Archbishop Aquila: How Catholic feasts are different

The following comes from the Denver Catholic Register:

The Church has just celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast day is on Dec. 12, and we are quickly approaching Christmas. The liturgical year is filled with celebrations, but do we really understand how Catholic feasts are more than religious parties?

It is easy to treat Christmas or other liturgical feasts as only a celebration of Mass, food, family and gifts, so this week I am going to discuss the Catholic understanding of celebrating feast days. I hope that all who read this column will become more engaged in Advent and usher in Christmas with a deeper joy. 

The word “holiday” comes from the Old English expression hālig doeg, which means “holy day.” But over the years it has come to mean anything from taking a vacation to having a day off work. 

The Christian and Jewish understanding of holiday has a deeper meaning and history. It comes from the very first one, which God established when he rested on the seventh day of creation and “hallowed” it, meaning, he set it aside for spiritual purposes. Following God the Father’s example, this is what we do when we celebrate the feast days of saints and events in the life of Christ. 

In the life of the Church, there are three important dimensions to our celebrations that I want to share with you to deepen your joy and your experience, especially at Christmas and Easter.

The first aspect has to do with the message of a feast. You might think of feasts as events that punctuate the calendar year and are filled with food and friends, but faith sees them differently. Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote about this in his book, “Seeking the Face of God.” Feasts, he said, are an “expression of God’s inexhaustible love, of which we are made aware by an act of memory.” In other words, when we celebrate a feast, we recall the event that tells us of God’s love and immerse ourselves in it as a community or family. We remember God’s miraculous work, connect ourselves to it, and experience the effects of that grace together. 

A second quality of feasts is that they recalibrate our perception of what matters by drawing us out of our everyday existence. When we celebrate holy days, we recall the past events, words and miracles of God, but we also turn our hearts and minds to our future. Doing this reminds us that God loves us, and points us to our ultimate goal in life—living in intimate communion with him forever in heaven. 

In his book “Dogma and Preaching,” Cardinal Ratzinger expressed this dimension of feasts beautifully. He wrote, “It means that for the moment he is freed from the stern logic of the struggle for existence and looks beyond his own narrow world to the totality of things. It means that he allows himself to be comforted, allows his conscience to be moved by the love he finds in the God who has become a child, and that in doing so he becomes freer, richer, purer. If we were to try celebrating in this fashion, would not a sigh of relief pass across the world?”

Finally, feast days should be moments of genuine joy. When we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the birth of Jesus, Christ’s death and Resurrection or the life of a saint, we are filled with joy because we know through faith that we have been freed from sin and death. All of these moments that we observe throughout the year point to the same fundamental truth: God has freed us from sin and death through his son, Jesus. He has liberated St. Joseph, Mary, St. Francis, St. Frances Cabrini, St. John Paul II, countless unnamed saints, and you and me!

As you prepare for Christmas this Advent, keep in mind the three dimensions of feasts. They are an experience of God’s unfailing love for us, a moment of reorientation to what matters in life, and a time of profound joy.

It is easy to fall into treating holy days as celebrations of material things—a feast for the sake of enjoying ourselves—but this will not satisfy us. When we forget God and the reasons why we celebrate, we begin to lose our joy, our understanding of our purpose in life and our ability to share God’s love with others. When we keep the eyes of our hearts fixed on God’s particular love for us, our hearts are filled with joy. 

May we all enter into this Advent time of preparation with a renewed sense of why we celebrate and experience the lasting joy of Christmas!

Advent and Intentional Healing

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

In his homily for the Second Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis reminds us, “Isaiah addresses the people who have passed through a dark time, that have undergone a very hard trial; but now the time of consolation has come. Sadness and fear can make way for joy, because the Lord Himself will guide his people on the path of freedom and salvation.” During Advent season, the Church, especially in her liturgy, encourages us to take a spiritual and moral inventory to be prepared and purified for the Nativity of Christ. That we may experience a “pass over” from darkness to light, from sadness and fear to the joy of the Incarnation and the freedom of salvation, the examination of conscience and confession of sin, makes us cooperators in the intentional healing that occurs with the Nativity of Jesus.

