Spiritual Steps to Christmas

Dedication

2011-11-29T11:03:00.005-07:00

Dedicated to the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and to my own family, father, mother, sisters, brother, who, under God, have taught me the true meaning of Christmas.

May the peace of Christ and the joys of the Christmas season dwell in families and hearts, that our homes may be more fruitful nurseries for vocations, and that Priests, Brothers, and Sisters may increase in the family of the Lord to insure the peace of Jesus Christ in the family of nations.

Then shall our Christmas have a real meaning and be a happy, blessed, and merry Christmas.

The Author
(The Very Rev. Msgr. Aloysius F. Coogan)

Feast of the Sacred Heart

June 12, 1953

* See Msgr. Coogan's Preface to Spiritual Steps to Christmas here.

Christmas Day

2010-12-25T00:01:00.001-07:00

"A child Is Born"

(Feast of the Nativity)

here went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the w3hole world should be enrolled. This enrollment was first made by Cyrinus the governor of Syria, and all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. And it came to pass,that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shep0herds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of god shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. And the angel said unto them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people: for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying: Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will (Lk. 2:1-14).

The message of Christmas is the sweetest story ever told -- " a Child is born"; and that Child is God, born of Mary ever virgin, a maiden espoused to a man named Joseph, the humble carpenter of Nazareth.

The message of birth is always an occasion for joy, but what greater joy could there be than the message of the birth of God amongst men. For joy of this birth the angels sang, echoing over the hills of Bethlehem, a Gloria in Excelsis Deo, and the message; "For this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger." In the introit of the third Christmas Mass we read: "A Child is born to us, and a son is given to us." The Christ Child is born for our salvation. He is the Son of God! He is given to us -- what a gift at Christmas!

Recently I spoke to a little six-year old school child whom I saw standing outside the school building shortly after 9 o'clock. She was in great fear lest if she entered the school -- for she was late -- she would incur severe penalties from her teacher. I offered to take her into the classroom to plead her cause, for she was in tears. But she refused to let me do so and decided to return home again. I imagine there was nothing so terrible at that particular moment for that little girl than to face her teacher. And so it is with ourselves and the great God of heaven and earth. Our troubles at Christmas time in a war-ridden world are more tumultuous to us than the raging seas, but I wonder if God does not see another side. you may say, what could be more grave than the suicidal act of war -- brother killing brother. Does God ridicule our ills as picayune? No! But God can see the ultimate end of it all -- that good will triumph after the world has been scourged at the pillar of suffering and has crucified its own pride and sensuality. For we are but children to God; yes children of a larger growth, and what matters it at all if we are purged of our selfishness, our waywardness, our sinfulness here, so long as we gain the victory over our lower impulses and win life eternal?

Could nature talk to us on a beautiful night as the stars twinkle in the heavens and bombers block out momentarily the light of the moon, she would say to us, that which is small in you, you are magnifying, and that which is great in you, you are minimizing. Your destiny lies beyond the stars, beyond the moon, beyond the earth. your short span of earthly existence is so unimportant as compared with your eternal destiny that you are foolish to take anything serious in life except the saving of your immortal soul. If the oxen in the cave of Bethlehem could only speak they would tell us that we would find Christ in a humble cave of the hillside and not in the inn of the world. If nature against whose starry background the bombers fly and upon whose bosom of the sea the ships and submarines sport in war, if the very skies through which the jets speed their way could but utter a word, they would all sing, "Glory to God" and "Oh, how foolish are the sons of men who war in frenzied hate."

Ah, but the skies do speak, the stars speak! Yes, and the oceans speak! They tell us of God; of His power, His might, His beauty, His omnipotence! For those who have faith the handwriting of God is seen in everything He has written, be it carved in the rocks, the brooks, the sky, or the sea! "I see His blood upon the rose... His face in every flower," said Joseph Plunkett.

Look into the face of a child this Christmas, and you will see there the hope of the future world. All your cares will have ceased a thousand times over when that child reaches maturity. Look into the face of the Child in the crib, the virgin Mother, and Joseph, and you will find the message of Christmas Lift up you heart, as the priest at Mass reads: "A Child is born," and sing "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of good will."

Prayer

Babe of Bethlehem, help me to minimize my worldly ills by placing them all at Your feet and help me to magnify in true perspective the Church's teaching that nothing counts so much as a good life. Help me to be humble by placing all success at Your feet, that I may know true greatness consists in acknowledging that all I have is Yours, and You are mine, and I am the littlest child of God.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T08:12:00.000-07:00

Prayer and Fasting

(Vigil of Christmas)

od is lavish in His generosity. He has bountifully bestowed upon men and women of this age and day many beneficent gifts and graces. As such we are the custodians of His treasures, and of us He shall exact an account of our stewardship.

Today, as never before, there are opportunities for rebuilding the world according to the divine plan of things. We are confronted with many problems, but all these grant us opportunities in the form of challenges.

The Church is looking today to Christian homes as the cradles where young hearts may be schooled in the knowledge of God in order that they may renew the face of the earth. It is not so much the gifts of God to which we look, for these are always present, as god is all-bountiful and good. it is the use of these gifts that counts. The proper use of these gifts rests with the servants of God. To use well the gifts of God some shall have to respond to the call to the religious life, other sons and daughters shall have to meet the challenge of a pagan world and go forth as Christian parents to replenish the earth with new love and life and grace.

To those who have no faith there seems to be a great chasm between the state of marriage and the religious life. yet this is not true! For each state, carrying its own duties and privileges, likewise carries its own joys and satisfactions. Each one of us in every station of life has a vocation, St. Paul assures us. To the crucifix must all men to go learn the true purpose of life, and all must climb the hill of Calvary, where sacrifice saw its perfection, as all who responded to God's grace were lifted up above the earth; Mary, Magadalene, John, and the Centurion!

Life and love have meaning only in the belief that God is our Father, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit our Sanctifier. Life takes off its dull, drab cloak of humdrum monotony only when there is purpose behind our every act, and when each day is consecrated to the end for which God gave it to us.

The surest way to enjoy the gifts of God is to place them at His feet and to give them back to Him and to our neighbors in humble acknowledgment of the fact that we are but custodians of God's treasures. Giving away the gifts of God in fulfillment of the purpose of life is what the mother and father do as they bring life to the world and consecrate their own selves to fashioning more and more God's image in the souls of those entrusted to their care. Giving away the gifts of God is what the priest, the religious do as they devote their talents to the glory of God and the service of men and bring to souls communion with the life of God.

Today, as perhaps never before, we have opportunities to dedicate ourselves to the rebuilding of a new world of the spirit.

God alone is supreme. We are his stewards. May He grant us the grace always to be worthy custodians of His gifts, cheerful dispensers of His bounty, and stewards who need have no fear of rendering an account. What better time to meditate upon making a return of the gifts than Advent, when preparing for Christmas.

Prayer

God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, hear our prayer, we beseech You, and grant to Your servants that peace of mind and concord of soul that, using well Your gifts and graces, we may be found worthy in Your sight of everlasting reward.

Adoration of the Shepherds
- Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari

Fourth Thursday of Advent

2010-12-23T09:51:00.002-07:00

Christmas Means Charity -- Heaven's First Law

ove is the greatest power in the world. It is stronger than death. It depends not upon coercion or force but upon inspiration. Love, which is charity, is the first law of God. All other laws are rooted in it. Love depends not upon any power in the world. It has its roots and inspiration in God. Only the almighty power of God is capable of inspiring divine love from which all human love flows -- and without divine inspiration love cannot endure.

Like the every flower that the lover bestows upon his loved one -- the rose, which bears many thorns -- so true love is often born out of sorrow. Charity, then, which is love of God and of neighbor, shares joy and sorrow alike.

These considerations should prompt us to make an intention in all that we do for our neighbors. That intention should be purified each day with prayer, and that should be a prayer that all things we do might be prompted by love of God. No human motive, no matter how noble, can take the place of charity. No philanthropic project, no matter how stupendous, if not properly rooted in God as well as man, can be compared to the widow's mite prompted by the inspiration divine. In these days when so many drives are being carried out to alleviate the sufferings of peoples both here and abroad, it is well to rember prayerfully the words of the Apostle on charity, that it will avail nothing unless God is part of our plans.

If the Vicar of Christ had a thousand voices he could enunciate a thousand different heart-stirring appeals, he could speak of the neediest cases, and stir thousands of hearts to pity and urge them to sacrifice. Yet, all the thousand voices and all their neediest cases would have but one motivation and one inspiration, namely, God. For all that we do for our neighbor, we do out of the motive of love of God. This is charity!

Did you ever playfully, but never with more serious intent, as a little child the question: "How much do you love me?" Then did you think long and meditatively on the child's answer? Do you remember that there were no words spoken? There was only an eloquent gesture. Little arms were outstretched all the way as far as they could. The child was showing that its love was boundless. Now, perhaps, if one could phrase the same question to Jesus as one knelt before the crib at Christmas or the crucifix on Good Friday, "How much, O Lord, do You love me?" he would obtain the same answer. The answer would be identical to the little child's response -- no words spoken, but an eloquent gesture of arms outstretched all the way in token of His boundless love.

If we are attuned to the charity of the Sacred heart from whence all love that is lasting must flow, then we will practice the perfect way of life and live according to the first law of love.

Prayer

Bless, O Lord, all our hearts today and move them to pity. Let this pity be for themselves, lest one day they appear before You naked of the riches of charity. Being moved to compunction for our sins we shall then love you more and show this love to men.

Fourth Wednesday of Advent

2010-12-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

Peace on Earth

eace is more than simply the absence of conflict. Peace means God's life in our souls. Peace means grace abundant in the souls of men. And so, dismayed by the horrors of war, the suffering and distraught peoples of the globe look to the leaders of nations for a surcease from the pain and death of war. On all sides, from friend and foe, from ally and enemy, this desire for a cessation of armed strife comes. But only upon the teachings of the humble Nazarene, who came to earth as a Babe born in a stable, can there be built a lasting order of justice and charity, the two essential notes for a lasting peace.

From Bethlehem hills will echo the bells of a new Christmastide, announcing anew tidings of joy and the good news of the Gospel to all who will permit such hallowed sounds to filter through the din of the world's excitement and the roar of cannon and shell. From the hill of the Vatican 'round the world will go the echo of Christ in the voice of Hi9s Vicar. Yet, error and prejudice and hatred will blind many hearts and dull many souls to that message of the Pope of Peace. Still Pius prays, "O God, from whom all just works do proceed give to your servants that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be disposed to obey Your commandments and that our days may be peaceful."

The Pope's peace plan includes the right of nations to independence, disarmament, a world court where universal justice for small nations may be obtained, and principally a return to God and religion. Shortly after the ascension of Pope Pius XII to the papal throne war broke out in Europe. Yet, he has more than any other man living sought daily by virtue of his office to avert the spread of that global catastrophe. Nothing is gained by war that cannot be achieved by peace," he has warned the nations. How true the words have been and how sorrowful have the nations become through loss of their choicest citizens because they have not heeded his advice.

The Holy Father has spoken many times of peace at Christmas. How true his words but recently uttered -- "a true peace is not the mathematical result of a proportion of forces, but in its last and deepest meaning is a moral and juridical process. It is not, in fact, achieved without employment of force, and its very existence needs the support of a normal measure of power. But the real function of this force, if it is to be morally correct, should consist in protecting and defending and not in lessening or suppressing rights. An hour like the present -- so full of possibilities for vast beneficent progress no less than for fatal defects and blunders -- has perhaps never been seen in the history of mankind."

Today, the believing world, though rent asunder by the heresy of different beliefs, all turns to Bethlehem. Catholics blessed with the divine deposit of faith that has remained unchanged through the ages turn to the crib of the tabernacle and the Babe of the Eucharist and, bending low in adoration like the shepherds of old, cry out "Emmanuel" -- God with us. There in the picture of faith and devotion is the humble Mary and her spouse Joseph, true to the divine summons watching over the child of peace.

Though there may be no peace in the world where bombers fly overhead and munition plants keep wheeling out supplies, yet there will be millions of hearts and souls, attuned to the divine will of God, who, practicing justice and charity in their own little worlds, will have the blessings of peace -- the peace which the world cannot give -- the knowledge of a good conscience and the assurance that God is watching over their eternal destiny and protecting their souls from evil. In such hearts Bethlehem's message "Glory to God and peace to men of good will" will find a hallowed place.

Prayer

O Lord, inspire rulers an peoples with counsels of meekness. Heal the discord that tears nations asunder. You, who shed Your precious blood that men might live as brothers, bring them all once more together in peace.

Christ Knocks

2010-12-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

"Behold I stand at the gate and knock," says the Lord in the Apocalypse.

     An artist has painted this scene. In the picture Christ stands before a door and raises His hand to knock upon it. The artist's little son, looking at the painting, said: "Daddy, there is a mistake in the picture." "What mistake?" asked the father. The boy answered: "There isn't any latch on the door to let the man in." "Son," replied the father, "what seems to be a mistake here, really shows the truth. That man is the Lord God. the door opens into the human heart. They key is on the inside. The door must be opened from the inside before our Lord is able to enter."

