Keeping Connected
POSTED: November 7, 2024
A d v e n t b l e s s i n g s . . .
We hope this edition of our now-and-again newsletter for the Connections community (“good people all”) finds you in the threshold of an Advent of joyful anticipation as we journey liturgically and spiritually toward Bethlehem. After a year of every kind of natural and political challenge, may the New Year dawn with the healing peace and light of hope of the Christ Child.
Usually, Keeping CONNECTED centers on trends and resources in the ministry of preaching and communications. This time out we want to share a few Advent and Christmas pieces we came across that we hope might illuminate your Advent and Christmas preaching with extra brightness.
An unconventional birth announcement
Rachel Held Evans spoke for a generation of young believers wrestling with their faith. Born in the Bible-belt, Evans writes about faith and doubt, life and death, with passion, integrity, honesty and kindness. Her spiritual journey and unique writing voice fostered a community of believers who yearned to seek God and challenge conservative Christian groups that they felt were often exclusionary. She was the author of four New York Times best-selling books; her book Wholehearted Faith was completed by a friend and published after her death. Married and the mother of two, she died in 2019 of a brain seizure. This is from her blog, posted on December 5, 2017:
It’s an unconventional birth announcement.
Defiant. Prophetic. Unsentimental.
We like to paint Mary in the softer hues — her robes clean, hair combed and covered, body poised in prayerful surrender — but this young woman was a fierce one, full of strength and fury. When she accepts the dangerous charge before her, (every birth was risky in those days, this one especially so), rather than reciting a maternal blessing, Mary offers a prophecy:
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.
I hear Mary’s Magnificat shouted, not sung:
In the halls of the Capitol Building: He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
In the corridors of the West Wing: He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly.
In the streets of Charlottesville: He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
Among women who have survived assault, harassment, and rape: He has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed.
Among the poor, the refugees, the victims of gun violence, and the faithful ministers of the Gospel who at great cost are speaking out against the false religions of nationalism and white supremacy: His mercy is for those who fear him, from generation to generation.
With the Magnificat, Mary not only announces a birth, she announces the inauguration of a new kingdom, one that stands in stark contrast to every other kingdom — past, present, and future — that relies on violence and exploitation to achieve “greatness.”
With the Magnificat, Mary declares that God has indeed chosen sides.
And it’s not with the powerful, but the humble.
It’s not with the rich, but with the poor.
It’s not with the occupying force, but with people on the margins.
It’s not with narcissistic kings, but with an unwed, unbelieved teenage girl entrusted with the holy task of birthing, nursing, and nurturing God.
This is the stunning claim of the Incarnation: God has made a home among the very people the world casts aside. And in her defiant prayer, Mary — a dark-skinned woman, a refugee, a religious minority in an occupied land — names this reality.
“The innkeeper’s defense”
Readers of the space will recognize the name J. Barrie Shepherd, the retired senior minister at First Presbyterian Church in New York City, whose writings have graced this newsletter. Now living “up the road” on the coast of Maine with his wife Mhairi, Barrie is the author of several books and poetry collections. You may know his work from The Christian Century, Weavings, Presbyterian Outlook and The New Republic. I assign to my preaching students at Pope Saint John XXIII Seminary his wonderful book Whatever Happened to Delight? Preaching the Gospel in Poetry and Parables.
I particularly love Barrie’s soliloquies in which he channels a particular figure from Scripture and makes us see into our owns souls by way of the speaker’s soul. With Barrie’s permission, we share “The Innkeepers Defense” from his book A Poetic Pandemic Christmas Pudding:
Of course there was room.
Any innkeeper worthy of his bread and salt
knows that. Even in the most travel-wearied season
always, within reason, one chamber at the least
is kept for that noble, but unexpected guest,
that personage of means and influence,
accustomed to the very best,
who arrives with zero reservations, tests to make
or break your reputation as a host.
Yes, there was room.
But who, for the heaven’s sake, was going to take in
a female in her all-too-typical condition?
So far along she might well drop her litter
that very night. And then what of my fine furnishing
and white, imported linen sheets . . . ?
To say nothing of the fright her peasant shrieks
and groans would wreak upon the tender ears
of my cultivated customers, sending them
to an early bed, or driving them from the place
disturbed, disgusted, never to return . . .
But I want you to remember this.
There WAS room, not a doubt. I wouldn’t want
any other report to get about.
I keep a most commodious establishment
where no one with the wherewithal,
or recognized connections, need ever fear that they
might be shut out, without a place to lay their head.
Foxes have holes, they say, and birds of the air
Have nests, and the innkeeper of Bethlehem
will always have a resting place
for distinguished members of the human race.
[For a list of Barrie Shepherd's collections of Advent and Christmas prayer/poems, contact us at Connections. All proceeds from Barrie’s books are donated to food pantries in the southern Maine area.]
May God walk with us in the New Year . . .