As we read in the Catechism, “a person’s conscience is our most secret core and our sanctuary. There we are alone with God whose voice echoes in our depths (1776).” When you are alone with God what “echoes” of His voice do you hear in your heart? Do you invite Jesus into the rooms of your heart that are messy or downright ugly? When you examine your conscience, are there areas in your life where you feel stuck in habitual sin? Human nature is fallen but we are not helpless.

Fallen man is self-centered; we orbit around ourselves instead of around God; and in this state we are in “enemy” territory. Satan is the Tempter (1 Thes. 3-5); and as he originated the fall of man, so he still directly influences us to reject grace and commit sin. This is his ordinary mode of action (1 John 3:8-10). The devil, by deception and psychic violence seeks to imprison us in his own separation from God. If an evil spirit tempts us to sin, if we yield to sin, how can we not be united with that evil spirit at some level? In Matthew’s Gospel (5:37) we learn, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” Saying “no” to temptation is often very difficult because in truth, we do not want what God wants for us.

Most Reverend Robert Carlson’s Pastoral Letter on Penance entitled, “Jesus Christ, The Divine Physician,” quotes a reflection by Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar, “Lord, Make Me Want!”

Sin is precisely this: that I do not want what God wants. And I can’t see how this opposition on my part could be broken. I can’t see how this prison wall, which holds me captive, could be pierced through. I know precisely what I ought to do. You’ve often told me yourself, the priest has told me, I have told myself. This, then, is not what is lacking. The will is lacking: the being able to want. There is a will in me that wants and there is another will in me (the same one!) that does not want. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. What a wretched man I am! Thus it is that I am rent apart in my innermost will. And this is why I cry out from the depths of my prison of unwilling, “Make me want!”

The effects of personal sin contribute to the increasing collective oppression that humanity experiences in this hour. What can be done then? We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us a deep and continual desire to want what God wants for us. We can implore the Holy Spirit to strengthen our will to practice habitual virtue instead of habitual vice. We can put on the full armor of God to resist the fiery darts of the evil one (Ephesians 6).

Advent is a time to de-clutter our heart to make room for the new arrival of Jesus Christ. We can be intentional about cooperating with grace to heal our sin sickness. I use the following list during retreats, and share it with the hope that it is helpful for some.

Examining 6 Areas for Intentional Healing

1. Your heart: are there areas within that are darkened by recurring anger, bitterness, envy, unruly competitiveness or resentment? Do you manage anger by “exploding” or “imploding”?  Possible roots of anger include: perfectionism, pride, control, envy, insecurity, unrealistic expectations leading to disappointment and negativity. Invite Christ to come into the messy areas of your heart to transform them.
2. Relationships:  Is there someone you need to forgive? Is there someone you need to ask forgiveness from? Are you striving to love the most difficult people in your life, or do you simply avoid them? Are you in relationships that are disordered, illicit, co-dependent and not of God? Do you live in fear of what others think all the time? Are you true to God, yourself, family, and friends? Invite Christ to be the center of all your relationships, and to heal them according to His will.
3. Idols: What catches your eye in life? What or who dominates your thoughts? It is obsessive preoccupation, escapism, or addiction to shopping, television, Internet, gambling, food, alcohol, sex, travel, recreation, sports, exercise, or work? Are you impulsive, compulsive, obsessive and out of control in any of these areas? What would it mean if these areas were to become balanced according to God’s will? Possible root causes include: boredom, frustration, loneliness, self-sabotage, escapism. Invite Christ into the areas of disorder and ask Him to heal the root cause of the symptoms for complete renewal.
4. Lust:  Do you watch programs on TV, explore the Internet or read books that are inappropriate?  Does this lead to unwanted, sinful thoughts and behaviors?  Possible root causes include: 1) your longing for God has shifted to lust, 2) lack of contentment is feeding a need for immediate gratification or perpetual excitement, 3) lack of self-control and immaturity can lead to rebellion and flippant disregard for God’s law of love that requires purity of life. Ask the Immaculate Conception to defend you in the battle and help you to attain purity of life. Be pro-active in finding resources to help you.
5. Laziness (sloth):  Are you lazy in areas of personal health, family relationships, or work? Are you slothful in seeking God or being attentive to your spiritual life? Root causes may include: lack of self-discipline, immaturity, low self-esteem, selfishness, or lack of integrity. Invite the Holy Spirit to fill you with the dynamism of Divine Love. Seek to renew your relationship with Christ, especially in the Eucharist.
6. Intellectual Pride: Are you stubborn, controlling, insensitive, cynical, contentious, opinionated and slow to say you that you are wrong?  Do you judge others harshly simply by appearance? Intellectual pride has a need to always be right whereas humility admits mistakes and readily confesses faults.  Possible root causes includes: unruly egoism, selfishness, poor self-image, fear and insecurity. Invite Christ into your intellect and will to heal the root cause of any intellectual pride and ask for the grace and virtue of humility.

