Thanks to my brother from another mother... I was privileged to read George Maloney's book on contemplative prayer... that prayer which tries to fulfill St. Paul's injunction to pray without ceasing.

Very good read with a lot of distilled knowledge from the dessert Fathers.  I'm looking forward to discussing it with my brother this weekend when we get to go on retreat together.  I'll save that for another post.

This is a wonderful article from a local monastery on the advent season.  I share it for the blessing of all.

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On the Nativity of our Lord

God's Incarnation means man's deification.  In his treatise "On The Incarnation Of The Word," Saint Athanasius says that "God was made man that we might be made God" (Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Erdmans 2nd series, pg 65). The Incarnation of God was on the mind of the Holy Trinity from eternity.  It is "...the mystery hidden from before all ages and unknown even to the angels" (Eph. 3:9).  And the image has as its goal man's deification.  The "icon" tends towards its prototype.  Man looks for God in many ways: in science and technology, in philosophy and art; this searching is ingrained in man's reasonable nature, so that for the achievement of his likeness and unity with God, the Incarnation of God Himself was indispensable.

This preparation began with the promise -- or covenant -- God made with Abraham who became the father of a great nation, the People of Israel, and the spiritual forefather of all those who were to believe in God, of all those who will become Christians:  "...blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply your descendants, as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed My voice" (Gen. 22:17-18).  The promis was reinforced with Isaac, the son of Abraham, to whom God said: "...and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 26:4).  Then to the patriarch Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel, God said:  "And your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and to the south; and in you and in your seed all the farmilies of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen. 28:14).  To the same patriarch God reveals that from the loins of Judah, Jacob's son, a savior will rise:  "A scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law giver from between his feet until what was promised shall come and to Him shall be the obedience of the people" (Gen. 49:10).  Even Balaam, when called to curse the people of Israel, could not do it; on the contrary he prophesied of the coming of the Messiah: "I see Him but not now; I behold Him but not near; A star shall come out of Jacob, a Scepter shall rise out of Israel..." (Num. 24:17).

When Israel was being held captive in Egypt God raised up Moses to deliver them.  He is the Jesus of the Old Testament because his mission was to lead the people out of the land of sin.  Moses tells them: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren, Him you shall hear" (Deut. 18:15).  Having brought the People of Israel out of Egypt and across the Red Sea Moses lead them to Mt. Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments and instructions for proper worship.  Through the Law Israel came to know the tru God and learned how men ought to live with one another.  In the Law of Moses God made perfectly clear that He alone is God.  The first of the Ten Commandments states: "I am the Lord thy God Who have brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Thou shall have no other gods before Me." (Deut. 5:6-7).  It was God's will that the chosen nation will learn to do His will in all things so that she may bring forth her most perfect fruit: "the one who in perfect love and purity of heart would surrender her whole being to God and become a vessel worthy to bear the Son of God in the flesh.  The Most blessed Virgin Mary is therefore the final and consummate act in God's plan of preparation."

The same Father Athanasius says that God has created matter so as to fit to His Incarnation.  The premises of God's Nativity from the Virgin were laid at the creation of the world.  But to assume a material body it was necessary to create an affinity between God and matter.  He took the matter of this universe into His body and lifted it at the right hand of the Father.  The chemical elements that are in His body are also in our body, and, through the deification of man, the material universe will be transfigured, as the Scripture says: "There will be a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1).

The Paradox of the Incarnation from a virgin is an incredible drama:  The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin, the Master takes the form of a servant -- or, in other words, heaven is united with earth, the transcendent with the temporal, God with man.  The universe is the stage; Jesus is the drama.  It is an existential drama, in which Eternity enters into history and time is engulfed by it.

The Nativity of our Lord is both glorious and humble:  the stars and the cave, philosophers and shepherds, angels and dumb beasts.  These are the conditions in which "...the Word has became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

Regarding the Virgin's birth, Bede the Venerable says only that His "being born of a virgin showed that the dignity of virginity was pleasing to God" (Catena Aurea, Preservation Press, 1950, pg. 100, vol.1).  St. John Chrysostom explains this mystery more deeply:  "It was necessary that the Son of God entered this world by a pure and holy birth.  For as Adam was formed from the virgin earth, and from Adam, without the help of a woman, the woman was formed, now a daughter of Eve -- that is the Holy Virgin -- on behalf of Eve, repaid the debt to Adam, giving birth to Jesus -- the new Adam -- without the help of man" (op. cit. Vol 1, pg 113).

The great promise, is that God becomes Man.  No other religion in the world believes in a god who became man.  God as the Father no one can ever see.  By taking flesh the Word of God is the expression of the Father whom we can see, and touch; He was hungry and thirsty, He spoke, He walked, without losing His divinity; this is a prefiguration of how we are to be saved.  The Infinite takes on a human nature and human nature is united with the Infinite.

Imagine a garden, well groomed and expansive if you will.  It is surrounded by an equally well kept hedge which, though not impenetrable, has few easy gaps through which to venture out into the wide world.

If you can also imagine a large group of friends in the garden and they are all enjoying the beauty, lovely smells and peace of the garden together.  At a certain point someone in the group climbs a little hill in one of the garden paths and for the first time is afforded a long and clear view over the hedge.  He is startled by the breathtaking beauty outside the garden, not at all what he had imagined or been told of the world outside.

After peering long and hard from inside the garden he decides to strike out through a gap in the hedge and explore this beautiful world.  As he begins to explore he encounters beauty, depth, order and in fact, many of the things that were in the garden, but much, much more of it.  After trying to show his friends in the garden what he has discovered (but failing miserably because he isn't very good at explaining things without making them feel stupid) he decides to join a group of people outside the garden and learn more about the wide world with them.  He goes with the blessing of his closest garden friends.

As he goes, he loves his garden friends no less, and regrets that he must venture without them.  At the same time he knows that many waters cannot quench love, and neither can any silly hedge...  his beloved garden friends will always be family to him and he is forever grateful to them for all their loving kindness towards him and for all they have taught him about love and God and goodness.

So, if this is about me, does this make me Fred the Hedgehog?