     This little episode is so true that it makes a simple yet great teaching. The latch on the inside is our free will. God could have made, if He wished, a different kind of world than He actually made. He could have chosen to come otherwise than as a little weak Babe. He could have come as a powerful king. But as a matter of fact He chose to give us free will whereby we ourselves play a part in the Redemption. We accept Him or refuse Him accordingly as we freely open or close the inside latch on the door of our heart.

     Unto His own He comes this Christmas just as He came the first night when the angels' voices broke out in song over the hills of Bethlehem. Whether he finds a place in the inn of our beings or not remains our decision to make. We are the innkeepers to have and to hold, or to turn Him away and hear recorded once again those tragic, terrifying words, "And His own received Him not."

     Walking down a prominent avenue in a great city during the Advent days just preceding Christmas, and enjoying the sights of the decorations, the holly and wreaths and festive cheer, a priest was looking particularly for scenes descriptive of the real spirit of the season. His eye was attracted to a beautiful Madonna and Child. It was set off by splendid a display of rich ornamentation. This was seen in a jewelry shop of Fifth Avenue in New York City, and before the Mother and Babe was a long golden chain and cross, evidently of very great value. Adjacent to this were many articles of shining brilliance. And then a card neatly drawn with these words: "Jewelry has always been considered the supreme gift."

     It was a beautiful display magnificently appointed and quite dramatically arranged. Perhaps, that is the reason why it left the viewer in a mood for thought. The priest could not help but think quite at variance with the inscription "jewelry - supreme gift."

     With all due regard to the creative mind of the artist who displayed his wares and so beautifully arranged the setting with Mother and Child, with proper acknowledgment, too, that we usually measure our affection by the priceless gift we present - yet, withal, the supreme gift is not to be found in silver or gold, nor indeed is it to be discovered in anything this world prizes. The supreme gift is Christ Himself - the Incarnate God, the Eucharistic Presence - "Greater love no man hath...." The supreme gift is the one God gave to us over 1900 years ago, and He continues to give to us today in His Eucharistic life upon our altars.

     The "supreme gift" comes from above: "Pour out ye heavens the dew from above and let the clouds rain the just one." The supreme gift is love of God and neighbor. Upon this depend all other gifts. If I have the goods of earth I can purchase the jewels of time. But not all the world's money can purchase pure love where it does not exist. In this sense the God-fearing laborer is richer than the kings of earth with cold hearts - Mary and Joseph are richer than all the Herods and Pilates who wear uneasy crowns.

     Do we ever stop to think how little pure love of God there is in the world.? By pure love of God we mean loving Him for His own sake! When we are motivated by fear of losing heaven and deserving hell, we are moved by selfish interests rather than divine love. This is love worthy of redemption, but it is not the highest type of love.

     When we pray to Mary, Help of Christians and Mother of Christ, we are often flying to her patronage because we know she can help us from our difficulty. Were we to seek her company and intercessory aid even in time of joy and contentment, then, indeed we could count ourselves as true children of Mary and lovers of her Son.

     Christmas is the season of contrast. God gives His all to us. We bargain with Him. Could we not hold on just a little to the jewels of earth, we ask? They seem so priceless, so supreme! These jewels may be silver or gold. They may be a thousand different things! But to all of us they represent the difference between accepting Christ or compromising Him. "Unto His own He came and" ... we are writing the remaining lines deep down in the secret recesses of our hearts. What are we writing? - How are we living? We know that St. John tells us, "His own received Him not!"

     Christ knocks! The latch is on the inside! Only beings with free will, such as we, can open the door to the inn of our hearts - and if we do, our joy is hundredfold!

     Jesus, Mary, Joseph, comes take rest in the Inn of my Heart.
     Hewn out of the rock of my daily living, it offers but little shelter.
     Kings and queens of earth would never find time for the monotony
     of my thoughts, nor would they company themselves with such lowliness
     as my heart offers.
     Yet, You, all-holy three, are willing to dwell with me.
     Joseph, humble man of carpentry, teach me to accept God's holy will.
     Mary, mother of Christ, show yourself a mother to me.
     Jesus, Babe of Bethlehem, come into my soul Eucharistically.
     Do You, all-holy three, come, possess my heart, give peace on earth
     good will to men!

Listen - God Speaks Softly

2010-12-20T00:01:00.001-07:00

ow in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And when the angel had come to her, he said: 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.' When she had seen him she was troubled at his word, and kept pondering what manner of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her: 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. And behold thou shalt conceive in they womb and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he shall be king over the house of Jacob forever; and of his Kingdom there shall be no end.'

"But Mary said to the angel, 'How shall this happen, since I do not know man?'

"And the angel answered and said to her: 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; and therefore the Holy One to be born shall be called the Son of God...'

"But Mary said: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to they word.' And the angel departed from her."

This is the narrative of the Gospel according to St. Luke wherein we have the first singing of the Ave Maria by an angel. A virgin takes up the beautiful strains and accepts the summons of grace. An invitation is given through an angel, and Mary is receptive and graciously accedes to God's will.

This story of the Annunciation is related not once by many times. In the life of every man and woman born into the world there is an annunciation of the angel of God. God's grace is poured forth from heaven into every soul. All too often the story is very different from Mary's. Grace is spurned. Souls are not found in the attitude of prayer as was Mary. They are not on their knees. Their hearts are not as was the immaculate heart of Mary, attuned to the loving heart of God. The voice of the angel is drowned out by the noise of the world and the distractions of modern living.

During these Advent days God is sending His angel of grace to drop the seed of inspiration to Christian living into our hearts. We must till the soil by prayer and penance if the seed would take root. We must be on our knees, like Mary, and in the silence of our chamber, in reflection must we be found if the angel is to be heard above the tumultuous riot of noise and distraction which characterizes our day.

The important thing about the annunciation of Mary is that she heard in silence the invitation. She reflected and then accepted. Acceptance of God's inspiration depends upon us. God never, never forces our wills! We are not conditioned by grace. We are free to refuse. Therein is the story of salvation.

God comes into the world as He did at Bethlehem and knocks upon the inn of human hearts. Angels like Gabriel are sent by God as His messengers from heaven. They give us the gravitation of heaven. They set a tugging or pulling of our hearts. They move us to good by gentle reminders and holy inspirations.

But they never force our souls !

With every annunciation, it is sad to say, there is the possibility of a renunciation of grace. Acceptance requires the work of a good life and the practice of virtue. Hence, Advent penance and prayer are a prerequisite if we are to imitate Mary. Angels' songs are sweet to contemplate. Ave Marias are pleasant to hear. But we must do our part and add our share to the angels' task. We are men and women of flesh and blood and have been created just a little less than the angels. We must strive for perfection that we may be in a position like Mary to say: Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum -

"Be it done unto me according to thy word."

During this final week of preparation for Christmas, let our prayer be, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." The Psalmist reminds us, "If, today, you hear His voice, harden not your heart."

Christmas takes us back in memory to Bethlehem and to Nazareth. The story of Bethlehem is the tale of God's obedience. He was obedient to the will of the Father in assuming human form in order to placate divine justice. Mary continues the procession of divine love, she places her heart at the disposal of God's movements of grace. Without her obedience the angel's song would have been discordant. Without God's great act of humility in coming to Bethlehem, there would have been no Redemption. And without man's submission to God's will in imitation of Mary's response at Nazareth there can be no peace on earth.

Bethlehem or Nazareth is not an incident of history. It is repeated every time God comes to hearts that are opened to receive Him. In this year of grace as we prepare for Christmas we are making history. There is always an annunciation, for God give grace to all creatures. Please and pray God, may there be less renunciations!

PRAYER

O Jesus, Savior of the world, who came to men in the weakness of a Babe, teach us that the greatest lessons are learned by humble souls. When the noice of the world would distract us, teach us to fall upon our knees, like humble shepherds and lowly fishermen. When angels' songs break the silence of our souls, help us to be like Mary, and to say, "Speak, Lord. Thy servant heareth. Be it done as Thou wilt." And lest my aspiration to higher things be but wishful thinking, help me, O Lord, to till the soil of my heart by prayer and penance, that my soul be receptive and the seed take root.

Tune In Heaven

2010-12-19T00:01:00.001-07:00

n the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and Philip his brother tetrarch of Iturea and the country of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilina: under the high -priests Annas and Caiphas: the word of the Lord came unto John the son of Zacharias, in the desert. And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaias the Prophet : 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill be brought low: the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain: and all flesh shall see the salvation of God (Lk. 3:1-6).

Holy Mother The Church has thus far been teaching us to prepare for the Advent of Jesus by salutary fear, by inspired courage, by joyful peace, and now, as we stand almost at the threshold of the cave of Bethlehem, we are exhorted to prepare the way of the Lord by prayer and penance. Those who wish to enter into the very presence of God must be holy. That is why we are urged to do penance. Only "fools rush in where angels fear to tread." All nature and life itself attest to the fact that mortification and penance are necessary. On Gaudete Sunday we learned that all joy is purchased at the price of sorrow and the crown of heaven won only by a penitential carrying of a cross.

The little seedling must be buried in the ground and die to self before it can bring forth the beauty of a rose and perfume a garden of earth. Students must assiduously apply themselves to the task at hand if they ever wish to communicate knowledge to others. Mothers must endanger their lives in order to replenish the earth with babes that make for us a veritable heavenly nursery. Doctors must, by long vigils of study and work, prepare before they may be entrusted with the care of human bodies. Priests must be sanctified and grounded in learning so as to account themselves, as St. Paul tells us in the Advent epistle, "as ministers of Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God." Only then are they to be entrusted with the care of immortal souls. In other words, in any life whatsoever, preparation is necessary and penance is the "divine" preparation. "Unless the seed falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone, but if it die it beareth much fruit." Unless we are willing to do penance and to prepare for Christ's coming, we cannot hope to be His disciples nor to find the journeying star that leads to His joyous crib.

St. Luke warns us in the Advent Gospel, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make straight his paths." This preparation of penance is to be made, as St. John exemplified, by our actions, for actions speak louder than words.

When a distinguished visitor is announced at your door, do you not make it a point to be sure that you are prepared to meet him? Do you not take pains to see that the home is properly appointed and all is ready? Holy Mother the Church announces today: "The Lord is nigh; come, let us adore." Christ the Lord is coming. He is nigh even at your doorsteps. The prophets announced His coming, and yet some of the Jews were unprepared. The Church announces again His Advent, and will it be said of you that "unto His own He came and His own received Him not"? Are you preparing by penance for the arrival of the King? Is it not possible that you miss the sweet inspirations of God's grace unless you are "attuned" to God's message?

Picture in your mind's eye a person seated at a radio or a television set that is not tuned in to a station transmitting beautiful philharmonic music. Such a person missed entirely the program. Picture again a Catholic not at all solicitous about the penance of Advent nor the beautiful story being told by Holy Mother Church. Such a one is not "attuned" to the spirit of the liturgy nor to the sweet whisperings of grace and God's inspirations in the soul, and he may entirely miss the message of Advent and the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Members of Christ's Mystical Body, hearken to the "sweetest story ever old" by the greatest mother of them all! The story is God's becoming man. The mother is the Catholic Church. Today she makes a last effort to enliven our faith, to increase our devotion and our preparation by penance for the coming of Jesus Christ. As a stimulus to our faith and devotion she asks us to look to the new crib of Bethlehem, to the altar, to the snow-white manager of a corporal. A golden chalice rests upon it. Perhaps, we have seen a nugget of gold when first mined from the earth. It is dark, grimy, and covered with dirt. Yet the miner who knows its value cherishes it, refines it, purifies and ennobles it, until one day it is returned to its proper state - shining, brilliant, pure gold! It is, then, perhaps, molded into a chalice or ciborium and, being consecrated to God's service, it holds the sacred species of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. Likewise, our hearts are gold, and more precious indeed since redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God. We should therefore endeavor to purify our hearts and souls during this holy season of Advent and to sanctify them by the reception of our divine Lord in Holy Communion.

PRAYER

Blessed Saviour of men, the view of Calvary from afar is forbidding. The way of prayer and penance is not easy. There is only one way to Mount Calvary and that is to follow You, step by step. To look up the hill of Calvary takes great courage of heart - so give me the grace to stay close to You and accompany You each step of the journey. Bethlehem is but the first step to Calvary. Take me by the hand of grace and teach me to walk with Mary, that my life may be good and worthy of redemption.

Fidelity to Christ

2010-12-18T00:01:00.002-07:00

It was once reported to Alexander the Great that one of his soldiers had behaved cowardly in the face of an enemy. "What is your name?" the conquering Emperor asked the trembling solider. "Alexander," the man answered. The Emperor then said to him: "Do you know that is my name, too? Either change your name or change your behavior."

How many, today could be reproached with their repudiating Christ's principles and yet retaining the name of Christian. How many there are, today, who avow themselves followers of the Nazarene, but hardly live in accordance with the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. they refuse to forgive as their Captain Christ forgave even His enemies as they nailed Him to a tree.

