"Hanukking" Christmas

The first candle of Advent

`Hanukking’ Christmas'

(Rededicating Christmas)

November 27, 2011, 1^st Sunday of Advent

Isaiah 64:1-4, 8   1 Corinthians 1:3-9   Mark 13: 33-37

First reading from Isaiah

Oh, that you LORD would tear open the heavens and come down!  The mountains would see you and shake with fear. They would tremble like water boiling over a hot fire. Come and reveal your power to your enemies, and make the nations tremble at your presence! There was a time when you came and did terrifying things that we did not expect; the mountains saw you and shook with fear. No one has ever seen or heard of a God like you, who does such deeds for those who put their hope in him. You LORD are our father. We are like clay, and you are like the potter.

The word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction

New Year’s Day in the Church

Today we liturgically exit Ordinary Time and enter into the Extraordinary Time of Advent in preparation for Christmas 2011. Today is New Year’s Day in the Church. Today we go from liturgical cycle A to cycle B which takes the gospel readings from Evangelist Mark. Today we also change the color of the liturgical vestments from the green of Ordinary Time to purple – the liturgical color for penance.

Skipping the penitential aspect of Advent

Before Vatican II, Advent like Lent was strictly a penitential season which frowned upon all partying, gift-giving and decorating before December 24. After Vatican II, Pope Paul VI in 1969 approved a revised Roman liturgical calendar which characterized Advent as a “season of joyful expectation,” though not denying its penitential dimension. The revised Roman calendar seemed, however, to give us permission to skip the penitential aspect of Advent, and go straightaway to the joy and fun of Christmas. Accordingly, on the Friday after Thanksgiving (November 25  this year), the nation always kicks off the Christmas season with a vengeance: shopping malls are jammed with people in “joyful expectation” of a good bargain, and retailers on “Black Friday” are in “joyful expectation” of a good profit and of being well into “the black." This year some retails, eager to be the first to draw customers on Black Friday, opened their stores on Thanksgiving Day itself!

Hanukkah derailed

Today November 27 we light the first candle of Advent. This year on December 21 the Jewish community will light the first candle on their menorahs (an eight-branch candelabra) to begin the celebration of the feast of Hanukkah. Hanukkah (which means `dedication’) lasts for eight days, and it commemorates the eight-day purification and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, after the Greek tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes desecrated it in 161 B.C. The prophet Daniel calls the desecration “the Awful Horror.” (Dan 9:27)  Mark also refers to it. (Mk 13:14) During Hanukkah Jewish households commemorate the eight-day rededication by lighting one candle on the menorah each day for eight days. That gives Hanukkah its other name: “The Feast of Lights.”

The ancient Jewish scholar Johannes Buxtorf II (1599-1664) scolds the Jewish community for having derailed Hanukkah from its original story and inspiration. He berates his fellow-Jews for being mired down in superstition and petty minutiae in their observance of The Feast of Lights. In Synagoga Judaica, chapter 23, Buxtorf writes,

They celebrate Hanukkah today more by eating, drinking and having fun than by giving thanks to God for their victory over the enemy. They prepare a seven branch candlestick and then light one light each day until the eighth night. The candles are not allowed to burn all night long. While they are burning no one is allowed to do any work in the house.  The menorah itself must stand on the right side of the door, not less than ten paces from the ground, and not higher than twenty. And they often hold subtle and futile discussions about how long the lights should burn, who should light them, whether or not it is permitted to light one light with the other, and similar things. In their observance of their Feast of Lights they are so fussy about the outer light, but they are not concerned about the great darkness which abides in their hearts!

Christmas derailed

Like Hanukkah, Christmas too has been derailed from its original story and inspiration, and Buxtorf would also scold Christians as he scolded his Jewish brethren:

They turn the season into an orgy of busyness. They are busy decorating everything with a million lights for their Feast of Lights. They are busy with parties they have to host or attend, with Christmas cards they have to write or answer, and with shopping sprees for gifts they very much want to give themselves, or feel they have to give others. They are busy with trips they want to make, and with visitors to whom they have to show hospitality. They are busy hurrying and scurrying here and there and everywhere, except to the stable where they would find “the reason for the season.” And at the end of the day, they’re glad when their busy Christmas season is over, and they can get back to `normal,’ and breathe a breath of relief.

