First Sunday after Christmas Day
JOSEPH’S
DREAM
GANDOLFI,
Gaetano
1790
Painting
Private
Collection
|
Notes: |
Gaetano Gandolfi was an Italian artist, both a sculptor and
painter, during the late Baroque and early Neoclassic periods.
In Joseph’s Dream, we see a dozing Joseph who appears to have just
stopped to take a rest in the middle of a task. His sandals are still on his
feet and his walking stick resting beside him. The angel gently touches
Joseph’s arm as he sleeps. When Joseph awakes, he will be ready to go and do
as the angel instructed, saying, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to
take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the
Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name
Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” |
The Flight into Egypt
DÜRER, Albrecht
C. 1496-97
Gemäldegalerie, Dresden,
Germany
Side
panel of "The Seven sorrows of the Virgin"
http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/d/durer/1/01/10seven2.jpg
From the Yorck Project
Are
you willing to forget what you have done for other people,
and to
remember what other people have done for you;
to
ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;
to put
your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance,
and
your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
to see
that your fellow-people are just as real as you are,
and
try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
to own
that probably the only good reason for your existence
is not
what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
to
close your book of complaints against the management of the universe,
and
look around you for a place where you can
sow a
few seeds of happiness--are you willing to do these things even for a day?
Then
you can keep Christmas.
~
Henry van Dyke
Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers,
hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul,
which are the causes of war.
If you love peace, then hate injustice,
hate tyranny, hate greed —
but hate these things in yourself,
not in another.
~ Thomas Merton
Christmas
Eve afternoon at Kimra and Randy’s home for nachos.
Junna,
Abby. Tina, Eugene, and Ray Yoshioka, and Aunt Carolyn Alexander
Abby
and Tina
Ray
LOVED Kimra’s soup!
Jim
Fay, Hostess Kimra Perkins
Aunt
Carolyn, Abby, Eugene
Brenda
Jansen and Engineer Randy Sackerson
Randy’s
efforts certainly won Ray’s admiration!
*The most beautiful people we have
known are those
who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle,
known loss,
and have found their way out of the depths.
These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity
and an understanding of life that fills them with
compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.
Beautiful people do not just happen.
~
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
December 29, 2019 First
Sunday after Christmas Year A
Previous OPQs may be found at:
13Now
after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and
said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain
there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy
him.” 14Then Joseph got up, took the
child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill
what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have
called my son.”
16When Herod saw that he
had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all
the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according
to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet
Jeremiah:
18 “A voice
was heard in Ramah,
wailing and
loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her
children;
she refused
to be consoled, because they are no more.”
19When Herod died, an angel of
the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of
Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead.” 21Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to
the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that
Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to
go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of
Galilee. 23There he made his home in a
town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might
be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
Matthew 2:13-23
Agnus Day, by
James Weinstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
LECTIONARY
First Sunday after Christmas
Isaiah 63:7-9
Psalm
148
Hebrews
2:10-18
Matthew
2:13-23
First Reading Isaiah 63:7-9
7 I
will recount the gracious deeds of the LORD,
the
praiseworthy acts of the LORD,
because of all that the
LORD has done for us,
and the
great favor to the house of Israel
that he has shown them
according to his mercy,
according
to the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children
who will not deal falsely”;
and he became their
savior
9 in all their
distress.
It was no messenger or
angel
but his
presence that saved them;
in his love and in his
pity he redeemed them;
he lifted
them up and carried them all the days of old.
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the
heavens;
praise him
in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him,
all his host!
3 Praise
him, sun and moon;
praise him,
all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you
waters above the heavens!
5 Let
them praise the name of the Lord,
for he
commanded and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed
their bounds, which cannot be passed.
7 Praise
the Lord from the earth,
you sea
monsters and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind
fulfilling his command!
9 Mountains
and all hills,
fruit trees
and all cedars!
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping
things and flying birds!
11 Kings of
the earth and all peoples,
princes and
all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and
young together!
13 Let them
praise the name of the Lord,
for his
name alone is exalted;
his glory
is above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for
all his faithful,
for the
people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!
Second Reading Hebrews 2:10-18
10It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things
exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their
salvation perfect through sufferings. 11For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have
one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and
sisters, 12saying,
“I will proclaim your name
to my brothers and sisters,
in the
midst of the congregation I will praise you.”
13And again,
“I will put my trust in
him.”
And again,
“Here am I and the
children whom God has given me.”
14Since, therefore, the
children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so
that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that
is, the devil, 15and free those who all their
lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. 16For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the
descendants of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to become
like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful
and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of
atonement for the sins of the people. 18Because he himself was tested
by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
13Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph
in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt,
and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child,
to destroy him.” 14Then Joseph got up, took the
child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill
what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have
called my son.”
16When Herod saw that he
had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all
the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according
to the time that he had learned from the wise men. 17Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet
Jeremiah:
18 “A voice
was heard in Ramah,
wailing and
loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her
children;
she refused
to be consoled, because they are no more.”
19When Herod died, an angel of
the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20“Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of
Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead.” 21Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to
the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that
Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to
go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of
Galilee. 23There he made his home in a
town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might
be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”