     Since the days of the so-called Reformation the world has been trying to live on the patrimony of Christian culture while denying some of the foremost teachings of Christ. The world has tried the experiment of compromising norms- of being Christian without Christ. The distinctly Protestant notion that human nature is corrupt and that Christ's merits simply cover up the evils present in men's souls has found many a follower. The danger of such a belief is that it prompts men to look upon Christ as the scapegoat who was offered up for the sins of mankind as a satisfaction to the Eternal Father, forgetting that salvation requires man's co-operation. Redemption means an application of Christ's merits to our souls. But this requires a response on our part to God's grace.

     In such a world where men wish to be known as Christian but refuse to obey the mandates of the Christian moral code there is a great confusion and little contentment. This defection of the human mind and will has been in progress for so long a time that we have come to face a world that has lost faith in God, and consequently confidence in its fellow men.

     The State has usurped the place of God, and man becomes a mere tool and pawn of tyrants. Humanity is asked to accept as the ideal order a State, the ruler of man's body and soul.

     Somewhere in this world there is the voice of Christ heard in His Vicar. He speaks not only to those who recognize him as the Vicar of Jesus Christ. He speaks to all the children of men who have need of his direction. The Pope placed emphasis on the moral principles which alone will save the human race from destruction. He makes a plea for the rights of the individual man upon which all well-ordered society rests. He insists that the personal integrity of man must not be violated by any State. For these same rights and the dignity of man are granted not by any human power, but are infused by God.

     Thus, the Victor of Christs pleads for fidelity to the Savior of the human race. The Pope is pleading with men for a return to Christian principles and a restoration of the natural law. Our modern world, while retaining the name of Christian, has done much to destroy the very foundations of Christian society.

     We look today, then, not for a new philosophy of life nor a new economic theory. We look for no superman to lead us from a world threatened with destruction of wicked men. We look only up to God and pray that the words of His lawful representatives will be heeded, so that soon peace may reign in our land and in all the world, a peace with justice gained through fidelity to Christ. This should be our special intention on this Ember Day, for prayer can be our "widow's mite" in helping to obtain peace on earth which is the reward to men of good will.

RAYER

O Lord, inspire rulers and peoples with grace to see the errors of the past and to resolve to live the Christian life in the future. Heal the discord of nations. Grant that Your precious blood, shed for all mankind, may prompt their hearts to forgive and to build a world where love may reign again.

Ember Friday

2010-12-17T00:01:00.001-07:00

                                                      Peace and Stars

In the windows in many homes the Christmas star of Bethlehem will be companioned by the gold star of the service flag. Side by side will appear the reminders of peace and war, of life and death.

     In a confused world men look for some blueprint that they might get started aright again, for some beam to set them back on their course, for some star with which to set their compass of life.

     Today is a well-nigh Christmas again, the day on which was born the Prince of Peace. But, alas, the world knows no peace. It is is confused beyond measure with threats of war, cold war, and class warfare.

     Today the Church announces again the glad tidings of joy. In so doing, she acts not like a fool, who says, "All is well, all is well," when beneath there is a raging torrent of hatred and evil. No! The Church alone of all the institutions of our day is able to speak of peace, because she alone is the ambassador of the Prince of Peace. She bears His unchanging credentials.

     The Church has experienced her Good Friday. Like a man who has survived a dreaded disease and, having once gone down to the valley of suffering, has built up a resistance to the germ, the Church in even a more salutary way than this has suffered her defeats in a persecution and crucifixion and she will divinely survive all the hatreds of the world which breed wars and global holocausts.

     Hence, only a divinely inspired institution like the Church of God can talk of peace in a world at war. What assurance can men give of sustained harmony among nations? Built upon the fallible word of man, treaties melt away like snowflakes once they fall upon the anvil fire of human perversity. Only upon the infallible truths of God revealed through His Church can we safely rest our future security. As a man's word with a woman in holy wedlock can be respected only when welded through God's sacrament, so the bonded word of nations wedded in treaties of peace can be lasting value only when rested upon the infallible truth of God and cemented through the Church's dispensation.

     Men are confused as they talk of peace and continue plans of war, but the Church is calm. God's justice and peace must eventually reign. Hence the Church can speak of Christmas stars over Bethlehem and gold stars in our American homes at one and the same time without confusion. The Church can speak of resurrection even though it be Good Friday, for the Church is not of this world. Even while the world seems to be slipping from beneath her feet can she speak of Christ and God and peace eternal. The world shall pass away, but not so the eternal Mystical Spouse of Christ, not so all those members of that Mystical Body that share its life. To all mothers who bear in their hearts the old star of a son's sacrifice the Church speaks of another Mother who brought life to the world beneath Bethlehem's starry skies, of another Mother who gave life and saw it die in crucifixion and then rise again in glory. So shall it be with all life that suffers defeat - if incorporated with the life of Christ, it shall rise again! The stars that were blue in loyalty and have now turned gold in undying death bear hope to mothers' hearts when viewed in the light of the heavens and Bethlehem's star. Not confusion here, but order and peace of soul is the reward for all those who find their way to the crib and the feet of Christ.

RAYER

Babe of Bethlehem, guard us against the confused error of the world mistaking earthly possession for heavenly reward. Guide our lives by Your star. Surrounded by temptation, circumvented by worldliness, teach us to ordain all things to our eternal end - glory to God, peace to mean of good will.

Third Thursday of Advent

2010-12-16T00:01:00.001-07:00

                                              Peace Through Christ

How shall godless men ever set this world aright? Such seek peace by means of war. This is never a solution. The mightier rules simply by force and not by justice. Truce peace must be founded upon God as the Supreme Being and mankind as His brotherly children. If, therefore, a nation be godless, we cannot hope to find peace by aligning our cause to it. First we must seek the Kingdom of God and His justice and all else shall be added thereunto.

     The peace of our hearts at Advent time must be a Christlike quest, for only in Christ shall we find a true foundation for our hopes. All else is ephemeral and not lasting. The peace of Christ is won by prayer and sacrifice.

     The peace of Christs is the peace of Christmas which follows the season of penitential Advent. The lesson of Gaudete Sunday too, is that joy is purchased at the price of penance and heaven is won by the warriors who carry a cross.

     The peace of Christ is not the peace of one nationality lording it over another because of a mightier army or a more powerful banking system. Alas, all such power, being founded upon very unstable bases, is bound to pass away. The peace of Christ, which is the fruit of justice, can be brought to pass only when the principles of the Master, found in the Gospels and enunciated by the Vicar of Christ, are practiced by all nations seeking our common end, namely, God's glory and man's eternal destiny. This end requires curtailment of selfish ends. It means a curbing of national pride when that pride oversteps its bounds by infringing upon the rights of other nations. Greed is the cancer that has eaten away at the very vitals of men and nations, and only the healing hand of the divine Physician can reach down and, getting at the cause of our troubles, cut it way. Human diplomacy and ingenuity can never restore peace unless it is based and founded upon God.

     This brings us to the second much needed element in the attainment of peace, namely, prayer. Says the poet, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of", but prayer is not the fruit of a worldly generation. Prayer is man's inmost conversating with God. With the roar of cannon, with so much emphasis on man and so little emphasis on God, prayer becomes a forgotten instrument in the attainment of peace. For the spirit becomes secondary to the material in the life of a modern worldling until prayer, being neglected, becomes dead and buried.

     Pope Pius XII promised France his understanding, sympathy, and encouragement in her struggle to recover from the war when he received the credentials of the French ambassador to the Holy See. It is comforting to read, too, the spiritual reflection of the ambassador, who said that since the expectations of earthly help had been vain France was now turning toward a more enduring source of comfort. The ambassador said that France "adheres to the peace of the Holy Father as so often invoked and defended." The French people, said the Holy Father, would find nowhere "a more prompt co-operation, a more intimate sympathy, a more sincere encouragement than the common Father of all the faithful."

RAYER

Blessed Savior, who came into the world on Christmas Day to bring peace to all mankind, behold we, Your suppliant children, implore You to give us peace - the peace which the world cannot give, the peace of justice, the peace of charity, the true eternal peace of Christ which leads to everlasting life.

Ember Wednesday

2010-12-15T00:01:00.006-07:00

Purposeful Sacrifice

The Church asks us to accept sacrifice voluntarily and to consecrate our pains by placing them at the foot of the crucifix. This is a pattern for Advent as well as for Lent, for both are penitential seasons.

      There is a question as old as man himself, spoken in as many languages as there are peoples in the world, and yet one that still is asked in quest of an answer: "Why does God send me suffering?: Sometimes the question is presented in the form of a problem: "Why should the good suffer while the bad and the wicked seem to prosper?" The real problem might be summed up by asking how can we reconcile suffering and sin with God's goodness; or, again, why should God the Father freely create a world and creatures that would fall away and require a Redemption in the surfing's of His onlygeoggtten Son? We shall endeavor to seek
a satisfactory answer to the problem in our meditation this Advent day.

     Our holy faith alone can answer these questions. Unaided reason is unavailing. Search as far as long as we will, the answer still eludes us, unless we turn to faith and revelation. We have to look to the teachings of Christ! The human mind can plumb no further the mysteries of God, but faith in God and our Lord Jesus Christ enables us to rise superior to the limitations of finite reasoning and see through the mists and shadows the unerring wisdom and benevolent will of God. That is sufficient flor our quest. This was the course Christ outlined for us when He walked the earth in human form. He did not attempt to extirpate evil from the kingdom of the world at large. He left that for time to come. Instead He preached to sinners the way of penance. He preached to Pharisees, though He knew they were whited sepulchers with stony hearts, He tolerated them to the very end. This is the attitude of the Church and her faithful members. Endure both the wicked and the good - "suffer both to grow until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it in bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn."

     We should remember, too, that God's goodness is not infringed upon by the possibility of evil. When man has rightly used that which God has given, him - and man always has sufficient grace to overcome evil - then God rewards him. God, therefore, fulfills all justice.

     We cannot refrain from referring to a beautiful story written on the problem of evil in the world. Tne novel was written by the late Owen Francis Dudley, entitled The Shadow on the Earth. The cross is the shadow on the earth. In the narrative the author depicts two characters: one is a cripple who has lost the use of his limbs through an accident in the Alpine Mountains; the other, a man who has become a confirmed atheist and who tries to convince the suffering companion that there is no God, and if there were, He certainly would not permit him to suffer.

     The story is beautifully worked out to a hopeful and happy conclusion, showing the childlike faith and simplicity of the cripple, whose suffering served only to confirm his faith, while the man who was more prosperous from a worldly viewpoint, grew cynical and depressed. The spirit of the cripple was ennobled and uplifted by suffering. The shadow on the earth, the cross, is his hope and his salvation! One man lost his ability of going from place to place on earth through physical handicap; the other lost his faith which would have given him ability to climb toward heaven and would have pierced the clouds and given understanding of the problem of suffering.

     The cross of Christ is indeed "a yoke that is sweet and a burden that is light." It is a blessed shadow on the earth, but the shadow of the all-protecting hand of the all-wise and provident God. For just as a cloud in the heavens sometimes obscures the sun, and leaves the earth darkened and shadowed, so oft-times a cross darkens the light of happiness in our own lives and temporarily closes out the sight of an all-wise God. Though we may temporarily fail to enjoy the shadowy clouds and raindrops and dewdrops of earth, we realize that they give growth to the things that gladden our hears and eventually become our food. Likewise, if it were not for the pain of mothers repeopling the earth with hearts of children - if it were not for the pains and crosses of life, we could never enjoy the joys and felicities that make life worth living! The answer to all our sorrows and the answer to the so-called problem of evil lies in a deeper faith a firmer trust in the goodness of God. It lies in repeating the prayer of the suffering Christ: "Father, if Thou wilt, remove this chalice from Me: but yet, not My will, but Thine be done." Sacrifice, then, when purposeful, has real meaning and worth, for it leads to the peace of soul which we are seeking through Christ, our Lord.

rayer

Dear Jesus, when my life seems to have a greater share of thorns than rose petals, teach me the lesson of Gethsemane, where You accepted the chalice through prayer to Your heavenly Father.

My will is weak, my resolution is not firm, but strengthen them and teach me the ways and means to kneel and pray even in the darkness of Gethsemani and Calvary, that I may grow to love sacrifice as my Captain, who You are.

Third Tuesday of Advent

2010-12-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

     Fear Not

Hours of mental anguish can be transmuted into hours of accomplishment by the alchemy of love, if the pain is offered in atonement for sins and in reparation for offenses committed against God. This can be done by individuals in pain and by nations as a whole when the world is suffering the agony of war and witnessing some of the darkest hours of all human history. Many a gold star in a service flag denotes the sacrifice of mothers who have given sons to the cause, and of families that have have lost the shepherding hand of a kindly father.
     When the moon hides the face of the sun it is an interesting phenomenon of nature to witness as the earth is darkened by shadow, but there is no one nowadays who is fearful of such an occurrence, for we have learned to know that it is only a passing eclipse and that the sun will soon give its light to cheer the heart of man. We know that the moon is only a satellite receiving its light from the sun, and after a few fleeting moments the sun will be seen shining in all its brilliance, giving to earth its benediction of light and heat without which we would not live.

