What will 2012 bring?

St. Augustine, Florida at Christmastime © bob traupman 2007. all rights reserved.

Where are we, this New Year’s Day 2012, Lord?

Are we better off than we were a year ago?

What will 2012 bring for us?

It’s an election year, with all the struggle and hype that will bring.

Are we prepared for whatever the year will bring?

Do we realize that “We never know . . . what the next moment will bring?

Give us hope, Lord, this New Year’s Day.

A realistic hope that we might be a little kinder,

a little less self-centered,

a little more willing to go the extra mile for someone, even for a stranger.

Give us the strength to be ready for whatever may come.

– If the economy should get worse;

–if we should lose our job;

–or if a dire crisis should occur.

Give us the grace to be truly thankful and truly repentant, truly humble this New Year’s morning.

This is my prayer, Lord, for me,  for our country, for our world.

This morning may we pray as St. Francis taught us . . .

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen!

May it be so! may it be so!

And now here’s this prayer  on YouTube sung by Angelina

A Happy and Blessed New Year, everyone!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

St. Stephen’s Day – Heroic Love

Today, December 26, is the second day of Christmas,  the first day of Kwanzaa (African American).  May we learn about our own and each others’ celebrations.  It’s easy, just Google the word Kwanzaa.

For us Christians the mystery of Incarnation (God-becoming-human in the person of Jesus Christ) needs more than one day to celebrate.  Here is Day Two:  The Catholic liturgy centuries ago placed the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, the day after Jesus’ glorious feast to show that our faith is not sentimental but requires of us heroic, sacrificial love.  Stephen fearlessly witnessed in court (the word martyr means witness) to his conviction that Jesus is  the Messiah, knowing that his testimony was his death sentence. 

 
Stephen, filled with grace and power,
was working great wonders and signs among the people.
Certain members of the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen,
Cyrenians, and Alexandrians,
and people from Cilicia and Asia,
came forward and debated with Stephen,
but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.

When they heard this, they were infuriated,
and they ground their teeth at him.
But he, filled with the Holy Spirit,
looked up intently to heaven
and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
and he said,
“Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man
standing at the right hand of God.”
But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears,
and rushed upon him together.
They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him.
The witnesses laid down their cloaks
at the feet of a young man named Saul.
As they were stoning Stephen, he called out
“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59

How heroic is our love, Lord?

Do we abandon people — our friends, our lovers, our spouses, our children when the going gets tough?

And I ask you please to be with those who have been abandoned by loved ones, Lord, such as children of alcoholic parents or kids who have gone through the foster care system and may never feel Your Love, as a result or those who have to prostitute themselves in order to survive.

Are we only concerned about our own survival?  What’s best for Number One — Me?

Are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of a friend in need — for You, Lord?

Allow me the grace to  witness to your love for me, Lord, to share it when I can.

My life has meaning only when I share the love and kindness you have shown to me.  Allow me the grace to do that this day, St. Stephen’s Day and every day.

Stephen, a young man,  has always been one of my heroes, Lord.

We need such heroic love in our time, Lord, such heroic young people.

Inspire young women and men to break through the wall of their isolation and be there for their friends in the hard times ahead.

Teach us to never abandon a friend, Lord.

And let my readers know that you love them, Lord,  and will never abandon them either ~ no matter what.

Now, before you go, here is Joan Baez’ Forever Young that I referred to a young man that I wished to aspire to heroic love.   Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen for a beautiful slide show accompanying the song.  Click here.

Enjoy your day off!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 23 ~ What does it all mean?

Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent

O come, O Come Emmanuel

That mourns in lonely exile here

And ransom captive Israel

        Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Remember the age-old story “The Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens?  That laid out for us more than most the meaning of Christmas.

Have you asked yourself what Christmas means for You?  Here’s a short video that might help: (You’ll need to start the video and enter full screen.  It’s only a minute long.  Then go to the top left of you computer and above the word “back”, click on this < and it will bring you back to this page.  Now click here:  (Check this video out first!)

And finally, to end our Advent celebration here’s a rendition of the spiritual “Soon and Very Soon:   Click Here.

Bob Traupman

Contemplative Writer

Merry Christmas, everyone!

       Lo, how a rose e’er blooming,

From Jesse’s lineage coming,

As men of old have sung.

It came, a floweret bright,

Amid the cold of winter

When half spent was the night

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind
With Mary we behold it,
The Virgin mother kind

To show God’s love aright,
She bore to us a Savior
When half spent was the night

The shepherds heard the story
Proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of Glory
Was born on earth this night.

