An old tradition comes into view: the Epiphany Proclamation

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Blessings for the coming year as we enter a new liturgical season with Twelfth Night and Epiphany looming large.  Of all my years of pewsitting, I have never come across this - the Epiphany Proclamation - and I am indebted to Father Michael of Interrupting the Silence for making me aware of this tradition. 

This information set me off looking for other mentions of the tradition.  So to enlarge the repertoire here are some links worthy of your time:

An Attic: the Epiphany Proclamation

Creighton Universities Online Ministry's Epiphany Proclamation 

Ephiphany image from here.

Jesus – the Aramaic speaking Palestinian person #Jesus#Christmas

Aramaic Jesus

Picture from here

My thoughts are stimulated by this article.

How attractive would western-oriented Christians find Jesus to-day? For starters, he would not look like most of the pictures Christians have used to portray Jesus.  He certainly did not have blonde hair and blue eyes – not even mid-brown hair.

The pictures we have to portray Jesus are not only false but probably idolatrous or bordering thereon.

One thing they do manage to do is contradict the most basic of Christian doctrines: the Incarnation. Christian belief centres on the belief that Jesus was an historical figure, both truly human and truly God. All Christian belief is centred on this belief and it is what we celebrate at this time of Christmas – God become human.

Jesus was not a fake human.  His humanity was not pretence. Again, to believe that he was so holy that he couldn’t burp, fart, or open his bowels does disservice to the Christian faith, the Christian community in which lives have been given for this incarnational belief.

To imagine what Jesus – just another human being in appearance – looked like we conjure up a mental picture of what we know of people living at that time. He would not have been tall – people seldom were back then. He would have been swarthy in appearance. Perhaps ‘greasy’ even to Western European ideas.  His hair would have been dark and – if he was in good health – glossy.  His eyes would have been dark, probably darker than just plain ‘brown’.  It is almost certain that he, as a conforming and religious Jew, would have worn forelocks. There is a strong likelihood that his beard was untrimmed.

In short, it is possible that, to modern Western eyes, Jesus was not physically attractive at all – and the very opposite of male beauty and acceptance in Western society.

And he didn’t speak Hebrew in daily life.  He spoke Aramaic.

There are many Christian communities in the protestant tradition who are unfamiliar with the Creeds of the Church. To lose this connection is not only to lose touch with two millennia of Christian history, it is to lose connection with the basis of our faith, the centrality of our beliefs, and what we – the Body of Christ – hold in common wherever and whoever and whenever we are.

As an aide memoire to those who are not familiar with the Nicene Creed – said every Sunday in so many Christian communities – I publish it below. Next time, dear Reader, that you recite this Creed picture your historic Jesus based on the outline above and think of the Christians of Palestine – those small numbers who remain in the Holy Land – to-day.

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Thoughts for troubled times - 6

Stand by the roads, and look,

and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way is;

and walk in it,

and find rest for your souls.

The Book of Jeremiah 6:16

The ancient Christian tradition of hospitality

Rublev Trinity Icon - Abraham entertains

I'm seeking to start a conversation on ancient Christian hospitality.

A couple of things have stimulated this.

1. My local parish (St Thomas) runs an Open Church program. It is quite simple. Its purpose is to keep our parish church doors open from 10am to 2pm Monday to Friday irrespective of whether there is anything on at the church. It is run by volunteers who staff the program with 2 volunteers operating in pairs and each pair doing two hours each - so that is four people every day Mon to Fri. This means our chapel is open for prayer/quiet times. In winter a back pew is made comfortable with cushion, blanket and heater! The volunteers are happy to give a coffee to any one who drops in and have a chat with them as well. Emergency food parcels are available for those who need them - although like any organisation who provides such a service, there are some boundaries.

