Advent Calendar:7th Day of Christmas and Old Year's Day-Reflections!

Meady’s Musings Production apologizes for not keeping up with the calendar and the twelve days of Christmas from the 4th to 6th days of Christmas. However she (Meady herself), the Purple Elephant and even the little mouse have all caught some great big colds! The Purple Elephant believes we got it from Rudolph’s red, runny nose as we were nursing sick reindeer while Santa used our donkey with cart instead this year!

However with a whole house full of sick it’s hard to figure out who should nurse who? And so we were all very unclear as to what to do! Also in an attempt to keep bread on the table for all at the house Meady still had to go out to her full time job so it was near impossible to put up gifts of blog posts. Most of the house guests will be gone by the end of today as the 7th Day of Christmas and Old Year’s Day is here…and all are excited to usher in the New Year!

So, on the today calendar we have made it here, to give you a gift of a blog post olé! As we present…Reflections!

Here is how it will be presented on all three blogs our Reflections on 2009:

-On Meady’s Musings: Our favourite blog posts we shared with you or things we did!

-On UCP: Some of our most profoundly divine and moving moments in UCP!

-On Books and Films Corner: We recall some of the movies we enjoyed this year!

OUR MOST DEEPLY DIVINE MOVING MOMENTS ON UCP THIS YEAR!

Of all the very deeply and deliciously divine things I did this year as I explored this thing I call Universal Collective Prayer! I'd have to say these three stand out...just like the Catholic Holy Trinity and the Hindu-Bramha, Vishnu aur Mahesh (Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer!)

-My Pilgrimage to Mount St. Benedict to commemorate the Holy Week!

-Actually putting UCP into practice by saying prayers at my company's Diwali function and there was Light!


And the most profound of them all!...

-My Pilgrimage in the Month of Kartik


I was also deeply touched to continue to have Bro Greg Kirk come and say his prayers here on the blog for me and to find an Islamic point of light this Eid-Ul-Adha 2009!

Advent Calendar:27 Dec 09-The Third Day of Christmas: These are Some of My Favourite Things!

Most of the animals and people are now dispersing from Meady's Musings Production house catching their respective flights, donkey backs or simply on foot like the monkeys heading back to the streets...hopefully reformed especially after witnessing miracles! The purple elephant and little mouse have helped them secure jobs in some tea shops and other places...One of them learnt to be a barber while in the house (trained by a bear). And one decided to go off with the shepherds to help them herd their sheep! So the house is getting quieter and quieter...the baby that was born is still with us but word has come through the shepherds that they too should be on the move soon since people are looking for them!

So things are winding down here on the calendar but we are still celebrating the twelve days of Christmas as promised! So on today the third day of Christmas I share with you three of my favourite things that I've discovered this year relevant to each blog...

-On Meady's Musings:Three things to eat!
-On UCP:Three of my favourite carols/bhajans/chants!
-On Books and Films Corner:Two Books and a Movie!


MY FAVOURITE CAROLS/BHAJANS OR CHANTS

I may have known some of these before but not in the particular version or sung by the particular singer and I've probably played them on the calendar before in fact one of them just yesterday! But these are some of the tunes I've felt a close connection to in a UCP kinda way that I either found out about or connected/re-connected to this year!

Advent Calendar:26 Dec 09-My Birthday and the 2nd Day of Christmas!

So it's my birthday! What I adore about the Purple Elephant and the little mouse is although they were so busy with all the Christmas celebs and preps and our umpteen house guests of all shapes, sizes and species they found the time to bake me a cake and get me an additional separate birthday gift other than my Christmas one! :) They are such caring animals and friends...a girl can wish for none better than those two! :)

Today is also the 2nd day of Christmas according to the old Twelve Days of Christmas traditions and we will be keeping it up on the Advent calendar. So we won't close until the Epiphany on Wed 6 Jan 2010 when we will celebrate with the Magi for the last time this Advent season! :) And it's been a busy one for me so I've not been able to dance with them as much as I'd have liked this year but I will try at least on that day!