A final Christmas light from the late Henri Nouwen. This from his journal Gracias! Gracias!: A Latin American Journal:
God came to us because he wanted to join us on the road, to listen to our story, and to help us realize that we are not walking in circles but moving toward the house of peace and joy. This is the great mystery of Christmas that continues to give us comfort and consolation: we are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent his only Son to be with us at all times and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but always can trust that he walks with us.
The challenge is to let God be who he wants to be. A part of us clings to our aloneness and does not allow God to touch us where we are most in pain. Often we hide from him precisely in those places within ourselves where we feel guilty, ashamed, confused, and lost. Thus we do not give him a chance to be with us where we feel most alone.
Christmas is the renewed invitation not to be afraid and to let him — whose love is greater than our own hearts and minds can comprehend — be our companion.
# # # # #
May the Child of Bethlehem be our companion as we begin our journey through 2025.
Jay Cormier
Connections for the Weekdays of Advent 2024
Again this year, the editors of Connections have prepared a NEW series of short, to-the-point homilies — each meditation approximately two minutes in length — for every weekday of the 2024 Advent season.
Modeled after our popular annual Lenten weekday issue, Connections for the Weekdays of Advent 2024 includes stories and meditations illuminating the themes of the Gospel readings in the Advent lectionary. Included are reflections/homilies for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (this year: December 9), as well as Christmas.
The Connections Advent issue is available in TWO formats: the PAPER version (mailed via USPS) at $38 (Canadian and overseas orders: $42 US); and the DIGITAL version (sent via e-mail, as a PDF file) at $30.
If you preach — or have always intended to preach — at weekday liturgies during Advent, this special edition of Connections will prove to be a valuable resource.
TO ORDER, return the form below with you check or money order to:
Connections for the Weekdays of Advent 2024, 7 Belgian Way, Londonderry, N.H. 03053
Enclosed is my check/money order for $_________. Please send me ___ copy[-ies]
of the Connections 2024 Advent Weekday issue in the (CHECK ONE:)
[ ] PDF format [ ] paper format.
NAME: _____________________________________________________________________
PARISH/ORGANIZATION: ______________________________________________________
ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________________
CITY/STATE/POSTAL CODE: ____________________________________________________
E-MAIL: ____________________________________________________________________
POSTED: February 1, 2024
L e n t e n b l e s s i n g s . . .
Seems like we just packed away the creche and swept up the last drooping leaves of the poinsettias (and don’t you and your parish staff just love it when Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday?), and here it is, Lent already — with Ash Wednesday falling on Valentine’s Day, no less (good luck with that).
So take a deep breath, pour yourself a drink, put your feet up and take a couple of minutes to join the conversation.
For those new to Connections, Keeping CONNECTED is a newsletter we send along every so often with information and insights on the ministry of preaching and communications, along with the latest news about what we’re up to here at Connections. This being a conversation, we welcome your participation — send your comments, suggestions and criticisms to us at the terrestrial and digital contacts below.
The art of “illuminating” listening
New York Times columnist David Brooks is known for his “center-right” commentary on politics – but of late, Brooks has focused on moral and ethical issues as well as the sociological constructs that make us who we are.
In his new book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, Brooks writes about the human need “to connect . . . to have another person look into [our] faces with love and acceptance” (an essay from the book was published last fall in The Times).
Pastoral ministers and homilists, take note:
As a journalist, Brooks writes, “I often find myself interviewing people who tell me they feel unseen and disrespected: Black people feeling that the systemic inequities that afflict their daily experiences are not understood by whites, people who live in rural areas feeling they are overlooked by coastal elites, people across political divides staring at one another with angry incomprehension, depressed young people who feel misunderstood by their parents and everyone else, husbands and wives who realize that the person who should know them best actually has no clue about who they are.”
Not only journalists, but we ministers need to develop our skills at engaging members of our communities by asking thoughtful questions — and listening to the answers, with empathy and without judgment.
“I’ve noticed along the way that some people are much better at seeing people than others are,” Brooks notes. “In any collection of humans, there are diminishers and there are illuminators. Diminishers are so into themselves, they make others feel insignificant. They stereotype and label. If they learn one thing about you, they proceed to make a series of assumptions about who you must be.
“Illuminators, on the other hand, have a persistent curiosity about other people. They have been trained or have trained themselves in the craft of understanding others. They know how to ask the right questions at the right times — so that they can see things, at least a bit, from another’s point of view.
Such “illumination” is a matter of asking people the right questions. Among the practical suggestions Brooks offers is to “storify whenever possible.”
“I no longer ask people: What do you think about that? Instead, I ask: How did you come to believe that? That gets them talking about the people and experiences that shaped their values. People are much more revealing and personal when they are telling stories. And the conversation is going to be warmer and more fun.”
A second skill Brooks seeks to develop: “the gift of attention.”
Putting aside our perceived status and authority to give his full attention to others, Brooks explains, “I tend to ask them where they grew up. People are at their best when talking about their childhoods. Or I ask where they got their names. That gets them talking about their families and ethnic backgrounds . . .
