MERRY CHRISTMAS TO US 

 By Jim Redwine

If the message of Christmas were simply gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, etc., etc., it would have died out about as unceremoniously as the current stock market. Therefore, we should probably consider if there are other possibilities.

When the Jews were conquered by the Romans they reacted as most oppressed people would. Their cultural myths concentrated on deliverance. In general, deliverance from an omnipotent force can take three approaches: armed rebellion; assimilation; and/or peaceful coexistence.

To some of the Hebrews, their hoped-for messiah would be a warrior who would throw off the Roman rule. To others, the approach was more of total capitulation. But for many, the thought was a Prince of Peace would provide the best hope. To fight Rome, as the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 A.D. showed, was to court annihilation. As the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius chronicled, a revolt by the Jews brought total devastation to their society.

On the other hand, the Romans and Jews of that time did not appear to be interested in peaceful coexistence except upon terms set by Rome. That left real deliverance from bondage for the Jewish people to be more metaphysical, that is, through philosophy, not armed resistance. And it took 2,000 years, the horrors of WWII and the benevolence of the world’s new Rome, the United States of America before Jewish self-determination could be realized. Still, true peace as called for by Jesus is elusive. The Middle East continues to be an area where armed rebellion is both ubiquitous and futile.

Perhaps we should give the true message of Christmas a chance. I know President Trump has his faults and I carry no brief for much of what our government does in our name. However, to withdraw from foreign conflicts that simply kill thousands, destroy cultures and cost trillions appears to me to be the course Jesus would call for. Merry Christmas and welcome home to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and wherever else we are engulfed in endless counterproductive conflicts. And if we really are the new Rome maybe we should learn from the military fiascoes of that ancient one.

The debacle on Wall Street might best be addressed not by quarreling over interest rates but by investing our treasure in ourselves instead of squandering it in the vain pursuit of a Pax Americana.

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The church typically seats up to 1,000 people but because construction is taking up so much space there’s only room for about 400 seats.

That’s why they decided to hold the school’s annual Christmas Eve Pageant at the Victory Theater. Normally over a thousand people attend the pageant, the church only has around 400 seats. Church leaders hope that this years location will leave lasting memories on the students.

St. Benedict Cathedral Priest Fr. Godfrey Mullen says, “This will be one of those events where 25 years from now they’ll be recounting to their kids at St. Ben’s about the year that we did 4:30 mass at the Victory. And so it’s an exciting thing to do this in a beautiful place when our place is a little less than beautiful.”

Officials hope the construction project and upgrades at St. Benedict’s will be complete by October 2019.

Commentary: When Faith Whispers In The Dark

By John Krull
TheStatehouseFile.com 

PARIS, France – The moon glows high and full in a cloudy sky above the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Below, the prayerful, the penitent and the merely curious enter its doors. They are among the 12 million people per year who seek solace or stimulus in this massive Gothic structure, built more than 800 years ago as a tribute to God.

John Krull, publisher, TheStatehouseFile.com

Because it is the Christmas season, the stream of visitors is steady. Some kneel and make the sign of the cross. Others bow their heads in silent prayer. Others simply stop and stare, stunned by contemplation of something so large, so beautiful, so enduring.

I always have to be reminded of the hold faith has on the French soul.

Because Paris, in particular, is so worldly, so stylish, so chic, it is easy to overlook the powerful and abiding presence of religion here.

Many years ago, when I first traveled to France, I hiked my way up the hilly, twisty lanes in Montmartre to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica as the day faded. When the sun dropped low in the western sky, the white of the cathedral walls seemed to shimmer in the dimming light.

I lingered then and there, trying to will the moment and light to linger with me. But night fell, and I was left with a potent memory that I had sensed something sublime, a touch of the otherworldly as I stood on this very real earth.

On that same trip, I traveled to Chartres to see the famous cathedral. Constructed, like Notre-Dame, over decades in the 12^th and 13^th centuries, it is a marvel of art and architecture, a sight of surpassing beauty.

I followed a tour guide, a retired academic in late middle age wearing a frayed blue suit, through the church. He walked the small group of us up to each of the famed stained-glass windows. He explained that the windows weren’t simply pieces of exquisite art, but teaching tools designed to instruct on questions and stories of faith.

In an age in which few were literate, the windows could inform the faithful in ways that words could not.

The windows, beautiful though they are, are not what has drawn pilgrims for centuries to Chartres.

Somewhere in the cathedral’s catacombs lies the Sancta Carmisa, supposedly the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary when she gave birth to Christ.

Year after year, decade after decade, century after century, the faithful came to Chartres, eager, sometimes, desperate for the Virgin Mother’s intercession.

Even when I was still a young and somewhat callow man, the thought of so many souls aching for a whisper from the divine, moved me. Inside that gorgeous cathedral, with the celebrated centuries-old stained-glass windows staring down at me, I bowed my head and offered a prayer for all who had come to this place hoping for God’s blessings.

The memory stirs me still.

I watch as the mass of humanity moves in and out of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Many come, it is true, just to gawk.

But many others come because a church – any church, this church – is a place of refuge in a troubled world. It is where we go when the light of our lives seems to dim, and we seek the warmth of something greater than ourselves.

This is a turbulent time, one filled with confusion, pain and fear.

This church, though, has seen many such times through the ages, and offered refuge along the way to souls too numerous to count.

It does so still.

A street band behind me begins to play holiday tunes. I listen and smile.

I look up at the night sky, the clouds and the full moon that seems both so close and so distant at the same time, and I watch the people move into the old church that seems almost as eternal as the sky and moon.

Something within me whispers of peace.

My head bows.

John Krull is director of Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism, host of “No Limits” WFYI 90.1 Indianapolis and publisher of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

Salvation Army Aims To Reach The Goal For Christmas

Volunteers spend hours, days and weeks-ringing bells-and raising money for the Salvation Army.

Every bell ringer has their own reason for help out. For some, it’s simply about giving back.

“This is my fourth year doing this and I just do it like my kids are not around I like doing this making people smile that’s what it’s all about,” said bell ringer Ramon Jeters.

Other people consider it a family tradition. ” It feels good to me its something that I’ve always cherished and my grandmother donated to them before she passed so did my mom and both of my uncles,” said Vickie Byrne.

The annual Red Kettle Campaign helps the organization raise money to help local families around the holidays.

“The kettles started in the 1890s the Salvation Army captain out in San Fransisco was trying to raise some money so that he could feed the homeless people for Christmas day.

He had originally been from England and they sat a kettle out at the docks as the boats would come in and the guys would get paid and they would through some money into the kettle,” said Salvation Army Officer Mark Turner.

This year the local organization set a goal of 270,000 dollars by Christmas Day. As of Monday morning, they were already at 255,000 dollars. Many people will get a little extra help around the holidays because of the kindness of those in the Tri-State.

” You can see how much good they do, you can actually see the impact that they have on the community and the fact that they are there when things go wrong that’s what the Salvation Army is especially in the holidays the toy drives and the donations and helping all the families,” said Nicole Metz.