However seeing as it is my birthday and I'm at that landmark that I personally consider to be middle of the road (since average life expectancy is 70)...tethering at the top of the hill...trying for it to not to go all down hill too fast at 35! Aah that thing call time...but it's fictional anyway just ask my metaphysics mentioning friends! :)

But the Purple elephant and the little mouse insisted that I relax today...so I'm going to try...but if I had left my calendar bare...they shan't have existed today you see...since they are imaginary...Oh dear! So I had to blog even today so you could see them appear! :)

So today on the calendar I'm not going to be as presumptuous as on last year's calendar and assume you want the gift of me on my birthday! Although to me that is what it is when you mark your birthday and friends cheer...it is that they are celebrating your entry into existence on the earthly plane and so like on that day you are the gift to them...no?

But instead this year I will just with you share some of the things that define me or are important to me...since I should be relaxing I might mostly reference blogs I've written in the past but with a new slant...so here is how we'll have it!:)

-On Meady's Musings: I will recall my primary and sub-primary theme songs! :)
-On UCP: I will recall my relationship with Shiv and pinch my cute Ishq Devata-Ganesh!
-On Books and Films Corner: I will list my top ten fav books ever and show some clips of some of fav films too! :)

So here it is Happy Happy to me! :)

Thankful to Shiv and Happy with Ganesh!

Today on my birthday on the prayers I'd like to thank and salute Shiv the Super one and my Supreme guru for the great lessons learnt sitting at his feet all year long! A guru like no other and what lessons I've learnt! So dear Shiv Baba I salute you in prayer here! I wrote this in Feb of this year for the festival of Maha Shivratri:

For some on my island the carnival begins
For others with Shiv we will sit and pray
Shiv is for me the supreme yogi
And also the dancer
And we the dance
He is also an animal protector
A real hippy master
Of him I now blog on my Universal Collective Prayer!




And then not keeping with Vedic traditions of mentioning you first but in this case second...only because you see my lovely Ganapati you are my Ishq you see...and because you are my cute baby like friend I can switch it with you and this once salute you second as I celebrate my birthday with you by singing that fav aarti of mines about you...the Ganesh Aarti.

Advent Calendar:Christmas Day!-The Gift of the Christ Child!

Christmas Bread copyright Meady's Musings Production 2009

Well you can just imagine the chaos at Meady's Musings Production house last night! I can say though that all my animals pitched in and it was the most loveliest thing all the same! My donkey (now magical) and his cart went off with Santa and a few of the smaller bears to do the gift giving. My purple elephant and little mouse were busy running a virtual hospital. A lady showed up saying she was the wife of Santa Claus...Mrs Claus if you'll have it...but she was the loveliest thing and she baked us the most delicious bread and other treats for dinner and to have today on Christmas Day!

For Christmas dinner we had invited Deacon Greg Kirk to give the prayers and bring Christmas greetings and that he did and even left us something to say today here on the calendar to ring in Christmas day! We also had some unexpected guests in you guessed it the three 'wise' men! They said they were following a star that had settled just above our tree grove where the animals had set up a carrat (leaf) shed. However my purple elephant had the spare porta camps so they had a place to stay but they kept being agitated about the star and what was to come...

Then just around midnight...we got word that a cousin of our very own donkey of Santa gift giving fame had a cousin in town...some of the monkeys and a few bears (to police them in case they got out of hand again) went out to find him! And that they did but he wasn't alone! He had with him a lady with child and her husband was leading the donkey (our very own donkey's cousin!) They also said they were following the star...and when they got to our house all the animals and people welcomed them and insisted they stay in our tree grove that seemed auspicious in some way! It had this presence about it with the brightest star up above! And we some how felt it so fitting that the lady with child stay at the roots of the great tree...so we made it very comfy as could be! And they really liked the space! Then just after midnight the baby was born...delivered in the loving care of my nurses...the Purple Elephant and little mouse...

