A Happy & Holy Christmas!
from your friends at the Center for FaithJustice
__________________________________________________________

When the white stars talk together like sisters
And when the winter hills
Raise their grand semblance in the freezing night,
Somewhere one window
Bleeds like the brown eye of an open force. Hills, stars,
White stars that stand above the eastern stable. Look down and offer Him.
The dim adoring light of your belief.
Whose small Heart bleeds with infinite fire. Shall not this Child
(When we shall hear the bells of His amazing voice)
Conquer the winter of our hateful century?
And when His Lady Mother leans upon the crib,
Lo, with what rapiers
Those two loves fence and flame their brilliancy! Here in this straw lie planned the fires
That will melt all our sufferings:
He is our Lamb, our holocaust! And one by one the shepherds, with their snowy feet,
Stamp and shake out their hats upon the stable dirt,
And one by one kneel down to look upon their Life.

- Thomas Merton, 1947

Advent Reflection for Friday, December 25th

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Advent is just about spent. Later today our celebration of the Incarnation formally begins. And so it seems the appropriate time to consider: How has Advent been for me? What prompted reflection, action, gratitude, reconciliation, song? What was that last one – song? True, Christmas music has assaulted the malls from the last “Trick or Treat!” Advertisers have co-opted carols and cantatas to convince us the size of that gift really does matter. But now, in these final Advent hours, we are gifted with a sacred song. One of three canticles (hymns with biblical text) found in the opening chapters of Luke, today’s Gospel is a song of thanksgiving proclaimed by Zechariah upon the birth of his son, John the Baptist. Also called the Benedictus (for the first Latin word of the hymn), this is the canticle at daily Morning Prayer. Hear the good news, Zechariah sings out. Celebrate the God whose promise to our ancestors in faith is fulfilled: we are delivered. Not to wield power in the world, but to serve God and God’s people in holiness and justice all our days.

Advent is just about spent. A new church year has begun. Let service be our promise and thanksgiving our daily canticle, in harmony with Zechariah and proclaiming with the psalmist, “Forever will I sing the goodness of the Lord.

- Martha Dudich is a musician, liturgist and coordinator of the Center for FaithJustice’s weekly prayer experience, Soup & Psalms.

Advent Reflection for Thursday, December 23rd

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John the Baptist is a pivotal figure in the history of our salvation. He is presented each Advent as the "forerunner of the morning," the "voice that cries in the wilderness" to prepare a way for Christ. It's interesting that the prophet Malachi today says that this figure – the returning Elijah whom our tradition identifies with John the Baptist – will start us first on an inward journey, not a journey of activism.

In the energy of my youth, I was always ready to act when confronted with injustice. And that's a good thing. The oppression and injustice that I confronted served to stir my heart. But it also stirred something else: my ego. That's one of the problems with those of us who want to work for justice. We have a deep pool of anger – some of it righteous and pure, some of it sinful and contaminated by our own wounds and hurts. If we allow the purifying Spirit – the Spirit prefigured in Elijah/John – to enter our hearts, this Spirit will purify the "sons (and daughters) of Levi." We are these sons and daughters: the people charged with keeping the temple pure and undefiled. And what is the temple? Nothing less than God's dwelling place – our earth. It will be a difficult process. As we turn to God in prayer, and ask that through Jesus, the Spirit of God would purify our hearts, we will experience the Spirit not as a consolation, and not as a the gentle lover of our souls, but as the "fuller's lye" and the "refiner's fire." The process is sometimes painful, almost as if sin were being burned from our souls.

But if we are truly to be messengers of Christ, the sun of justice, we must be prepared.

- Fr. Aidan Rooney, CM, is a missionary priest in Bolivia and blogger (vocesvincentinas.org).

Advent Reflection for Wednesday, December 22nd

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The readings for today are some of the most beautiful in Scriptures. The parallels between Hannah’s song of joy and that of Mary’s Magnificat are remarkable – two young women of God offering praise to the One who treasures the poor and forgotten and removes the rich from their thrones of pride and selfishness.

An atmosphere of justice penetrates Mary’s Magnificat; there is no doubt about that. I still remember the first time the justice aspect of her prayer hit me: I was standing in the hallway of CFJ’s old home in St. Joseph’s Seminary, reading the Magnificat painted upon the wall. It left me in awe of the poetic grace and undeniable message of this holy young woman’s prayer. Every time I have read it since, I have been struck by a different aspect – and this time is no different.

At the latter end of the Magnificat, Mary says the following: 

“He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.”