Read the rest here.

Advent Pause

I found this at the Anchoress site and had to share it. Very prayerful!

On this mountain the Lord of hosts
will provide for all peoples
A feast of rich food and choice wines,
juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the veil that veils all peoples,
the web that is woven over nations;
he will destroy death forever.
The Lord God will wipe away
the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove
from the whole earth; for the Lord has spoken.
– Isaiah 25:6-8

Advent in the Mountains

O Come O Come Emmanuel - Trace Bundy and Josh Garrels

What is Advent?

Watch For Him: Scott Hahn Reflects on the First Sunday of Advent

The following comes from Scott Hahn:

Readings:
Isaiah 63:16-17, 19
Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:33-37

The new Church year begins with a plea for God’s visitation. “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,” the prophet Isaiah cries in today’s First Reading.

In today’s Psalm, too, we hear the anguished voice of Israel, imploring God to look down from His heavenly throne - to save and shepherd His people.

Today’s readings are relatively brief. Their language and “message” are deceptively simple. But we should take note of the serious mood and penitential aspect of the Liturgy today - as the people of Israel recognize their sinfulness, their failures to keep God’s covenant, their inability to save themselves.

And in this Advent season, we should see our own lives in the experience of Israel. As we examine our consciences, can’t we, too, find that we often harden our hearts, refuse His rule, wander from His ways, withhold our love from Him?

God is faithful, Paul reminds us in today’s Epistle. He is our Father. He has hearkened to the cry of His children, coming down from heaven for Israel’s sake and for ours - to redeem us from our exile from God, to restore us to His love.

In Jesus, we have seen the Father (see John 14:8-9). The Father has let His face shine upon us. He is the good shepherd (see John 10:11-15) come to guide us to the heavenly kingdom. No matter how far we have strayed, He will give us new life if we turn to Him, if we call upon His holy name, if we pledge anew never again to withdraw from Him.

As Paul says today, He has given us every spiritual gift - especially the Eucharist and penance - to strengthen us as we await Christ’s final coming. He will keep us firm to the end - if we let Him.

So, in this season of repentance, we should heed the warning - repeated three times by our Lord in today’s Gospel - to be watchful, for we know not the hour when the Lord of the house will return.

Advent in 2 Minutes

Preparing Our Hearts for Christ

The following comes from the Catholic Exchange:

You would have to live in a cave to not know that Christmas is coming. The day after Thanksgiving, almost everyone is preparing. Shopping for presents, putting up trees, sending cards, making cookies, and hosting parties. In some churches and Christian homes the Advent Wreath will come out, maybe a Jesse Tree, and the Christmas trees and ornaments may be added weekly to slowly emphasize the Light of Christ coming into the world. The Season of Advent is a time of busy preparation and one that even the secular world will not let us forget.

So much of the love for Christmas has to do with family, giving, beauty and the longing for joy and peace in the world. These are all good things and I believe the desire to start celebrating Christmas earlier than we should has to do with people’s lives lacking these simple things at other times of the year. People desire the love and goodness that so many enjoy at Christmas time.

The problem with all of this merry making and festivity is that it’s happening at the wrong time. Advent is indeed a time of preparation but even more important than getting our shopping list checked off and planning the perfect meal is how we have prepared our souls, how we have prepared our hearts to receive the baby Jesus as our King on Christmas Day.

