And silence filled the whole earth....

This little verse isn't to be found in the Bible, and I don't know where I once heard it.  Maybe I just made it up, or maybe it comes from a story I remember from my childhood - that on that first Christmas day, all the animals in the grotto bowed their heads in silent prayer.  Wherever it came from, it has been swirling in my head this year.  I imagine that when Jesus was born, there was a silence that filled the whole earth, a profound silence if for only a moment, a silence that united the whole earth together.  A silence that "spoke" the song which the angels would sing, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to all people." 

Unfortunately, when we think of Christmas, silence may not be the first thing that comes to mind, especially in the days leading up to Christmas.  There is shopping to be done, gifts to wrap, cookies to bake, houses to clean.  All adding to the ordinary, daily stresses.  And then there is Christmas itself.  Opening gifts to the shrills of tiny (and sometimes even big) voices, preparing the meal, singing carols.  And yes, this is even true in our Seminary community.  Of course, all of these things are good and much fun, and honestly, it wouldn't be Christmas without them!  Also, I think we can all agree that our world these days isn't too silent.  Gunshots ring out, unrest is found all over the place, the poor cry out for help.

Yet, amidst all this noise, I am brought back to the verse "and silence filled the whole earth."  And in this silence, something wonderful happens.  From the silence comes a Word.  In the silence, the Word of God incarnate breaks in.  A Word spoken by God comes to us.  From the depths of silence, we hear this Word.  It is part of the strangely wonderful designs of God that we can't always understand - the great King comes as a tiny baby; the Savior enters the world helpless and cold; the Leader of nations is visited by lowly shepherds; the Giver of life will have to die; in silence comes a Word.  

During the days of Advent leading up to Christmas, we have been accompanied by those who lived in a sort of silence:  much of what we know about St. Joseph comes from his dreams; Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist) was struck mute; Mary pondered in her heart.  It is as if they are calling us to find some silence in our busy, hectic lives.  To make a space, even a small space, where we can listen to the silence that enveloped the whole world on that first Christmas day.  To let the Word ring forth and to bring Jesus to birth in our midst, even if for only a moment.  That one moment of silence 2000 years ago changed the world, and I think our own moment of silence can change us.

Christmas is busy.  We can't deny that.  But it is also an invitation into silence.  Let's all try to find a moment of silence today.  Pausing as a family before we revel in delicious food and good wine.  Simply taking a deep breadth once all the dishes are done.  Watching the silent snow fall.  Sitting in front of the Christmas tree glowing in the evening darkness.  Allowing a Word, the Word, to enter into the silence of our hearts, and hearing this Word speak to us of love, peace, joy.  Letting silence cover our whole selves, remembering that night long ago when silence filled the whole earth.

My dear friends, may silence fill your hearts, and may the Word of God make his dwelling within you this Christmas.  All of you will be in my prayers as we celebrate and rejoice in the birth of Jesus, Son of God become Son of Mary, for the salvation of the whole world.  Buon Natale!  Merry Christmas!

Mosaic by Marko Rupnik, SJ.

Much peace and love to you all,

Ciao!

“It’s about the love.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS, or as we say in Italy, BUON NATALE!

Yesterday I walked around our house and counted 12 nativity scenes.  Now, remember, our house is pretty big.  And we’re religious folks.  But, still, Twelve!  And this doesn’t include individual rooms and ones that I probably missed.  And half of these were on one floor alone!  I’m beginning to think that Fr. Antonio, who decorates our house, might have a problem, ha, ha.

Last year, I traveled to Greccio which is sort of between Rome and Assisi.  It is here that in 1223 St. Francis of Assisi created what many call the first nativity scene.  After receiving permission from Pope Honorius III (Francis obviously wanted to be on the nice list), he set up a manger and brought in live animals to reenact the first Christmas.  This tradition continues today with our nativity scenes – whether they are beautiful terra cotta figurines, plastic light-up statues in the front yard, made out of a shoebox and toilet paper tubes, or a childrens’ pageant featuring more angels and shepherds than you can imagine.  All these bring to mind the birth of Jesus.

The site of the first live nativity scene in Greccio, Italy.

My nephew's nativity scene from a few years ago.

But why are we fascinated with these scenes?  And why are there twelve in my house?  St. Francis created his as a way to teach the local peasants about the Christmas story.  Many couldn’t read and nearly none understood the Latin used in the liturgy of the time.  While times have changed, the crèche continues to serve as a reminder and teaching tool of that night so long ago in Bethlehem.  But, I’ve been reflecting on another reason as well this year. 

It’s about the love. 

When we look at a nativity scene, what do we see?  We could answer this in many ways, but I think we see love.  There is Mary and Joseph who, despite a rocky start to their relationship, both said “Yes” to each other and to the wild plan of God.  There are the shepherds and magi who go to Bethlehem to see this wondrous and cosmic-altering event.  We can’t forget the angels who sing the glory of God.  There are the animals – as a child I always made sure they were pointing to the crib, each jockeying for a place so they could see the baby Jesus.  And there is Love himself, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  As we look and ponder the crèche, we cannot help but see love – Love Incarnate.  The Gospel of John reminds us that God so loved the world that God sent the only begotton son that we might have life.  Here is Love, and Love is among us.