Christmas derailed at Walmart & Target

On one “Black Friday” Christmas was, indeed, derailed at a Walmart Store. On November 21, 2005, a crowd of 300 shoppers outside a Walmart Supercenter in Ekton, Md., was waiting in “joyful expectation” of getting their hands on a new video Game-player which retailed at “only” 399 dollars. Some had kept a long vigil of 12 hours outside the Supercenter. When a night manager improvised rules and said the Game-player would be sold on a first-come, first-served basis (instead of using a number-system agreed on by the public) all hell broke loose, and a stampede ensued. It took more than 10 policemen to restore order. Later a store official was happy to announce that “No one had been crushed to death.” Someone epitomized the whole scene as “Black Friday and Oink, Oink, Oink!”

On another Black Friday 2008 Christmas was again derailed at a Walmart Store, and someone had, indeed, “been crushed to death!” A frenzied mob of shoppers broke down the doors of a Walmart on Long Island, knocking several employees to the ground, and sending others running for their lives to avoid the horde. When the madness ended, a temporary employee (34-year-old Jdimytai Damour) was dead and four shoppers, including a woman eight-months-pregnant, were injured.

In 2004 Christmas was derailed at Target Stores, when the chain announced its intention to ban the Salvation Army’s kettles and bell-ringing at its stores. A spokeswoman for Target notified the Army of its decision, saying, “We have decided to adopt this policy in order to ensure a distraction-free shopping environment at Christmas.”

What mumbo-jumbo! By “a distraction-free shopping environment at Christmas” did she mean an environment that wouldn’t distract us and our kids from the hot pursuit of ourselves and our self-centered wants? Did she mean an environment that wouldn’t distract us with uncomfortable reminders of other people who (through no fault of their own) are much less fortunate than ourselves?

Dickens’s Christmas Carol – a social commentary

Target’s “distraction-free shopping environment at Christmas” calls to mind Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol, which is a social commentary about how a nation feels and speaks about its less fortunate people and its Tiny Tims. One day two solicitors come into old Scrooge’s office trying to distract him from his savage self-containment and capitalistic spirit. One of them addressed Scrooge:

At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and the destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundred of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.

When Scrooge cynically asks “Are there no prisons or workhouses to take care of such people?” the gentleman answers,

Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude, a few of us are endeavoring to raise a fund to buy the Poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time because it is a time of all other times when Want is keenly felt and Abundance rejoices.  What shall I put you down for?

When Scrooge replies “Nothing!” and the gentleman asks whether by `nothing’ he means he “wishes to be anonymous,” Scrooge replies: ”I wish to be left alone!”  Scrooge wishes to be left alone like those Target patrons who wanted to be left alone – “free of any distraction,” as they go in hot pursuit of themselves.

Thanksgiving & Christmas right on track

A long email received a few days ago reads:

Late last night, I received a frantic call from my elderly mother whose furnace wouldn't turn on. It was in the lower 30's here in Milwaukee. When I offered to pick her up and have her sleep over at my house until the furnace could be fixed, she declined the offer. She said she had plenty of blankets and that she'd be alright. I immediately contacted a friend who works for a heating business. He said he didn't want her to spend the right without heat. So I picked him up with his tools at his house.

At my mom's place it took him two hours to fix her furnace. (A bee’s nest was not allowing the furnace to start.) He also fixed her fireplace. So she can now use that also to help heat her home. She has a fancy thermostat which a Philadelphia lawyer would have had trouble figuring out. So he also patiently walked her through. My mother asked, “How much do I owe you?” and he quickly replied,”Don't worry about it.” (On the side I had told him that I would take care of the bill.) My mom then gave him a turkey for Thanksgiving. When we got into my car, I asked, “How much do I owe you?”  He said, “Your mom just gave me a Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, and then he added, “How about 2 gallons of cider?” 2 measly gallons of cider and nothing more for such a greatly appreciated deed!

After I dropped him off at his home I thought about when I was a boy and my mom would call the doctor to come to our house when I was sick. I remember one time my mom (without any cash at the time) asked the doctor to bill her (his fee was $2.00 or $3.00 for a house-visit), and she promised to pay him on payday. And I remember also our family doctor once telling my mom, “Why don't you just make me lunch and we will call it even?” The kindness which my friend, the repairman, showed my mom last night reminded me of times long gone by. After school today, I will get him his cider. It was nice having someone do something so nice for my mom. After last night, I feel there’s still hope for mankind. Steve

That email nostalgically speaks to us of times long gone by, when Thanksgiving and Christmas were right on track.

