A Blessed Christmas

As I begin the preparation for Christmas Eve and all that goes into making that a special evening for my family, I want to take this opportunity to wish you a very Blessed Christmas. So blessed are we for believing in the Savior, for giving thanks through our Christian faith for the greatest gift humankind has ever been given-Jesus. Jesus is always calling us forth, into the future, to a future filled with hope. Jesus proclaimed, "Behold, I make all things new.......I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end....." (Revelation 21). To be a Christian is to live in hope and to wait for Christ to bring all things to fulfillment in God, according to God's plan of salvation, in God's time. Faith, hope, love, trust and a willingness to be receptive and open to God's will are crucial on the spiritual journey. Like Mary, we wait with trust, with hope and with sincerity of heart.

As a lay Carmelite, I would like to share some poems from Jessica Powers (1905-1988), a Discalced Carmelite nun who was a member of the Carmel of the Mother of God in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. The following poems are from the book, The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers (ICS Publications), edited by R. Siegfried and R. Morneau. These poems are very appropriate to dwell on, during the final days of Advent, as we approach the sacred feast of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!!

NJA

Advent

I live my Advent in the womb of Mary. And on one night when a great star swings free from its high mooring and walks down the sky to be the dot above the Christus i, I shall be born of her by blessed grace.

I wait in Mary-darkness, faith's walled place, with hope's expectance of nativity.

I knew for long she carried me and fed me, guarded and loved me, though I could not see. But only now, with inward jubilee, I come upon earth's most amazing knowledge: someone is hidden in this dark with me. (1948)

In A Cloud Of Angels

I walk in a cloud of angels, God has a throne in the secret of my soul.

I move, encircled by light, blinded by the glowing faces, lost and bewildered in the motion of wings, stricken by music too sublime to bear.

Splendor is everywhere. God is always enthroned on the cherubim, circled by seraphim. Holy, Holy, Holy, wave upon wave of endless adoration.

I walk in a cloud of angels that worship Him.

What a great thing to strive for....that one day we too will walk in a cloud of angels that worship Him..........