All the animals came to see...the three shepherds...the three 'wise' men...all of them...

So today on Meady's Musings Production's Advent calendar we celebrate Christmas Day with just the one big blog post...same on all three blogs...I give you the great prayer by my Brother in UCP Deacon Greg Kirk, Christmas Bread baked by my mom in reality (but Mrs Claus virtually) and Joy to the World! The Lord is come...

Christmas Bread copyright Meady's Musings Production 2009

THE CHRISTMAS PRAYER By Deacon Greg Kirk

The Season of Light

Christmas is Light, the darkness has been overcome by one who came to love. Christmas is more than decorating trees, exchanging gifts and gathering with loved ones. Christmas is an opportunity to embrace the Light - to open to the power, bliss and peace the Light brings.

Jesus of Nazareth desired to know the Light and live within its embrace so deeply, he became one with the Light. He left a path, a way, for you and I to share in this bliss. "Love God with all your being and love your neighbor as you love yourself." Jesus assured us that we are loved completely, unconditionally. He encouraged us to root our lives in the hope and promise of this Love.

My prayer this Christmas is for people everywhere to experience the Light and Love within them, to know more deeply of their beauty and dignity, to experience the Essence or True Self within and to find the freedom to be the people they were created to be.

Darkness abounds in our world, in many circumstances and ways. Embracing the Light -being open to every person's truth, daring to love others, especially the vulnerable and marginalized, causes the darkness to recede and the Light to shine more brilliantly.

Dare to be Light, dare to be Love. Dare to be one with the One who is Light and Love as Jesus did. You will find new possibilities and power. You will find yourself. And you will find yourself within the heart of God.

Love, Greg

Advent Calendar:24 Dec 09-The Gift that is Santa Claus!

Today the bears went out to the market on their own. They are my house guests and I would not have let them go shopping for food...which I consider myself obliged to supply but they sneaked out! A grizzly kept watch while a Canadian black bear and Polar bear took me to see some supposedly newly installed gadgetry in each of the tricked out mangers where the three shepherds and their lambs sleep. While I was on my way there...a Winnie the Pooh like bear, an Indian sloth bear (supposedly descended straight from the line of Jambhavan the bear king) and two other polar bears left in a donkey cart for the market! I was minorly irritated by the incident but then reconciled with myself that they were after all bears and so ate as such! They were all nice and apologetic about it when they returned and so I accepted the bouquet of sunflowers (two bouquets now) and their apologetic words!

But their whole sneakiness also seemed minor compared to the rest of the story! You see the Purple elephant and the little mouse saw when the bears left and knowing I'd not like it decided to follow them. When the bears realised it they agreed to all shop together in the market...and while they were having fun they heard big screams! They all ran to the spot where the screams came from to find a batch of ladies in tears complaining about a batch of monkeys of varying size, origin and nationality attacking them and taking their bags!

This really got the purple elephant and little mouse mad and the elephant used his towering size and big strides to quickly comb and survey the areas and dispatched the bears to find the monkeys. They were all found and the Indian sloth bear was asked to judge over them. He was chosen based on his royal lineage and the fact that some of the monkeys were also descended from Indian monkeys who were related to Lord Hanuman and other monkeys who worked on the Setu bridge alongside bears! So some of the monkeys felt him a fair choice. In the end all monkeys were found guilty but in tears agreed before all the animals and the ladies to reform their ways! They agreed to return all their stolen goods by going to homes all day long and to come back to the house tonight Christmas eve and to stay with the other animals for Christmas! The animals agreed to build a few tree houses so that they could be accommodated. So there you have it Meady's Musings Production house will now be housing monkeys of every shape and kind as well! :)

So my bears and others have been working on those tree houses since they came back from the market. While they were all busy I decided to take a break under one of the marvelous Samaans that reside in my yard. When at the edge of a nearby pond I heard and saw an old man sobbing! I went up to him to ask him what was wrong and it was then he explained to me that he was indeed (as I had suspected in my magical land this could happen)Santa Claus! But he was sobbing because all of his reindeer including Rudolph were sick...he suspected it could be swine flu but he really didn't know what to do!

