Land's End

The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’” From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
John 1:14-18

Let everyone examine himself in the light of the Gospel and see how far he is from Christ, and what is the character of his faith and love.  There are many who are enkindled with dreamy devotion, and when they hear of the poverty of Christ, they are almost angry with the citizens of Bethlehem.  They denounce their blindness and ingratitude, and think, if they had been there, they would have shown the Lord and his mother a more kindly service, and would not have permitted them to be treated so miserably.  But they do not look by their side to see how many of their fellow humans need their help, and which they ignore in their misery.  Who is there upon earth that has no poor, miserable, sick, erring ones around him?  Why does he not exercise his love to those?  Why does he not do to them as Christ has done to him?
Martin Luther

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
Jeremiah 29:11-14a

Meditation
As I begin, I become aware of the Lord present to me, looking upon me with love, desirous of speaking to my heart . . .

Prayerfully, I read Jeremiah 29:11-14.

I read the word of God, through the prophet Jeremiah, to his people in their time of exile.

Their hearts are heavy . . . Their nation, their temple, all that was dear to them, has been destroyed, and they are reduced to a helpless group of exiles, far from their home.  The present is dark; the future, too, seems without hope, and their exile continues . . . My heart, too, knows such time . . .

And in their hearts, in our hearts, is fear—fear that this has happened through our own fault, through our failure to love and serve the Lord as we were called to do . . .

My heart too is afraid . . . I too fear that I am not what I ought to be, that I fail the Lord,  Even in this time of prayer . . . will I respond to the Lord?

The Lord speaks to them . . . and the Lord speaks personally to my heart, here, in this moment of prayer.

“I know the plans I have for you . . . plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  I feel my anxieties about the future, abut what lies ahead for me, about what will happen in my spiritual life, my prayer . . .

I know that my desire to grow in love is real, but I feel so weak, so helpless . . . and I am afraid.  But now I hear this word of the Lord to me: “I know the plans I have for you . . .”  I hear these words deeply, I read them, I reread them . . .

“You will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”  My heart lifts at this promise: “and I will hear you.”  Lord, now, today, I call upon you, I come to you, I pray to you . . .

“You will seek me and find me.”  I speak to the Lord of my greatest desire:  I seek you . . .  My heart opens as I hear your promise to me: and you will find me . . .

“I will restore your fortunes . . .”  A new hope . . . that my heart can truly change, can truly heal, can truly grow in love:  “I will restore . . .”

My heart lifts up as I hear the Lord speak these words personally to me . . . offering me new hope, new trust, as I live my calling in his service, as I look to what lies ahead . . .

I linger over these words, I read them, I hear the Lord speak to me.  My heart responds.

After the Prayer
– What word in this Scripture most spoke to my heart?
– What touched my heart in this time of prayer?
– What did my heart feel as I prayed?
– What did I sense the Lord saying to me?
Timothy M. Gallagher

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What is Reclaiming Christmas?

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In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
John 1:4

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things . . . He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being.
Hebrews 1:1-3

Meditation
Close your eyes and picture something beautiful that you saw today—something that bears the imprint of God.  Stay with that image and take in its goodness.  Allow your heart to be moved to praise God.  Tell God how grateful you are for the abundant goodness in your life.

. . . You came into the world.  You’ve come into my world!  You came once, surely: two thousand years ago.  But that has caused your coming still, daily, daily, morning by morning, for people like me.

And so I celebrated the feast of your Nativity this year with the softer passion of gratitude, and that—the gratitude itself—was proof of your presence.
Walter Wangerin Jr.

Christmas did not come after a great mass of people had completed something good, or because of the successful result of any human effort.  No, it came as a miracle, as the child that comes when his time is fulfilled, as a gift of the Father which he lays into those arms that are stretched out in longing.  In this way did Christmas come; in this way it always comes anew, both to individuals and to the whole world.

. . . When we are discouraged by the apparently slow progress of all our honest efforts, by the failure of this or the other person, and by the ever new reappearance of enemy powers and their apparent victories, then we should know: the time shall be fulfilled.  Because of the noise and activity of the struggle and the work, we often do not hear the hidden gentle sound and movement of the life that is coming into being.  But here and there, at hours that are blessed, God lets us feel how he is everywhere at work and how his cause is growing and moving forward.  The time is being fulfilled and the light shall shine, perhaps just when it seems to us that the darkness is impenetrable.
Eberhard Arnold

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What is Reclaiming Christmas?

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Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
John 1:3

They will come and shout for joy
on the heights of Zion;
they will rejoice
in the bounty of the LORD—
the grain, the new wine and the oil,
the young of the flocks and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,
and they will sorrow no more.

