Quiet, Please.

Greetings,
It is good to talk to you again. All is well. Besides much happening in the holy ministry, I personally have spent Advent, Christmas and Epiphany seasons being more intentional about increasing my quiet times of contemplation / prayer. What a blessing this has been and continues to be!

We live in a very busy, often frenetic, world with many distractions and noises which compete for our every thought. With all these internally motivated thoughts and externally motivated thoughts going through our heads, how are we to even carve out a mental spot to truly focus on our time with the Lord? It is not easy, but not impossible either. Remember, as James says, "God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." First turn off electronics (TV, Radios, Phones, etc.) which are non-essential. Prepare by praying for the Holy Spirit to help you (and He will), read your devotion for the day (e.g. Portals of Prayer) or read a portion of scripture, think about it (meditate on it) apply it to yourself. Often we scurry off and forget what we have just read. Instead STAY THERE for a period of time simply enjoying being in the presence of the Lord. While doing so, do not let your mind scamper about like a squirrel - just be silent physically and mentally. Simply, hold to one thought.

Let your mind remain focused on His Word for a period of time before you jump up and run off, remembering that God is where His Word is. The Book of Psalms has a curiously untranslated little word that appears 75 times. The word is "Selah." Hebrew is not my specialty, but I understand that it means to be quiet and meditate, ponder or contemplate. (e.g. Ps. 67:1) The Psalmist also writes "Be still and know that I am God." (Ps.46:10) While you quietly sit with His Word couched in your mind and heart, know (ponder on) that you are cradled in HIM. Know that He rejoices over you with singing (Zeph3:17).

If friends and family are too rational to appreciate such a spiritual practice, then here is a rational reason for them allowing you to do it. It is good for you - read the article via the URL provided below. There are good reasons that God has called us to do certain things like prayer and entering into our "prayer closet." I love it when science once again discovers an ancient Christan secret.
Blessings+
Father Daniel

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shut-and-listen/201002/everyday-noise-is-killing-us

Feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus

Today, the eighth day of Christmas, regarded secularly as New Year’s Day, is ecclesiastically the Feast of the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus. The remembrance of this day calls to mind that on the eighth day following his birth, Jesus was given his name, and the ritual cutting demanded by the ancient ceremonial law was performed upon his young tender skin. He who gave the Divine Law through Moses subjected himself to the same Law on our account. The sinless and completely innocent Son of God born of the blessed and ever Virgin Mary* was consecrated according to the custom of man so that he might fulfill all righteousness and bear our sin upon himself ransoming us from everlasting destruction. He who was named Jesus, which means savior, fulfilled the promise of God and has rescued us, bringing to us forgiveness, life and salvation. Oh what merry news this is indeed!

Blessings+
Father Daniel


*On account of this personal union and communion of the natures, Mary, the most blessed Virgin, bore not a mere man, but, as the angel [Gabriel] testifies, such a man as is truly the Son of the most high God, who showed His divine majesty even in His mother’s womb, inasmuch as He was born of a virgin, with her virginity inviolate. Therefore she is truly the mother of God, and nevertheless remained a virgin.[1]

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[1]Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration, Article VIII paragraph 24.
Lutheran Church. Missouri Synod: Concordia Triglotta - English : The Symbolic Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. electronic ed. Milwaukee WI : Northwestern Publishing House, 1997, S. 1023

Christmas Greeting 2008

Dearly beloved in Christ,
I wish to convey my Christmas blessings to you and thank you for allowing me to visit with you throughout the year. Our visits in person or over the phone have been the delight of my life and I treasure each and every moment. Each day I rise from sleep and I look forward to interacting with the people that God sends my way. I do so enjoy visiting with you and hearing of your joys and aspirations and yes to shed a tear with you as you encounter life’s setbacks. As I encounter life’s experiences with you as a spiritual father, may you be even more keenly aware of the presence of our Lord God through his Holy Scripture, which is my privilege to proclaim to you; and through the prayers I offer for you. Let us praise our Lord for his sublime love and mercy. In the fullness of time, God himself in Christ Jesus came to dwell with us and share life with us. He came to spend a period of time visiting with us, walking, talking, eating, laughing, praying, crying and dying with us and for us. Because of this when we cry he cries with us. When we sing and pray we sing and pray with him. When we laugh, he has laughed with us. When we die, he has died for us and rose from the dead; ascended into eternity that he may lead us to eternity by the path which he has prepared for us. That is quite a lot to stuff into one small package lying in a manger. In fact he was the embodiment of Omnipotence bound in swaddling clothes. He was Omniscience embodied in an infant who had to grow and develop. This occasion marks the entrance of the Everlasting to Everlasting into the space of a single calendar day and a life lived in Judea during the first century. Hail to the Son of God begotten from all eternity and born of the Virgin Mary. During this Christmas season (starting at 6PM Christmas Eve on December 24- Epiphany on January 6th) let us set aside times to ponder this incarnational mystery that the Almighty God the Creator of all that is has joined his creation to journey with us and work our redemption.
Blessings+
Father Daniel

P.S. For a brief Christmas meditation watch Aled Jones, in this (then and now) video singing O Holy Night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aP2FMuvwkk

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