We live in uncertain times …
Many centuries of war and division introduced the infant
Jesus to Israel. Shepherds knelt to angels’ proclamations. A star cast light on a crowded Bethlehem and a
lowly manger, but King Herod schemed to massacre all male infants and toddlers. A new mother, Mary, cradled her promised Son,
but nobody told her she’d cradle his tortured, broken body after those he
served condemned him to death. Wise men would
seek her and Joseph, bear gifts, share joy, and tell of a king plotting to kill
their infant son. Potential violence
threatened the lands of Bethlehem.
The Kingdom is a place of beauty, peace, and hope against history’s
darkness, daring us to build it up. If
men and women act as predators, the kingdom will cease to happen. If the lambs, our poor, unfortunate, and weak
must run and hide from … rather than lay with …
the lions, then the hunt or the threat thereof will never end.
*A father contemplates all the dreams he’s cherished as he carries
his dying daughter to rest with the assistance of a volunteer. Too many young lives are lost in acts of
violence and war.
Ponder - The angel
said to him: “Do not be frightened, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth shall bear a son whom you
shall name John. Joy and gladness will
be yours, and many will rejoice at his birth; for he will be great in the eyes
of the Lord.” Luke 1:13-14
Many fathers gather to dance with their daughters on an
exceptional, special evening! Who knew
they were going to be God’s princesses! …
thy will be done …
*A drug-overdosed father shoots and kills himself and two of
his children ages five and nine-months. His
three-year-old daughter survives but loses her hearing.
Ponder - But now you
will be mute – unable to speak—until the day these things take place because
you have not trusted my words. They will
all come true in due season. Luke 1:20
After a cochlear implant, a deaf father hears his
seventeen-year-old daughter’s tearful, joyful voice for the first time. … thy will be done …
*After her fifth child, she was beaten by her husband. Rather than remain, she fled with her
children and none of their belongings to start a new life in low income
housing. She lacks employment, housing,
medical care, education, food, childcare, and utilities.
Ponder - Joseph her
husband, an upright man unwilling to expose her to the low, decided to divorce
her quietly. Matthew 1:19
Two children attend university. Two have graduated and are thriving. Money is tight at home, but all of the
children are returning home to visit over the Christmas season. The gifts they know are each other
together! … thy will be done …
*A police officer and father of two was shot and killed
while attempting to settle a domestic abuse incident.
Ponder - When
Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and
cried out in a loud voice: “Blest are you among women and blest is the fruit of
your womb.” Luke 1:41-42
Despairing the loss of their sons drawn into unjust civil
war, women of a village in the Congo gather to agree to withhold sex from their
spouses and all men until the men stop the senseless killing. … thy will be done …
*Russian troops invade Ukraine seizing territory and impose
Russian rule.
Ponder - Fear
descended on all in the neighborhood; throughout the hill country of Judea
these happenings began to be recounted to the last detail. Luke 1:65
New president wins upset election in Gambia. He pledges reform, releases political
prisoners, and welcomes home exiles and refugees. … thy will be done …
*The voting majority wants cap on food stamps lowered. A young girl is evicted from a shelter
purchased by a speculator for development.
The girl is expecting her third child with a second father. Education appears out of reach. Support for her other two children is waning
while medical care is very limited at best.
Her father is non-existent while her mother is exhausted of caring for
her.
Ponder - She gave
birth to her first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him
in a manger, … Luke 2:7
A once 27-week-old preemie celebrated his 7th
birthday! Father and son are going
fishing! … thy will be done …
*A mother of teenage girl suffering high anxiety attempts
suicide. Emergency officials evict the
two from the condemned housing in which they’re living.
Ponder - … because there was no room for them in the
place where travelers lodged. Luke 2:7
Sleeping in cardboard boxes, retired men sleep join homeless
living on the street. Friends and family
pledge thousands of dollars for teen shelter.
… thy will be done …
*Melting glaciers, draughts, poor air quality, contaminated
water ravage our ecosystem.
Ponder - There were
shepherds in that locality, living in the fields and keeping night watch by
turns over their flocks. Luke 2:8
Kenyan women plant 47 million tree seedlings while women of
India establish a National Park to preserve nature’s beauty and her
creatures. … thy will be done …
*With a spouse needing heart surgery, a woman, 42, suffering
lung cancer cannot afford health services.
She and her husband have two children in high school.
Ponder - Then they
opened their coffers and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and
myrrh. Matthew 2:11
A twelve-year-old girl knows a wrapped gift for her is her
new sweater. It also matches an
ornamental request on the giving tree.
She sacrifices her gift and places it beneath the giving tree. … thy will be done …
*A grim-faced
policeman cradles the lifeless body of a toddler, a refugee washed ashore after
drowning in search of a home.
Ponder - They received
a message in a dream not to return to Herod, so they went back to their own
country by another route. Matthew 2:12
People worldwide donate food, clothing, and toys filling
warehouses during the holidays. … thy
will be done …
* Mortars destroy Syrian homes taking the lives of
many. A father rushes his family to
flee. So urgent is the need to save his
wife and children, he abandons cash he earned and stashed in the walls of their
home avoiding the corruption of the country’s banks. Penniless, he joins millions of others
fleeing to neighbors who will not open their borders.
Ponder – “Get up, take
the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.
Stay there until I tell you otherwise.
Herod is searching for the child to destroy him.” Matthew 2:13
Millions support doctors from Catholic Relief Services,
Hope, and Doctors Without Borders entering over-populated refugee camps
delivering vaccinations, eye drops to prevent infant blindness, and to provide
basic health care. … thy will be done …
*Armed gunman
shoots way into Sandy Hook elementary school massacring little children.
Ponder - He ordered
the massacre of all the boys two years old and under in Bethlehem and its
environs. Matthew 2:16
Pakistani girl shot in the head for going to school
survives! She drives out Taliban and
brings education to her village. … thy will be done …
*Rwanda, Sudan, and many others governed with dictators have
repeated some form of the Holocaust among their people.
Ponder - He heard,
however, that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, and he
was afraid to go back there. Matthew
2:22
A father and daughter join volunteer engineers and spend
valuable vacation time designing and constructing a well bringing living water
to an enthralled community! … thy will
be done …
*Another teen committed suicide following cyber bullying.
Ponder - “This child
is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will
be opposed and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword – so that the
thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare.”
Luke 2:35-35
Newly graduated young people barely making a living wage volunteer
to work as house parents for nine special needs adults in independent living. … thy will be done …
*Disillusioned young people strap explosives around their
waists, walk among a peaceful crowd, and detonate themselves killing and
maiming many.
Ponder - “Son, why
have you done this to us? You see that
your father and I have been searching for you in sorrow.” Luke 2:48
A Florida boy calls 911 to invite ‘police, firefighters, and
ambulance drivers’ for Thanksgiving supper.
Overwhelmed, they accept. … thy
will be done …
Uncertain times …?
Three times during the nativity journey angels proclaim, “Do not
be afraid!” … to Zechariah, to Mary, and
to the shepherds in the field. Jesus
during his public life will proclaim it several more times.
… much to ponder …
thy will be done ….
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