Joy

 

Rejoice in the Lord

 

[In response to Gabriel’s message that she would carry the Christ-child …]


And Mary said:

"My soul magnifies the Lord,] and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
   for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
   for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
      and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.”

 

Luke 1:46-55

 

Annunciation to the Virgin Mary (detail)

PONTORMO, Jacopo da

1527-1528

Fresco

Chiesa di Santa Felicita

Florence, Italy

 

http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20141210362854003&code=ACT&RC=54162&Row=1

 

On the wall to the right of the Deposition, Pontormo frescoed an Annunciation scene. As with the Deposition [see article], the artist’s primary attention is on the figures themselves rather than their setting. Placed against white walls, the Angel Gabriel and Virgin Mary are presented in an environment that is so simplified as to almost seem stark. The fictive architectural details above each of them, are painted to resemble the gray stone pietra serena that adorns the interior of Santa Felicità, thus uniting their painted space with the viewer's actual space. The startling contrast between the figures and ground makes their brilliant garments almost seem to glow in the light of the window between them, against the stripped-down background, as if the couple miraculously appeared in an extension of the chapel wall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontormo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are all meant to be mothers of God.

What good is it to me if this eternal birth

of the divine Son takes place unceasingly

but does not take place within myself?

And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace

if I am not also full of grace?

What good is it to me for the Creator

to give birth to his Son

if I do not also give birth to Him

in my time and my culture?

Then, then, is the fullness of time:

When the Son of God is begotten in us.

~ Meister Eckhart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Dine Around Party at the Ungers last Sunday evening, December 7th.

 

 

Christmas Lunch with Nancy Priest on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.

 

 

Max and Ambrose

Nancy arranged for us to take a very interesting field trip to The Logan School for Creative Learning

where her young neighbor, Max, attends school.

 

 

Jeanne Gibbard and I saw “She Loves Me” at the Arvada Center on Wednesday.

We enjoyed our time together, but we were not wild about the show.

 

 

Steve Sumner, Executive Director, and Ruth Morehouse, President-elect, at the

 CAE Thank You Party Wednesday evening.

 

 

  

Our Chew and Chat group (minus Jackie) met for lunch on Thursday.

Carolyn Alexander, Vicki Hall, Sondra Kellogg, Kay Owen, Karla Byrd

 

 

At Rotary on Friday morning, about 20 members of the Evergreen Chorale

entertained us with Holiday magic.

 

 

Rosalie, in our Memories in the Making class at Life Care Center of Evergreen

 

 

Spares and Pairs was at Larry and Marianne Loritz’s home on Friday evening.

 

 

I was very polite and did not take this “White Elephant” away from Vicki Kyle.

 

 

I did, however, try to take this away from Marjori Clinton

but her husband, in turn, took it away from me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make 
as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.

- Bill McKibben

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 14, 2014     Third Sunday of Advent

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

 

 

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said,
  "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
  'Make straight the way of the Lord,'"
    as the prophet Isaiah said.

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

 

John 1:6-8, 19-28

 

 


Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

 

John 1:6-8, 19-28

comic

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 

comic

 

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

The Isenheim Altarpiece (detail from first view)

GRÜNEWALD, Matthias

1515

oil on wood

Musée d’Unterlinden, Colmar

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isenheim_Altarpiece

 

 

 

 

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46-55
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28