Third Thursday of Advent

                                              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. True 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 conversation with God. 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

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 sufferings of His only beoggtten Son?  We shall endeavor to seek
a satisfactory answer to the problem in our meditation this Advent Wednesday.

     Our holy faith alone can answer these questions.  Unaided reason is unavailing.  Search as far and 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 for 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. The 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

     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

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 world 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 men, 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 which there is the true spirit of God and of Christmas.

   

The Third Sunday of Advent

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

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

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

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)