IS 9:1-6
have seen a great light;
upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom
a light has shone.
You have brought them abundant joy
and great rejoicing,
as they rejoice before you as at the harvest,
as people make merry when dividing spoils.
For the yoke that burdened them,
the pole on their shoulder,
and the rod of their taskmaster
you have smashed, as on the day of Midian.
For every boot that tramped in battle,
every cloak rolled in blood,
will be burned as fuel for flames.
For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast
and forever peaceful,
from David’s throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
by judgment and justice,
both now and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!
GospelLK 2:1-14
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus
that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment,
when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth
to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
“Do not be afraid;
for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy
that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David
a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you:
you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel,
praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
This is a Christmas post. Absolutely no tolerance will be given to any off topic comments. Please respect the intent and nature of this post, keeping it open for Christmas greetings and comments.
Merry Christmas and God’s richest blessings on all fellow Treepers…..especially our marvelous host Sundance and his superb staff….
Borrowed from Dian Cecht’s “The New Americanist” community of patriots and all around great folks….everyone is welcome….not you, Brandon.
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https://thenewamericanist.com/about/
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Christmas Open Thread
https://thenewamericanist.com/37044-2/#more-37044
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Just a brief musing here…My tradition uses John 1:1-14 for Christmas Day every year. Given the Light and Darkness contrast, it fits well with Isaiah 9.1. A spiritual mystery: The Light is shining and is seen in the darkness by those given the receptive eyes of faith. (Why some are given it and not others we do not know, Scripture does not say. It is what in my tradition we call the “crux theologorum”). Yet the darkness is still there (it comprehendeth not the Light). In other words, John, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks of a spiritual mystery here. I mean, physically, can normal light shine in darkness without dispelling the darkness in the process? I mean, turn a light on in the closet and the darkness retreats. But here in John, it remains, that is, until the Last Day, the dawning of the eternal light of Heaven. Yet into that darkness present, the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, comes, tabernacles among us, is truly shining, though the unbelieving world in darkness does not comprehend it. “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
We went to Mass during the day, and the reading was John 1:1-18. What I posted was from the readings at Midnight Mass, which are always my favorite, especially the reading from Isaiah.
Ah, gotcha. Wonderful!
You might enjoy Hans Leo Haßler “Verbum caro factum est”.
Merry Christmas, CTH family.
God bless Neil Oliver
I tried to click an upvote and it went from three down to zero and now won’t go up beyond one! I don’t know what happened here, but you deserve at least four votes.
Thanks for sharing that beautiful song. Merry Christmas!
This was in response to LeeCarolynn
Merry Christmas Sundance and team 🎄
Merry Christmas Treepers 🎁