The Song Still Sings
Stories
Contents
What's Up This Week
Good Stories: "Never Forget To Be Thankful" by C. David McKirachan
"The Song Still Sings" by C. David McKirachan
"The Holy Family" by Sil Galvan
What's Up This Week
Let's stop whatever we are doing and praise God for the infant given to save us all. Let us pray for strength in every family because every family has worries and concerns. This is the time to take off the old and put on the new. Let's be thankful for yet another year to begin anew and praise the Lord. Happy New Year!
Good Stories
Never Forget To Be Thankful
by C. David McKirachan
As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
-- Colossians 3:12-17
I often wonder how the early Christians ever held together. They had no scripture; they had no ecclesiastical church structure to blame everything on. They only had the rantings of a few inspired maniacs who had more faith than common sense. Paul was the chief crazy. He burned with zeal for the gospel. His enthusiasm blew through these toddler churches like a storm.
This passage from Colossians is one of my favorites in the Bible. It sings with a music that sets up harmonics deep in my being. One of my Bible classes made a stole with the Philips translation of this passage written on it. I'd made them memorize it. They were proving they understood it. When I put on that stole I wear their gratitude and hope and our harmony.
Our shared faith is not a solitary understanding that brings us to enlightenment. Hans Kung said that the Christ came to teach us what it means to be truly human. It is a messy, dynamic brawl of need and strength, hope and despair, fun and sweat. It is what it means to be the church. It is what it means to be a child of God. This is what we wear like a garment. This is what was so attractive and gravitational about the early church. These people lived authentic lives of intimacy with each other and with God.
"Never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you." They gave me the stole. It is a gift that is for each and all of us.
The Song Still Sings
by C. David McKirachan
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord"; and then they would return to their home.... Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favour with the Lord and with the people.
--1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
The gratitude of the mother of Samuel for the lifting of her "curse" is hard to comprehend with our present familiarity with the reproductive system and the role of both parents in conception. The grace that has come to us because of this understanding and the liberation of women from the burden of the crushing responsibility of infertility is one of the gifts of modern medical knowledge.
Today, the truth that women have value and importance apart from the bearing of children is critical to our understanding of who we are as human beings and believers in the Christ. But the only hope Hannah had was a dispensation from God backed by the collateral of her child. We would call such a "deal" primitive or even barbaric. But in her context it was a prayer of hope. Hannah's integrity in giving Samuel to God shows her seriousness.
The account of her trip to see Samuel and her annual gift to the child is a touchstone of empathy in this ancient story.
I was a child once. (Many of my friends would counter with the truth that I still am one.) I was blessed with a father and a mother who cared for me as a real person and who were not afraid to let me be different from them. Yet no matter how far I went or how big I grew, they embraced me every chance they got -- in many different ways.
My birthday is December first. It's close enough to Christmas to be sprinkled with a bit of magic, and my mother took advantage. No matter where I was on that day, the phone would ring at an ungodly hour and I would slur into the phone "Herroww...?" My less than scintillating greeting would be met by a voice singing: "There's a song in the air, there's a star in the sky, there's a mother's sweet prayer and a baby's low cry. And the star rains its power while the beautiful sing, for the manger at Bethlehem cradles a king." According to my mother, she sang this to me on the day I was born.
We all need to be remembered. We all need a gift now and then that reminds us that no matter where we've gone or what we've become, we are loved. Hannah gave that to Samuel. It is the kind of small gesture that forms bedrock beneath a person and allows them to stand up in life, even in the face of kings.
I miss my mother. I miss the call. But the song still sings. She gave it to me.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
The Holy Family
By Sil Galvan
If we look at today's readings, we would see that they all focus on relationships. But for the most part, they are not speaking about just any relationships, but a particular type of relationships, namely, family relationships. The fourth of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses was: Honor your father and your mother.
A few years ago, those who follow professional football saw an incredible example of honoring your father.