To Bethlehem they sped
And in the manger they found him,
As angels heralds said.

This Flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere;

True man, yet very God,
From Sin and death he saves us,
And lightens every load.

Dear Friends,

Our waiting is over.

Christmas is here.

I’m content that I’ve poured my love into my writings.

I am at peace.  My heart is ready to receive the special gift Jesus wants to give me this Christmas.

And I pray so very earnestly that you receive the special gift God wishes to give you.

Cleanse your heart of resentments / of preoccupations with unnecessary things.

Ask yourself what really is the meaning of your life?

For me the answer is to love as best I can.

I have a lot of love in my heart to share.

So, I hope you’ve received something nourishing and sweet in the 20 posts I’ve shared with you this Advent. It takes me two to three hours a night to put one together, even if I started with a older post.

They are my gift to you.

Have a wonderful Christmas with your family.

 

And if your Christmas is lonely with no one really special to share it with, know that you have someone here who understands and who reaches out to you from my heart to yours because my Christmases are often lonely too.

And be sure to open yourself to the holiness ~ the wholeness  ~ the peace of Christmas.

It is there beneath all the craziness and hype.  It is yours ~ if you seek it. 

Ask for it.

Merry Christmas,  everyone!

Glory to God in the highest and peace to people of good will!

 

Here’s a YouTube video of Handel’s glorious: “Glory to God in the Highest ~ Peace on Earth towards Men of Good Will”

Click on this link:  Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

Once you get to you tube and you have time you can finish up with the HALLELULIA CHORUS and WORTHY IS THE LAMB.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 22 ~ December 22, 2011 ~ The Winter Solstice ~ He must increase

Thursday of the Fourth week of Advent

“O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:

come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.”

         ~ O Antiphons

This morning at 5:30 a. m. we observed the Winter Solstice with our pagan brothers and sisters.  I do not use the term pejoratively; there are those who are reverently close to the earth.

Actually the date of Christmas was taken from the winter solstice because it marks, in the northern hemisphere, the beginning of the ascendency of the sun.  It connotes the phrase from John 3:22-30 in which John the Baptist says the “He must increase; I must decrease.”  And the Baptist’s feast, likewise is near the summer solstice on June 24th.  Thus, the church did not hesitate to borrow from the existing pagan customs.  Christmas trees, for example, came from Germany and the wreathe symbolized eternity.  Again, these were pagan customs.

Did you know that in the middle ages they lit real candles on their Christmas trees?  How ’bout that?

Some Christians today misunderstand our “cross-enculturation”  of things that once had a pagan origin and sometimes berate those of us who celebrate Christmas.

Now before you go, here’s a rendition of “Unto us, a Child is Born” from Handel’s Messiah performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Click Here.  Be sure to enter full screen and turn up your speakers.

With Love,

Bob Traupman,

contemplative writer

Advent Day 22 ~ Are you waiting for something ~ for Someone?

Tuesday of the Fourth week o f Advent

“O Wisdom, O holy Word of God,

you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care.

Come and show your people the way to salvation.”

~ O Antiphons

The Jewish people are waiting for the Messiah. 

We wish our Jewish neighbors well as they begin their Hanukah celebration this evening.

We are waiting for the return of Christ.  Some expect him “soon and very soon.”

Every single one of us is longing for something — Someone.

What — or Who — are YOU waiting for?

– for Godot?

– to be accepted into college?

– a new job?

– your son to come home from Afghanistan?

– to win the lottery?

– someone to fill your loneliness?

– for news that your biopsy is benign?

– to get home after being stuck in rush hour traffic and bad day at work?

– a letter that never comes?

There are all kinds of things we have to wait for.

Advent is about learning how to use “waiting time” well.

We can wait patiently or impatiently.

Some people want “fast access DSL” to be even faster.

But I have learned that slower is better.

When we’re waiting in line or in the doctor’s office — especially during Advent — we can go inside ourselves.  Quiet our mind. Just focus on our breathing for a while or say a decade of the rosary.

Real life happens when we’re waiting for something else to happen.

Life happens between here and there.

But we have to be ready. Open.     Ready to hear God speak to us in the murmured Wisdom of a three-year-old.

Ready to see the evidence of God’s presence when you walk out the door in the morning.

– or even to see God in a baby in manger.

Ready and waiting for Jesus to come to us in a new way this Christmas.

Yes, life happens WHILE we’re waiting.

When we’re not in any particular hurry.

