Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 30, 2015 - Dec. 30 - 6th Day in the Octave of Christmas
[1 John 2:12-17 and Luke 2:36-40]WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015 - SIXTH DAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS [1 John 2:12-17 and Luke 2:36-40] "When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him." [Luke] The liturgical effort to tell the story of Jesus' birth is not a very unified process! One reason for this is that there are at least two story-tellers: Luke and Matthew. Next, there is the emphasis given to certain events that take on their own importance and get a day to themselves: the feasts of the Holy Family and the Holy Innocents. And then there are the feasts of St. Stephen (Dec. 26) and St. John the Evangelist (Dec. 27). Eventually the Magi make it to the scene (Jan. 6 or the Sunday nearest it -although we get a preview of them on Holy Innocents) but not before we hear the story of the "presentation in the temple" and "the finding of the boy Jesus in the temple." It's a bit like putting together a jigsaw puzzle when one has the big picture in front but is being handed the pieces one by one by someone else! Most of us, in our minds, know the story well enough to keep it in perspective. I'm counting on that as a preacher! Today's gospel scripture gives us an example. We experienced yesterday the encounter with Simeon in the temple and now we encounter Anna who must have been eavesdropping on the whole scene. She has her own proclamation to make but we aren't given the words. Luke simply closes the curtain on the baby Jesus....or does he? Last Sunday we heard the story of Mary and Joseph losing Jesus in the crowd at the Passover celebration. So, there is another piece of the puzzle which also, interestingly, ends in the temple! The final words in today's gospel also seem to parallel the final words about John the Baptist (Luke 2:80). The Christmas "story" and how to tell it reminds me of the signature dish of my home state of Louisiana: Gumbo. There's more than one way to make it, but there are certain ingredients that must be there for the dish to be "gumbo." The nativity scene gives us the essential ingredients. We can discuss forever which order to put the figures in! AMEN
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