     Thus, when the darkness of war casts a shadow across the earth, eclipsing for the moment the brightness of peace, some are fearful, for they lack the assurance and light of faith which is a comfort in times of darkest mental anguish. They have grown accustomed to living according to the way of the world. When the lights go out all over the world there is no further hope for them beyond this vale of shadows. It is not so, however, with the faithful. Through prayer and a deep abiding belief the man of faith continues to place his trust not in earthly princes but in an all-provident God. He is aware that man and not God is accountable for the woes of the world and that they are caused by sin! Thus it is that he offers the agony of heart and the distressing moments of war in prayerful attitude to the Almighty as atonement for his sins and those of mankind.

     The man of faith, in whose heart is the grace of God, believes that Christ is the Light of the World. Although the darkness of evil on Calvary seemed to blacken out the divine light, yet the man of faith is aware that no human power, however strong, can long withstand divinity's hand.

     The world's excitement, its race to arm men with the weapons that kill, its greed for money and for pleasure have left a deep mark upon our day and age. Only spiritual remedies can go deep enough to effect a radical change, and only spiritual leadership can help cure our present ills.

     The speed of our day with its love for distraction has seeped way down into the very hearts and souls of men. It is not just something characteristic of the day. It is almost an intrinsic quality of our hearts. It is not the plane or atom that speeds. It is the heart of man that has learned how speedily to kill. Spiritual ideals inculcated again in human hearts alone can root out the present evils and give the plan for a better, safer, and a more peaceful world. A quiet visit to the sick, a prayer uttered in a wayside chapel, a helping hand, an hour made holy before the Eucharistic King, a morning prayer, a fast broken only at the altar with the Eucharistic Lord - such as these must be learned by the children of men if a more peaceful life is to be lived by the followers of the Prince of Peace. This opportunity is offered each of us during the Advent season - to watch and pray with Christ and Mary and Joseph.

     To inculcate in the minds of the faithful the need for prayer and sacrifice, the Church has set aside special days, called Ember Days, on which these should be practiced in thanksgiving to God for the gifts of nature, to teach men to make use of them in moderation, and to assist the needy. We should prepare and resolve to perform some special act in the spirit of the Ember triduum during Advent, which begins tomorrow.

RAYER

Dear Lord,You promised not to leave us orphans and You have given us a Father on earth in our Holy Father to guide our steps and inspire our hearts. Today we pray for him through the intercession of our Lady, Queen of Peace. Give strength to him and abundant grace to give this world spiritual aid.

Third Monday of Advent

2010-12-13T00:01:00.006-07:00

Christmas and the Home

G. K. Chesterton, in one of his essays entitled, The Spirit of Christmas, tells of the hustle and bustle, the buying and selling that accompanies this great feast day of the Church's calendar. He distinguishes between the accidental and essential meaning of the feast. It is not against gift making that he cautions, but rather he tells of the danger that one may lose sight of the essential meaning of Christmas and cling only to its external and commercial appeal. He says: "Christmas is built upon a beautiful and intentional paradox; that the birth of the homeless should be celebrated in every home."

     Essentially Christmas is the feast day of the home and the child.

     We shall celebrate Christmas this year, it is true, by attending holy Mass, by prayers at the crib, and by singing the Christmas carols. But shall we have the true spirit of Christmas? It is true, please God, we shall have Christ with us and our love for His Blessed Mother will be warm, tender, wise, and noble. But any one of us who gives reflection and thought to the world in which we live realizes how far this word is today from the true spirit of Christmas. A world of unrest, threatened by war, means a temporary disrupting of our homes. It means for so many young men and women a temporary postponement of marriage, a delay for home building and the rearing of children. Instead of the sweet innocent play and laughter of children, who give to Christmas its sacred tone and true spirit, we have the roar of motors in the air, the quiet steady smoke of factories throughout the land producing war materials. Off in the distance can be heard the thunder of mighty cannon and the testing of atomic weapons.

     Great are the upheavals of war. Among them are the moral dangers to young mean, the lonely hours of young women, the new inducement for women to forget home life and take to industry, the lack of care of the part of parents for children who must be sheltered in nurseries. This can be our world at Christmas, and while we realize these dangers, we must pray for peace and for a victory with justice to all. We cannot be like the melancholy Dane and say, "This time is out of joint, O cursed sprite, that ever I was born to set it right." No, we must pray for the real, true genuine spirit of Christmas - for homes, for children. For Christmas is the season of the home and the child. In these two notes are found its true spirit. He who created the world came into it in the Incarnation and His own received Him not. As Chesterton remarked, He is "homeless at home." The great God of heaven and earth becomes a Babe in order to teach us humility. The omnipotent God came wrapped in the weakness of swaddling bands. He gave to us the blessings of Christmas - of homes and children.

     There are houses today with nobody in them because now, as of old, there are men who refuse to admit the Mother and Child. There are hearts today without God in them because they are proud and selfish like the keepers of the inn, and they refuse to admit the Child of heaven, the incarnate One of Bethlehem. There are Catholic souls today who refuse to accept the Babe in the form of the Eucharist because their lives would have to be remodeled and reverted to the lowliness of belief. This devoutly to be wished for transformation would make them humble enough to see their foolish pride and to accept the humble Child.

    We pray today for the victory promised through her, the Immaculate One, who will "crush the head of the serpent." We pray for that spiritual victory which will give America the true spirit of Christmas.

                                       PRAYER

     O Virgin Mother of the Babe of Bethlehem, we pray you to intercede for America in our behalf and for spiritual victory. In our homes we pray that God may send angels to guide us and to make of them sanctuaries. We pray God, through you, that He give to America a love for the wholesome things of life, to let us see that there can be no nation unless there be homes  in whom there is the true spirit of God and of Christmas.

The Third Sunday of Advent

2010-12-12T04:34:00.119-07:00

Joy and Peace

he Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites to John, to ask him: Who art thou? And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ. And they asked him: What then? Art thou Elias? And he said: I am not. Art thou the Prophet? And he answered: No. They said therefore unto hm: Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? He said: I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaias. And they that were sent, were of the Pharisees. and they asked him, and said to him: Why then baptizest thou, if thou be not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet? John answered them, saying: I baptize with water; but there hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not; he it is, who shall come after me, who is preferred before me; the latch of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing (Jn. 1:19-28).

The first word of the Mass of Gaudete Sunday, read in every Catholic church this morning, sounds the keynote of our faith. It is the Latin word, gaudete, which being translated, means rejoice.

     It is a striking paradox that the religion of the cross is at one and the same time the religion of joy. The solution of this paradox lies essentially in the fact that Christianity is a religion of love, and in this world love and sorrow are linked by a mysterious partnership. Christianity is no worshiper of pain, nor is asceticism an offering to a pain-loving God as if life and health were not God's good gifts. Much rather is Christianity a form of love, and love, being the root of joy, it follows that the practice of the Christian religion gives joy not in spite of its cross but rather as its natural consequence. For we are taught from earliest childhood as an elementary truth that man is on this earth for the one end of perfecting himself in the love of God. We know likewise that only through labor, pain, and sacrifice is love perfected. Pope Leo XIII, of happy memory, makes clear this point when he states that "Christianity has no mission to eliminate labor, pain and suffering from this world, but only to transmute them."

     In his encyclical letter on the "Rosary and the Social Question," this great Pope and leader of Christendom speaks of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary as a means of correcting the false impressions of the world, namely, that suffering is repugnant and whatever is painful or harmful must be escaped. He goes on to state that "a great number of men are thus robbed of that peace and freedom of mind which remains the reward of those who do what is right undismayed by the perils of troubles that may be encountered in so doing. Rather do worldlings dream of a chimeric civilization in which all that is pleasant shall be supplied. For by this passionate and unbridled desire of living a life of pleasure the minds of men are weakened, and if they do not entirely succumb, they become demoralized and miserably cower and sink under the hardships of the battle of life."
     With this fundamental truth, namely, that all joy is purchased at the price of sorrow and the crown of heaven won by the warriors who carry a cross, does Holy Mother the Church impress us this Gaudete Sunday. The penitential colors of Advent today give way to the rose-colored vestments of joy. For "joyfulness is the life of man and a never failing treasure of holiness," says Holy writ. The solemn notes of preparation give way to the jubilant sound of organ music. Holy Mother the Church chooses as her liturgical station today the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, where today we hear the only voice of peace and joy in a world that verges upon war. Here today is heard the echo of Peter 's voice in the person of his successor, who is teaching us the lesson of Gaudete Sunday, namely, that all joy and peace can come only through Christ who first suffered and died before entering into His glory.

     Isaias, the Prophet of the Advent season, reminds us again that the church is the "City of strength." We, her children, gather in spirit today around the tomb of the humble fisherman in the Vatican Basilica. Only here in the Church of Christ can we find strength, only here can we find peace and joy in a sickened and depressed world.

     In the Advent Gospel of the Mass we read, "There hath stood one in the midst of you, whom you know not." How applicable are these words of St. John the Baptist to the present day! Christ stands in the midst of this civilization. His Mystical Body is the Church. His Vicar is Peter's successor, whose voice emanates from the Vatican today as Mass is celebrated over the tomb of Peter. In the midst of a world that is seeking joy and peace, Christ stands awaiting the visit of nations. On this day of Advent, God grant that "the peace of Christ in the reign of Christ" may take hold of the earth that "our sorrow may be turned into joy."

                                                            PRAYER

     Dear Savior of men, teach me to place all my confidence not in the wisdom of men, but in the foolishness of the cross. Alas, men promise material joy and they give us but ashes of defeat. You have promised us a cross, which is but the prelude to the crown. Teach us, blessed Saviour, that there is peace of soul, joy of spirit, and eternal repose and contentment only in the Christian way of life. Grant us the grace to follow You on the Via Dolorosa, that it may become the cause of our joy.

Second Saturday of Advent

2010-12-11T01:25:00.002-07:00

Honor Your Mother

ext to the "Godhead, Father, Son, and holy Spirit, every Catholic cherishes a fond devotion to the Blessed Mother of God.

This devotion is really a part of our lives. That is to say, we grew up with it! As children we were attached to an earthly mother, and by her tender care and solicitude we were taught at her knee to pray to God's heavenly Mother, and to say: "Hail Mary, full of grace -- pray for us sinners." Whenever our little minds attempted to comprehend the dignity of Mary, we always associated her with what was best in our own mothers.

We judge the unknown in terms of the known. As children we thought of God's Mother in terms of our own mothers. Hence, we gradually came to picture Mary as containing all the beautiful traits of earth's finest mothers. We saw mothers who kept nightly vigil over sickbeds, we saw their utter sacrifice as they wiped away sweat from fevered brows and soothed parched lips with moistened linen. Thus, we began to understand a little better the sufferings of Mary, God's Mother, at the foot of the cross. We noted that earthly mothers never spoke of self, never seemed to ask anyone to share their aches and pains. Thus, gradually we learned the lessons of Christian patience and forbearance.

We always associated Mary with the best of earthly mothers, for we pictured the Mother of God as the epitome of all that was best in motherhood.

Then came the dawn of further knowledge and an increase of grace, as we were instructed in revealed things. We were taught that Mary was singularly privileged above all other mothers -- that she was immaculately conceived. Thus, it was we learned the meaning of the Church's doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. And then we thought of Mary not as our imagination would have painted her, but as God made her according to His own eternal designs -- immaculately conceived, born without even the slightest stain of original sin and preserved by His all-holy grace, spotless and immaculately pure forever!

It was fittingly so, for how could God's Mother be dishonored by sin? God would never permit anything to come between Him and his Mother, which is just another way of saying that He preserved her from all stain by the foreseen merits of the Redemption.

Prayer

To Our Lady, today, we may pray and say --

O Mary, immaculately conceived without sin, we pray you by all the virtues you possess to intercede for us that we may save our immortal souls. When the weakness of the Fall of our first parents is evident in our nature, and we are prone to evil, protect us and lead us back to God. When the darkness of sin overshadows our path, guide our footsteps. Mary, your body and your Immaculate Conception reminds us of the beautiful monstrance to which the people of our churches contribute their gold and precious treasures of earth. For as Christ, the Babe of Bethlehem, is raised to bless our hearts, those who gave these things can say, "I helped in the benediction." Mary, your body was the resting place of Jesus Christ. Like a beautiful vessel of gold that enshrines its God, your holy abode was foreseen by the Creator from all eternity and was prepared and preserved from all stain and all blemish that it might raise up over all the world Him who is at once your Son and Redeemer -- Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. You are truly a vessel of gold -- house of God -- gate of heaven at Christmas time.

Mary, we honor God by recalling the spotless dignity of your Immaculate Conception. We pray that we may really be convinced of the fact that humanity is not so much "fallen" as it is "redeemed," that we are not so prone to evil that we cannot be uplifted and become filled with the spirit of God's grace. Do you, Mary, remind us again and again, whenever the tide of human passion rises like a mountainous sea -- to look up -- to see Christ and you -- and to say: "Jesus, help. Mary, pray. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you."