Now I was really strained for accommodations at this point and I couldn't put my bears on more projects so the purple elephant agreed to go out and buy a few Porta Camps! In there we agreed to isolate and nurse the ailing reindeer and guess what!?

Santa Claus and I conceived that we could use his magic dust to make my donkey magical and able to fly! And so all the gifts to kids world over this Christmas Eve night are going to be delivered by my donkey! And will be stored in his donkey cart you see! :)

When the Purple Elephant came home with the porta camps an hour ago he said he had spotted the three big camels with the transformed men sitting on them (from yesterday's sighting)and he decided to buy an extra porta camp as he had a strong sense of Elephantitis that they were headed to our house! Hmmm...

By now you must realise Santa Claus is here! And also the Magi are possibly heading our way...so to celebrate the great saint and on the whole the loveliness of gift giving here is how we will give our salutes!:

-On Meady's Musings: I reminisce on the Santa poll that we ran last year on the UCP blog and ask you again to comment or vote in this year if you like.
-On UCP: We re-publish the post we did last year on the great saint...Saint Nicholas...
-On Books and Films Corner: We link to Youtube clips from our all time favourite Santa flicks! :)

SAINT NICHOLAS
As published last year on UCP 6 Dec 2008 on St. Nicholas Day!
"In some parts of the world (mainly Europe)today 6 Dec is celebrated as St. Nicholas Day. I don't know much about it personally but on the web I stumbled on a site that seems to be very complete into all things Saint Nicholas...St Nicholas Center.


Here is some info summarized from the site:

'The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.'

'Widely celebrated in Europe, St. Nicholas' feast day, December 6th, kept alive the stories of his goodness and generosity. In Germany and Poland, boys dressed as bishops begged alms for the poor—and sometimes for themselves! In the Netherlands and Belgium, St. Nicholas arrived on a steamship from Spain to ride a white horse on his gift-giving rounds. December 6th is still the main day for gift giving and merrymaking in much of Europe. For example, in the Netherlands St. Nicholas is celebrated on the 5th, the eve of the day, by sharing candies (thrown in the door), chocolate initial letters, small gifts, and riddles. Dutch children leave carrots and hay in their shoes for the saint's horse, hoping St. Nicholas will exchange them for small gifts. Simple gift-giving in early Advent helps preserve a Christmas Day focus on the Christ Child.'

In Trinidad the idea of Santa Claus is more celebrated than Saint Nicholas and is mainly influenced by the North American traditions of Santa Claus. So little children are told that this 'mythical character' is real and then told later on or when they figure it out that really the gifts given are by their parents and not Santa Claus. Parents put gifts under the Christmas tree at night when kids are thought to be asleep. Some dads will even dress up as Santa Claus...perhaps the inspiration for the song "I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus".

But do you believe in Santa Claus? Another website called The North Pole talks about the origins of the American Santa Claus image as follows:

'American Origins: (As sent to me by Brian Dodd)
Quote from ENCARTA 95

The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century.

As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American press as "St. A Claus," but it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, published in 1809 under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving described the arrival of the saint on horseback (unaccompanied by Black Peter) each Eve of Saint Nicholas.

This Dutch-American Saint Nick achieved his fully Americanized form in 1823 in the poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas by writer Clement Clarke Moore. Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer; Santa Claus's laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas, referred to as an elf, returns up the chimney. (Moore's phrase "lays his finger aside of his nose" was drawn directly from Irving's 1809 description.)