“After you’ve established trust with a person, it’s great to ask 30,000-foot questions, ones that lift people out of their daily vantage points and help them see themselves from above. These are questions like: What crossroads are you at? Most people are in the middle of some life transition; this question encourages them to step back and describe theirs.”
Pope Francis often speaks of ministry as “accompanying” those we serve. David Brooks’ new book gives us some great tools for such meaningful accompaniment. Brooks’ evokes the wisdom of Saint Benedict: If we’re going to “connect” with folks today in our preaching and ministry, we need to listen to them with the “ear of the heart.”
Connections for the Weekdays of Lent 2024
This spring, we've assembled a collection of 40 concise, to-the-point homilies — each one approximately one to two minutes in length — for every weekday of the 2024 Lenten season.
Connections for the Weekdays of Lent 2024 is now available. The stories and meditations reflect the themes of the Gospel readings in the Lenten lectionary, beginning with Ash Wednesday, February 14. Also included in this special issue are reflections for the Easter Triduum: Holy Thursday (March 28), Good Friday (March 29), and the Easter Vigil (March 30).
The Connections Lenten issue is available in TWO formats:
the DIGITAL version (sent via e-mail, as a PDF file) at $34;
the “PAPER” version (mailed via USPS) at $40 (Canadian and overseas orders: $43 US).
If you preach — or have always intended to preach — at weekday liturgies during Lent, this special edition of Connections will prove to be a valuable resource.
To order, return the form below with you check or money order to:
Connections for the Weekdays of Lent 2024, 7 Belgian Way, Londonderry, N.H. 03053
Enclosed is my check/money order for $_________. Please send me ___ copy[-ies]
of the Connections 2024 Lenten Weekday issue in the (CHECK ONE:)
[ ] PDF format [ ] paper format.
NAME: _____________________________________________________________________
PARISH/ORGANIZATION: ______________________________________________________
ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________________
CITY/STATE/POSTAL CODE: ____________________________________________________
E-MAIL: ____________________________________________________________________
Preaching workshops and retreats
For the most part, the pandemic seems to be in our rear-view mirror. With care (COVID is still very much a reality), dioceses and church groups are again planning workshops and study days in preaching. We’ll be hitting the road to facilitate three such workshops in the year ahead.
If you’re considering a homily training program for the priests and deacons of your diocese, deanery or community, please let us know if we can be of assistance. We can help you develop themes and topics and design program formats, as well as put you in contact with speakers and facilitators. Contact us anytime at the phone number or via the e-mail address below.
Be part of the conversation
Thank you, one and all, for your notes and e-mails with your comments about and suggestions for Connections. Send your questions, suggestions and comments (complimentary and critical) to the address below or e-mail us anytime at jaycormier@comcast.net. Your ideas and experiences are invaluable to us in our planning.
And please “bookmark” or add our website to your “favorites” list — ConnectionsMediaWorks.com. The site includes exegetical notes for each Sunday’s Gospel and stories and reflections we post from past issues Connections. You’ll also find information on our special issues series, details on workshops and retreat programs, and a “notebook” of practical advice for effectively communicating the Word in your homily.
“God so loved the world . . . ”
The Amen to this edition of Keeping CONNECTED comes from the wisdom of the late Jesuit Father Walter Burghardt, one of the American Church’s outstanding preachers. From his collection of homilies When Christ Meets Christ:
“To be alive with Christ means that in the power of his passion you can think and act, live and love, more fantastically than in your wildest dreams. You can believe what passes belief: accept God’s word for the incredible Creed you repeat so facilely each Sunday. You can hope for what seems hopeless: confidently expect that God will be with you wherever you are in this life, with you days without end in the next. You can love as you’ve never loved before, as Christ has loved you: love without looking for what you can get out of it, love those you don’t like, love the outcasts of your world, love when it costs you, even unto crucifixion . . .
“Good friends: The passion of Christ did not end on the first Good Friday. The passion of Christ surrounds you, chokes you: every human wasted in the womb; every third black child languishing below the poverty line; the thousands of women savaged by men vowed to love and honor; the homeless on your streets rummaging for food in garbage cans; the racism that lurks just below our civilized surface. The death that envelopes us . . . lays a heavy demand on us who share a risen life given us freely from a cross.
“You and I have been graced indeed, gifted by God beyond our deserving. But, as Protestant martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer saw in World War II, grace that comes cheap, grace that keeps us ever so comfortable, will never redeem this sin-scarred earth. Only costly grace can do that; only men and women like yourselves who find in this Eucharist the power to repeat in their own persons, This is my body . . . given for you. Given for Christ, given for the crucified images of Christ. It’s a great way to come alive . . . alive in Christ.”
May our Holy Week journeys with our worshiping communities this Lent lead us to such “costly” grace – the grace that can redeem our broken world.
Jay Cormier