Second Friday of Advent

2010-12-10T00:49:00.004-07:00

Christmas and Children

any years ago a little girl wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper. The letter was among many received daily, but it got immediate attention and inspired a beautiful reply. So worthy and beautiful, indeed, that each year on Christmas Eve the New York Sun reprints this letter of the editor to the little Virginia who has grown with the years.

The little girl, in seems, had believed in Santa Claus for a long time, and her firm belief was being shaken by some of her cold and less imaginative companions. The editor's reply is a classic, "Virginia, your little friends are wrong. they have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe unless they see. they think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole truth and knowledge. yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause," the editor continues. "He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas, how dreary would be the world if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith, then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We would have no enjoyment except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished...

The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unse4en and unseeable in the world... Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, and romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding."

The editor's lines live on, not because he proved anything about childhood's Santa, but because he conveyed so well the spirit of Christmas.

Children enjoy Christmas most of all because they are carefree and mostly because they are innocent. This world does take its toll of even the most sacrosanct. It dims the luster of our first fervor. We need acts of faith, hope, and charity to carry us on. Yet at Christmas time we come back closer to the joys of childhood because we come back to the infant Babe of Bethlehem whom Mary brings to us.

A priest was walking along the busy and thronged thoroughfare of Forty-second street in New York City as crowds were milling to and fro, when his eye caught sight of a man with a large placard suspended across his chest reading,"atheist." The priest passed very close to him. In fact, as he passed he looked directly into his eyes. The man said: "Father, here it is," holding aloft a paper, "written guarantees there's no life hereafter." the priest with a kindly look passed on and thought to himself -- a man speaking so courteously and addressing him as Father could hardly be an atheist. He remembered him at Mass as he spoke the words of consecration of the Host that God might bring the joy of Christmas faith to this man's strange and lonely heart -- that he might be a child again, a child of God.

May our hearts be such this Christmas Day. Though the nations may be feverishly rearming and testing new weapons, may we this Christmas sway thankfully, " Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will."

Prayer

Little Jesus, with hearts full of faith and childlike simplicity we come today to pray for all those hearts which, like the inn of Bethlehem, refuse to open and receive You. Come into our hearts, Jesus, inflame them with Your love and make of them an eternal dwelling place for Your glory and our peace.

This beautiful image of Baby Jesus was painted by gifted artist, Simon Dewey.
This print and others can be purchased here.

The Second Thursday of Advent

2010-12-09T00:26:00.001-07:00

Peace and Prayer

ope Pius XII speaks to the world each Christmas eve. His message always carries a plea to all men to return to the ways of Christ, to the paths of peace.

Some years ago there appeared a very dramatic and eloquent picture of the Pope surrounded by his people outside the Vatican walls, praying in the bombed City of Rome. The caption read, "the Pope comes to the people." Indeed, the Holy Father is ever with the people. The shepherd is ever with his flock. It is we, the people, who have strayed from the fold and wandered down the avenues of the world away from the beacon light of the eternal city to the devious paths of sin and war.

Said Pope Pius: "We confide more in the help of your prayers than we do in the ability of the wisest statesmen and the valor of the most courageous combatant. Before God, prayer is more powerful than an arm of steel and bronze." This is the essence of the holy Father's message that comes each Christmas time. It is the age-old teaching which has weathered every storm against faith and morals down through the centuries. It is the only solution to the ills of the world, and its formula must be applied to each individual soul before the cure is wrought.

The words of the Holy Father are broadcast each Christmas eve. They ring out over the world like the voice of the angels at Bethlehem. But as at Bethlehem, so in our own cities, there are ears that hear not, for they are not attuned to the voice of God. It is for these and for ourselves that we must pray. "For if today you hear His voice," says the Psalmist, "harden not your hearts."

In this Advent season wisely and most appropriately comes the feast of our Blessed Lady, under her title, the Immaculate Conception. It is this doctrine that teaches us the true dignity of our nature. While hatreds and bombings only intensify the evil of human nature, prayer and a consideration of the virtues of Mary serve to lift us up above the earth to contemplate the fact that we are born for a high destiny. "Once and only once did God create a souls that was never even for an instant defiled with the slightest sin; once and only once did god create a soul that was as pure at the instant of conception as it is now in heaven; once and only once did He relax the stern judgment on our race and clothe a soul with original justice and sanctity and innocence and grace superabounding, with attributes of ineffable grandeur -- a soul in which the Almighty could turn to gaze with pleasure when weary of the deformity which sin had stamped upon mankind: -- thus Canon Sheehan reminds us of Mary's dignity.

When man loses faith, he is left to view himself simply as a highly trained animal. there is then nothing sacred. There is no purpose to life. There is no hope for tomorrow's world.
When faith remains and man sees himself a sinner fallen from grace, but yet with a high destiny a seen in the light of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, then there is high reason to hope and strive and pray for a better world. May American Catholics prove worthy of the cross that is being laid upon their shoulders as they have been dedicated to Our Lady.

Prayer

Mary Immaculate, in this Advent season, when the heavens rejoice, we your earthly clients lift up our voices in prayer. When our soul's craft rocks like a ship distressed upon the stormy seas of life, intercede with your divine Son in our behalf that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

O pure and immaculate
and likewise blessed Virgin,
who art the sinless Mother of thy Son,
the mighty Lord of the universe,
thou who art inviolate and altogether holy,
the hope of the hopeless and sinful,
we sing thy praises.
We bless thee, as full of every grace,
thou who didst bear the God-Man:
we bow low before thee;
we invoke thee and implore thine aid.
Rescue us, O holy and inviolate Virgin,
from every necessity that presses upon us
and from all the temptations of the devil.
Be our intercessor and advocate
at the hour of death and judgment;
deliver us from the fire
that is not extinguished
and from the outer darkness;
make us worthy of the glory of thy Son,
O dearest and most clement Virgin Mother.
Thou indeed art our only hope most sure
and sacred in God's sight,
to Whom be honor and glory and majesty and dominion
for ever and ever world without end. Amen.
Ephrem the Syrian (306-373)

Second Wednesday of Advent

2010-12-08T01:10:00.005-07:00

The Dignity of Man

he Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in the United States of America as a holyday of obligation. The bishops of our country have dedicated our nation to the protection of Our Lady under this title. Fittingly is this so, for in the Declaration of Independence we read: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Hence our Founding Fathers made clear their belief in the Creator and in the fact that He has endowed us with rights and liberties. These rights and liberties come from God. We are dependent upon God for them and not upon any State.

The bishops of the United States, in one of their recent statements, made it clear that there could be no peace in the world until nations agree on the true nature of man, namely, that man has a dignity consisting in the fact that man is a creature of God and not a creature of the State.

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception clearly identifies for Catholics the doctrine of the dignity of man. It was Mary's privilege to have been conceived without sin. that privilege was given to no other human being. And God, in bestowing this renowned privilege upon one of His creatures, paved the way for the Redemption of man through His only-begotten Son who was to be born of this same Virgin Mother.

This privilege of Mary goes very deep into God's plans for all mankind. By teaching of the Redemption and of Mary's Immaculate Conception, w are made aware of the fact that man is no machine -- he is not a composition of matter that passes back into the earth. man has a value other than his human existence. He has dignity apart from his ability to labor and to store up material wealth. Man is a creature of God composed of body and soul and made to the image and likeness of his Creator. Man has faculties of soul, intellect, and free will, which are to be trained according to their true ends and purposes. they are spiritual faculties and are meant for man's knowing and loving god. The solution to the world's crisis today rests in the answer to the question; are we men or are we beasts? There can be no peace until there is an agreement upon man's true dignity, for man is God's creature and not he State's! He is soul as well as body.

The world's excitement, its greed for wealth, its love for inordinate pleasure, its love for speed and distraction is not just an external quality of our times. It has become intrinsic to our nature all too often! This spirit of the world has seeped down into the very souls of men. It is not just the plan or the train of our age that speeds, but our minds and our souls! As haste is the death of devotion, so too, do greed, distraction, and pleasure spell death to those who should be devoted to the things of the soul. the noise of the world is too great a distraction to many who should spend moments of prayer and make an examination of conscience before god's Eucharistic Presence in some quiet little chapel. The spirit of the world is not the spirit of those who are inspired by the doctrine of the Redemption and the teaching of the Immaculate Conception. For they who are cognizant of man's dignity know that they were created not for the amassing of wealth for the State, but for the purpose of living for god here, and enjoying the Beatific Vision for all eternity!

If men, today, would return to a belief in their true nature, to a belief in their soul and its immortality, if they would have a continuation and preservation of their inalienable rights, they must return to the Creator from whom these rights came. There can be no peace until all mankind recognizes its true dignity.

Of this it is that Mary, Virgin most venerable, reminds us! All is not yet lost, even though God "seems" so far away. Like a mother, who reassures her children, Mary reminds us that God is very close to souls who are close to His Mother. We should resolve to cherish the Virgin most vernerable, and to pray always to live according to our true dignity, for God made us just a little less than the angels.

Prayer

Mary, you are all fair and there is no stain in you. We salute you as "our tainted nature's solitary boast" and we sing to you the sweet angel's song of "Ave Maria" -- Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The above image is from a twelfth century altar frontal, located somewhere in Rome. Depicted is the Blessed Mother, in red, consoling Mary Magdalene. Though it's quite a primitive painting, isn't the aspect of this embrace touching? From the earliest times, the faithful have understood the role of Mary as consoler. I expect the apostles and the very first Christians who had the great honor of knowing her on earth, understood the deep love and sympathy of Christ's mother more than we can even guess. It is one of the greatest consolations of life, though -- and one of the greatest blessings we have as Catholics -- to know we can turn to Mary in our sorrows and troubles. Our Mother always understands -- and takes our hand as we approach her Son with our prayers.

Second Tuesday of Advent

2010-12-07T00:54:00.009-07:00

Our Lady and the Changing World

he feast of Our Lady coming in Advent * affords us an opportunity to think of the part womankind should play in the ever present drama of life. For Mary is the model of all Christian womanhood. Women are endowed by the Creator with fine sensibilities and a most noble love. They are meant to be the inspiration of men. If the ideal of womankind is high, if she is exalted in men's estimation, if she is loved for her virtue, then the opportunity for good that is afforded mankind is tremendously great.

Paganism degraded womanhood and robbed her of her native dignity with which the Creator had endowed her. Mary's advent into the world, bringing the Saviour of mankind, changed all that. She is "our tainted nature's solitary boast." But, alas, the new days of paganism are with us. This time again, the sad opportunity is afforded women to step down. A changing world in the guise of emancipation offers womankind an opportunity to lower her standards, to degrade her dignity, to debase her prerogatives for childbearing and motherhood.

The Church has through the centuries watched over and guided the noble prerogatives of womankind, not because the Church bestowed these sacred rights, but because she preserves what has been restored through Our Lady and the Redemption. When woman is an ideal, man is, strictly speaking, a builder of the spirit. He builds within himself the great edifice of a spiritual character where the Holy Spirit dwells as in a temple. When woman is an ideal, men build homes, and children are received as the hope of a better world. The both is looked up to so that he will carry on and build again as did his father, and the girl is cherished as the sweet daught4er and mirror of the wife whose inward beauty grows more graceful with the passing years.

But the new paganism is threatening again! It is, of course, always in the name of freedom that freedom is abused. In the name of emancipation women are to be freed from the very duties that make them beautiful with a lasting beauty -- motherhood and sharing in creation!

Women are meant to be builders, too, in the strictest sense of the term. They are the heart of the home. It is through them that men learn to live and to love great ideals and to build character. It is through the mother, definitely closer to the child than any other living human, that young habits and fine characters are formed. Women are the cornerstone of civilization in this respect. They are the hope of the world! "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."

Anyone who calls himself a Christan and a follower of Christ must think often of the Mother of our Blessed Saviour who was closest to Him through the years that led up to Calvary. Anyone who respects women must know that it was Mary's role in Christian history to place women on the high pedestal they now enjoy. Anyone who has forebodings regarding the changes in our modern world will go to Mary and fervently pray that the rights, spiritual rights, of women be preserved, that they become modern Bethlehems in which Christ comes to dwell and not worldly inns that refuse children's birth.

None of us can live through a social revolution and come out of it unchanged ourselves. The world changing simply means that men and women of our day are changing. We must hold fast to Christian ideals, particularly the ideal of womankind as it comes to us from our Saviour and from his Blessed Mother. If we lose this ideal, if women degrade themselves, they are not meeting, as we would have them meet, the challenge of a pagan world. They are succumbing! They are delivering themselves to the enemies of Christian civilization. They are undoing the work of Redemption. They are despising our Lady. That is unthinkable! Women are the builders of a better and a more secure world, where men may live as brothers because they have a common Father and a Blessed Mother.

* December 8th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Prayer

Our Lady of the hills and the valleys, look down from your throne in heaven and intercede with God in our behalf. As we live in a vale of tears preparing for the day when we may ascend the hill of heaven, pray for us, O Mary, that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ.