The American image of Santa Claus was further elaborated by illustrator Thomas Nast, who depicted a rotund Santa for Christmas issues of Harper's magazine from the 1860s to the 1880s. Nast added such details as Santa's workshop at the North Pole and Santa's list of the good and bad children of the world. A human-sized version of Santa Claus, rather than the elf of Moore's poem, was depicted in a series of illustrations for Coca-Cola advertisements introduced in 1931. In modern versions of the Santa Claus legend, only his toy-shop workers are elves. Rudolph, the ninth reindeer, with a red and shiny nose, was invented in 1939 by an advertising writer for the Montgomery Ward Company.'

There's the history but here I ask a personal question again - DO YOU BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS?

Well yes I do believe in Santa Claus...:) And why not? I know this is not a linear world and there are so many unknowns so just cause I don't have proof doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If we believe in the spirit world, the supernatural and the existence of God or something more that the material world we see before us, well...Of Course there can be a Santa Claus!

Perhaps he may not fit the image we have in our mind that we were fed by our traditions...which if you read about it above was more defined in the US by the writers and poets but then churned out in masses by the businessmen. Perhaps American commercialism has sullied the good old Saint's name but I think he does exist. Perhaps he is just that force or spirit of giving or perhaps he works in mysterious ways and puts gifts when they would not have been given. Can any of us wholeheartedly say we've not experience things we can't explain or don't wonder if there is something more?

So I agree with the editor of the New York Sun who in 1897 wrote...'Yes Virginia There is a Santa Claus'
And maybe it's not that when we become adults our parents tell us the truth but that when we become adults we lose our childlike innocence. Think about it would our parents really be that good at make believe or fooling us normally? So it's not that they told us so and we believed but cause we knew something then that as we grew into this world we forgot. As Jesus says if we make our hearts like children only then can we enter the kingdom of heaven/God/The Father.

Perhaps when we see kids lost in their own world when <5 they are seeing something we don't...like in the film Polar Express...we stop hearing the bell...no discussion without Santa Claus would be complete I think without reference to the film Miracle on 34th Street and tonight I wish you all a good night and leave you with that clip where they explain about the sound of the bell and how adults can't hear it in the film Polar Express and a clip from Miracle on 34th Street. Believe...

I DO BELIEVE IN SANTA CLAUS! I DO! I DO!

Advent Calendar: 23 Dec 09-The Gift of the Magi

Byzantine art usually depicts the Magi in Persian clothing which includes breeches, capes, and Phrygian caps. Mosaic, ca. 565.
Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, Italy - restored above in 18th century. as taken from Wikimedia Commons.


The purple elephant and the little mouse had gone off to the market to stock up on food for all the many house guests that Meady's Musings Production House has been accumulating over the last few weeks when the most funniest thing happened! So funny the purple elephant is rolling on the floor in laughter appearing as if he is in some circus stunt (God forbid he should ever be entrapped in one of those!) as he retells the story with the little mouse...

Apparently the little mouse sat on his shoulder as they went through the market and hid behind his ears every time they noticed a passerby that wouldn't understand that they could be 'clean' mouses in markets. They always do this...and the little mouse advises the purple elephant by whispering into his ear what looks good and what does not...what is too pricey...what is a deal!

So using that tried and tested approach they had already procured honey for the bears (we have since had to buy honey outside our contract after the bee colony strikes earlier on especially to prevent any further Winnie the Pooh impersonations!), bread for the shepherds and even a bouquet of sunflowers for me! :) When that most funniest thing happened!

They saw three men arguing in the middle of the market square! They all had come out of their SUV-sports utility vehicle...each with a smart phone in their hand...arguing that the tallest one who was the driver and the owner of the SUV did not know where he was going as each of their phones gave different directions and that for sure he must have mis-programmed his SUV's GPS! What made it so funny for the purple elephant and the little mouse was the whole scene and antics! The SUV had grinded to a halt right in the middle of the market square kicking up a considerable amount of dust and screeching! And the three men immediately exited from it popping out like if they were compressed hot air inside of there! And all three congregated in a circle pointing at smart phones and then the sky and each trying to out voice the other! But that was not all...