* Brett Favre, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, found out that his 58 year old father had passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack or stroke. Less than 24 hours later, there was question about whether or not he would be able to lead his team in the weekly Monday night game. Most men who lose their father would want to be with their families. But Favre elected to play in the game in tribute to his father, who had introduced him to the game as a child and been his coach in high school. Before the game, he gave an emotional talk to his teammates about what his father had meant to him and why he wanted to play. As an example of the type of person his father was, one article I read pointed out that Irvin Favre attended many Packer's games, both at home and away, and he once flew back to Green Bay from a playoff game in St. Louis. When they found out who he was, the passengers around him were surprised that he traveled in coach and not in first-class. After all, his son was the first NFL player to sign a $100 million contract. "Everybody thinks we're rich because we're Brett's parents," Irvin Favre said. "It's Brett's money. He earned it. He should keep it. I just enjoy watching him play and knowing I taught him some of what he does."
After his talk to his teammates, Favre went out and passed for 311 yards in just the first half of the game, the most yards ever in a half in his thirteen-year career. And anyone who saw the game would swear that some of those passes were absolutely "otherworldly." Truly, this was a very visible example of what it means to honor your father.
The author of our first reading from the Wisdom of Sirach amplifies on the command to honor your father and your mother. He confirms the authority not only of a father over his children, but also of a mother over her sons. Conversely, by honoring their parents and following God's command, and respecting them as they would respect God himself, children atone for their own sins and store up riches in heaven. And lastly, the author stresses the need for children to care for their elderly parents. He says that children should not "grieve" their parents, that is, cause them to feel grief or sorrow or to oppress or wrong them. And even though Alzheimer's disease as such was unknown at the time, he advises children to "be considerate of their father, even if his mind fail," and not revile" him; that is, not address him or speak contemptuously or abusively of him.
In the second reading, the writer to the Colossians discusses the qualities of Christian life that should govern our relationships with one another, both inside and outside of the family. The most important of these qualities are compassion, kindness, patience, and forgiveness, all of which are rooted in Christian love.
Both of these readings are cited extensively in the Catechism in its discussion of the Christian family. "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of the church's communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church. For it is a community of faith, hope, and charity." (#2204) We also need to remember that our human family has its origins in the Divine Family of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit, who exist, first and foremost, in relationship with one another. Again, the Catechism puts it this way: "the Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit... The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society." (#2207)
Perhaps one of the most visible of all of the signs of the love present in a family is a mutual respect by all of its members for one another: parents for their children, children for their parents, and husbands and wives for each other. The catechism advises that "parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons." (#2222) Using Sirach's admonitions to grown children to care for their elderly parents, the catechism points out that "Respect for parents derives from gratitude toward those who, by the gift of life, their love and their work, have brought their children into the world and enabled them to grow in stature, wisdom, and grace." (#2215) (1)
Of course, no marriage can survive if a husband and wife do not have a mutual respect for one another. Inasmuch as we have discussed the fourth of the Ten Commandments at length, perhaps it would be appropriate to mention one writer's humorous view of the Ten Commandments that should govern the relationship of a husband and wife in marriage.