When we’re ready to respond to whomever wants or needs our attention at the moment

– one of your children or perhaps a even a stranger at the  checkout counter at the corner grocery store.

That’s what a real Christmas is all about!

That’s what a spiritual life is all about whether you are Catholic or Hebrew or Muslim or Buddhist or non-believer.

But the most important waiting that we try to learn during the Advent season is to wait for the Lord.

Having enough faith to wait for God to act in our life on God’s time — not ours.

So, Advent is about learning patience.

It’s  also about longing for something –Someone more.

About realizing  as St. Augustine said:

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, my God!“

Finally, dear friends, I share with you a song I’ve always loved from West Side Story because it captures so well the excitement / the anticipation/ the hope / the yearning / striving / hungering / the thirsting / the DESIRE of the human race for something MORE! Someone NEW to break into our life and turn us upside down.

“Something’s Coming!” sung by Tony in West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein — a YouTube presentation. Turn up your speakers and enter full screen.  Christmas is 4 days away.

Have a great day!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 20: Depressed or lonely at Christmas?

O come, thou dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by thine advent here;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

And death’s dark shadows put to flight.

~ O Antiphons

Fourth Sunday of Advent

There sometimes can be a lot of depression swirling around at Christmas.

People can feel lonelier because we’re expected to be cheerier and they often don’t feel it.

This blog is meant for us to pray and reach out and notice these folks.

In the gospel today (Luke 1:26-38) is  about the Annunciation of Mary.  The angel

didn’t take away Mary and Joseph’s problems of what to say to the neighbors and all the hardship they would have to face.

Let’s be with folks who have lost a loved one and still miss them.

With kids who are shuffled back from one parent to another to “celebrate” the holidays.

With soldiers far away from home and their families at home without them.

And so, may we pray:

There are sometimes dark clouds in our lives, Lord.
Pierce the gloominess of our lives with Your very own Light.
May we allow You to dawn on us and in us this day.
May we be ready for Your dawning in a new way in our lives this Christmas.
May this celebration of Jesus’ birth bring meaning and joy in the midst of our worries and concerns.
And may we BE the dawning of  your light and love and justice
in our homes, our neighborhoods, our jobs, our world.

And there are dark and ominous clouds over our world right now, Lord.
Pierce our greed and hate and fear and complacency and violence with hope, Lord.
May we pray earnestly for a new dawn for our beloved country and our world.
May we BE the dawning of  your light and love and justice in our land.

Lord Jesus, come!
May the light of that dawning transform our lives and our land.
We need Your Light and Your Love more than ever.

And now for your listening enjoyment here is the great Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing “Unto us a Son is given” Click here. Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen.

For today’s Mas readings Click here.

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 19 ~ The Burning Bush of the World

Saturday of the third week of Advent

Christmas Eve is a week away.

Advent themes are all about waiting for light to shine in our darkness.
For we who are Christians we await, Jesus, Yeshua, who is for us the Light of the World.
We prepare a place for him to shine in our own hearts this day.
We invite you to search out your own inner meaning whatever that might be.

Here is one of the magnificent O Antiphons that appears in the liturgy as a countdown to Christmas:

O Adonai and Ruler of the House of Israel,

you appeared to Moses in the fire of the burning bush

and on Mount Sinai gave him your law.

Come, and with outstretched arm redeem us.

And my prayer . . .

O Adonai*, we need you in our world more than ever!

You appeared in the burning bush long ago.

I remember this awesome sunrise two years ago over the ocean at  St. Augustine Beach.

I’m reminded of the old sailor’s maxim:  “Red at night, a sailor’s delight; red in the morning, sailor’s take warning.”

Come with your refiner’s fire and burn your way into our hearts.

so that we can prepare the way for the Messiah to come into our lives,

into our homes,

our workplace and marketplace,

our neighborhoods

our beloved  country,

our waiting world!

Come Lord Jesus!

______

What are  the “O Antiphons?” One of the most cherished collections of our ancient liturgical chants are the seven “O Antiphons” that are sung each of the seven nights before Christmas at Vespers beginning tonight. They have beautiful chant melodies.  I am using some of them interspersed in the next week before Christmas. 

Here is a dramatic audio slide show of O come, O come Emmanuel for your reflection (which is the text of the seven O antiphons.  Be sure to turn up your speakers and enter full screen

* Adonai — one of the names the Jewish people use for God.