As they argued three large camels seem to appear from no where and used their long necks to scoop a man each up into the air and onto their backs! The expression on each of the men's faces as they all of a sudden grew beards and donned long silky robes is what still has the purple elephant rolling on the floor and I have to tell you my floor tiles are not faring well!

As you might have guessed from that little story the Three Wisemen or the Three Magi or the Three Kings whatever you like to call them are in town! :) And here on the calendar we wish to salute them! :) We had a lot of fun all of last year's Advent calendar long with them and must now again bow to them! And shall do it in this format:

-On Meady's Musings: Who were the Magi? as described on the New Advent (Catholic encyclopedia)and that lovely song with Hugh! ;)
-On UCP: The Time and Circumstances of Their Visit again as described on the New Advent (Catholic encyclopedia).
-On Books and Films Corner: A glimpse of them in the 2006 film The Nativity Story.

So here we go!:

The Time and Circumstances of The Visit of the Magi
As taken from the New Advent

"Time and circumstances of their visit

The visit of the Magi took place after the Presentation of the Child in the Temple (Luke 2:38). No sooner were the Magi departed than the angel bade Joseph take the Child and its Mother into Egypt (Matthew 2:13). Once Herod was wroth at the failure of the Magi to return, it was out of all question that the presentation should take place. Now a new difficulty occurs: after the presentation, the Holy Family returned into Galilee (Luke 2:39). Some think that this return was not immediate. Luke omits the incidents of the Magi, flight into Egypt, massacre of the Innocents, and return from Egypt, and takes up the story with the return of the Holy Family into Galilee. We prefer to interpret Luke's words as indicating a return to Galilee immediately after the presentation. The stay at Nazareth was very brief. Thereafter the Holy Family probably returned to abide in Bethlehem. Then the Magi came. It was "in the days of King Herod" (Matthew 2:1), i.e. before the year 4 B.C. (A.U.C. 750), the probable date of Herod's death at Jericho. For we know that Archelaus, Herod's son, succeeded as ethnarch to a part of his father's realm, and was deposed either in his ninth (Josephus, Bel. Jud., II, vii, 3) or tenth (Josephus, Antiq., XVII, xviii, 2) year of office during the consulship ofLepidus and Arruntius (Dion Cassis, lv, 27), i.e., A.D. 6. Moreover, the Magi came while King Herod was in Jerusalem (vv. 3, 7), not in Jericho, i.e., either the beginning of 4 B.C. or the end of 5 B.C. Lastly, it was probably a year, or a little more than a year, after the birth ofChrist. Herod had found out from the Magi the time of the star's appearance. Taking this for the time of the Child's birth, he slew the male children of two years old and under in Bethlehem and its borders (v. 16). Some of the Fathers conclude from this ruthless slaughter that the Magi reached Jerusalem two years after the Nativity (St. Epiphanius, "Haer.", LI, 9; Juvencus, "Hist. Evang.", I, 259). Their conclusion has some degree of probability; yet the slaying of children two years old may possibly have been due to some other reason — for instance, a fear on Herod's part that the Magi had deceived him in the matter of the star's appearance or that the Magi had been deceived as to the conjunction of that appearance with the birth of the Child. Art and archæology favour our view. Only one early monument represents the Child in the crib while the Magi adore; in others Jesus rests upon Mary's knees and is at times fairly well grown (see Cornely, "Introd. Special. in N.T.", p. 203).

