'The harvest of righteousness shall be sown i...
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'The harvest of righteousness shall be sown in peace by those who make peace' (Letter of St James)
Friends of The Little Sisters of Joy
an ecumenical foundation of Prayer, Peace and Reconciliation
Newsletter no 10 New Year 2008
My dear Friends
I hope that your time between Christmas and New Year has been a peaceful and prayerful one.
It is a time of transition, the year 'turns' on New years Eve. The Church moves, between Christmas and New Year, rapdily through a series of dramatic events and Feasts, seemingly from long ago, but fresh in the eternity of the moment, until she reaches the New Year, a soleminty of Mary the Mother of God. It is important to remember that Our Blessed Mother guides each and every one of us, her arms held gently round our shoulders, in the right direction through the flow of our lives.
On the 26th December, which most of us know simply as Boxing Day, we have the Feast of St Stephen, the first Martyr in the Church's rich tradition of her Saints and Martyrs. Looking at the Book of Acts, we see the wonderful vision of Heaven, which St Stephen experienced. (He is also immortalised in the carol, rather poignant, of Good King Wenceslaus.) Close to this is the laying on of hands of the Seven, who are commissioned by God and the apostles, to carry out the mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world.
'For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.'
These important words, at the very heart of the Jewish liturgy, are are embedded in the 2 eschatological texts, virtually identical, of Isaiah 2:1-4 and Micah 4:1-4.
With the current news from Israel/ Palestine seeming to draw us towards the latter days more and more,we would do well, with Mary, St Stephen, Isaiah and Micah, to ponder the Mystery of how God will bring about universal Peace, when swords will be turned into ploughshares and there will never be war again.
Always with hope for a good and joyful New Year
Adam lay y-boundenBounden in a bond;Four thousand winterThought he not too long;And all was for an apple,An apple that he took,As clerkes finden writtenIn theire book.Ne had the apple taken been,The apple taken been,Ne hadde never our LadyA been heaven's queen.Blessed be the timeThat apple taken was!therefore we may singen'Deo Gracias!'My dear FriendsI awoke at 6am wondering where to find the inspiration for this Newsletter. Turning on the radio, I heard the above ancient anonymous carol being sung by the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir, conducted by John Rutter! It contains the whole theology of Christmas and the incarnation of Christ, through the Virgin Mary. It succintly links the Old and New Testaments, in stating that it was through Adam's choice of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so contravening God's will, that Christ came to save us.From an historical point of view, clearly stated in the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, the Messiah is rooted in his Jewish heritage, as is Joseph, his 'foster' father. The story of the birth of Christ is both particular and universal at the same time.It has to be from this standpoint that the business of Jewish-Christian reconciliation begins. for too long, the theology has tended to be black and white; in reality, and with the experience and hinsight of my own life, brought up as an Orthodax Jew and having been a Jewish Christian now for over 18 years, it is much more nuanced.With the great Feasts of Light of Chanukah, the Winter solstice and Christmas converging, we must ask ourselves what are the underlying human factors that we share, which can lead us to Peace. We are all on a journey of human time,
[Photo]
'The harvest of righteousness shall be sown in peace by those who make peace' (Letter of St James)
Friends of The Little Sisters of Joy
an ecumenical foundation of Prayer, Peace and Reconciliation
Newsletter no 10 New Year 2008
My dear Friends
I hope that your time between Christmas and New Year has been a peaceful and prayerful one.
It is a time of transition, the year 'turns' on New years Eve. The Church moves, between Christmas and New Year, rapdily through a series of dramatic events and Feasts, seemingly from long ago, but fresh in the eternity of the moment, until she reaches the New Year, a soleminty of Mary the Mother of God. It is important to remember that Our Blessed Mother guides each and every one of us, her arms held gently round our shoulders, in the right direction through the flow of our lives.
On the 26th December, which most of us know simply as Boxing Day, we have the Feast of St Stephen, the first Martyr in the Church's rich tradition of her Saints and Martyrs. Looking at the Book of Acts, we see the wonderful vision of Heaven, which St Stephen experienced. (He is also immortalised in the carol, rather poignant, of Good King Wenceslaus.) Close to this is the laying on of hands of the Seven, who are commissioned by God and the apostles, to carry out the mission of preaching the Gospel to the whole world.
'For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.'
These important words, at the very heart of the Jewish liturgy, are are embedded in the 2 eschatological texts, virtually identical, of Isaiah 2:1-4 and Micah 4:1-4.
With the current news from Israel/ Palestine seeming to draw us towards the latter days more and more,we would do well, with Mary, St Stephen, Isaiah and Micah, to ponder the Mystery of how God will bring about universal Peace, when swords will be turned into ploughshares and there will never be war again.
Always with hope for a good and joyful New Year
Love and Shalom
Sister GilaAdam lay y-boundenBounden in a bond;Four thousand winterThought he not too long;And all was for an apple,An apple that he took,As clerkes finden writtenIn theire book.Ne had the apple taken been,The apple taken been,Ne hadde never our LadyA been heaven's queen.Blessed be the timeThat apple taken was!therefore we may singen'Deo Gracias!'My dear FriendsI awoke at 6am wondering where to find the inspiration for this Newsletter. Turning on the radio, I heard the above ancient anonymous carol being sung by the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir, conducted by John Rutter! It contains the whole theology of Christmas and the incarnation of Christ, through the Virgin Mary. It succintly links the Old and New Testaments, in stating that it was through Adam's choice of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so contravening God's will, that Christ came to save us.From an historical point of view, clearly stated in the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew's Gospel, the Messiah is rooted in his Jewish heritage, as is Joseph, his 'foster' father. The story of the birth of Christ is both particular and universal at the same time.It has to be from this standpoint that the business of Jewish-Christian reconciliation begins. for too long, the theology has tended to be black and white; in reality, and with the experience and hinsight of my own life, brought up as an Orthodax Jew and having been a Jewish Christian now for over 18 years, it is much more nuanced.With the great Feasts of Light of Chanukah, the Winter solstice and Christmas converging, we must ask ourselves what are the underlying human factors that we share, which can lead us to Peace. We are all on a journey of human time,
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