Eleventh Day: pipers piping &c
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Eleven pipers piping, Ten lords a leaping, Nine ladies dancing, Eight maids a milking, Seven swans a swimming, Six geese a laying, Five golden rings - - - Four calling birds, Three French hens, Two turtle doves and a Partridge in a pear tree.
Or maybe
At any event, tomorrow, Sunday, 5 January, is the Twelfth Day of Christmas and one tradition says you should be taking your Christmas tree down now. Either take it down on the Twelfth Day, or leave it up for next Christmas, 2025. Our Christmas tree is Linda's lovely creation that I've loved sitting here looking at, and I'm all for leaving it up as a nod to my nonagenarian dotage, but there's little to zero zip zilch chance of Linda tolerating that.
I mean, I don't complete my 90th year until my birthday next September, but anyone who's had ninety Thankgivings and ninety Christmases can dee well claim nonagenarianism, nomesane?
Yes, I missed posting about the ninth day of Christmas
and the tenth day of Christmas,
but life was extraordinary. I had another piece cut out of my face,
too near my right eye for my ease, and I was quite anxious about it. But it turned out fine, and my next trip to have bits excised is not until 30 January.
So what I want to touch on is our gospel reading for tomorrow, the Second Sunday after Christmas, Twelfth Night, eh?
The lectionary specifies three options for the gospel reading for tomorrow:
Matthew 2:13-15,19-23
After the wise men had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, "Out of Egypt I have called my son."
When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child's life are dead." Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, "He will be called a Nazorean."
or
Luke 2:41-52
The parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem every year for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
or
Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
`And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who is to shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.
++++++++
Our custom at HNEC when there have been lectionary options, has been to call, text, or email whichever priest is scheduled to preach, and ask him/her choice. My choice might have been Jesus in the Temple at Twelve Years of Age, but I declared that it made no difference to me, I'll do whatever I want to anyway, and waited to see what Staff would select. They chose the first option, about the Holy Family's Flight to Egypt.
It's a find choice, though I'm not going to preach on that, but I will fool with it here for a moment.
First, the reading skips over, leaving out, omitting verses Matthew 2:16-18,
16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”
+++++++
which does not need to frighten us, anger us, sadden us, or disgust us - - it's simply one of three prooftexts that Matthew uses in this passage as part of his epiphany for his intended Jewish-Christian audience, about who and what Jesus was.
So, our chosen gospel reading for Christmas 2, Jan 5th, is a legitimate epiphany reading to lead us into the Epiphany Season, which will last all the way through January and February.
Peace and Goodwill,
RSF&PTL
T89&c