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Living“CALLING FORTH THE WONDER OF BELIEF”GraceCycle B 3rd Sunday of AdventIn Caldecott Medal winner, Snow, no one thinks one or two snowakes will amount to anything. “No snow,” said radio. “It’ll melt,” said woman with umbrella. But a boy and his dog spy a single snowake and rush outside in gleeful anticipation. Sure enough, one snowake turns into two, two into three, and before long snow is “dancing, playing, there, and there, oating, oating through the air.” Only the boy and his dog have faith that the snow will amount to something spectacular, and when akes start to swirl down on the city, they are also the only ones who know how to truly enjoy it.

Art & FaithCELEBRATING THE BEAUTY & TRADITIONOF SACRED ART~ 2 ~ EXPLORING THE ART: SO THAT ALL MIGHT BELIEVEThis art is from the Amiens Cathedral in France, the same cathedral where we explored The Last Judgement relief sculpture on the Feast of Christ the King a couple of weeks ago. The Amiens Cathedral is a classic example of the󴋻High Gothic󴋻style of󴋻Gothic architecture, and it is the largest gothic structure in France. It can hold 10,000 people within its walls, which was the entire population of Amiens during the Middle Ages. In 2020 the cathedral celebrates its 800th anniversary since the laying of its rst stone. While The Last Judgement sculpture that we looked at previously is situated on the exterior of the building in an archway above the main doors, the above image is one of several polychrome relief sculptures inside the cathedral. (“Polychrome” describes the application of varied color to a three-dimensional surfaces in art, and “relief” is a sculptural technique where the gures are carved away and project from a supporting background.) Among the most celebrated art treasures of the cathedral are these polychrome relief sculptures which are located on the outer walls of the enclosed Choir and tell the story of the life of John the Baptist.The connection between John the Baptist and Amiens is due to the cathedral holding a precious relic - the skull of John the Baptist! Legend has it that Wallon de Sarton, a canon from Picardy,󴋻stole the skull when crusaders pillaged the city of Constantinople in 1204, and he brought it to the Bishop of Amiens in 1206 during the Fourth Crusade.THE SERMON OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTISTMulti-media polychrome relief sculpture ~ 1508-1519Cathédrale d’Amiens ~ Amiens, France

READ-ALOUD STORYLiving GraceIf you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.By this my Father is gloried, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love.~ John 7:7-9ABIDE IN MEVicki Shuck, Esperanza ArtsRead-aloud video link:SNOWWritten & Illustrated by Uri Shulevitz~ 3 ~

A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. And this is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?” He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Christ.” So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?” He said: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘make straight the way of the Lord,’” as Isaiah the prophet said.” Some Pharisees were also sent. They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. Sunday GospelJOHN 1:6-8, 19-28~ 4 ~

Making the Connections FOR ADULTSYOUR STORY: Have you ever gotten to see the rst snowake fall? How did it make you feel inside? Did you get excited about it or scared? Did the adults around you get excited or scared? Have you ever felt you could see something that no one else could understand? How did you try to share your excitement and joy with someone who couldn’t’ see?THE CHILDREN’S STORY: Why didn’t the adults think it was going to snow? Why weren’t they excited? THE GOSPEL STORY: How do you think John the Baptist felt? What did he follow? Where do you think John the Baptist got his courage from? What did he accomplish? Did the leaders ever see? Why couldn’t they see? What might have been in their way? How can you wake up the adults around you that might be too busy or worried to see the light (or the snow!) this Christmas and to believe?~ 5 ~ A HEART FILLED WITH BELIEF CAN SEE LIGHT AMONG US.“A man named John was sent from God to testify to the light...” And “the skies are gray, the rooftops are gray, the whole city is gray.” No one really seems to care. People seem to have become numb to the gray. And then...one snowake...! “He was not the light but came to testify to the light”. So that all might believe. Believe in the light. 󴋻“It’s snowing,“ said the boy with dog. But grandfather said, “No big deal, one snowake.” “It’s nothing.” said the man with hat. “It will melt,” said woman with umbrella. Radio and TV said, “No snow.” The boy with the dog could see, event thought the rest of the city could not. “One ake, two akes, four akes,” proclaimed the boy. Snowakes don’t listen to the radio…or the TV…or the man with the hat. “All Snowakes know is snow, snow, snow.” And did it snow!John saw the light and saw it for everyone. Like the boy with the dog, John was ecstatic about what he saw. The light lled him with hope, and he had to proclaim it. He invited others to come and see, “Prepare your hearts for he is coming,” was the constant cry of John the Baptist. Just like boy with dog….it is coming…snow…look and see the signs everyone… its coming. 󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻󴋻The boy with the dog helps us to imagine what John the Baptist must have experienced. He was a young, untamed desert dweller with a message that he couldn’t hold in. He had a mission to wake everyone up….prepare the way the light is coming! It is not about him. He is just the one to wake everyone up so they will be ready….so they won’t miss the signs of the times. “The savior is among us,” John proclaims. “I am only the herald, I am not it.” Just as the boy was not “it”. ”It” was the wonder and grandeur of the snow. No more gray!! 󴋻Wake up everyone, it is coming! Get prepared! This was the mission of John the Baptist. 󴋻In both stories, people were curious as to what compelled the messengers to spread their news.󴋻The stu󰮑y and important people that boy with dog tried to warn couldn’t share in his delight and joy in the magic of the snow. They couldn’t see the beauty and grace and instead were burdened down by it. It was the animals and the commoners that could see SNOW, just like John the Baptist gathered those that could see! With John, it was the commoners that came and were baptized and believed. Not the religious leaders - they could not see.What is your heart preparing for this season? What lights are you able to see? John the Baptist came to testify to the light. How might you light the way for others this Advent & Christmas season? How might you light the way so that the blind might see and BELIEVE?Making the Connections FOR CHILDREN

