His messengers, the Prophets

Deisis in Hagia Sophia, 12th century

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation; Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. AMEN

Today on this Advent II, we celebrate the lives of all the prophets, but in particular John the Baptist, all of whom waited expectantly for the salvation of God.  John's journey was foretold to his father and indeed to his mother, whereupon her greeting by the Theotokos, John leapt joyfully in the presence of His Savior. At John's birth, everyone said, "What then will this child be?" For the hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah, his dad, prophesied concerning his relationship to Jesus:  

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us.  And you, child, will be the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people, in the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."  

Then the word of God came to John when he lived out in the wilderness at which point he went all throughout the land, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Though this was the Good News, he held out hope for all of them that "he who is mightier, whose sandal John was not worthy to untie, would come to baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire", an even fuller picture of the salvation of God.

When John had been imprisoned by Herod, he had his doubts and curiosities and sent word to Jesus to ask him if He was the one to come?  Jesus uses the words of prophets to confirm to John that indeed the Good News he himself had preached was being fulfilled in Jesus.  Then, Jesus gives a beautiful picture of His love for John and asks the crowd: "What did you go out to see in the wilderness?  A reed shaken by the wind? A man dressed in soft clothing?  A prophet?  Yes!  Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet! And he confirms the call God placed on John, saying, "I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than he."  This is confusing because Jesus also was born of a woman and yet he anoints and exalts John.  I think that is what it means for God to befriend us and is so beautiful that even in the midst of John's doubt, Jesus upholds his faithfulness and the hope that John expressed in God.  And so, he is still one of the great cloud of witnesses who calls us into preparation and heralds the making straight of the crooked.  Alleluia.

Listen below to There's a Voice in the Wilderness Crying (1982 Hymnal #75), instrumental only, on organ

Love, the Star, is on the Way

Orion Nebula Star Formation Factory

Creator of the stars of night,

Thy people’s everlasting light,

Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,

And hear Thy servants when they call.

Thou, grieving that the ancient curse

Should doom to death a universe,

Hast found the medicine, full of grace,

To save and heal a ruined race.

~Creator of the stars of night, 1982 Hymnal #60

star factory nearby galaxy

Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim

One more light the bowl shall brim,

Shining beyond the frosty weather,

Bright as sun and moon together.

People, look east and sing today:

Love, the star, is on the way.

~People look east, Eleanor Farjeon 

 
Today, I had the joy of singing the preceding hymns (can be heard by clicking below) as part of our Advent choir during our Wednesday Eucharist service in chapel.  Afterward, our esteemed dean and president even said to me, "You looked like you were enjoying yourself up there, very full of joy."  So, perhaps Advent is doing its work after all, eh?  The service was lovely and God was faithful, as always, to use the music and the liturgy to bring joy and assurance that He is indeed coming.  A word was given during the service that the Lord was encouraging a female in the room with a hole in her heart that He was healing it and that He does not mean for her to carry it going forward.  I am one such girl (with a black hole in her heart) who could use that encouragement as just last week I was telling a friend, "I have so little hope that this one thing will be healed before I get to the new heavens and new earth...."  And that healing is what the Lord has been trying to remind me of over the last month or so.

This may seem somewhat roundabout, but it's the meditation that I sat down to write so here it is.  I have been thinking a lot about the whole of creation groaning for completion, for us to take our place as the children, kings and queens of God, for all to be put to rights, for the Prince of Shalom to reign fully.  Lately, I have also groaned for this and I am glad for the season of Advent, in part, for a time to lament and groan together for the brokenness that is still here and yet for the abundant life and the medicine, as the hymn says, that has been given in the Incarnation of our Lord who is faithful to heal and bring us all, as one creation, to completion.  

surroundings of a black hole

But, what I want to add is that while I was viewing Hubble photos for today's images of stars, I realized that I really do view a place in myself as a black hole, so compact and dense that all is lost into it...even light, its gravitational pull all-encompassing.  Whatever star was present, died and had been of such a mass that a black hole is all that is left.  This is a very difficult truth for me to share but even so, God has asked me to share as honestly as I am able and this image really settled in my mind today as being how I view this, not with God's lens, but just with my own.  This is in some ways, a really helpful image because I know even with all this gloom (the paradox of the already and not yet, methinks) that God, Creator of the stars of night, Love, the bright morning star who himself is the nuclear fuel of every star and will never die, is on the way and the darkness has not overcome him!  I'm praying this becomes more evident as Advent goes on and that it takes hold in the midst of the black hole I have carried so long in my heart.  This is also part of why I am determined to present these meditations, to remind myself of Light and Beauty.

