Month: December 2012

Morning Reading; Luke 1.26-38

Luke 1.26-38

"Annunciation," Dante Gabriel Rosetti, 1850
“Annunciation,” Dante Gabriel Rosetti, 1850

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”

And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Then the angel departed from her.

“On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” – Advent Carol Service 2012 – Trinity College Chapel (YouTube)

Advent Carol Service 2012 - Trinity College Chapel
Advent Carol Service 2012 – Trinity College Chapel

Peanut Gallery: “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry” – by Charles Coffin (1676-1749)

The Hymn may be found in the middle of the Trinity College Chapel Advent Carol Service:

    • Beginning at 39.14 – Reading: Matthew 3.1-12 “John the Baptist Prepares the Way”
    • Beginning at 41.17 – Hymn: “On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s Cry”

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“On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry announces that the Lord is nigh. Awake and harken, for he brings glad tidings of the King of kings!”


Please note: The words sung are slightly different from those printed here.

“Then cleansed be every life from sin: make straight the way for God within, and let us all our hearts prepare for Christ to come and enter there.

“We hail you as our Savior, Lord, our refuge and our great reward. Without your grace we waste away like flowers that wither and decay.”

“Stretch forth your hand, our health restore, and make us rise to fall no more. O let your face upon us shine and fill the world with love divine.”

“All praise to you, eternal Son, whose advent has our freedom won, whom with the Father we adore, and Holy Spirit, evermore.”

Morning Reading: Luke 1.11-17 NLT

Luke 1.11-17 NLT

Bonifazio Veronese, 1487-1553, "The Archangel Gabriel announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah."
Bonifazio Veronese, 1487-1553, “The Archangel Gabriel announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah.”
While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him.

But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”

“Abortion and Newtown: The Culture of Violence” – Jeffrey Lord (re-post)

Peanut Gallery: Is it unseemly to examine the statistics of innocents killed by abortion with innocents killed by gun violence? Is it inappropriate to note that the escalating “Culture of Violence” in America coincides with the legalizing of abortion nearly 40 yers ago… and suggest that they are linked?

Perhaps – I’ll let you be the judge.

But that’s what Jeffrey Lord has done in his excellent article re-posted below.  Please check out the original here… and the comments here.

Effectively, a startling shift blows in the political winds: Planned Parenthood is becoming the NRA of abortion.

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Abortion and Newtown: The Culture of Violence

Mass shootings on rise since Roe v. Wade: Planned Parenthood as the NRA of Abortion?

The American Spectator By JEFFREY LORD on 12.18.12 @ 6:10AM

“The horrifying truth is this: we live now in a culture that not only does not respect life, but discards it like trash — not only at the beginning of life, but also at the end, and every place in between.

“What has happened to us?” — Catholic Deacon Greg Kandra

Monsignore Robert Weiss - Newtown, CT
Monsignore Robert Weiss – Newtown, CT

Discards life like trash.

One does not have to be a Catholic, which I am not, to appreciate the irony today in the words above from over a year ago by a Catholic Deacon named Greg Kandra. (You can find the full text of Deacon Kandra’s remarks here.)

Since the demands for a national discussion about what caused Newtown are already flowing from President Obama, the New York Times, Washington Post and every liberal with tweetability, they should be respectfully yet candidly obliged.

And the very first issue to mention is what has become the great unmentionable in the world of liberalism, and alas too many other precincts as well — and to say it plainly and hopefully politely.

What went on in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday — what has been going on at intervals for almost four decades in places like Portland, Oregon, Aurora, Colorado, Virginia Tech, and Columbine, Colorado and, sadly, elsewhere in America for some 39 years since January of 1973 is the wholesale discarding of human life like trash.

The perpetuation of a culture of violence in a society that has turned the protection of the most vulnerable —babies — into the unmentionable.

Now, with 20 innocents murdered in Newtown, it is time for someone to say what for millions is the obvious: the abortion movement’s chickens have come home to roost — again.

Will anything be done? Or will the politicians run and hide? Continue reading ““Abortion and Newtown: The Culture of Violence” – Jeffrey Lord (re-post)” →

Advent Hymn: “Of the Father’s love begotten” (YouTube)

“Of the Father’s love begotten”
Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, 4th c

Of the Father’s love begotten, Ere the worlds began to be, He the Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He, Of the things that are, that have been, And that future years shall see, Evermore and evermore!

Oh that birth forever-blessèd, When the Virgin, full of grace, By the Holy Ghost conceiving, Bore the Saviour of our race; And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer, First displayed His sacred face, Evermore and evermore!

Birth_of_Jesus_stained_glass2This is He whom seers in time of old, Chanted of with one accord, Whom the voices of the prophets, Promised in their faithful word. Now He shines, the Long Expected. Let creation praise its Lord, Evermore and evermore!

Let the heights of heaven adore Him. Angel hosts, His praises sing. Powers, dominions bow before Him, And extol our God and King. Let no tongue on earth be silent, Every voice in concert ring, Evermore and evermore!

Christ, to Thee with God the Father, And, O Holy Ghost to Thee, Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving, And unwending praises be: Honor, glory, and dominion, And eternal victory, Evermore and evermore!

Amen.