Biblical BackgroundJOHN 1:6-8, 19-28~ 6 ~ GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING: John the Baptist appears at one of the three fording points along the length of the Jordan River. The Jordan River runs through the middle of the Jordan River valley, dissecting the valley that is seven miles wide. This popular fording point was the perfect location to address the large numbers of pilgrims who would need to ford the river, travel to and through Jericho, and then continue on their journey to Jerusalem some seventeen miles to the west. The Jordan River runs north to south and ends at the Dead Sea. The river lies at the lowest place on the planet, some 1200 feet below the level of the sea. The journey from this fording point to Jerusalem requires a great e󰮑ort to gain the 3500 vertical feet needed to arrive in the Holy City Jerusalem. TERMS: “I am not the Christ” This is stated by John many times in this Gospel passage. The Messiah was the expected savior of Israel who many believed would drive their enemies into the sea. The fact that John insisted that he was not the Messiah of God, suggests that others thought he would be God’s agent of vindication over the Roman military and its occupation force. John stood his ground in his criticism of the King of the day, Herod, who had taken his own brother’s wife to be his own. In this direct confrontation with the King, John enjoyed the esteem of all the local people who thought he might be their long awaited deliverer.Baptize As we learned last week, this word means “to dip” and would have been connected to the Jewish tradition of ritual bathing in advance of bringing an o󰮑ering to the Lord in Jerusalem. Everyone who was going to Jerusalem would nd time to ritually bathe in anticipation of the o󰮑ering presented to the Lord on their behalf. They could do this in the Jordan River or in a ritual bath called a Mikvah in Jerusalem. Most people wanted to wait until their journey was over to bathe, but John called upon them to express their desire to be clean in advance of their sacricial o󰮑ering, and it seems that the people were responding in great numbers.CULTURAL INSIGHT: Christ, Elijah or the Prophet - in Jewish religious tradition these were the big three. The Christ means the Messiah or the ‘anointed’ one. Elijah was the prophet of God who rode a chariot of re into heaven without having to taste the bitterness of death. (He was assumed into Heaven.) The Prophet was none other than Moses himself. Moses promised the Jews that one day another prophet, like himself, would arise. This was understood to be a promise of the appearance of the Messiah. John is honored by these associations but removes himself from Messianic consideration by telling the religious leaders that he is a simple herald of the coming Messiah. INSIGHT INTO MEANING: John must decrease and his cousin Jesus must increase. John knew that his role was to announce the coming of the Messiah, and when he next sees Jesus, he directs his followers to him calling Jesus the Lamb of God who has come to take away the sin of the world. This gospel helps us understand that although John was an amazing prophet of God, and esteemed and honored by all the people, he was not the Messiah. John would point out the Messiah, Jesus, to any and all who would listen. Our role as disciples is to point others to Jesus as well.

SHARING THE MISSION AT HOMEAND IN THE WORLDFamily Activities~ 7 ~ QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What signs do you see this Advent that point to the wonder of belief? GOSPEL CHARACTER QUALITIES: SENSE OF WONDER SEEING WITH THE HEARTFAMILY ACTIVITIES: Take time to go out to “see” together as a family, see the lights, see the snow, see the love, see the faith, see the needs of the poor. Share with each other what you see. What does your heart tell you? How can you wake up others this holiday season that they might see? Talk about how as children you have a very special role in helping adults see.