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."   (Revelation 22.16)

"Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness HAS NOT overcome it."  (John 1.3-5)

FY10Q1 part deux

So, February. Well, I can barely remember back that far but I know we went to the quaint little town of Ambridge, Pennsylvania where we will soon be moving! For more on that, please see our joint blog at: pfeiferpfiles.blogspot.com Your news for all things Pfeifer especially as we adventure through seminary. It also has some things like ways to be lifting us up and ways you can help.

Oh, first off, we decided to show off our Pittsburgh "pride" by cheering on the Steelers at the Fairfield Annual Super Bowl party. I know it looks like I'm flipping off the camera but I'm pretty sure I was just throwing a different gangsta sign. You know how it is.

Then, we attended Trinity School for Ministry's "Be A Seminarian" for a day program. But, check this out, one of my roommates from college lives IN Ambridge (the town is seriously like 2000 people and she and her hubby and 2 girls are 4 of them!). So, our other roommate flew down from NH to hang with us. I'm sure everyone is glad that I couldn't find a picture of the dynamic trio from the college days. Maybe later :) And I just have to include this next one because, you see, in college, I was actually known for the ridiculous length of my tongue which people knew because I was so much less mature than and would often use that as my crude gesture of choice when crossed. And look, here's my roommate's daughter, a perfect protege!Heeheehee. :P Isn't she the cutest? In case you can't tell, her tongue is also out. In fact, I think there's a whole sequence of us with out tongues out :)

So, our "Seminarian for a Day" time began with a little Valentine's bowling party with the church of our kind hosts. Hooray for Ambridge's 8-lane alley!

And here's the school:



Yup, that's the whole school. One block!
Pretty sweet, eh?
But it was really nice to go and check it out, even if there was two feet of snow on the ground. We felt there was great confirmation for us to be there especially because the community is phenomenal. So, that'll be the next piece of our adventure and like I said for more on that, check out our blog.
See ya for March, I gotta go cheer for the Blackhawks!

FY10Q1 part 1

So I'm sittin' here sipping my Bailey's and VIA (Instant Ready Brew-Decaf) coffee just chillin'. Already posted the most ridiculous profile picture up on facebook, already soaked my feet in the bathtub, already sat around my A and watched Bones. I was going to continue to work on my table which I think I began around the same time that I posted my last blog on this thing :P. Sorry, dear friends, but here I was and I thought, "Oh hell yes, I am going to finally write that blog that I've said since January that I'm going to write." Okay, well, it's not the same one I was going to write in January because a lot's happened since then and who are we kidding? My memory's just not that good. But, without further ado, here's our first quarter-ish of 2010 in pics.

First off, my dear dear friend, Mink, moved in with us. She needed a cheap home, we could use a little money off our rent since trying to save for Grad School and are blessed with a big 2-bedroom apartment. We also know a thing or two about how to live together after 6 years of friendship so it's all worked out great. Here's our family photo taken a month or so ago. You'll see pictured: I, the loving matriarch, tenderly but firmly urging lovely, innocent Mink and tough guy Greg to just get along. Okay, that's not at all how it is: in fact, Greg and Mink get along like two schnitzels on a platz. That is funny, I'll explain why; Greg and Mink are food lovers...meaning she appreciates all manner of encased meat and will gladly consume it with my husband while I sit very far away and try not to gag. So, it's just win-win-win for everyone.

As has become our custom now, we headed to Baltimore for "Christmas" with Greg's side of the fam. This always brings many types of merriment, which this year included, but was not limited to:

A Ravens game

with high school friends

Doggie Time

Game Time

Grandparent Time

TAT time!So, it's real late now and I've only just finished January but will get Part II up this weekend. Hope you've enjoyed the update thus far.
Peace out, homies.