A season of both penance and joy

Is Advent a season of penance or of joyful expectation? It can be, and should be, a season of both. Liturgical language after Vatican II speaks of `Early Advent’ (the beginning of Advent to Dec. 17) and `Late Advent,’ also called `the Novena of Christmas,’ (Dec. 17 to Dec. 24). Let `Early Advent’ be the penitential part of Advent. Let it be more prayerful, and  do nice things for others -- like fixing an elderly woman’s furnace and charging nothing more than 2 measly gallons of cider. Then let `Late Advent’ be the joyful part of Advent. Being prayerful and doing something nice for one in need will add a very special dimension to your Christmas shopping, partying and gifting. It will add a dimension of joy which won’t leave you when the curtain comes down on the Christmas season, and your video game-player has been broken.

Conclusion

`Hanukking’ Christmas

This isn’t a crusade against the busyness of the Christmas: the hurrying and scurrying, the buying and selling, the giving and receiving of gifts. Some of us have outgrown that crusade of our younger days. We’ve come to realize that many people make a good substantial part of their income at this festive time of the rolling year. Nor is this a crusade against the merriment of the season. Let the bells of Christmas ring. Let the carols of Christmas sing that this is the “happiest time of the year.” Rather this is a crusade for `hanukking’ Christmas -- for rededicating Christmas, and bringing it back to its original inspiration:  an Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Lamp Lighting Time in Dark Days

A Jewish Menorah
Lamp-lighting Time in Dark Days

To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]

November 29, 2009: First Sunday of Advent
Jeremiah 33:14-16 I Thessalonians 3:12-4:2 Luke 21:25-28, 34-36


First reading from the prophet Jeremiah

The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah. At that time, I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will do what is right and just in the land. The people of Judah and Jerusalem will be rescued and live in safety. The city will be called ‘The Lord Our Salvation.’”

The word of the Lord
Thanks be to God

Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord.

Lk 21, vs. 25-28: Jesus said to His disciples: “There will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars. And on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then people will see `the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven[3]’ with power and great glory. When these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.”

Lk 21, vs. 34-36: Then Jesus said to His disciples: “Be watchful! Don’t let your spirits become bloated with indulgence and drunkenness and worldly cares. That great day will suddenly close in on you like trap. It will come upon all who dwell on the face of the earth. So be watchful at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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Introduction
Advent & Hanukkah 2009

Today November 29 is New Years Day in the church; today we exit Ordinary Time and enter into the Extraordinary Time of Advent in preparation for Christmas 2009. Today we also go from liturgical cycle B to cycle C for the scripture readings for 2009. The evangelist for cycle B was Mark; for cycle C it will be Luke (that great evangelist who records the very best of Jesus’ parables -- like the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the Rich Man and Lazarus. Those immortal parables are to be found only in evangelist Luke.

Today we also exchange the liturgical color green for penitential purple. That’s a leftover from pre-Vatican II days when Advent, like Lent, was considered a strictly penitential season which frowned on all partying, gift-giving and decorating before the 24th of December. Now Advent is considered to be more a season of joyful expectation instead of penance, and in some places the color purple has been exchanged for blue in honor of mother Mary and baby-boy Jesus.

This Sunday also we light the first of the four candles of the Advent wreath, as a kind of fourfold genuflection to Christmas - our feast of lights. And at this time of the year we remember also our Jewish brethren who at sundown on Friday, December 11 will light the first candle on their eight branch menorah (candelabra)[4], as they begin to celebrate Hanukkah 2009 – their feast of lights.

The apocalypse genre

The gospel reading today contains an apocalypse. That’s a literary genre foretelling supernatural cataclysmic events that will transpire at the end of time. The genre is a product of a Judeo-Christian tradition which appeared two centuries before and three centuries after Christ. An apocalypse is characterized by a narrative form with esoteric language, it expresses a deeply pessimistic view of the present and it foretells an imminent crisis and a universal judgment. But it also promises a supernatural resolution to a pessimistic and apparently insoluble state of affairs. The most famous and influential of the early Jewish apocalypses is to be found in the last part of the biblical Book of Daniel (chapters 7–12).

Contrary to popular belief, apocalypses were meant more to encourage people than to frighten them. They were written because the times were terribly tough, and the writer believed that only a cataclysmic intervention of God and His Messiah could fix matters. The apocalyptic strokes themselves were not to be taken literally, as some preachers like to do. It was the happy resolution to a pessimistic and insoluble situation that was the heart of the genre.
In today’s gospel Luke puts the apocalypse genre into the mouth of Jesus. [5] He has Him speaking about a cataclysmic event:

Then there will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars. And on earth nations will be in dismay, perplexed by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will die of fright in anticipation of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
And then there is a happy resolution to a humanly insoluble situation:
And then people will see “the Son of Man coming in a cloud” with power and great glory. When these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand.

