Seasons Greetings

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Feliz Navidad y un Feliz Año Nuevo!

Frohe Weihnachten & einen guten Rutsch!

Buon Natale e un Felice Anno Nuovo!

Joyeux noël & une bonne et heureuse année!

Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

Fijne kerstdagen & een gelukkig nieuwjaar!

Feliz Natal e um Feliz Ano Novo!

 Рождеством и счастливогонового года

We finally ma-naged to get all together for this Christmas sea-son.  (from left to right):Christian and María José arrived on Sa-turday morning from Las Vegas; Astrid and Simo had a long and cumbersome journey from Rome Italy, but made it to Miami on Saturday af-ternoon just in time for the final blessing at our renewal of mar-riage vows ce-remony during the 4th of Advent mass; Alex came home after his third college se-mester; and  Grandma Emy came from Ar-gentina. Seasons Greetings and best wishes for the 2009 year from sunny Florida !!!

Finalmente logra-mos reunirnos todos para las Fiestas Navide-ñas. (de izq. a der.):Christian y María José lle-garon el sábado desde Las Vegas; Astrid y Simone llegaron después de un largo y complicado viaje desde Roma, Italia, justo a tiempo para la bendición final de nuestra renova-ción de votos matrimoniales durante la misa del 4to domingo de adviento.  Alex vino a casa después de com-pletar el tercer semestre de es-tudios universitarios y la abuela Emy vino de visita desde Ar-gentina.  Durante el soleado domin-go elevamos las copas con los mejores augurios para las Fiestas y el Año Nuevo!!!

Es ist uns wieder mal gelungen die ganze Familie zu Weihnachten zu-sammen zu bringen.(v.l.n.r.):  Christian und Ma-ría José kamen von Las Vegas am Samstag morgen an; As-trid und Simone sind nach einer sehr langen und komplizierten Reise von Rom–Italian noch rechtzeitig zum Segen der 4ten Adventmesse an der wir unsere Ehegelübde zum 35. erneuert ha-ben, angekom-men. Alex kam zu den Semes-terferien von der Uni nach Hause  und Oma Emy ist zu Besuch aus Argentinien bei uns.  Wir erheben ein Glas Sekt vom sonnigen Miami mit Frohe Weihanchten und Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr Wün-sche!!!!

Siamo finalmente riusciti a stare tutti insieme per queste feste. (da sinistra a destra): Christian e María José sono arrivati de Las Vegas sabato mattina; Astrid e Simone, dopo un lungo e difficile viaggio da Roma, sono arrivati domenica pomeriggio appena in tempo per la benedizione ed il rinnovo dei voti per i 35 anni di matrimonio che abbiamo deciso di festeggiare in coincidenza con la 4ta domenica di avvento; Alex e’ tornato a casa al termine del terzo semestre accademico, e nonna Emy é venuta dall’ Argentina.  Tanti auguri e buone feste dalla Florida assolata!!!

With God’s Love and Blessings,

Rainer & Nora

Third Sunday of Advent

Dear All,

This Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday which means joy.  The joy of the Church today is in the coming of Jesus – once and every day – to bring us peace and joy and gladness and love.  Someone said, "Life is too serious to take seriously."  This seems like a strange saying, but it sums up the message of today’s Gaudete - the Rejoice Sunday.  The Apostle Paul says to not take seriously the disappointments of life - instead, to "rejoice always."  We Christians have the choice to rejoice even when things go bad because we can see the true point of human existence.   Let us look at a birthday party when the person blows on the candle, it goes out - but then the flame suddenly pops up again.  Our lives are like that.  Death appears to end one's life, but we will immediately re-appear before God. You cannot extinguish a human soul.  We are destined to live forever.  In comparison to eternity, this life is like the blink of an eye.  The Apostle Paul suffered horrible things during his life: hunger, disease, poverty, sleepless nights, betrayal, shipwreck, scourging, imprisonment - even snakebite.  You name it, St. Paul suffered it.  Yet he said, "Rejoice always."  He knew that life no matter how full of pain and disappointments should not be taken too seriously, when seen from the dimension of eternity.

The First Reading from Isaiah, who escorts us through all of Advent into Christmas, encourages the Israelites after the Babylon captivity, and us today, with glad tidings to heal the brokenhearted.  God has clothed the prophet in a robe of salvation producing joy to his soul.

We have in today’s Gospel according to John (the Evangelist) an interesting interrogation. The Priests and Levites came out from Jerusalem to find out who this John (the Baptist) was, and whether he was the Messiah.  The detailed account of the interrogation indicates that John the Evangelist probably was present.  Why else would John the Baptist say:  ‘There stands among you, unknown to you, the one who is coming after me’?   This notion gets reinforced a few verses beyond today’s reading, when John the Baptist points out Jesus to him and Andrew.  The Priests and Levites ask John three questions: ‘Are you the Christ?’ ‘… Elijah?’ ‘…  the prophet?’   John answered these three questions quite honestly by saying no to them all.  The first and the last were really the same question since the Christ and the Prophet were words used interchangeably for the Messiah.  Then they ask a fourth: ‘If you are not the Christ, or Elijah or the Prophet then why are you baptizing?’  John does not directly answer but makes a declaration that the Messiah is already here and he says with visible irony, ‘he is standing among you.’  Jesus stands among us, just as he stood unrecognized among those Priests and Levites.  He is there as a hidden presence.  Not threatening, not judging, not spying on us or interfering; but just there cool, calm, patient, content to let things take their course.  Be aware of His hidden presence, it will help us to find a common meaning and purpose in our life.  John the Baptist tells the Religious of his time: "I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, make straight the way of the Lord”.  "I baptize with water; but there is one… coming after me,… that will baptize with the Holy Spirit”.  John guides us in Advent to look to Christ alone to take away our sins and to open heaven for us when he comes again in glory.  Advent is a special time for open-hearted prayer of hope for the gift of recognizing God's coming among us.  If today you should hear his voice, harden not your heart.  Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.

