1st Week of Advent, Thursday, Dec 6; Saint Nicholas
Isaiah 26:1-6 / Matthew 7:221, 24-27
Opera star Lily Pons died in Dallas in 1976. During her life, she was an international celebrity. She ate barbecue at the White House with President Eisenhower and received the French Legion of Honour from Charles de Gaulle. After her death, an auction was held to dispose of her estate. Commenting on it, Maryln Schwartz of the Dallas Morning News writes: “A picture of her partying with actor Humphrey Bogart went for 50 cents. Chatty letters from Princess Grace and Prince Rainier went for five dollars, as did a note from Princess Elizabeth thanking Pons for a wedding present.”
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Do we realize that many things we prize now will be viewed as worthless after our death? “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth... Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven.” Matthew 6:19-20
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The first reading comes from an insert in Isaiah that was written in a later period. It speaks of God’s judgment and the victory of God over “cities” of sin. But Jerusalem, God’s community, God’s city, will stand. Those faithful to God can rely on him: he is faithful and solid as a rock.
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When we think about life, there are many lessons that we can learn from it. For example, difficult roads always lead to beautiful destinations, as when we are climbing up a mountain and when we get to the summit we are rewarded with a beautiful vision and a sense of achievement. One of the truths of life is that hard work will have its rewards.
Building something on rock is certainly not easy at all. Piling the foundations into the rock is going to be very hard work. But the reward is that the building will be stable and will stand firm. Building something on sand can be easy but it will be risky. That is what Jesus is telling us in today's gospel.
But the example of building something on rock and on sand is to bring in the point about how we listen to the Word of God and act on them. Following the teachings of Jesus and doing God's will is certainly difficult and entails a lot of hard work of denying ourselves.
But the reward will be what we heard in the 1st reading: That day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city. Facing the difficulties and challenges of our faith require a lot of hard work on our part but the reward will be that the foundations of our faith will be firm.
And God will guard us along the way as He sets walls and rampart about us. When we build our lives on God our Rock and stand firm with Him, He will stand firm with us. And Jesus promises us that we will not fall. Let us trust in Him and continue to build on the Lord our Rock.
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Those who accept the call and challenge of Jesus’ words by living as his disciples are building on rock. This is true both for the individual disciple and for the community of the Church.
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Prayer
Lord, our God, to those who trust in you and live the Gospel of your Son, you are a dependable rock. In the storms and tensions of our times, may our faith never waver, but give us the courage to live as we believe, consistently, radically, that with your Son we may do your will and live in your love, now and forever. Amen
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Saint Nicholas
Feast Day December 6
Children all over the world know him and love him.
In Germany, he’s Kriss Kringle. In France, he’s Pere Noel. British children call him Father Christmas. Of course, you know him as Santa Claus.
He’s got another name, you know. It’s an ancient one that goes back hundreds of years. It's one of the very first names people called him: St. Nicholas.
Children tell lots of fun stories about Santa Claus, Pere Noel, or Kriss Kringle. All of these stories remind us of how much we’re loved and of how happy we are when we give. The earliest stories we know were told about St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra.
Hundreds of years ago, Nicholas lived in a seaside town named Myra, which is in the country we now call Turkey. Ever since he was a small child, Nicholas loved God more than anything. He studied hard, prayed often, and followed Jesus by helping the poor.
The people of Myra loved Nicholas so much that when their old bishop died, they immediately elected Nicholas to replace him. He served them well for a long time.
Nicholas was loved for one reason. He loved. He loved God and God’s people so much that he would do anything for them.
Here is a story about Nicholas that has been passed down through many generations.
There was a man living in Myra who was very poor. This man had no wife, but he had three grown daughters who lived with him
In those days, when a young woman got married, she had to bring money or property with her into the marriage. This is called a dowry. If a woman didn’t have a dowry, she would never marry.
This man was so poor that he had no money for his daughters’ dowries. And he didn’t have enough money to support them either. He had, he believed, only one choice: to sell his daughters into slavery. Nicholas heard about this terrible situation. Late one night, Nicholas crept to the man’s home and threw something through the window. It was a bag of gold—enough to pay the dowry for his oldest daughter.
The man was overjoyed, and his daughter was too. She married, but her father was still left with a problem. Two, to be exact. What about the two younger daughters? Sadly, he prepared to send them away.
Nicholas returned one night and again threw a bag of gold through the window. The father rejoiced. But he wondered who was helping him and why.
Of course, Nicholas didn’t want the man to know. He knew that it’s best to help others without letting them know we’re helping them. If we help others in this way, we help because we truly want to and not because people will praise us for it.
But the father was determined. He had one daughter left and no money for a dowry. He certainly hoped he would be helped again, especially because he wanted to find out who was doing it. So he locked the windows and watched out the door.
Nicholas still wanted to help, but he didn’t want to be seen. So, in the back of the house, far from the father's sight, he dropped the bag of gold for the third daughter right down the chimney
Other stories are told about Nicholas. It’s said that God worked through Nicholas's prayers to raise children from the dead—some who had been killed in a fire and another child who had drowned. All of these stories tell us the same thing about St. Nicholas. He lived for God, which means that he lived for love. If people were in need and he was able to help, St. Nicholas gave them hope and strength. St. Nicholas never paused for a minute to wonder what he should receive in return for his help. He only thought about what he could give to those who needed him.
Stories about St. Nicholas spread from his home in Turkey up to Russia, where he is still a very popular saint. Through the centuries, people passed on stories of him across the most northern parts of Europe, then to Germany, France, and England, and finally to the United States. The children in every country gave St. Nicholas a name in their own language, and ours is Santa Claus.
Christmas is a fun, exciting time, isn’t it? It’s fun because of all the time we get to spend with our families. It's fun because we do a lot of celebrating. It’s fun because we get to think, sing, and pray about Jesus, who was born into the world to save us.
Christmas is also fun because we get to give. We can show our family and friends how much we love them by giving them special gifts that we make or buy.
We give because we’re thankful. We’re thankful for friendship and love and for all the people who take care of us. We’re thankful to God for giving us life.
St. Nicholas was thankful too, and that’s why at Christmastime we try to be just like him. He was so grateful for the life God had given him that he just couldn’t stop giving joy and hope to others—no matter how far he had to travel or how many roofs he had to climb!
St. Nicholas showed his gratitude for God’s gifts by giving to others. What gifts can your family share with those in need?