1. Thou shalt not wrap thy husband's sandwiches in magazine articles about a man's responsibility to love his wife.
2. Thou shalt not leave scripture verses about submission tied to thy wife's hair dryer.
3. If thou teachest Sunday school, thou shalt not use thy spouse's shortcomings as lesson illustrations.
4. Compare not thy spouse with the spouse of another, lest thou also be compared and found wanting.
5. Thou shalt help with tasks thou thinkest are not thine, lest they become thine alone.
6. Thou shalt not use the excuse "This is just the way I am" to keep from becoming what thou couldst and shouldst be.
7. Thou shalt not say, "You always!" or "You never!" when thou speakest with thy spouse.
8. Thou shall impress upon thy children the strengths, and not the weaknesses of thy spouse.
9. Thou shalt spend thy money building memories instead of buying things.
10. Thou shall pray together each and every day so that thou shalt stay together until thy hair grayeth upon thy heads. (2)
In today's gospel passage we heard Luke's narrative of the incident when Jesus was left behind in the temple. Now a Jewish boy became a man when he was twelve years of age at which time he became a "son of the law" (bar mitzvah) and had to take the obligations of the law upon him. So it would be entirely natural for him to be in the temple at this time in his life. We also have to realize that his being left behind by his parents was not neglect, but a simple oversight. Usually the women in a caravan started out much earlier than the men because they traveled more slowly. The men started later and traveled faster and the two sections would not meet until the evening encampment was reached.
Now it was the custom during the Passover for the Sanhedrin to meet in public in the temple court to discuss, in the presence of all who would listen, religious and theological questions and it was there that his parents found Jesus. We must not think of it as a scene where a precocious boy was dominating a crowd of his seniors. Hearing and asking questions is the regular Jewish phrase for a student learning from his teachers. Jesus was listening to the discussions and eagerly searching for knowledge like an avid student. (3) Luke concludes his narrative by saying that Jesus returned with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them.
I would like to close with a couple of verses from a hymn called "Once In Royal David's City" which I believe crystalizes what the feast of the Holy Family is all about.
And through all his wondrous childhood he would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden in whose gentle arms he lay.
Christian children all must be mild, obedient, good as he.
At first blush, this verse seems to admonish the children in every Christian family to obey their parents just as Jesus obeyed Joseph and Mary. But we have to realize that we are all God's children and this verse is telling all of us to obey our heavenly Father, as his Son has shown us in his own life.
For he is our childhood's pattern, day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak and helpless, tears and smiles like us he knew.
And he feeleth for our sadness and he shareth in our gladness. (4)
This is the crux of the matter: Jesus became one like us in every stage of our existence from infancy to death. He could have just appeared one day in the desert and began teaching just as he ultimately did. But he chose to grow day by day, just as we do. He knew joy and sorrow, just as we do. And thus he can empathize with us in both our gladness and in our sadness.
The importance of the human family in human development and in society cannot be overemphasized. Much of the degradation of moral standards and the basic disregard for the value of human life that are so apparent in today's society can be traced to the decline in family values and the explosion of single-parent households. And invariably the evils of murder, abuse and all sorts of crime have their root in one cause: a lack of love during one's formative years. As we proceed in our journey through this Christmas season, the church reminds us of the importance of the human family, a family that should reflect its origins in the Divine Family of the Trinity. Therefore, we must strive to imitate this family to the best of our ability: with love, mutual respect, obedience, kindness and forgiveness for one another. Then we will all surely become members of the family of God and his adopted children.
References:
1. Catechism: #'s 2197-2233 (The Christian Family) & 1655-1658 (The Church as family). United States Catholic Conference, Washington, DC: 1994. [As recommended in A Homily Sourcebook (The Universal Catechism), by N. Abeyasingha. The Pastoral Press, Washington, D.C.: 1993.]
2. From A Time to Remember, by William J. Bausch. From More Telling Stories, Compelling Stories, pp. 148-151. Twenty-third Publications, Mystic, Ct. 06355: 1993.
3. The Dawning Realization. From The Gospel of Luke, by William Barclay. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky. 1975.
4. Once In Royal David's City. Words by C. F. Alexander, music by H. J. Gauntlett.
Silverius "Sil" Galvan is a deacon at the Catholic Community of Saint Mary of the Lake in Lakewood, New Jersey. He has been involved in music ministry as an organist, guitarist, and sometime cantor for more than four decades. Galvan also operates www.deaconsil.com, a website offering extensive homiletic resources.
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and email the story to us.
**************
StoryShare, December 31, 2006, issue.
Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
What's Up This Week
Good Stories: "Never Forget To Be Thankful" by C. David McKirachan
"The Song Still Sings" by C. David McKirachan
"The Holy Family" by Sil Galvan
What's Up This Week
Let's stop whatever we are doing and praise God for the infant given to save us all. Let us pray for strength in every family because every family has worries and concerns. This is the time to take off the old and put on the new. Let's be thankful for yet another year to begin anew and praise the Lord. Happy New Year!
Good Stories
Never Forget To Be Thankful
by C. David McKirachan
As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
-- Colossians 3:12-17
I often wonder how the early Christians ever held together. They had no scripture; they had no ecclesiastical church structure to blame everything on. They only had the rantings of a few inspired maniacs who had more faith than common sense. Paul was the chief crazy. He burned with zeal for the gospel. His enthusiasm blew through these toddler churches like a storm.
This passage from Colossians is one of my favorites in the Bible. It sings with a music that sets up harmonics deep in my being. One of my Bible classes made a stole with the Philips translation of this passage written on it. I'd made them memorize it. They were proving they understood it. When I put on that stole I wear their gratitude and hope and our harmony.
Our shared faith is not a solitary understanding that brings us to enlightenment. Hans Kung said that the Christ came to teach us what it means to be truly human. It is a messy, dynamic brawl of need and strength, hope and despair, fun and sweat. It is what it means to be the church. It is what it means to be a child of God. This is what we wear like a garment. This is what was so attractive and gravitational about the early church. These people lived authentic lives of intimacy with each other and with God.
"Never forget to be thankful for what God has done for you." They gave me the stole. It is a gift that is for each and all of us.
The Song Still Sings
by C. David McKirachan
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, "May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord"; and then they would return to their home.... Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favour with the Lord and with the people.
--1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26
The gratitude of the mother of Samuel for the lifting of her "curse" is hard to comprehend with our present familiarity with the reproductive system and the role of both parents in conception. The grace that has come to us because of this understanding and the liberation of women from the burden of the crushing responsibility of infertility is one of the gifts of modern medical knowledge.
Today, the truth that women have value and importance apart from the bearing of children is critical to our understanding of who we are as human beings and believers in the Christ. But the only hope Hannah had was a dispensation from God backed by the collateral of her child. We would call such a "deal" primitive or even barbaric. But in her context it was a prayer of hope. Hannah's integrity in giving Samuel to God shows her seriousness.
The account of her trip to see Samuel and her annual gift to the child is a touchstone of empathy in this ancient story.
I was a child once. (Many of my friends would counter with the truth that I still am one.) I was blessed with a father and a mother who cared for me as a real person and who were not afraid to let me be different from them. Yet no matter how far I went or how big I grew, they embraced me every chance they got -- in many different ways.
My birthday is December first. It's close enough to Christmas to be sprinkled with a bit of magic, and my mother took advantage. No matter where I was on that day, the phone would ring at an ungodly hour and I would slur into the phone "Herroww...?" My less than scintillating greeting would be met by a voice singing: "There's a song in the air, there's a star in the sky, there's a mother's sweet prayer and a baby's low cry. And the star rains its power while the beautiful sing, for the manger at Bethlehem cradles a king." According to my mother, she sang this to me on the day I was born.
We all need to be remembered. We all need a gift now and then that reminds us that no matter where we've gone or what we've become, we are loved. Hannah gave that to Samuel. It is the kind of small gesture that forms bedrock beneath a person and allows them to stand up in life, even in the face of kings.
I miss my mother. I miss the call. But the song still sings. She gave it to me.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
The Holy Family
By Sil Galvan
If we look at today's readings, we would see that they all focus on relationships. But for the most part, they are not speaking about just any relationships, but a particular type of relationships, namely, family relationships. The fourth of the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses was: Honor your father and your mother.
A few years ago, those who follow professional football saw an incredible example of honoring your father.