Intercede with God, that we may in imitation of you, follow Jesus along the way, though it be sorrowful -- via dolorous -- out to the clear blue of the day, all the way up the hill, like you, to Calvary. We are sinners, like Magdalene. Accept us into your company. Few of us are like John, the beloved disciple None of us is like You. Teach us to love Calvary and to see the sweet wood of the cross upon which hangs the Redeemer and our hope for eternal life.

Pope Leo XIII discussed women's role in society in his encyclical : Rerum Novarum, 1891; Women's rights are directly addressed by Pope Pius XI encyclical, Casti Cannubii, 1930; and he speaks to women in the workplace yet again in Quadragesimo Anno in 1931.

Second Monday of Advent

2010-12-06T01:23:00.004-07:00

Unrequited Love

ne of the great tragedies of life is finding one, upon whom so much love and kindness has been bestowed, totally unconscious of the gifts that have been so abundantly bestowed upon him. Sometimes it happens that a wife is untrue to a husband. She may even be the mother of children, in which case we should expect to find an increase of that love which is so characteristic of womankind, and yet, somehow, the true stream of human affection has become poisoned and love is unrequited. Passion sometimes takes the place of true love, and where affection should abound hatred and disappointment take its place.

The dictum, corruptio optimi pessima -- "the corruption of the best is the worst," typifies what we mean. the greatest harm is often done not by those who have no knowledge of the faith, but by those who once were infused with divine goodness and love and then permitted their illumined minds and inspired wills to become perverted and corrupted.

When those who once loved each other in marriage and were two in one flesh decide to separate, the human race loses a partnership and receives a blow that strikes at the very cornerstone of the social structure. When husband and wife decide that what once was a beautiful romance and an ardent love has now ceased to hold any attraction, not only do they personally suffer a loss, but through them and the solidarity of the human race all mankind suffers.

Unrequited love is the tragedy of our day. Passion is mistaken for affection and love is confused with lust and sin as though love consisted only of sensual satisfaction and concupiscence. The Church, wise with the wisdom of the ages, stands as the beacon light in the tempest that surrounds the shipwrecked folly of our age. The Church proclaims the blessedness of marital union, and while she is thoroughly conscious of the powerful instincts found in every man and woman and entrusted by almighty God for the propagation of the race and for the allaying of concupiscence, wise Mother that she is, she emphasizes the tender affections of the human heart that can be nurtured only on the finer things of the spirit.

Those who have experienced the conflicts that arise between spouses and who have spent long hours in listening to marital difficulties and in giving advice, tell us that most of the pain that is caused and most of the rifts that occur are occasioned by little things, such as the tone of voice, attitudes, the irate response, the lack of attention, and the many little irritants of daily living.

It is a common fault of human nature, and one of which many of us are frequently guilty, that we fail properly to appreciate the little courtesies that make life easier and our neighbor's lot a trifle less difficult.

Unrequited love is one of the tragedies of America's divorce courts! When love of God is unappreciated and not repaid by a creature, life's darkest hour is experienced. When man, the creature, shows no appreciation for God, the Creator, we have the greatest tragedy possible.

Today, one of Advent's steps to Christmas affords us an opportunity to return gratitude and to make reparation to God, to thank Him for our many blessings and benefits, and to repair the harm we have done by unrequited love.

Christmas affords us an occasion to make a gift of love to God and neighbor by trying to become more aware and conscious of our gifts and opportunities.

Prayer

Jesus, take our hearts today and purify them in the fire of Your love so that no stain of hatred or enmity may be present in us. Teach us to be conscious of the insignificant little courtesies of life, that we may ever be grateful for Your love.

Husbands and wives should live peacefully in their union of marriage; they should be mutually edifying to each other, pray for one another, bear patiently with one another’s faults, encourage virtue in one another by good example, and follow the holy and sacred rules of their state, remembering that they are the children of the saints and that, consequently, they ought not to behave like pagans, who have not the happiness of knowing the one true God.
- John Baptiste Marie Vianney, sermon

The wife must love her husband as if there were no other man in the world, in much the same way as the husband should love her as if no other woman existed.
- Robert Bellarmine, letter to his niece, 1614

Second Sunday of Advent

2010-12-05T01:13:00.030-07:00

Prayer Means Progress

Gospel of the Second Sunday of Advent:

hen John had heard in prison the words of Christ, sending two of his disciples he said to him: Art thou He that is to come, or look we for another? And Jesus answering said to them "Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen. the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them; and blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in me. And when they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What went ye out into the desert to see: A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, they that are clothed in soft garments, are in the house of kings. But what went ye out to see? A prophet? Yeah, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee (Mt. 11:2-10).

We have said that the Church, in her Advent story, tells us the most beautiful of all the stories of earth, the story of God becoming man. Today and every Advent day, she continues the tale. Just as a great artist uses many colors to bring out the beauty of his detail -- and yet there is always one dominant color -- and just as a tapestry weaver uses many colored skeins to beautify the design -- and yet there always remains a prominent hue in his texture -- so the greatest mother of them all, holy Mother the Church, paints for us today, by her liturgy of Advent, the picture of Christ's coming, and the dominant thread in the great detail of this tapestry of beauty which she is weaving is that of courage. The Divine Office of the Church is filled with notes of joy, hope, and courage with which the soul awaiting Christ should be animated.

Holy Mother the Church says today to every Catholic heart, "Come with me." As loyal subjects, as children, we follow and in spirit we pass over the waters to a church in the City of Jerusalem, the Basilica of the Holy Cross. In the language of Sacred Scripture, Jerusalem is the image of the faithful soul. From the cross we are to take courage and hope. Of old the cross was an instrument of crucifixion. It was an object of horror and derision, but today, by virtue of the grace of God, the cross is an object of veneration. From the cross comes courage. St. Thomas a Kempis says, "In the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is freedom from our enemies. Take up your cross and follow Jesus and you shall enter into eternal life."

Our infallible teacher and guide now guides us gently into the liturgy of the Mass, and, in the Epistle and Gospel we hear again the dominant note of courage inspired by a strong faith, a lively hope, and an ardent charity.

In the Epistle, St. Paul, the great Apostle to the Gentiles, says: "Brethren, whatsoever things were written, were written for our learning; that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope." Again the great Apostle exhorts us to rejoice. In the Gospel of the day we are exhorted to have faith in Jesus, for "the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them." Here is the groundwork of our courage, a deep faith in Jesus Christ.

Finally, the third of the three virtues must be manifest in our courage, namely, charity. This greatest of the virtues makes us most like unto God, who is love, just as the lack of it makes us most like unto the devil, who hates fiercely! The members of Christ's Mystical Body must be motivated by love if their courage is to have deep-rooted effects. The members of anti-Christ have no place in their meetings for charity. Their Gospel is one of hatred. Red truly is the color of a heart inflamed, red is the color of martyrs, and red is the color of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love and charity. We must revolutionize not bodies in rebellions of hate, but souls in rebellion against sin. Members of Christ's Mystical Body must be motivated by love for God. This battle of courage and love must be waged under our banner of red, which symbolizes the martyrs' blood and the holy Spirit, the Spirit of love.

Like Christian warriors of old, panoplied in faith, hope, and charity, which constitute the armor of God, by Advent prayer and penance we will find our courage renewed! Despite the hardships of life and the perversities of men, we "will take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them," for God is on our side.

Let us not think that this battle can be won except with the grace of God. Holy Mother the Church takes us in the spirit of the liturgy to Jerusalem, the city typifying the faithful soul. The Church in accents of liturgical chant and in colors of penitential purple shows us the holy cross and its reliquary, the Basilica at Jerusalem, in order to stir upon our courage motivated by faith, hope, and charity. The Church gives us a model in today's Gospel, St. John the Baptist, who was not a reed shaken by the wind, nor a man clothed in soft garments, but rather a prophet, of whom it was written, "I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee."

We can win this battle only with Christ! Are we blind? Then let us come to Him who is the Light of the world. Are we lame? He will cure us so that we can walk! Do we suffer from the leprosy of sin? He will cleanse us! He will cleanse us! Are we deaf to the dangers of perversion corrupting even the very salt of the earth? He will cause us to listen to the sweet inspiration of God's grace in our souls! Are we dead in sin? He will make us live the life of grace, the life of God. Are we poor? He will preach to us the Kingdom of Heaven, where "neither rust nor moth doth consume, nor thieves break through to steal."

Come, Lord Jesus, we pray, come into our souls, renew our courage with deep sentiments of faith, hope, and charity, the world needs Your Advent! The world, as Isaias has said, is sickened and the whole body is sad, yet, we have ardent hope, for, like the voice of the captain on the bridge in a story peril at sea, we can hear above the din and noise of the turbulent waves the voice of our Master, "Lo, I am with you all days even unto the consummation of the world."

Prayer

Dear Jesus, teach me to forgive even my enemies that I may be forgiven. Show me the true motive of love which binds up the wounds and refuses to count the cost. Calvary is our great lesson. Help me to reflect upon it every day of my life. Bethlehem and Calvary are cycles -- returning over and over again and teaching me of God's love and forgiveness. The Babe at Bethlehem and the God-man on the cross both -- the one and same divinity -- extend arms of love and mercy.

I love this image of the Visitation by Jacopo da Pontormo, an Italian painter of the 16th century. In many images of this famous meeting, the Blessed Mother is shown obviously expecting, but St. Elizabeth, who would have been farther along, doesn't look pregnant at all. But Pontormo shows St. Elizabeth's age, as well as the roundness of her figure. Part of the great wonder of this visit was the fact that St. Elizabeth, who was thought to have been barren and well past the age of conceiving, was indeed with child -- and our Mother Mary was thrilled to visit with her cousin and celebrate this miracle, as well as to share with her the news of her own great blessing -- the greatest of all miracles. In this painting, we see the natural feminine reaction of an embrace when the two holy women meet -- and in this painting, we see the two exchange such a tender, fond look of understanding. We can imagine that baby St. John has just leapt within the womb of St. Elizabeth and she has just said the first words that pair her son, the great evangelist, with Jesus, our Redeemer: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Lk. 1: 42-45)
~ Lisa

First Saturday of Advent

2010-12-03T21:50:00.003-07:00

Promise of Peace

ur Lady of Fatima, appearing to three little shepherd children, Jacinta, aged seven, Francisco, aged nine, and Lucia, aged ten, on a plateau outside the village of Cova da Iria (in Fatima, a Portuguese town about sixty miles north of Lisbon), made some promises regarding the peace of the world that are particularly pertinent at this time.

With a smile of maternal tenderness, yet somewhat sad, she beckoned gently to the children to approach, saying: "Have no fear; I will do you no harm. I come from heaven. I want you children to come here on the thirteenth of each month, until October. Then I will tell you who I am."

On July13th, 1917, after the children had seen the apparition of our Lady again, as promised, they were permitted to behold the fires of hell, after which the following prophecy was delivered:

"You have seen the inferno where the souls of sinners end. To save souls Our Lord desires that devotion to my Immaculate Heart be established in the world.

"If what I tell you is done, many wouls will be saved and there will be peace. the war will end; but if they do not cease to offend the Lord, not much time will elapse, and precisely during the next Pontificate, another and more terrible war will commence. When a night illumination by an unknown light is seen, know that is the signal that God gives you that the castigation of the world for its many transgressions is at hand, through war, famine, and persecution of the Church and the Holy Father. To prevent this I ask the consecration of the world to my Immaculate Heart, and Communion in reparation on the first Saturday of each month."

August 13th found more than 15,000 people at the Cova da Iria. More than 30, 000 people gathered there on September 13; and again on October 13, despite incessant rain, an enormous crowd of more than 70,000 assenbled from all corners of Portugal and far distant places in Europe.

On this latter occasion the beautiful Lady appeared to the children for the last time, more radiant than ever before. "Her face was brighter than the sun," said Francisico, who was dazzled, but yet unable to withdraw his gaze. To the question, "Who are you and what do you wish?" placed by Lucia, the answer came:

"I am the Lady of the Rosary and I have come to warn the faithful to amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not continue to offend Our Lord, already so deeply offended. They must say the Rosary."

Our Blessed Mother also declared that she wished a Church built at the Cova da Iria in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, and that if the people amended their lives the war would soon end.

The apparitions of Our Lady have received the seal of approval of the Church as worthy of our belief, and the devotion was authorized under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary. Millions of pilgrims have visited Fatima; and in a five-year period 215 miraculous cures were claimed. Fatima is fast becoming a world center of Mary's wonders and intercession.

Pope Pius XII asks all to pray to Ou Lady of Fatima. He has dedicated the world to her Immaculate Heart. During Advent, and, indeed, every first Saturday of the month, pray for peace.