Then maidens will dance and be glad,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy
instead of sorrow.
Jeremiah 31:12-13

Shoot of Jesse, our roots go back to that garden in Eden, to the paradise sold for an apple.  The birth of your Son has reopened the gates of heaven and rained down blessings on our parched souls.  As we relish the new light of the sun which nurtures our own “gardens” on earth, let us develop into real people who talk not about love but who actually practice the love of God (and through him, love for their neighbors) with a radiant peace.  Let us flower in the place you have given us.  Amen.
Judith A. Bauer and John J. Cleary

. . . Praised be You, my Lord,
with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day
and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant
with great splendor;
and bears a likeness to You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through Sister Moon and the stars,
in heaven You formed them
clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through Brother Wind,
and through the air, cloudy and serene,
and every kind of weather,
through whom you give sustenance
to Your creatures.
Praised be you, my Lord,
through Sister Water,
who is very useful and humble
and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night,
and he is beautiful and playful
and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord,
through our Sister Mother Earth,
who sustains and governs us,
and who produces various fruit
with colored flowers and herbs . . .
St. Francis of Assisi

Meditation
Notice what is touching your heart as you pray with Francis of Assisi.  What are you feeling?  What thoughts come to mind?

What do you want to say to God?

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What is Reclaiming Christmas?

Would you like to review the Bibliography?

Would you like to read more about various Forms of Prayer?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:1-2

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:3a

Word that became flesh, you have reunited mankind with the Divine.  Without you we are nothing.

Fulfillment of the Scriptures, you are the new law.  Write your law upon our hearts that we may live and love according to your will.

Son of the Father’s heart, we are not worthy to receive you—only say the word and we shall be healed.  I ask this through your son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.  Amen.
Judith A. Bauer and John J. Cleary

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight
in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.”
Isaiah 55:1-3a

Meditation
As I begin, I become aware of the Lord present to me, looking upon me with love, desirous of speaking to my heart . . .

Prayerfully, I read Isaiah 55:1-13.

“Every one who thirsts / come to the waters . . .”  I hear the Lord speak these words to me.  I tell the Lord of the thirsting of my heart:  thirst for meaning, thirst for love, thirst for closeness with him, with others.  I tell the Lord of the loneliness my heart experiences, of my sense of insufficiency . . .

And I hear the Lord say now to me:  If your heart thirsts, come to the waters . . . Come to the waters of the Spirit, the waters of grace . . . the waters that alone can quench the deep thirsting of the human heart.

“Come, buy . . . / without money and without price.”  I hear these words of pure invitation; there is no need to have “achieved” something spiritually before I can dare to approach.  All that is necessary is to come and to receive God’s gift.

“Why do you spend . . . / your labor for that which does not satisfy?”  Lord, there are so many answers to your question:  because I am confused, because I am afraid, because the effort to possess what truly satisfies seems too hard . . . The Lord simply answers me:  “Come . . .”

“And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, / my steadfast, sure love . . .”  Lord, I open my heart to your everlasting covenant, your steadfast, sure, love . . .  a bond of belonging and a love that will never fail . . .

“My thoughts are not your thoughts . . .”  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, / so are my ways higher than your ways.”  My thoughts see so little . . . Your thoughts see so much more, your ways are beyond what I can grasp.  Lord, I entrust myself to your thoughts and to your ways, to the mystery of your providence in my life.

The rain and the snow water and make fruitful the earth . . . “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; / it shall not return to me empty.”  I open my heart to the power of that word, even now, as I pray with this Scripture . . . Lord, fill my emptiness too with the nourishment of your word . . .

Now my prayer becomes quiet, deep, receptive . . . A silent gratitude wells up within me for the gift of your word that I meditate, Lord, and for its power to renew my life.

After the Prayer
– What word in this Scripture most spoke to my heart?
– What touched my heart in this time of prayer?
– What did my heart feel as I prayed?
– What did I sense the Lord saying to me?
Timothy M. Gallagher

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What is Reclaiming Christmas?

Would you like to review the Bibliography?

Would you like to read more about various Forms of Prayer?

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Luke 2:20

Prayer of Gratitude
Who are the people, what are the events in your life that make your heart overflow with gratitude?

Tell God about everything in your life that you are grateful for.

Offer fresh outpourings of song to God, sing his praises—sing, sing!  Sing, all you peoples of the earth!  Make music, melodious song, bless him endlessly, tell everyone you meet the joyful account of our deliverance.  Be an apostle of praise, proclaim his words far and wide.  For surely God is great and so greatly to be praised.  He is fearsome and awe inspiring, infinitely more than all other gods.  What are these other gods anyway?  Why, it’s our God who created the heavens themselves.  Majesty and glory radiate from him, strength and beauty are like mighty pillars in his temple.

Come on, don’t hesitate, everyone’s invited to sing his praises, the entire human family urged to give glory to his power and strength.  We owe it to him, he deserves it!  So come on, gather up the best offerings and join the happy throng, the jubilant procession winding its way up to his courts.  Let your good deeds praise him, too, adorn yourselves in virtue like splendid festive robes.  Fling yourselves on your faces in awe and trembling.

Shout out the news of God’s reign to all the world, tell them all that the future of the earth is secured, nothing can ever uproot it.  And he will deal fairly with everyone, all will receive their due.  Be glad, heavens, jubilate earth, roar with delight, seas and oceans.  And you fields and meadows, with all your creeping and crawling and hopping things, jump for joy.  Join voices in a welcoming anthem, you towering trees of the forest.  He comes—he comes to rule us justly!
Psalm 96, interpreted by Juanita Colón

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What is Reclaiming Christmas?

Would you like to review the Bibliography?

Would you like to read more about various Forms of Prayer?