From Persia, whence the Magi are supposed to have come, to Jerusalem was a journey of between 1000 and 1200 miles. Such a distance may have taken any time between three and twelve months by camel. Besides the time of travel, there were probably many weeks of preparation. The Magi could scarcely have reached Jerusalem till a year or more had elapsed from the time of the apperance of the star. St. Augustine (De Consensu Evang., II, v, 17) thought the date of the Epiphany, the sixth of January, proved that the Magi reached Bethlehem thirteen days after the Nativity, i.e., after the twenty-fifth of December. His argument from liturgical dates was incorrect. Neither liturgical date is certainly the historical date. (For an explanation of the chronological difficulties, see Chronology, Biblical, Date of the Nativity of Jesus Christ.) In the fourth century the Churches of the Orient celebrated the sixth of January as the feast of Christ's Birth, the Adoration by the Magi, and Christ's Baptism, whereas, in the Occident, the Birth of Chirst was celebrated on the twenty-fifth of December. This latter date of the Nativity was introduced into the Church of Antioch during St. Chrysostom's time (P.G., XLIX, 351), and still later into the Churches of Jerusalem and Alexandria.

That the Magi thought a star led them on, is clear from the words (eidomen gar autou ton astera) which Matthew uses in 2:2. Was it really a star? Rationalists and rationalistic Protestants, in their efforts to escape the supernatural, have elaborated a number of hypotheses:

* The word aster may mean a comet; the star of the Magi was a comet. But we have no record of any such comet.
* The star may have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (7 B.C.), or of Jupiter and Venus (6 B.C.).
* The Magi may have seen a stella nova, a star which suddenly increases in magnitude and brilliancy and then fades away.

These theories all fail to explain how "the star which they had seen in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was" (Matthew 2:9). The position of a fixed star in the heavens varies at most one degree each day. No fixed star could have so moved before the Magi as to lead them to Bethlehem; neither fixed star nor comet could have disappeared, and reappeared, and stood still. Only a miraculous phenomenon could have been the Star of Bethlehem. it was like the miraculous pillar of fire which stood in the camp by night during Israel's Exodus (Exodus 13:21), or to the "brightness of God" which shone round about the shepherds (Luke 2:9), or to "the light from heaven" which shone around about the stricken Saul (Acts 9:3).

The philosophy of the Magi, erroneous though it was, led them to the journey by which they were to find Christ. Magian astrology postulated a heavenly counterpart to complement man's earthly self and make up the complete human personality. His "double" (the fravashi of the Parsi) developed together with every good man until death united the two. The sudden appearance of a new and brilliant star suggested to the Magi the birth of an important person. They came to adore him — i.e., to acknowledge the Divinity of this newborn King (vv. 2, 8, 11). Some of the Fathers (St. Irenaeus, "Adv. Haer.", III, ix, 2; Progem. "in Num.", homil. xiii, 7) think the Magi saw in "his star" a fulfilment of the prophesy of Balaam: "A star shall rise out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel" (Numbers 24:17). But from the parallelism of the prophesy, the "Star" of Balaam is a great prince, not a heavenly body; it is not likely that, in virtue of this Messianic prophesy, the Magi would look forward to a very special star of the firmament as a sign of the Messias. It is likely, however, that the Magi were familiar with the great Messianic prophesies. Many Jews did not return from exile with Nehemias. When Christ was born, there was undoubtedly a Hebrew population in Babylon, and probably one in Persia. At any rate, the Hebrew tradition survived in Persia. Moreover, Virgil, Horace, Tacitus (Hist., V, xiii), and Suetonius (Vespas., iv) bear witness that, at the time of the birth of Christ, there was throughout the Roman Empire a general unrest and expectation of a Golden Age and a great deliverer. We may readily admit that theMagi were led by such hebraistic and gentile influences to look forward to a Messias who should soon come. But there must have been some special Divine revelation whereby they knew that "his star" meant the birth of a king, that this new-born king was very God, and that they should be led by "his star" to the place of the God-King's birth (St. Leo, Serm. xxxiv, "In Epiphan." IV, 3).

