PARISH PRACTICE JOSEPH O’HANLON Slow steps to Bethlehem
As the moment the Incarnation made visible approaches, we can set up the crib and people it week by week with those figures that bring us ever closer to an understanding of what God has done
A
dvent in the secular world has already begun; it has been running since October – even though Christ’s Advent is yet to begin. It
is ever thus. Advent is a difficult time for priest, deacon and catechist because of the competition of this high-street commercial clout. But there are ancient signs and symbols which can speak in our time and in our place if they are rehabilitated. Advent liturgies are packed with resonant words – with lots of Isaiah, bits of Jeremiah, Baruch, Zephaniah, Numbers and James and Peter, Ecclesiasticus and Second Samuel. And that’s not counting amazing Psalm prayers and, of course, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Words there are aplenty. Hamlet tells us: “Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.” It is the same for us. We must, as it were, ensure that the Word is made flesh, made visible. Advent is an unfold- ing drama leading to the revelation of Christmas morn and it is time to be bold and resolute. In the war with advertising, it is possible
to retaliate with the visual aid invented by Francis of Assisi in 1223. The crib is still at hand to provide a stunning incarnation of Advent words. The crib can be set up on the First Sunday of Advent and people can be added on subsequent Sundays, crowning it with the infant at Midnight Mass. A lectern with as big and beautiful a Bible as can be found can be set out by the “stable”. The ox and the ass can be placed at the lectern’s foot. Nearby the Angel Gabriel can stand, for he comes out of the Book of Daniel, a witness to the final coming (Daniel 8:16 and 9:21). He has much to say to Mary and to all who wait for the coming of the Lord. It can all be lit with a strong spotlight. The message is that the Jesus who is coming comes out of Israel’s Scriptures and Israel’s prayer. The words of the prophets define who it is who comes and why. The ox and the ass, from Isaiah 1: 3, stand for all that Isaiah and every prophet speaks as we make our way. To prepare for what must be said about God’s
holy words as the journey to Bethlehem of Judah begins, preachers and catechists can read Pope Benedict’s 2010 apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini and open the hearts of the people so that the Word of the Lord can be understood and proclaimed as the Emmanuel draws near. The homily will tell of Israel’s long historical
preparation, set out in Scriptures’ words, for the advent of our Jesus Messiah, the redeemer who comes from our Father (first reading, Year B). On the Second Sunday, the Gentile magi
TO DO
Start building your crib on the First Sunday of Advent Preach the meaning of each figure
Try to build the Christmas
crib in the sight of the people who pass your doors
and Israel’s shepherds can be placed around the ox and the ass. They represent humanity’s longing, the people who sit in darkness. As in Balaam’s story (Numbers 22 to 24), the star of David comes to lead the wise of the world to the place where Israel’s king is born. The shepherds will hear the gospel of great joy, and hasten to the manger wherein lies “a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). The preacher will dwell on Isaiah’s words (40:5): “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (first reading, Year B). On the Third Sunday, Joseph can be placed prominently beside the empty manger. Let him not be old and bald and drably dressed. For our Joseph, the “father” of Jesus, is none other than Joseph the son of Jacob, the one whom his doting father dresses in “a long robe with sleeves” but who comes to us in an amazing technicolour dream coat. Our Joseph dreams dreams
and finds himself in Egypt, having to care for a godly family. The catechist, remembering that it is Gaudete Sunday, might host a showing of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat for children, old and young. The preacher will tell today of the man “whose righteousness springs up before all the nations” (first reading, Year B) and why to him is revealed the meaning of the name Jesus and the meaning of Emmanuel, for both names sum up all that Matthew’s 28 chapters have to tell.
On the Fourth Sunday, Mary can be placed beside her Joseph. In the Year of Mark, (which begins on this Advent’s First Sunday), remember that Mark did not think highly of Jesus’ family who regarded him as mad and unworthy of honour (Mark 3:21; 6:4). But Luke and John honour Mary as the first among disciples, the one whose discipleship never fails, the woman who does not deny, betray or run away. For Luke, Mary is the virgin daughter of
Israel who bears a son, who says yes to the God who calls her to carry God’s son and birth him in our world. Her will is to do “the command of
the eternal God” (Romans
16:26). Mary is the model for all who would hear
the will of God and keep it. And her journey is to go from Nazareth of Galilee to the Place of the Skull (John 19:17). The reading on the Fourth Sunday is from the holy gospel accord- ing to Luke; it tells of the young woman who listened to Gabriel’s words, who, out of her fear, gives a reasoned reply: “How can this be?” Yet as the servant of the Lord, consented: “let it be with me according to your Word” (1:34-38) – and the preacher will invite us to walk with Mary’s faith to Bethlehem and beyond.
It is not easy to try something new. But if our cribs are built throughout Advent and not in a hurried and hidden afternoon on Christmas Eve in preparation for Midnight Mass, they will be built in the sight of the people and the mystery can be explained of our journey together towards the coming (then, now, and in the time to come) of Jesus Messiah, Son of God. We might consider being doubly bold and build our cribs outside our churches, especially outside our cathedrals, with cardboard cut- outs or whatever art can devise – telling our story in the marketplace. Would not this be a true proclamation of the kingdom outside the walls, in the mess of the people, so that those dear to God who walk in darkness may see a great light?
■Joseph O’Hanlon, a priest of Nottingham Diocese, teaches Scripture at Allen Hall, Westminster’s diocesan seminary in London.
12 November 2011 | THE TABLET | 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40