An apocalypse for Advent 2009

A painful recession has just now peaked at 10.2 percent unemployment. An endless and testy national debate about healthcare is now raging, and it is divided mostly along party lines; one side does its best to misrepresent the other. An unpopular war which began way back in October 2001 in Afghanistan rages on, with no end in sight. A war which numbers 4,682 casualties as of November 13, 2009 disheartens a war-weary nation. And if that were not enough, a horrific massacre in Fort Hood, Texas, killed 13 and wounded 29, as an Islamic extremist cried out “Allahu Akbar!” (“Allah is great!”) That has sent the nation into a state of collective grief and has many of us wondering what to do with angry Islam and political correctness.

The times are really tough this Advent of 2009; it seems that only some cataclysmic event at the end of time will put things right and do for us what we humans never seem able to do for ourselves.

He who came still comes

The apocalypse genre sees “the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” only at the end of time. Christian theology joyfully claims that He, who came to us in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King (Lk 2:1), still continues to come. “Be sure of this,” Jesus tells Hs disciples after His resurrection, “I am with you always, even to the end of time.” (Mt 28:20) He comes not just at the end of time, He comes now. He who came to us in Bethlehem of Judea continues today to come to us in “a great cloud of witnesses[6]” like Fr. Mychal Judge of New York City, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Archbishop Hunthausen of Seattle, Bishop Untener of Saginaw, Auxiliary Bishop Gumbleton of Detroit, Sr. Joan Chittister and a whole host of smaller folk whom you and I know.

A Jew who saved Christmas

In that “great cloud of witnesses” is Aaron Feuerstein, a Jew who saved Christmas. Feuerstein was CEO and owner of Malden Mills, a fabric factory in Methuen, Massachusetts. He was also a devout Jew who read Shakespeare and the Talmud.[7] On the night of December 11, 1995 (six days before the beginning of Hanukah on the 17th that year, and also the very day Hanukkah begins this year of 2009), a surprise party was held for his seventieth birthday. During the party a boiler exploded and a devastating fire broke out which demolished a good part of his factory.

Feuerstein didn’t grab the insurance money and run as a sharp man of business would do. Instead the morning after the fire he assured all his 2400 employees that with God's help they would all get through that tragedy together. Then he gave them their pay-checks plus a $275 Christmas bonus and a $20 food coupon. Three days later on the night of Dec 14th in the gym of the Catholic High School where 1000 of his employees gathered to learn their fate, he made a startling announcement.

For the next 30 days, and it might be more, all our employees will be paid their full salaries. I think you already have been advised that your health insurance has been paid for the next 90 days. But over and above the money, the most important thing Malden Mills can do for our workers is to get you all back to work. By January 2, 1996, we will restart operations, and within 90 days, God willing, we will be 100 percent operational.

There was a moment of stunned disbelief, and then the workers rose to their feet cheering and hugging each other and also weeping. What a bright shining star is CEO Feuerstein in the darkness of corporate greed and a painful recession which is peaking at 10.2 percent unemployment as the curtain comes down on 2009! Time magazine[8] reported that Feuerstein was true to his word; he continued to pay his employees in full, at a cost of one and a half million dollars a week and at an average wage of twelve and a half dollars an hour. Later that same year, corporate America, stunned by such fiscal insanity and half-hearted capitalism, named him CEO of the Year!

Conclusion
Lamp-lighting time in dark days

Back in 1995 Hanukkah began at sundown on December 17 -- the day the Novena of Christmas began for Catholics. Three days after Aaron’s stunning announcement to his workers on December 14, he started to light the first of the eight candles on his menorah. After all were lit, Aaron’s menorah glowed luminously, particularly because it reflected the bright light that glowed from him. Today we start lighting the first of the four candles on our Advent wreath. And when they’re all lit, may our wreath also glow luminously, particularly because it reflects the bright light that glows from us.

[1]By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church has left!
[2] Acts of the Apostles 17:24
[3] Daniel 7:13
[4] The menorah has eight candles for the eight-day celebration of the feast of Hanukkah ,i.e., feast of Dedication (of the Temple). The center candle of the menorah is used for lighting one of the eight candles each of the eight days of Dedication.
[5] Confer the parallel passages in Mark 13:24-32 & Matthew 24:29-31.
[6] Hebrews 12:1: “tantam nubem testium”
[7] A rich treasury of rabbinical tradition
[8] January 8, 1996