The advent of the Magi caused a great stir in Jerusalem; everybody, even King Herod, heard their quest (v. 3). Herod and his priests should have been gladdened at the news; they were saddened. It is a striking fact that the priests showed the Magi the way, but would not go that way themselves. The Magi now followed the star some six miles southward to Bethlehem, "and entering into the house [eis ten oikian], they found the child" (v. 11). There is no reason to suppose, with some of the Fathers (St. Aug., Serm. cc, "In Epiphan.", I, 2), that the Child was still in the stable. The Magi adored (prosekynesan) the Child as God, and offered Him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The giving of gifts was in keeping with Oriental custom. The purpose of the gold is clear; the Child was poor. We do not know the purpose of the other gifts. The Magi probably meant no symbolism. The Fathers have found manifold and multiform symbolic meanings in the three gifts; it is not clear that any of these meanings are inspired (cf. Knabenbauer, "in Matth.", 1892).

We are certain that the Magi were told in sleep not to return to Herod and that "they went back another way into their country" (v. 12). This other way may have been a way to the Jordan such as to avoid Jerusalem and Jericho; or a roundabout way south through Beersheba, then east to the great highway (now the Mecca route) in the land of Moab and beyond the Dead Sea. It is said that after their return home, the Magi were baptized by St. Thomas and wrought much for the spread of the Faith in Christ. The story is traceable to an Arian writer of not earlier than the sixth century, whose work is printed, as "Opus imperfectum in Matthæum" among the writings of St. Chrysostom (P.G., LVI, 644). This author admits that he is drawing upon the apocryphal Book of Seth, and writes much about the Magi that is clearly legendary. The cathedral of Cologne contains what are claimed to be the remains of the Magi; these, it is said, were discovered in Persia, brought to Constantinople by St. Helena, transferred to Milan in the fifth century and to Cologne in 1163 (Acta SS., I, 323)."

Advent Calendar: 22 Dec 09-The Gift of Grace!

Well it's a Tuesday here on the Advent calendar and the animals and I decided to go visit old Mother Goose and according to her Tuesday's child is full of grace...so it led myself, all the animals and the three shepherds to discussing this thing call Grace!

Here is how we organised our talks:

-Meady's Musings: some of the everyday use and meanings of the word 'Grace'
-UCP:Divine Grace
-Books and Films Corner: The 2006 film Amazing Grace!

Divine Grace

As defined by the catholic encyclopedia New Advent

"Grace (gratia, Charis), in general, is a supernatural gift of God to intellectual creatures (men, angels) for their eternal salvation, whether the latter be furthered and attained through salutary acts or a state of holiness. Eternal salvation itself consists in heavenly bliss resulting from the intuitive knowledge of the Triune God, who to the one not endowed with grace "inhabiteth light inaccessible" (1 Timothy 6:16). Christian grace is a fundamental idea of the Christian religion, the pillar on which, by a special ordination of God, the majestic edifice of Christianity rests in its entirety. Among the three fundamental ideas — sin, redemption, and grace — grace plays the part of the means, indispensable and Divinely ordained, to effect the redemption from sin through Christ and to lead men to their eternal destiny in heaven."

As defined in Judaism...taken from the World Religions Index

"Salvation and the Afterlife

One's eternal existence in the hereafter is determined by moral behavior and attitudes. Although there is no Christian notion of saving grace in Judaism, it is taught that God always offers even the most evil men the possibility of repentance (teshuva, "turning"). After such repentance one can atone for one's rebellion against God's ways by positive action.

But the notion of individual salvation and heavenly existence is not prominent in Judaism. In fact many Jews criticize Christianity for being a "selfish" religion, too concerned with personal eternal rewards.

The notion of an afterlife is not well developed in the Old Testament. Later writers speculated unsystematically about a final day of judgment.

Jews still hope for the coming of the Messiah, who will hand out eternal judgment and reward to all. This hope is largely communal; the entire Jewish race and the whole of creation is in view more than individual men.

In the end the moral life of man here on earth is considered the most proper concern of man; final judgments are best left to God."