Downtown Chicago is back to business mode, although there are a few extra shoppers and visitors along State Street and Michigan Avenue and I hear the skating rink in Millennium Park is quite crowded...but that would be by the youth group from St. Patrick's Parish in St. Charles, out in the Rockford diocese: 95 teens came in for a day that started with Mass at St. Peter's. Not bad for the 3rd day of Christmas (although I haven't seen Three French Hens yet).
I don't know how it happened that the Twelve Days of Christmas got reduced to One Big Day. I am a fan of protracted feast-days, myself. There is just too much in Christmas to take in within a twenty-four hour span (or a lifespan, for that matter). I hardly know which aspect to look at; which person to sit with or watch or listen to; which mystery to marvel over. Thank Heaven we have those Twelve Days!
6 comments:
Why don't you let it run until Easter? That way you can have the birth,death ans resurrection all in one go :)
A bit like when Scrooge said to Marley "Couldn't I take `em all at once, and have it over, Jacob?"
Oh, the above comment was from Simon, just in case you'd like a name with the comments.
Hey, Simon! I was just thinking of you and praying for you!
Just to follow up on your tongue-in-cheek suggestion, you are actually quite on track. In fact, the Easter Triduum is "built in" to Christmas, just at the Incarnation is part and parcel of what we call the "Paschal Mystery" (summed up in Jesus' death-resurrection-ascension-sending of Holy Spirit). Pope Benedict makes much of this in his latest book, a small one that meditates on the Infancy Narratives. He shows how Matthew and Luke, each in his own way, tie the Cross in as they tell the Christmas story. (Herod's intentions, which we heard about in yesterday's chilling Gospel, are only the most obvious way.) Since humanity turned so completely against God, there was no way God could come to earth and not suffer. In a mysterious way, that Baby in the manger knew what he was in for.
Well Sister, I don't know what to say about that but if i believed i'd say thanks...I think you can guess what i do think but sometimes i too have to let me spite pass and bite my tongue.
You talked about forgiveness in your other post..Now i ain't one to keep on and possibly spoil someones thoughts on here just out of spite but i think that despite all the wrongs i've done i could call upon your god for his wrongs too..I'm sure he needs forgiveness as much as i might do.
You see, we could all stand aside and let a man get run over by a train for fear of possibly being dragged on those tracks with him or even possibly getting electricuted while helping him..Sorry, i was just remembering a story on the US news sites about people not helping somneone who eventially got killed by the subway train.
What would you do, especailly if you had the strength and willpower to help him?
Could you give me a clue as to how much you think prayer works, maybe percentage-wise?..I'm terrible at maths and most things so you could say something like 25%, 50% or maybe 75% to help me out..lol.
Simon- The Rock, The Island, who sometimes cries.
I was on track without really knowing it..Story of my life..lol
Ah,yes..You see, people tend to overlook the situation with Herod don't they? They prefer to pass that by.. You know, how god allows the thing i hate mentioned by Christians the most..That old free will excuse?..Ironically though, god saw fit to warn Joseph and Mary but not, sadly, the other parents...How noble of him.
Sister, may i just add.If for some reason you'd prefer i didn't comment, even if they aren't published, i would certainly leave and never return..I do have some sense of respect if someone doesn't want to me to write to them..I don't really chat with many people and i don't go out anywhere..I do talk to family members in the house but not regarding religion..Besides, they wouldn't know or maybe even care care about some parts of scripture that may be controversial.
In short, if i'm irrating in some way and you can't even bare some my comments so much that you'd rather i leave, i will, without a fuss, even,i repeat, if they aren't ones that are published...Sometimes i need to ask deep questions..The problem is i don't have the intellect to make my views come out in an eloquent manner...My grammar may be off too and i wouldn't know it either.
I am not the type to continually bother people who may not like my thoughts.
Simon
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