2. Anti-Poverty Week is coming up in Australia from 12-18 October. I am on the Christian sub-committee here in Victoria. I have been trying to think how I might be able to stimulate involvement and interest in this. What I would like to do is to have St Thom's through the Open Church ministry host a multi-faith day for our area with an emphasis on Hospitality within the different faith traditions. I believe it would give a profile to our Open Church program so that others might imitate it and so we might have fewer locked up churches in Melbourne. There might be other faith communities who have their buildings closed during the week who might consider how they could keep their buildings open to the community. And, of course, hospitality spins off into meeting with those at the margins, getting to know them, serving them and thus serving Christ.

In focussing on Hospitality I also have a hidden agenda and that is that our program at St Thom's might come to a deeper understanding of the role and function of hospitality within our tradition and how that tradition impacts us in our Christian walk and how, through hospitality, we might impact the lives of others.

I am aware that, for instance, the Benedictines have an ancient tradition re hospitality which I would like to hear more about. I have heard that locking doors goes against the ancient Christian tradition. Does anyone know about this? I am sure there is more that can be said - so I wonder if you could help me to learn more about hospitality in our tradition so that I can get a clear and deep focus on it to the extent that I am able to articulate this clearly to others. Documents that I could pass on to others to read might be a help as well.

Season of the Soul: Lent 3 - Mi-careme

Miss Eagle had never heard of Mi-careme until to-night when she was reading a post on The Old Foodie's blog. And what a wonderful post for the third week of Lent. Mi-careme, where the tradition has been practised or upheld, marks the midway point in Lent when people are half-way through the Lenten fast.

For one night there is a reprieve or a hiatus when people enjoy themselves. In its modern form, Mi-careme has taken on a carnival atmosphere, masks and all.

A Sign to guard and guide

Tradition and story, ritual and re-telling in the many facets of human existence help us to remember and keep to what is important. Whether it is grandmotherly recipes or the nuances of faith, tradition and ritual can have great value. Lent is a time of remembering our origins and our traditions and bringing us back to them. Of such is the Christian tradition of making the Sign of the Cross. In the main, the sign is associated with Catholic and Orthodox traditions. In the Reformed traditions of Western Christianity, it is maintained in the Anglican and Lutheran traditions.

But perhaps the Sign of the Cross is about to make a comeback. The evangelical magazine, Christianity To-day, has published an article which includes two book reviews on the topic.

Miss Eagle would like to bring to remembrance the Catholic tradition of the triple sign of the cross when standing to receive the Gospel. The triple sign of the cross is made with the thumb by tracing a cross on the forehead; on the lips; and on the sternum. As this is done the following words are said:

The Word be in my head

The Word be on my lips

The Word be in my heart

Seasons of the Soul: Fasting and abstinence

Fasting and abstinence is an ancient tradition of the Christian church. Since Reformation times, some Protestant churches have moved away from the practice but the late 20th century saw many of these churches and individuals return to the practice. Much of this return to tradition could be attributed to the writing of the Evangelical Quaker, Richard Foster, and his Renovare movement.

Traditional Lenten practice in the Christian Church in the western tradition is that Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence and all Fridays in Lent are days of abstinence. Fasting means one main meal during the day and, if necessary, two smaller meals to keep up one's strength. These smaller meals should not exceed the main meal. Abstinence means abstaining from meat. Beef and poultry are out on days of abstinence but fish is permitted. From this tradition of fasting and abstinence during Lent comes the tradition of "giving up" something for Lent i.e. children might decide to give up lollies, men might give up alcohol and so on.

The purpose of such practices is to encourage a penitent way of life during this season of the soul remembering our dependency on God and how sinful human nature impeded, and continues to impede, our relationship with our Creator and brought Jesus to the Cross.

The O Antiphons are coming

Beginning this Sunday, 17 December, the final week of Advent is enriched with the traditional 'O' Antiphons. You haven't heard of the 'O' Antiphons? They are part of the rich heritage leading up to the traditional Christian celebrations of Christmas. Poetry, art, prayer. They express this spiritual heritage in the deepest way. Read about them here.