19:17-42, 20:17; Galatians 4:4-5)

During Advent, we remember when our Lord first came, and look forward to the Savior's return: whenever that will be. (Catechism, 524, 673, 1040, 2772)

In the meantime, like I said, we have work to do.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Victory and Standing Orders"
  (November 23, 2014)
  Particularly
  • On Standby Alert: Two Millennia and Counting
  • Sheep, Goats, and Me
• " 'In the Beginning:' a Continuing Story"
  (December 22, 2013)
• " 'Blessed are You Who Believed' "
  (December 21, 2011)
• "First Sunday of Advent, 2011: Joy, Peace, Love, and a Dog Named Rollo"
  (Guest post) (November 27, 2011)
• "God Knows, I Don't: And That's Okay"
  (November 14, 2010)