Prayer

Queen of the Most Holy rosary, Refuge of the human race, Victress in all God's battles, we humbly prostrate ourselves before your throne, confident that we shall receive mercy, grace, and bountiful assistance and protection in the present calamity, not through our own inadequate merits, but solely through the great goodness of your maternal heart. Amen.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary

~ C.B. Chambers

Msgr. Coogan's words ring as true today as they must have in the early 1950s, in the wake of WWII and in the midst of the Korean War. Though it's true the calamities du jour may be different than the ones when the book Spiritual Steps to Christmas was published, our world has sunk to new lows in many respects and threats crowd around us from every direction. The rosary, therefore, is more importnt now than ever, and the devotion of the Five First Saturdays is an antidote most desperately needed in our troubled times. Though this seems a somber subject to discuss during Advent, it's a necessary one if we truly wish to honor the Babe of the Manger. His Mother wishes to save us; she only asks that we do our part. ~ Lisa

The First Friday of Advent

2010-12-03T01:18:00.005-07:00

Going Home

he poet, John Howard Payne has memorialized for all times the ballad, "Home, Sweet home," of which the opening lines, so familiar to most of us are:

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

Sometime ago there was shown in the newsreel theaters, under the sponsorship of "This Is America" a film dealing with marriage and the home entitled, "Courtship and the Courthouse," in which there was dramatically portrayed the great danger that faces America today when almost one out of every four marriages ends in divorce.

From the watchtower of the eternal city, Pope Pius XII, surveying with a master's eye the subversive forces of anti-Christ and atheism, has sounded a warning to the world on the dangers that strike at the very foundations of human society. He cautions us to beware of those who would destroy the sanctity of the home.

In the liturgy of the Church we read of the obedience of Christ to his Blessed Mother and to St. Joseph. St. Paul tells us of the virtues that go to make up a good home when he says: "Be ye all, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the soul of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience. Bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also... Wives, be subject to your husbands as it behooveth in the Lord. Husbands, love our wives and be not bitter towards them. Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is pleasing to the Lord... Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men. Knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance. Serve ye the Lord Christ" (Co. 3:12-24).

The universe is God's home, and if men would only look up to God they would be at home even in their adversities. The United Nations is trying to build a home for the universality of mankind, but there can be no universality and there can be no home without god. thus the Psalmist explains, "O Lord our God, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! ... What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him? Thou has made him a little less than the angels, thou has crowned him with glory and honour, and has set him over the works of thy hands... O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in all the earth" (8:1-10).

The world is God's home and God is at home in the world. There is nothing that man can do to expel God from the universe. Foolishly -- for it is only the fool who would so act -- do men try to expel God from the world He has made

God is at home in the soul of man as often as man sets his will in accord with the will of God. God is present in the houses of both rich and poor as often as a man and wife live in accordance with the moral laws of the
Creator. Man can make houses, but only God can make a home.

Advent tells us of our going home to God. Christmas means God with us.

Christmas reminds us of the great beneficence of God. Of Him it was said, "Unto His own He came and his own received him not." Into our hearts he would this Christmas come, if we would but open them to receive Him. Into our homes he will come, if we will but make them truly Christian, for Christmas is the feast day of the home. If we will make our hearts a tabernacle, He will come to dwell in them through His grace. If we will but make our homes truly Christian, He will come to sanctify our homes and our nation.

Prayer

O Lady of Heaven, Mary, you were homeless at Bethlehem and had to travel a long journey to escape the wrath of a wicked King. Joseph, your faithful spouse, never faltered, but worked humbly and incessantly to make a home for you and Jesus.

Heaven is our home and we are always truant children unless we direct our every step toward heaven and you.

Mother Mary, intercede with God for grace in our behalf that we may never wander from the path that leads to our heavenly home.

The heart of a God beat in the breast of a Child at Bethlehem. That same heart was pierced on
Calvary -- the very heart of God.

Is it any wonder that the Sacred heart of God bleeds for us anew every time a sin is committed? St. Paul tells us that sin crucifies Christ all over again.

To Margaret Mary Alacoque Christ confided that the world should make reparation. He asks good souls, as it were, to repair the damage of sin.

If a mother can give the substance of her body to feed her child -- if a father can, under God, generate new life and sustain it by his toil, sweat, and very blood, why cannot the members of the Church which is Christ's Mystical Body give of prayers and sacrifices to make amends to the Heart of Christ for their fellow men who sin?

Soldiers on battlefields give their blood that we may live in freedom. the least a good solder of Christ might do is bleed a little in a spiritual way by penance as an offering of reparation to the Sacred heart of Christ.

Home is where the heart is and our hearts ought to be at home only with God. This is the meaning of First Friday reparation.

The Church canonized Margaret Mary, who is known to us by the Twelve Promises made by our Lord to her. The Church encourages the faithful to make a Communion of Reparation on each First Friday because of the revelations and to make the Nine First Fridays because of the wonderful Twelfth Promise: "I promise thee in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the Sacraments. My divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."

Sacred Heart of Jesus, be our salvation!

First Thursday of Advent

2010-12-02T01:15:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year!

he world is old, but the Church -- ever ancient and ever new -- is young.

No mortal ever looks forward to old age with joy or jubilation. He may look forward to a day of accomplishment when he will be able to say, "I have finished," or to some long-cherished hope fulfilled. But no one of us can honestly say we celebrate our birthday with joy and exultation because we are older by a year. What, then, does age give us to occasion joy? Does it not bring us closer to the portal of death? Does it not separate us each year farther from the period of our youth? True, all true -- but age brings us also closer to God. Our bodies grow old, but our intellect and will, faculties of the soul, become keener and more disciplined, thanks to the great faith that we have inherited and for which our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ suffered and died, so that we might be children of God and heirs of heaven.

Thus, Advent is the dawn of a liturgically new year. We grow older in age, but, please God, closer to our ambition and goal -- a good life, a greater devotion to duty and to our neighbor, and an assurance of eternal life.

The world grows old, but the Church is ever young. Hence it is that though our bodies grow old and feeble, our souls, spurred on with the promise of immortality on the part of One who is faithful to His promises, grow not feeble in hope but advance in wisdom and grace before God and men. Our wills, disciplined by prayer which makes them one with the divine will, and by sacrifice which curbs our lower nature, makes us more like unto Christ who came that we might have life in abundance.

Every new ecclesiastical year of the Advent season has meaning for the Catholic heart. The new year reminds us to reflect upon the old, not for the sake of regrets, but for the purpose of greater progress for the future. Each penitential season of Advent renews hope in the Christian heart and a promise that the Redeemer is near.

The new year can be a year of hope and Christian living or it can be one in which deeds are prompted not by the higher, moral law, but by the laws of the jungle. Our task and resolution for Advent is to prepare for the possibilities ahead, for a better Christian life. Every man and woman, born of Adam, is heir to all the faults of the human race. "The corruption of the best is the worst," the old adage says. The saints' accomplishment of reaching the heights is chiefly attributable to the fact that they were conscious of their human frailty and relied upon the strength of God's grace.

Prayer and the Christian life of sacrifice modeled after Christ and Mary will be the tool with which we may each day of the new year work away until we have formed in our souls the image and likeness of a real Catholic. We have ideals. We have memories. We have a good mother, a kindly father, noble brothers and sisters. We have gone ahead with the years, nourished by the life of the Church's sacraments. The world may have tarnished our hopes, our aspirations, but it cannot destroy our faith! We move on with the Church and with the assurance that age cannot destroy, but can only give fulfillment to our life with God.

Prayer

Blessed Saviour of men, help us to count our years in terms of acts of service for Your and for our fellow man, worthy of the reward of eternal life. Were we a thousand times thankful, still would we be unworthy servants. With Your grace, we resolve to watch and pray the new year that peace and justice may return to mankind.

[1] And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. [2] This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. [3] And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. [4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, [5] To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child. (Lk. 2:1-5)

First Wednesday in Advent

2010-12-01T00:39:00.007-07:00

The Meaning of Advent

n our day there is need to place more emphasis upon the teaching of the Church and the meaning of Advent. There is need for more prayer and penance. There is need for a greater faith. Advent is the season of preparation when by prayer and mortification we insure our hearts being better disposed for the coming of Christ on the holy and blessed day of Christmas. The only way to gauge the future is to plan well the present. A good preparation today is the best guarantee of a work to be accomplished well tomorrow. Holy Mother Church knows that the only way to have security and peace of a spiritual nature tomorrow is to build well during the season of Advent, which is today.

Jesus Christ is the same today, yesterday, and forever. His Church, like any healthy organism, meets the needs of the present -- it has thrown off and survived the heresies of the past and it gives assurance of living in the future.

The Church knows something of the world of yesterday, for she has cherished its goodness and preserved its culture. She has the right to speak of the world of tomorrow, for in her Advent blessings and in her divine assurance she knows that, "the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her." She has plans for the present. It is the blueprint and charter of the word of God and the eternal plan of Christ which can never grow old or out of date, for it is impossible for the eternal truths of God to change with the passing of time.

There is a story told of a strong virile soldier most grievously wounded in World War I. He was dying. When taken to a hospital it was discovered that a bullet lay lodged close to his heart. To touch it would have meant almost certain death! Three times the surgeon began his work, then desisted and laid down the scalpel. After a few days the bullet moved, in a mysterious manner, to another position. The operation was performed and the patient lived. The soldier asked the doctor why he had three times prepared to operate, and yet three times hesitated. The surgeon answered and said, "Because I saw a young girl before me who caught hold of my hand."

"A young girl?" asked the soldier. "Would you recognize her from a photograph?" A picture of St. Therese, the Little Flower of Jesus, was shown the doctor. "Was it she?" "Yes," replied the doctor, "it was certainly she!" Ever since that day fresh roses are placed daily in that soldier's drawing room in the city of Paris in memory of this heavenly intervention in his behalf.

The Church during the holy season of Advent emphasizes for all Catholics the great need for prayer and faith if we are to succeed in establishing our close identity with Christ, the Head of the Mystical Body. Our Alma Mater, our great nourishing Mother the Church, asks us to hearken to the words of the sweetest story ever told, the story of Christ's coming, the story of Bethlehem. It can best be learned by prayer and meditation and hearkening to your Mother's voice. She will lead you along the way she knows so well and which terminates at the feet of God, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

Prayer

Dear Mother of Christ, we love you and pledge to you our devotion. As children upon our mother's knee we recall the blessings of childhood, the lullabies our loveliest of mothers used to sing. When the years turned her lovely locks to gray, we cherished her the more, till god called her. You, O Mary, are our mother in heaven and on earth. We need this Christmastide and Advent season to hear a heavenly lullaby. Sing to to us, O Mary, the songs of heaven that earth may not hold us in its grip. We were made for God, and restless children are we, till we return through you to Him.

Et hoc vobis signum invenietis infantem pannis involutum et positum in praesepio.

" And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger."
(Lk. 2:7)

First Tuesday of Advent

2010-11-30T00:25:00.004-07:00

God's Star

soldier's best prayer is always one motivated by hope, and not by fear.

Strange, too -- or is it strange -- that the greatest act of love, an act of perfect contrition, is one motivated not by fear of punishment, but by deep and abiding love for God! The expression "there are no atheists in foxholes" has grown old with World War II, but its meaning is read in a thousand different dispatches from the battlefront of life itself. The soldier who goes bravely to his death is not alone! He is mindful of Another who carried a cross to Calvary and who won the only victory that matters. In this our day we must all be soldiers of Christ. We are such by the sacrament of Confirmation.

It is told of Sir Harry Lauder that while he was in Melbourne, Australia, and had just sustained the loss of his only son, who had fallen at the front, he related the following beautiful incident:

"A man came to my dressing room in a New York theater and told of an experience that had recently befallen him. In American towns any household that had given a son to the war was entitled to place a star on the window pane. Well, a few nights before he came to see me, this man was walking down a street in New York accompanied by his wee little boy. The lad became very interested in the lighted windows of the houses, and clapped his hands when he saw a star. As they passed house after house, he would say, "Oh, look, Daddy, there's another house that has given a son to the war. And there's another. There's one with two stars. And look, there's a house with no star at all." At last they came to a break in the houses. Through the gap could be sen the evening star shining brightly in the sky. The little fellow caught his breath. "Oh, look, Daddy," he cried, "God must have given His Son, for He has a star in His window!" God's star in heaven's window tells of Christmas when God gave His Son to the world. This is the story of God's love in the Incarnation."

The soldier who prays before he goes into battle is the man who is conscious of the fact that he goes not alone. He is acutely aware that God is with him and that the Son of God went into the darkness of Calvary when man warred upon divinity in the terrible crucifixion that led to the victory of Easter. God foresaw his death even as he planned His birth at Bethlehem. For Bethlehem and Calvary are cycles. In His birth and in His death is our life and our redemption.

"Today every Christian is a soldier -- soldier of Christ. The least among us is a soldier. Our fathers, like a flood of people, like a flood of armies, invaded the infidel continents. Nowadays, on the contrary, it is a flood of infidelity that holds the seas, the high seas, and continuously assails us from all sides. All our houses are fortresses, in danger of the mighty sea. The holy war is everywhere. It is ever being waged. All of us stand on the breach today. We are stationed at the frontier. The frontier is everywhere..." Thus spoke convert Charles Peguy.*

Prayer

Blessed Saviour, I know so well the meaning of grace and yet I permit its lesson to escape me. I know full well that grace is best received by a heart humble and contrite and ready to welcome its God. I know, too, that such readiness requires vigilance and prayer -- "watch and pray" are the words of Advent as well as Lent, for Bethlehem and Calvary and Easter are all one great event -- they are but stepping stones to heaven. Teach me to prepare this Advent for an increase of grace and a fuller understanding of the Redemption and Incarnation.