For those those of you interested in Gregorian Chant, here is a web site that has information and  recordings of the chant melodies of all seven. (Scroll down to the bottom of the chart. The recordings for each antiphon are there; you have to click on the audio sign for each.  Have patience!  It’s well worth it.)

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

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Advent Day 17 ~ Soar like an eagle!

The symbol for St. John is the eagle because he soars to the heights of mystical love

Wednesday of the third week of Advent

Isaiah is so amazing.    He offers hope. He sees imminent possibilities for the human race.  He warns.  And also he chastises. (More on that later.)

I’ve always loved this scripture that appeared in the Mass readings recently:

God gives strength to the fainting,

for the weak he makes vigor abound.

Though young men faint and grow weary,

and youth stagger and fall,

They that hope in the Lord

will renew their strength,

they will soar as with eagle’s wings;

They will run and not grow weary,

walk and not grow faint.

~ Isaiah 40:30-31.

I ring up Betsy often, Lord. She’s eighty-something and has had a marvelous 65 year love affair with John. I last saw them on the couch, both dressed in denim gaga-eyed like teenagers.  Now John is slipping away into another world within himself.  And yet, she finds that her God and the angels are lifting her up on eagle’s wings. And she tells me — to her delight –she feels renewed by her faith and the Magnificat Mass book  I got her as a gift.   Renew her vigor, Lord.

Today  I got a notice for hefty fines for Augie, Lord, a really good guy, 34 for something or other; I didn’t know he was back in town.  He has “staggered and fallen” again. He has lost his vigor, has lost his way.  Be with him, too, Lord.

And then, praying about this Isaian text, I want to mention the guys on the corner of Broward and I-95, Lord.  I don’t care what they do with the buck I give them. I just look them in the eye, give them a thumbs up and ask their name.  When the light changes, I lift them up in prayer.   Their sign often says “Homeless Vet.” Young men whose souls are  buried deep within. Homelessness is tough, Lord.  I know.  I had a brief bout of it.    Be with them, too, Lord.  I’d love to find a way to help these guys find their souls again, Lord.  Let them run again, Lord, into the wind.  Let us honor the poor, Lord.  They have much to teach the rest of us.

Then there’s Sean, Lord.  He’s down for the count this Christmas because his marriage is headed for divorce and they have to get the kids through it all. Be with that family, Lord, and all the homes in our land that are not sweetness and light before Christmas.

I, praise you, Lord, because you have restored my vigor in marvelous ways at age 68!  You’re renewing my strength.  And I’d love to soar as if with eagle’s wings if you’d grant me that grace.  Soar to the heights of the mountains and dive to the depths of the ocean of Your love, Lord.  I’m ready and willing to serve You, Lord for the next twenty years.

Whatever You will, Lord. Whatever you will.

Day by day, let us serve You and Your people the best we can.

And now enjoy Michael Joncas’ anointed song “On Eagles’ Wings”  Click here. Turn up your speakers, enter full screen and have a great day ~ whether you want to or not!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer

Advent Day 15 ~ The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe ~ God prefers the poor

Monday of the Third Week of Advent

Today,we honor our sister and brothers in Mexico

as they celebrate the appearance of the Mother of Jesus  to a poor peasant native Mexican.

Today, may we unite ourselves in solidarity with all the peoples of North and South and Central America who rejoice in this feast day; indeed may we unite ourselves in solidarity with  all the world’s poor.

 Half way down is an interpretation of the symbolism of the image that of the woman that appeared on Juan Diego’s cloak.  That’s  truly amazing.  Be sure to check it out  It converted a whole culture.

Here’s the charming story; it’s well worth the read:

An elderly Indian man named Chuauhtlatoczin (“Juan Diego” in Spanish) had a vision of Mary, the mother of Jesus, at Tepeyac, a squalid Indian village outside of Mexico City, 470 years ago. Mary directed Juan Diego to tell the bishop to build the church in Tepeyac. The Spanish bishop, however, dismissed the Indian’s tale as mere superstition. He asked that he bring some sort of proof, if he wanted to be taken seriously. Three days later, the Virgin Mary appeared again and told Juan Diego to pick the exquisitely beautiful roses that had miraculously bloomed amidst December snows, and take them as a sign to the bishop. When the Indian opened his poncho to present the roses to the bishop, the flowers poured out from his poncho to reveal an image of the Virgin Mary painted on the inside of the poncho. That image hangs today in the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City and is venerated by thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.