* Brett Favre, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, found out that his 58 year old father had passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack or stroke. Less than 24 hours later, there was question about whether or not he would be able to lead his team in the weekly Monday night game. Most men who lose their father would want to be with their families. But Favre elected to play in the game in tribute to his father, who had introduced him to the game as a child and been his coach in high school. Before the game, he gave an emotional talk to his teammates about what his father had meant to him and why he wanted to play. As an example of the type of person his father was, one article I read pointed out that Irvin Favre attended many Packer's games, both at home and away, and he once flew back to Green Bay from a playoff game in St. Louis. When they found out who he was, the passengers around him were surprised that he traveled in coach and not in first-class. After all, his son was the first NFL player to sign a $100 million contract. "Everybody thinks we're rich because we're Brett's parents," Irvin Favre said. "It's Brett's money. He earned it. He should keep it. I just enjoy watching him play and knowing I taught him some of what he does."
After his talk to his teammates, Favre went out and passed for 311 yards in just the first half of the game, the most yards ever in a half in his thirteen-year career. And anyone who saw the game would swear that some of those passes were absolutely "otherworldly." Truly, this was a very visible example of what it means to honor your father.
The author of our first reading from the Wisdom of Sirach amplifies on the command to honor your father and your mother. He confirms the authority not only of a father over his children, but also of a mother over her sons. Conversely, by honoring their parents and following God's command, and respecting them as they would respect God himself, children atone for their own sins and store up riches in heaven. And lastly, the author stresses the need for children to care for their elderly parents. He says that children should not "grieve" their parents, that is, cause them to feel grief or sorrow or to oppress or wrong them. And even though Alzheimer's disease as such was unknown at the time, he advises children to "be considerate of their father, even if his mind fail," and not revile" him; that is, not address him or speak contemptuously or abusively of him.
In the second reading, the writer to the Colossians discusses the qualities of Christian life that should govern our relationships with one another, both inside and outside of the family. The most important of these qualities are compassion, kindness, patience, and forgiveness, all of which are rooted in Christian love.
Both of these readings are cited extensively in the Catechism in its discussion of the Christian family. "The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of the church's communion, and for this reason it can and should be called a domestic church. For it is a community of faith, hope, and charity." (#2204) We also need to remember that our human family has its origins in the Divine Family of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Spirit, who exist, first and foremost, in relationship with one another. Again, the Catechism puts it this way: "the Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit... The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society." (#2207)
Perhaps one of the most visible of all of the signs of the love present in a family is a mutual respect by all of its members for one another: parents for their children, children for their parents, and husbands and wives for each other. The catechism advises that "parents must regard their children as children of God and respect them as human persons." (#2222) Using Sirach's admonitions to grown children to care for their elderly parents, the catechism points out that "Respect for parents derives from gratitude toward those who, by the gift of life, their love and their work, have brought their children into the world and enabled them to grow in stature, wisdom, and grace." (#2215) (1)
Of course, no marriage can survive if a husband and wife do not have a mutual respect for one another. Inasmuch as we have discussed the fourth of the Ten Commandments at length, perhaps it would be appropriate to mention one writer's humorous view of the Ten Commandments that should govern the relationship of a husband and wife in marriage.