Amen

----

* Basic Verities (New york: Pantheon Books, Inc., 1943).

And seeing the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. (Matthew 2:10)

First Monday of Advent

2010-11-29T13:46:00.007-07:00

Christmas is the Feast of the Home

s Gilbert K. Chesterton has said, by a divine paradox Christmas, which is the Feast of the Homeless One who had to find shelter in a cave and to be warmed by the breath of oxen, is celebrated in every home. For this reason it is good for us in this holy season of Advent to reflect on the importance of the home and Christian civilization.

One of the most historic shrines of France, attended annually by thousands of visitors, is Malmaison, the home of Napoleon and Josephine. It was here that Napoleon came after his brilliant military victories. Each room is arranged exactly in the same manner as when this great military leader occupied it. There is the very chair in which sat this monarch of the world empire, there is the desk at which he wrote, and there the pen with which he mapped out his great victories.

As the visitor passes through these rooms exuding a martial atmosphere, he comes into the suite occupied by Josephine. There is a marked contrast. No martial note here. Only the little incidentals that minister to the needs of womankind and echo forth the dominant note of her heart are present. True, here in this room is a beautiful harp, a symbol of domestic peace and homely concord. Upon further inspection, however, we note that its strings are broken. It stands there mute and silent as an ironic reminder that discordant notes of domestic strife once filled this chamber. To every informed visitor it is a symbol and a reminder that the great Napoleon who conquered Europe failed in the altogether crucial building of the most important empire of all -- the empire of his own home. Indeed, the inspired writer has written the epitaph for this story when he said: "Greater is he who governs himself than he who rules cities."

With the authority of the Vicar of Christ and the kindly voice of a shepherd caring for his sheep, the pope reminds all peoples that the home is the foundation of human society. He who undermines the home, the Father of Christendom points out, blasts at the solid bedrock upon which not only society but all stable government alike is built. No expedient yet devised by the sociologist or political scientist constitutes so might a bulwark for the protection of human society and orderly government as the teaching of Christ's Church concerning the sanctity of marriage, the indissolubility of its bond, and the permanence of the Christian home.

The mother is the "heart," the father is the "head" of the home. It is the plan of an all-wise and provident God that a child be reared in a home where the principles of proper thought and action are instilled by a loving mother and a kindly ruling father. After years of study and research, experts in child psychology now assure us that impressions received during early childhood undoubtedly set up mental patterns and modes of conduct, in the light of which all the experiences of later life are interpreted and evaluated. Indeed, this is merely an affirmation of a truth spoken thousands of years ago by the inspired writer of the Book of Proverbs, wherein we read: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

The home dominated by the mother and father occupies the all-important position in life. A mother need not be learned, as measured by worldly standards. She need only have a knowledge of God and a loving, kindly fear of the Lord in order successfully to train her child. A father need not know the ways and means of ruling an empire! Indeed, if he did, he, like the great Napoleon, might neglect the empire of his home. A father need only have an understanding of the words,"the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Such a father placed in rule over a child, with his loving spouse at his side, is indeed the builder of nations and is beloved of God!

Our Holy Father Pope Pius XII reminds us in his encyclical letter on "Christian Education" that the home precedes both the church and the State in the matter of education. For, since the mother is the first and most effective teacher of the child, the home becomes the first and most important school. No lay teacher, sister, or priest can be an adequate substitute for the mother as a teacher. These agencies are only meant to be complementary and supplementary to the training given the child in the home.

The Church for our edification and inspiration points to the model home of Nazareth, where Jesus dwelt in obedience to Mary and Joseph. Thus did our divine Lord set up an example for youth everywhere, for Scripture tells us, "He was subject to them."

Great has been the example of good homes through the ages! Look to the saintly influences of St. Monica in praying for her son, Augustine. Look to the example of the queenly mother Blanche and hr influence over her son, St. Louis of France. Look about the world today and wherever you see priests and sisters you will know the influence of the home that is good. Look into your own heart today! Remember the joys of your happy home life! Is it any wonder that a ballad comes down through the years, sung by a thousand voices, a thousand times over, "Home, Sweet Home"?

Somewhere in heaven today there is a mother reaping the reward of a Christian home she founded upon earth. To such noble women we pledge our loyalty to preserve these ideals for America, under God, and in filial devotion and prayer, we say:

Mother, upon me gaze tonight
From thy beautiful home above;
And tell me are the stars as bright
As the beacon of thy love?

Mother, does sometimes upon thy knee
While the angels stand and stare,
The Christ-child sit and tell thee of me,
And finger thy silvery hair?

Mother, when life's short years are run,
And the Gleaner beacons to me,
Oh, pray the God in that Little One
To bring me home to thee.

One of my all-time favorite paintings of Our Blessed Mother with the Child Jesus, this work, called "Kissing the Face of God" blesses the world through the hands of Morgan Wiestling. You can read about her inspiration for this masterpiece here.

~ Lisa

First Sunday of Advent

2010-11-29T12:49:00.006-07:00

Preparing For Christmas

The Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent:

esus said to this disciples: There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the sound of the sea and of the waves, men withering away for fear and expectation of the things which shall come upon the world; for the powers of heaven shall be moved. And then they shall see the Son of man coming on a cloud with great power and majesty. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a similitude; See the fig-tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth their fruit, ye know that summer is nigh. So also, when the kingdom of God is at hand. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all things be fulfilled. heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Lk. 21;25-33).

The Catholic Church is the most interesting institution in the world. Like her Founder, she is both human and divine. She is human because her members are of human origin; she is divine because Christ, the Head of these members is divine. The Catholic Church is the greatest true-story teller in the world. She is the greatest of all narrators because, being human, she is like a great nourishing mother, Alma
Mater, sa she soothes her children with the happiest of tales in a most loving manner. She is the most profound and interesting storyteller, for she tells the story of God in His relations with men, the "sweetest story ever told," the story of God becoming man, the Incarnation.

Now, how does holy Mother Church tell this story and where does she get her facts? The Church tells the story by her liturgy, by her chant and, as it were, by painting liturgical word-pictures, thus arresting our attention, and by turning over the pages of the life of Christ for the perusal of the facts.

The first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of the storytelling by narrating the anticipation of Christ's coming and by highlighting the story in the word-picture of the liturgy. The liturgy of the Catholic Church is most impressive and contains a world of meaning if we will but look beneath the surface and meditate reflectively. Every movement of priest and people, every psalm, every prayer that is uttered has a meaning and contains a fund for spiritual enrichment.

It is our purpose in these thought pieces, in preparation for Christmas, to show the role that prayer and penance play in the life of each member of the Mystical Body of Christ. Thus, by a close following of the Gospels for the Sundays and by our thinking with the Church in a liturgical sense, we shall listen to the story related by our fostering holy Mother Church concerning the greatest character of all history, Jesus Christ, true God and true man.

There is a pamphlet by Dom Gueranger entitled, "Advent, Its Meaning and Purpose," which tells of the preparation that should be made by Christian hearts before Christmas.

In such a spirit of prayer during these Advent days we come to the feet of our Holy Mother; we liste to the most interesting of all storytellers and to the sweetest story of them all. In spirit we go to a church in the City of Rome, St. Mary Major's. In this church we kneel before the Crib of Bethlehem. On the first Sunday of Advent all Christians in the spirit of the liturgy of the Mass make their way to this station. It is for this reason we find the prayers of the Mass centering around the birth of Christ and the Virgin Mother and the crib.

The story of the long awaiting for the coming of Christ is told in the words of Isaias the prophet, who of all the prophets has most directly and explicitly spoken of the Messias. Each day of
Advent the priest reads in his Divine Office something from the writings of this great prophet.

In this prophecy Isaias speaks of the Lord, who exalted His children only to have them despise Him; He speaks of Israel, "who hath not known the Lord and his people, who hath not understood." And He says: "They have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel; they have gone backwards."

The words of the Prophet should make a deep impression on our hearts at the beginning of the holy season of Advent. Who of us can hear without trembling this voice of the Lord, who is despised and unknown even at the very time when He is to come and visit His people: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

The story is being retold. The Church, in accents of solemnity, in colors of penitential purple vestments, in notes of solemn music is repeating for us the burden of her message. Christ is coming to save the world, which, as Isaias says is sickened -- "the whole head is sick and the whole heart is sad." Christ is coming to judge the world, for "the powers of heaven shall be moved, and then they shall see the Son of man coming on a cloud with great power and majesty. When thee things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand."

Members of Christ's Mystical Body, hearken to the words of the "sweetest story ever told" as recounted by the greatest mother of them all. The story is Christ's coming, or Advent. The mother is the Church. Now is the hour for us to rise from sleep, to save the world from chaos, to rescue souls from the materialism of communism and to save them for the all-powerful dignity of incorporation in Christ's Mystical Body. We shall do this by beginning to reform ourselves, by spending Advent prayerfully, by "casting off the works of darkness and putting on the Lord Jesus Christ."

Prayer

Blessed Saviour of men, You [prepared for long years by prophecies and symbols to foretell of the Coming of the Anointed One, the Messias, who would redeem the world and reopen for us the gates of Paradise.

This Advent we pray and beseech You to accept our humble offering of peparation. Each day will be for us a step, each step a prayer, each prayer will be a pilgrimage toward Bethlehem with Jesus and Mary and Joseph. Help us to pray fervently, to walk valiantly, and to persevere to the end.

And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said:

Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed.

And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us?

And I said:

Lo, here am I, send me.

(Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8
Douay-Rheims Challoner)

Concerning Isaias, you might also recognize this passage from the prayer of the priest before the Holy Gospel of the Mass:

Cleanse my heart and my lips, O Almighty God, Who cleansed the lips of the Prophet Isaias with a burning coal. In Your gracious mercy deign so to purify me that I may worthily proclaim your holy
Gospel. through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Preface

2010-11-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

he theme of this book suggests that man has gotten away from the true nature of Christmas.

Today, Christmas is celebrated without Christ in many quarters.

Christmas is the season when God became man in the form of a child, and yet, unhappily, in how many homes, because Christ is uninvited, children, too, are no longer welcome. Christmas, like Emmanuel, means "God with us." If we celebrate Christmas without God, we have lost its meaning. If we refuse an inn to God's children as the fruit of marriage, we repeat the sad tale of Bethlehem that refused an inn to Mary and Joseph and the Child.

Christmas means Christ's Mass. But the Protestant revolt has denied the true sacrifice of the Mass. It has uprooted His altar and replaced it with a pulpit. There are some who profess to be ministers of Christ and yet deny His divinity.

The Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament has been removed from their altars and the voice of man has usurped his place. the pivot and focal point of the Protestant Church is not the altar but the pulpit. Man's presence has replaced god's presence; private interpretation has taken the place of God's authority.

Christ is sacrificed in the Mass and the Mass is Christ present with us. Take away the tabernacle of God and, since nature abhors a vacuum, the pulpit of man is ushered in to replace it. Remove the Mass, where Christ is offered and adored, and the result is that man is dehumanized whereas he should be super-naturalized. Man exalts himself instead of humbling himself and adoring God. Without God man is not even himself. He is dehumanized. He is less than man. For man, as God made him, is just a little less than the angels.

Christmas today, for the average worldling, means feasting and food -- a holiday, with tinsel and tree, and an exchange of gifts. it is externalized and made pagan in its concept.

It should mean attendance at Mass -- at Christ's Mass on Christmas day. it should be a day of great dignity, of rejoicing as evidenced in a temperate use of food and drink and a meeting of loved ones under the star and spirit of Bethlehem. it should mean not so much a receiving as a giving to Christ's poor in imitation of God who gave Himself to the poor in the greatest of all gifts -- His only-begotten Son.

This book is written with the hope and intention of bringing to our minds the thoughts of Advent that we may think and pray with Mary who brought Christ to us. Advent, like Lent, is a time of preparation in thought and deed for a great event. Certainly if a king or a cardinal were to come to our home as a guest we would prepare for the advent. Should we not prepare, then, for the great King of the universe during these days? His Advent or "coming" into our hearts depends so much on how we pray and meditate during these preparatory days to Christmas.

In thinking of Christmas we always conjure up in our mind's eye the happy days of childhood, the memory of our parents who may have passed onto God's Judgment, and of our early home -- all these are most joyous recollections. Certainly Advent should not be observed in a lugubrious or melancholy manner. Penance is a joy when it is performed for God. When imposed upon us for a selfish motive it is a drudgery.

These Advent days, then, can be most joyful, our recollection of former years can be most happy if we dedicate them to God. In simple terms, we can be happiest when all things are in harmony and in their proper place. This is the definition of health. This is the understanding of peace -- the "tranquility of order." It is our aim here to put Christ back into Christmas -- to enjoy the godliness of having Christ's Mass at Christmas.

Merry Christmas to you! May Christ and His Mother bless you by their presence because of your goodness in giving to them your will and understanding during these Advent days.

Christmas Mass -- Clarence Ganon, 1908