Significantly, Mary appeared not as a white-skinned, blue-eyed, blond-haired European Madonna but as a dark-skinned, brown-eyed, black-haired “Tonantzin,” the revered Indian Mother, and she spoke to Juan Diego not in cultured Castillian but in his own Nahuatal language. She spoke in the language of the powerless, disenfranchised, and despised Indians. She was then and is today, “La Morenita” – the Brown One. Her message to the bishop was that God’s church should be built out on the fringes of society, amidst the poor and the downtrodden. The vision challenged the powerful conquerors, the Spaniards of Mexico City, to change their way of thinking and acting. It challenged them to move out from their position of power and influence to the periphery; to leave their magnificent cathedral and build God’s house in Tepeyac – among the poor and the despised, away from the center of power and culture and education and the arts.

Guadalupe is a “vision” story and, like all such stories, tells us something about God and something about ourselves. More precisely, it tells us how God wants to be among us. St. Juan Diego’s vision of where God wants to be or whom we should listen to should come as no surprise to us. Throughout history, God has consistently chosen to be with poor people. In that respect, the Blessed Virgin Mary’s message to St. Juan Diego at Guadalupe is a restatement of Jesus’ mission: That God is in those who are hungry, thirsty, imprisoned, naked, sick, stranger, and suffering. The challenge for us is to heed the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the message of Christ’s Gospel, and reach out to those who belong to the margins of our society.
– Source: The Manila Bulletin online.

God of power and mercy,

you blessed the Americas at Tepeyac

with the presence of the Virgin Mary at Guadalupe.

May her prayers help all men and women

to accept each other as brothers and sisters

Through your justice present in our hearts

may your peace reign in our world.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

. . . official prayer from the Mass of the feast

The Image of Our Lady is actually an Aztec Pictograph

that was read and understood quickly by the Aztec Indians.         
1.    THE LADY STOOD IN FRONT OF THE SUN
She was greater than the dreaded Huitzilopochtli, their
sun-god of war.
2.    HER FOOT RESTED ON THE CRESCENT
MOON
She had clearly crushed Quetzalcoatl,
the feathered serpent moon-god.
3.   THE STARS STREWN ACROSS THE MANTLE
She was greater than the stars of heaven which they worshiped.
She was a virgin and the Queen of the heavens for Virgo rests over her womb and the northern crown upon her head.
She appeared on December 12, 1531 and the stars that she wore are the constellations of the stars that appeared in the sky that day!
4.   THE BLUE‑GREEN HUE OF HER MANTLE
She was a Queen because she wears the color of royalty.
5.   THE BLACK CROSS ON THE BROOCH AT HER NECK
Her God was that of the Spanish Missionaries, Jesus Christ her son who died
on the cross for all mankind.
6.   THE BLACK BELT
She was with child because she wore the Aztec Maternity Belt.
7.   THE FOUR PETAL FLOWER OVER THE WOMB
She was the Mother of God because the flower was a special symbol of
life, movement and deity-the center of the universe.
8. HER HANDS ARE JOINED IN PRAYER
She was not God but clearly there was one greater than Her and she
pointed her finger to the cross on her brooch.
9. THE DESIGN ON HER ROSE COLORED GARMENT
She is the Queen of the Earth because she is wearing a contour map of
Mexico telling the Indians exactly where the apparition took place.

The Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Science

1.   The image to this date, cannot be explained by science.

2.  The image shows no sign of deterioration after 450 years!
The tilma or cloak of Saint Juan Diego on which the image of Our Lady has
been imprinted, is a coarse fabric made from the threads of the maguey
cactus. This fiber disintegrates within 20-60 years!

3. There is no under sketch, no sizing and no protective over-varnish on the
image.

4.  Microscopic examination revealed that there were no brush strokes.

5.  The image seems to increase in size and change colors due to an unknown
property of the surface and substance of which it is made.

6.  According to Kodak of Mexico, the image is smooth and feels like a
modern day photograph.  (Produced 300 years before the invention of
photography.)

7. The image has consistently defied exact reproduction, whether by brush or
camera.

8.  Several images can be seen reflected in the eyes of the Virgin. It is
believed to be the images of Juan Diego, Bishop Juan de Zummaraga, Juan
Gonzales, the interpreter and others.

9.  The distortion and place of the images are identical to what is produced in
the normal eye which is impossible to obtain on a flat surface.

10. The stars on Our Lady’s Mantle coincide with the constellations in the sky on
December 12, 1531. All who have scientifically examined the image of Our
Lady over the centuries confess that its properties are absolutely unique
and so inexplicable in human terms that the image can only be supernatural!

With love,

Bob Traupman

contemplative writer