1. Thou shalt not wrap thy husband's sandwiches in magazine articles about a man's responsibility to love his wife.
2. Thou shalt not leave scripture verses about submission tied to thy wife's hair dryer.
3. If thou teachest Sunday school, thou shalt not use thy spouse's shortcomings as lesson illustrations.
4. Compare not thy spouse with the spouse of another, lest thou also be compared and found wanting.
5. Thou shalt help with tasks thou thinkest are not thine, lest they become thine alone.
6. Thou shalt not use the excuse "This is just the way I am" to keep from becoming what thou couldst and shouldst be.
7. Thou shalt not say, "You always!" or "You never!" when thou speakest with thy spouse.
8. Thou shall impress upon thy children the strengths, and not the weaknesses of thy spouse.
9. Thou shalt spend thy money building memories instead of buying things.
10. Thou shall pray together each and every day so that thou shalt stay together until thy hair grayeth upon thy heads. (2)
In today's gospel passage we heard Luke's narrative of the incident when Jesus was left behind in the temple. Now a Jewish boy became a man when he was twelve years of age at which time he became a "son of the law" (bar mitzvah) and had to take the obligations of the law upon him. So it would be entirely natural for him to be in the temple at this time in his life. We also have to realize that his being left behind by his parents was not neglect, but a simple oversight. Usually the women in a caravan started out much earlier than the men because they traveled more slowly. The men started later and traveled faster and the two sections would not meet until the evening encampment was reached.
Now it was the custom during the Passover for the Sanhedrin to meet in public in the temple court to discuss, in the presence of all who would listen, religious and theological questions and it was there that his parents found Jesus. We must not think of it as a scene where a precocious boy was dominating a crowd of his seniors. Hearing and asking questions is the regular Jewish phrase for a student learning from his teachers. Jesus was listening to the discussions and eagerly searching for knowledge like an avid student. (3) Luke concludes his narrative by saying that Jesus returned with them to Nazareth and was obedient to them.
I would like to close with a couple of verses from a hymn called "Once In Royal David's City" which I believe crystalizes what the feast of the Holy Family is all about.
And through all his wondrous childhood he would honor and obey,
Love and watch the lowly maiden in whose gentle arms he lay.
Christian children all must be mild, obedient, good as he.
At first blush, this verse seems to admonish the children in every Christian family to obey their parents just as Jesus obeyed Joseph and Mary. But we have to realize that we are all God's children and this verse is telling all of us to obey our heavenly Father, as his Son has shown us in his own life.
For he is our childhood's pattern, day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak and helpless, tears and smiles like us he knew.
And he feeleth for our sadness and he shareth in our gladness. (4)
This is the crux of the matter: Jesus became one like us in every stage of our existence from infancy to death. He could have just appeared one day in the desert and began teaching just as he ultimately did. But he chose to grow day by day, just as we do. He knew joy and sorrow, just as we do. And thus he can empathize with us in both our gladness and in our sadness.
The importance of the human family in human development and in society cannot be overemphasized. Much of the degradation of moral standards and the basic disregard for the value of human life that are so apparent in today's society can be traced to the decline in family values and the explosion of single-parent households. And invariably the evils of murder, abuse and all sorts of crime have their root in one cause: a lack of love during one's formative years. As we proceed in our journey through this Christmas season, the church reminds us of the importance of the human family, a family that should reflect its origins in the Divine Family of the Trinity. Therefore, we must strive to imitate this family to the best of our ability: with love, mutual respect, obedience, kindness and forgiveness for one another. Then we will all surely become members of the family of God and his adopted children.
References:
1. Catechism: #'s 2197-2233 (The Christian Family) & 1655-1658 (The Church as family). United States Catholic Conference, Washington, DC: 1994. [As recommended in A Homily Sourcebook (The Universal Catechism), by N. Abeyasingha. The Pastoral Press, Washington, D.C.: 1993.]
2. From A Time to Remember, by William J. Bausch. From More Telling Stories, Compelling Stories, pp. 148-151. Twenty-third Publications, Mystic, Ct. 06355: 1993.
3. The Dawning Realization. From The Gospel of Luke, by William Barclay. Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky. 1975.
4. Once In Royal David's City. Words by C. F. Alexander, music by H. J. Gauntlett.
Silverius "Sil" Galvan is a deacon at the Catholic Community of Saint Mary of the Lake in Lakewood, New Jersey. He has been involved in music ministry as an organist, guitarist, and sometime cantor for more than four decades. Galvan also operates www.deaconsil.com, a website offering extensive homiletic resources.
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply click here share-a-story@csspub.com and email the story to us.
**************
StoryShare, December 31, 2006, issue.
Copyright 2006 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