So, I must admit that I received a little inspiration for these thoughts today.  As many of you probably know, my friend Ali passed away from cancer in 2011.  Her husband Ben wanted to recreate some of their wedding pictures as a way to say farewell to their house…using their 3-year old daughter in the place of Ali.  You can read the whole story here.  The pictures, taken by Ali’s sister Melanie, have gone viral around the world, and even landed on The Today Show (I know famous people). You can see the interview here.

 

So what does this have to do with Christmas and crèches?  In an interview Ben simply and profoundly stated that “It’s about the love.”   And Melanie added, “Many people have asked me how I felt while doing that photo session. What I want them to know is that this isn't a story about grief and loss and hurt. Yes, I've gone through those emotions and still do but that's not what I want people to see in these photos. This is a story about love."  Yes, it’s about healing and moving on, it’s about looking back and remembering.  But, when we come down to it (and “it” is just about everything), “it’s about the love” and the hope that comes from love.  In the case of Ali’s family, it’s about the love that is still present and the love that continues to flourish.  In our nativity scenes, too, it’s about the love that is in our midst and the love that continues to blossom.  And, that’s why we turn to our Christmas crèches and why the world was captured by these photos of Ben and Olivia – to be reminded of love and to see love, the love that is so needed in a broken world.  Speaking of the photos (and maybe even a crèche), Ben commented that “the memories of Ali don’t live in that house.  They live with us, in our hearts.”  It’s not just about love that came one night many years ago or one day during a photo shoot.  But, it’s about the love that lives on and continues to makes itself known in our midst. 

So, in the end, maybe 12 crèches aren’t enough.  Maybe we need more to remind us of the infinite love that surrounds us.  Or, maybe, we need to be a more present form of love in our families and in our communities and in our world.  May we all be as fortunate as Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and magi, the angels and all the animals – to look upon Love, to see Love, and to be Love for each other.  And may we all be fortunate to be surrounded by friends and family who remind us that “It’s all about love.”  Melanie wrote on Facebook that “heaven and earth aren’t really so far apart after all.”  On this Christmas day when heaven embraced earth, perhaps truer words were never spoken.

My dear friends, may you know the joy of love this Christmas Day and beyond.

Buon Natale!  Merry Christmas!  Ciao!

Christmas 2012

I have been meaning to post some pictures from Christmas for a while now.  But, with exams coming up in a few weeks, participating in a European meeting of the Taize Ecumenical community (with about 40,000 young people), and the normal day-to-day life of the community….well, I’m now getting around to it.  But, the liturgical season of Christmas doesn’t end until this Sunday (with the Baptism of the Lord) so I’m really ahead of the game :)

So, here’s a slice of life from Via Latina…Natale style!  (That means Christmas)

Ciao!

Christmas festivities started a little early with "Dinner for the 'Personali'" - those who work at our house and help keep it running.  There are around 30 permanent residents and a whole cadre of guests that come through.

There were also some brothers finishing a sabbatical at dinner.

The tree in the center of the city at Piazza Venezia.  It's not exactly Rockafeller Center, but...

...Add lights and darkness, and it doesn't look too bad.  This is Fr. Jim who was in town and took me out for a nice dinner...woohooo...we like Fr. Jim.

To help celebrate, two cousins from Detroit visited Rome.  Here's Mike.

And here's my other cousin, Ronda.

A group of us went to St. Peter's for Midnight Mass (starting at 10:00).

It was a full house, but in typical Roman fashion we got pretty good seats "because we knew someone."

With my cousins Mike and Ronda before Mass started.

The Pope was the main celebrant.

There he is...

And you can't forget the choir on Christmas.

The creche in St. Peters.

Rome in a festive mood.

Now, onto Christmas dinner with our chef extraordinaire, Bro. Mike.

And then onto the Christmas party...Or as I like to call it..."Brothers gone wild."

Before we could open our gifts, we played a game where we had to guess the identity of a secret person.  My group had Goliath (that's what happens when there's a bunch of seminarians involved)...

...And if you didn't guess in time, then you had to dance!

There was a lot of dancing, even for the guests!

Of course, it's not Christmas without a rapper.  This is Lay Marianist Joe Melendrez who is a Christian Rapper.  He was visiting for Christmas and entertained us.  He is also modelling his line of clothing called "God Swag."

Not to be outdone, Bro. Dani also rapped for us.

This is Bro. Arul, my "Invisible Friend."  In the States he would have been my Secret Santa.

The Americans gave a rousing rendition of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer.

More of Rome.

The Italian Marianist Sisters had us over for a Christmas party, also.

The food is always good at the Sisters' house.

And they gave us gifts...Mostly free things they had accumulated throughout the year :)

A good time was had by all.

Besides visiting the sites in Rome with my cousins, we made a day trip to the city of Subiaco.  This is where St. Benedict lived for several years (spending three years in a cave) and where he wrote the first copy of the Rule of Life for Monks.

Only in Italy.

Subiaco is nestled in the mountains.  This is St. Scholastica Monastery.

The monastery is on top of a mountain, so it was uphill all the way.  But, it was a really nice day.

Just something we stumbled upon in Rome.  They're red, so I figured it's like a Christmas picture.

After Christmas there was a meeting of European youth coordinated by the Taize Community.  It is an ecumenical religious community centered in France.  There were about 80 Marianist youth who participated from Spain, Italy, France, Austria and Poland.  They gathered at our house for prayer and fun.

Finally, the creche in our chapel.  Buon Natale a tutti e Buon Anno!  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!