Let us take into our hearts the words of Paul in his first letter to the Thessalonians, today’s second reading, and let it be our prayer for each other, ‘May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body’. 

A complete text of the readings at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/121408.shtml

With God’s Love and Blessings,

Rainer

Second Sunday of Advent

Dear All,

The people of the First Reading (from Isaiah about 8^th Century BCE) had hit the wall.  In their worst nightmare, they never thought their lives could get so bad.  While they were the Chosen People, and although they celebrated their deliverance from Egypt every Passover, they still pushed God out of their lives.  They had become successful and wealthy.  They thought they had less need for God and almost forgot Him.  Then, they bottomed out.  First the Northern Kingdom, Israel, was defeated and taken into captivity by the Assyrians.  Then the Babylonians conquered the Southern Kingdom, Judah.  The people were led off into slavery and were forced to live in a pagan land.  In their poverty they became rich.  Having their identity stolen from them made them more devout followers of Yahweh, even in Babylon, far from the land He had given them.  They had no power except their faith in the All Powerful One.  God sent His prophet, Isaiah to preach consolation for Israel:  “…give comfort to my people, says your God.  Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to them that their service is at an end, their guilt is expiated.”  George Frideric Handle in 1741 during his London residence created a beautiful tenor aria for the Oratorio “The Messiah.”

Over and over in the history of God’s people as well as in many of our personal lifes, the events that led to Babylon are repeated.  But when we put our complete faith in God, we also receive deliverance from our perils.  When we think that we have it all and allow evil into our lives, we can destroy ourselves… by relying solely on our own abilities instead of the Power of God. But when we bottom out finding ourselves completely alone, through prayer we come to the Wisdom that we are only alone if we forget about Him who said He’d always be with us.  There is nothing that we might have done which excludes us from His compassion and consolation… nothing that the Lord does not want to forgive, if we ask for it.  St Augustine wrote in 4^th Century AD, "The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works." 

  “Prepare the way of the Lord,” both Isaiah in the First Reading and John the Baptist in the beginning of Mark’s Gospel proclaim.  Let us help others to realize that they are loved by their God.  In this season of gift giving, we can give a wonderful gift, the reassurance that Jesus loves them

In the Second Reading St. Peter reminds us that God's time is different from ours. "With the Lord, … one day is like a thousand years".  Peter urges us to be patient because God is patient with us.  Patience is such an important virtue. It means waiting, sacrificing some immediate satisfaction for the sake of a greater good.  Impatience, on the other hand, is the unwillingness to wait, wanting it all right now.  Psychologist talk about immediate need gratification.  While natural and common in little children, it can become a central cause for many of our problems as we grow into adulthood.

This Advent we are invited to examine our conscience in terms of patience.  In Mark’s Gospel we read that people “acknowledged their sins” when John baptized in the Jordan river. When you think about it, almost every sin involves a lack of patience. For example loosing our temper, maybe flying into road rage shows a glaring lack of patience.  Stealing and cheating are also sins of impatience:  Rather than working hard, a person simply wants to grab things.  Returning to the basics - and there is no virtue more basic than patience, does bring great rewards.  It means discipline, hard work, sacrifice, waiting for the right moment.   Advent is a time for precisely that - to learn patience.  It is a season of "waiting in joyful hope."

Today we light the second candle for peace on the Advent Wreath.  Some sources suggest the wreath, now reinterpreted as a Christian symbol, was in common usage in the Middle Ages, others that it was not established as a Christian custom until the 16th century in Germany.  In its modern form it was invented in the 19^th century by Johann Hinrich Wichern, a Protestant pastor in Germany and a pioneer in urban mission work among the poor, as a way to count the days of Advent towards the Christmas feast.  During Advent, children at a mission school founded by Wichern in Hamburg would ask daily if Christmas had arrived.  In 1839, he built a wooden ring (made out of an old cartwheel) with 19 small red and four large white candles.  A small candle was lit successively every weekday during Advent.  On Sundays, a large white candle was lit.  Eventually, the custom became popular in Protestant and Anglican churches and later in Roman Catholic churches in the United States. More recently, some Eastern Orthodox families have adopted an Advent wreath with six candles symbolizing the longer Advent season in Orthodox tradition.

I realize today’s column turned out a bit on the heavy side.  On a lighter note, a joke related to Peter’s notion of time in our Second Reading.  Somebody was praising God and asking if in His infinite wisdom a thousand years were just like a second.  God agreed that yes, a thousand years are like one second for Him.  Furthermore the person asked if in his infinite power a million dollars weren’t just like one penny.  God acknowledged that yes, a million dollars are just like a penny to Him.  To this the person asked for merely one penny.  To which God answered:  “Sure, in a second”

A complete text of the readings at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/120708.shtml

With God’s Love and Blessings,

Rainer