One of the remarkable aspects about being Catholic is the historical aspect of the faith – we’ve been around for over two thousand years! Sometimes, though, I think we neglect to call our traditional and biblical history to mind in the realm of justice. It’s easy to become doubtful that the impoverished and oppressed in this world will ever be cared for with dignity, love and mercy. It’s easy to wonder where God is in the midst of war and extreme poverty, both material and spiritual. Mary’s prayer reminds us that God IS present in the past, present and future of this world more than we can fathom. After all, He did follow through with His promise of a Savior for Israel, although His following through came in a timeframe and manner that was far different from what the Israelites planned for.

I think that Christians today are not all that different from the Israelites. We are hungry for justice and change and confused as to why we are not seeing it happen in the world in the ways we desire. Perhaps we need to take a step back this Advent and remember the words of Mary. 


When we celebrate Christmas in just a few days, may we remember that God did fulfill His ancient promise of the Christ, and has not forgotten His promise of hope and deliverance to the poor of the world.

- Mary Carlson is the current FaithJustice Fellowship volunteer and a LeaderworX alumna.

Advent Reflection for Tuesday, December 21st

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Mary was never an integral part of my faith journey as a young child and into my adolescence. I knew who she was historically, as well as what she looked like through pictures and statues. But I didn’t really know her. Mary consistently remained a passive, distant religious figure to me.

I failed to fully experience and appreciate Mary until I entered college, studied Scripture, attended social justice programs, immersed myself in different cultures, and learned more about her role in the life of Jesus. Today, I can now say that I know and relate to Mary as someone active and present in my life and the world. She is no longer just a figure on a porcelain pedestal for me; rather, Mary is an active disciple whose witness and “Yes” to God’s call inspires my life and the local and global communities around me. Just look at today’s Gospel as an example. The first three words are: “Mary set out.” She was not at home praying, cleaning or working. Rather, she was an active traveler and obedient disciple to God’s will.

As we continue to linger in Advent Waiting, let us find a healthy balance between reflecting and acting. May our quiet waiting match our tireless work for justice and peace.

What reflection and what action is Mary calling you to on this day in Advent?

- Brian Reavey is the national coordinator of Marianist LIFE.

Advent Reflection for Monday, December 20th

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Today is Monday, the fourth week of Advent. There are only five days left, of bated breath, before we hear the angels sing and step into the dim light of the stable in Bethlehem to witness once again the most amazing/awesome happening in the history of humanity.

The readings of the church’s liturgy accompany us as we approach the mystery of the Incarnation. They focus our minds and our hearts as “we seek the face of God.” Isaiah reminds us that we are seeking the face of the “God of Surprises.” Achaz, his heart set on regional alliances, just does not want to risk being surprised by God. So he offers a “pious” excuse. But God is determined to surprise humanity. His unexpected initiative makes the impossible possible. “A virgin will conceive and bear a son.” That child will be “God with us”… the God who is part of who we are and everything we think, do and say … a God who is always there for his people, right in the middle of their lives.

That tiny, vulnerable child is incredibly the “King of Glory,” who reverses all our categories, breaks all our rules, and overturns our ways of thinking. That child identifies with all the “little ones” of our world. Mary of Nazareth, the virgin mother of that child, was one of those little ones, four times marginalized – because she was a woman, because she was poor, because she was young, and because she was a Galilean. But she is the one who agrees to be surprised by the irruption and action of God in her life. Her “yes” opens the door of history to the person of Jesus Christ … to God who acts in and through littleness. God’s loving intervention often happens in a place of poverty and marginalization. God delights in the oppressed and the excluded of our world. We find the face of God in them and in the forgotten, in those whom the “world” despises. They are the ones where “God with us” is to be found; among whom God brings about everyday his Christmas mystery of Incarnation and births us to new life in Christ.

- Sr. Margaret Scott, aci, is the director of the St. Rapaela Center (Haverford, PA) and the author of “The Eucharist and Social Justice” (Paulist Press).

Advent Reflection for Sunday, December 19th

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Dream the Impossible Dream
Perhaps you never thought of Man of La Mancha as a Christmas story, but think again. Two different men in the readings for today were asked by God to dream the impossible dream. King Ahaz was called to stretch his thinking. He was challenged to grow beyond the obvious; he was asked to set aside his plan for victory and to accept God’s plans to embrace peace not paradox. In a pietistic way, Ahaz refused. He’s not really interested in allowing the Lord to enter in. He has everything all prepared for battle. He is not looking for advice or help even from the Lord. Ahaz has the battle planned, the troops are in position, the strategy is set, he will have peace – but it must be his way; no time, no room, no possibility of someone else plan for peace. The Lord enters in anyway and gives him a sign that challenges his basic assumption: “A virgin will give birth to a child and bear a son and he will be God with us.” Where no life seemed possible, there God will give life. Advent calls me to open myself to the great possibilities of God’s reign coming in our time, but coming in God’s way according to God’s plan not my own.

