Christian Reflection and Prayer

1And it came to pass in those days,
that there went out a decree from Caesar
Augustus that all the world should be taxed.

 2(And this taxing was first made when
Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

3And all went to be taxed, every one into
his own city.

  4And Joseph also went up from Galilee,
out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea,
unto the city of David, which is called
Bethlehem; (because he was of the house
and lineage of David:)

 5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife,
being great with child.

 6And so it was, that, while they were there,
the days were accomplished that she should
be delivered.

 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid
him in a manger; because there was no room
for them in the inn.

 8And there were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field, keeping watch over their
flock by night.

 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about them:
and they were sore afraid.

 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for,
behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people.

11For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall
find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying
in a manger.

 13And suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host praising God,
and saying,

 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men.

 15And it came to pass, as the angels were gone
away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one
to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and
see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord
hath made known unto us.

 16And they came with haste, and found Mary,
and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 17And when they had seen it, they made known
abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child.

 18And all they that heard it wondered at those things
which were told them by the shepherds.

 19But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them
in her heart.

 20And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising
God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as
it was told unto them.
Luke 2: 1-20 (King James Version)

THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT

GOD BLESS YOU AND HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS

PRAYER: O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, Our Lord Immanuel! Amen.

A Gift We Will Love
December 25, 2010
Christmas Day(A)

Isaiah 52:7-10; Psalms 98:1-6; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18

"The Word became flesh and He lived among us" (John 1:14). 

It was December 22nd and the mother of several children suddenly realized that she hadn't sent out any Christmas cards.  In dismay, she sent her 10-year-old son to the drugstore for a box of Christmas cards.  "Hurry," she said, "I'll barely have time to get these in the mailbox before the day's final pickup."  The boy ran all the way to the store and soon returned with a box of twenty-ive cards, all alike.  Quickly, without even looking at them, she signed them, addressed and stamped the envelopes, handed them to her boy who promptly deposited them in the corner mailbox.  Later, the mother noticed that there was one card left in the box.  She picked it up and looked at the verse.  It read,

"This little card is just to say,
a gift you'll love is on the way."

Most of us get caught up in the Christmas hustle and bustle: The Christmas cards, the Christmas trees, the Christmas lights, the Christmas lists, the Christmas shopping, the Christmas presents, and on and on.  But these are not the essence of Christmas.  All of the hustle and bustle is the tinsel of Christmas, the icing on the cake, so to speak: the trappings.  And they can be wonderful, but they also can be so distracting that the real meaning of Christmas somehow gets lost.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... The Word became flesh and He lived among us" (Jn. 1:1,14).

Puccini's operas -- La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly -- are among the world's favorites. After he was stricken with cancer in the early 1920's, the great composer was determined to write a final opera. He entitled it "Turandot," and it is considered to be a magnificent work, his most polished score. Struggling as he was with the cancer, Puccini was implored by his students to rest; to save his strength. But he continued to work, saying, "If I do not finish my music, my students will complete it." In 1924, he was taken to Brussels for surgery. He died two days later. His students did finish "Turandot" and, in 1926, the premiere performance took place at the famous LaScala opera house in Italy, under the direction of Arturo Toscanini. When the point came in the score where Puccini had been obliged to put down his pen, Maestro Toscanini, his face wet with tears, put down his baton and said to the audience, "Here ends the master's work." After a pause, he picked up the baton, smiled broadly, and said, "But his friends finished his work."

Our blessed Master came into this world to do the Father's work. Before leaving this world, He asked His friends to carry on and move the work toward completion. We who claim to be his friends are privileged to pick up the task; to enlarge the score with beautiful harmonies of peace, and soaring arias of love.

Christmas is supposed to be about giving!

The Story:

This is about the difference between heaven
and hell.
Seems these two fellows get together one day.  One
is from heaven and the other from hell.  The man
from heaven asks what is hell really like  
"It's terrible, says the man from hell.  We get really
hungry feeding the furnaces , and  every night they sit
us down at these big beautiful banquet tables piled
high with food.  And the devil comes out and says,
"all you can eat, seconds even thirds.  There's
just one rule, you got to be polite down here and use
your forks."  "Their we are already to eat this food,
and we reach down and pick up our forks, and every
one of those forks got handles 3 feet long, there
is no way in the world we can get that food into our
mouths."  "And that old devil just stands there and
laughs at us every night over and over again, laughing
and laughing."  " I tell you it is torture something
awful."  "Well, says the other man, we got big tables
of food like that in heaven too, and our forks have the
same long handles, no way we can feed ourselves
either."  "SO WE JUST SIT DOWN AND FEED EACH OTHER!"

Reflection:
What and idea, what and amazing thing to do.  Makes the
whole difference between feast and famine, happiness and
torture.  How come nobody down in hell thought of that, not
one soul.  Why, because that's not the way they think, that's why
they are down there in the first place.  It wouldn't occur to
them to do anything for anybody else.  That's the real curse,
that's the real pain of living in hell.  You see it is the curse
they laid upon themselves when they walked the earth.

THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON HOW WILL YOU WALK THE EARTH,
LIKE ONE FROM HEAVEN, OR ONE FROM HELL.  IT'S YOUR
CHOICE.