I am always tempted to believe that faith in Jesus brings pat answers, peace and unmitigated joy: “Jesus is Lord and all is well.” But today’s reading from Matthews’s Gospel tells a different story. Christ’s coming does bring peace, but not without a price. The coming of Christ also brings doubt and questioning, contradictions and confusion. No one could be more confused and tense than Joseph. He is faced with the apparent infidelity of the woman he had presumed faithful. The confusion is clear. He is tempted to find a quick solution and “divorce her quietly.” But something, an intuitive insight, a deep love for Mary, trust in her, prompted by a divine messenger invited Joseph not to seek the easy solution, but the Lord’s solution. Joseph’s dreams and plans for marriage and a family, for a simple, peaceful, ordinary life are turned upside down by the coming of the prince of peace, by the woman he had come to love and the strange, unbelievable way that God has entered into their relationship. Joseph was confused and harried. God’s plan, God’s power, God’s actions go far beyond pat answers, cheap peace and easy joy. God calls us to dream the impossible, to believe the unbelievable, to bear the unbearable. During the remaining days of Advent let me dream big and follow the star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far.

- Fr. Vince Gartland is the pastor of the Church of St. Ann (Lawrenceville, NJ).

Advent Reflection for Saturday, December 18th

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“Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.”
In the Gospel of Matthew today, an angel appears to Joseph in a dream. This messenger from God comes to resolve the dilemma Joseph faced upon his discovery that Mary was with child before they had lived together. Joseph trusts the dream, but his decision to act with kindness and mercy was made before the divine revelation is made. Joseph did not rush to judge Mary. He was unwilling to expose her to shame. He put her vulnerability and feelings before his own anger and confusion. He acted with empathy. In the course of one 24-hour news cycle, one day texting, tweeting or on the phone while in the office or at school do we witness and participate in purposeful efforts to expose others to shame? Are we being just when we rush to judgment uninformed and unwilling to fully know or understand what is really true?

- Polly Seitz is a member of the Center for FaithJustice’s Board of Trustees

Advent Reflection for Friday, December 17th

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The readings today tell our story through the ancient history and far-reaching future of the world. Psalm 72 sings of God in terms of mountains and flowers, seas and rivers, the moon and sun; Genesis asks us to “assemble and listen” to what our forbearers have learned; and Matthew’s Gospel recalls for us our place in the expanse of human history. We are thus invited us to see how we are connected to times beyond our own – to men and women who lived before us, to creatures and plants who will exist after us, to stars and planets that were formed long before we were here to name them. When we consider this immense history, perhaps we will remember that we are the visitors in this world. And like any good guest, we should leave our temporary abode in as good of condition as we found it – and perhaps a bit improved.

Today’s readings, by painting for us an expansive picture of creation, call us to take care of the earth that we have inherited and to look upon every person, every creature and even every stone as something to be valued and respected. We are but a part of a vast and wonderful life – God as expressed in creation.

- John Bradley is director of Advancement and General Counsel at the Center for FaithJustice.

Click here for today's readings.

As I read the first reading, I hear God boldly whispering to me, "Let go all of life's disappointments. I am here – smile! I love you and always will." I need that encouragement in the midst of my daily struggles and doubts. It takes so much trust in the Lord to remember the Lord’s love in the midst of life's ups and downs. My faith has been supported by my family, friends, and community at the Center for Faithjustice. Yet when I am alone in a difficult spot, I need the scriptures’ reminders that there is much to rejoice in and God is worthy of my trust.

In the gospel, Jesus makes the point that John the Baptist, the one who has prepared His way, is not robed in fine linens in the desert and is less than the least of those in the Kingdom of God. What does this say about me preparing for Christ to come into my heart in a new way this Advent? I think Jesus is saying that embracing Him has nothing to do with material things. My clothes, apartment, grades, salary, computer, and car have nothing to do with my ability to prepare for Jesus this Advent or prepare for God's kingdom. This gospel message rings true to my experience. I have found God and felt the presence of holiness in my family, friends, and a middle-aged woman at a meal program. My life may be a mess right now, but John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus in a desert. I do not need anything but faith, hope, and love to prepare to celebrate Christ this Christmas. Thank God...literally.

- Dayna Pizzigoni is a member of the Center for FaithJustice’s Board of Trustees and a LeaderworX alumna