We must remember that as Christians we do not celebrate Advent or Christmas out of sentiment over the Lord’s birth. The reality is this: just as we are truly present in heaven at Divine Liturgy (Mass) we are also truly present at the feasts we celebrate. God of course is outside of time and it is His life that we are sharing in when we participate in the sacraments and the liturgical calendar of the Church. Participation in His life means we are mystically present at the birth of the Messiah. Advent is meant to place us in the time before He was born. The entire Old Testament is a story of preparation. God was preparing His chosen people to give to the world first, Mary—the summit of the Jewish people, and then the fruit of her womb—Jesus Christ.

So how can we prepare our hearts and lives to receive the baby born in the lowly manger on Christmas Day? The best way to do this is the same way Christians have been preparing for major feasts for centuries: through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

“Man has a noble task: That of prayer and love. To pray and love, that is the happiness of man on earth.”  
- St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney

Prayer changes us. Prayer makes way for the Lord to come into our hearts and draw us closer to Him. St. Paul told us to, “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:16-18) Now is a perfect time to work harder at heeding these words. The beauty of the liturgical calendar is that it allows us to experience salvation history and our Lord’s life over and over again. We are invited each year to grow deeper in our relationship with God. Prayer is key to this growth.

Read the rest here.

The Advent Revolution

In Glory

In a Dark Hour: Scott Hahn Reflects on the First Sunday in Advent

The following comes from Scott Hahn:

Readings:
Isaiah 2:1-5
Psalm 122:1-9
Romans 13:11-14
Matthew 24:37-44

Jesus exaggerates in today’s Gospel when He claims not to know the day or the hour when He will come again.

He occasionally makes such overstatements to drive home a point we might otherwise miss (see Matthew 5:34; 23:9; Luke 14:26).

His point here is that the exact “hour” is not important. What is crucial is that we not postpone our repentance, that we be ready for Him - spiritually and morally - when He comes. For He will surely come, He tells us - like a thief in the night, like the flood in the time of Noah.

In today’s Epistle, Paul too compares the present age to a time of advancing darkness and night.

Though we sit in the darkness, overshadowed by death, we have seen arise the great light of our Lord who has come into our midst (see Matthew 4:16; John 1:9; 8:12). He is the true light, the life of the world. And His light continues to shine in His Church, the new Jerusalem promised by Isaiah in today’s First Reading.

In the Church, all nations stream to the God of Jacob, to worship and seek wisdom in the House of David. From the Church goes forth His word of instruction, the light of the Lord - that all might walk in His paths toward that eternal day when night will be no more (see Revelation 22:5).

By our Baptism we have been made children of the light and day (see Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5-7). It is time we start living like it - throwing off the fruitless works of darkness, the desires of the flesh, and walking by the light of His grace.

The hour is late as we begin a new Advent. Let us begin again in this Eucharist.

As we sing in today’s Psalm, let us go rejoicing to the House of the Lord. Let us give thanks to His name, keeping watch for His coming, knowing that our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

The gift of Thanksgiving and the Advent Season

The following comes from Archbishop Chaput:

Thanksgiving is a good time to step back from the pressures of work, reflect on the course of our lives and remember that gratitude is the beginning of joy.  It’s also an opportunity to remember whom we’re thanking, andwhy we’re thanking him.  The holiday has vividly Christian roots, and it makes little sense without its religious origins.  Americans certainly don’t need to be Christian to enter into the spirit of the day, but Thanksgiving reminds us of a fundamentally higher reality: our dependence on a loving Creator. 

In a world so often marked by suffering and want, God has blessed us with abundance – both as a nation and as individuals.  No one “owes” us this abundance.  Other people around the world work just as hard as we do, or harder, and receive far less from life.  As Scripture says:  To whom much is given, from them much will be required (Lk 12:48).  Thus we Americans have the privilege to turn our hearts to God in gratitude, but we also have God’s invitation to share our abundance with those who have less than we do.

This weekend, on December 1, we also celebrate the First Sunday of Advent, which opens the new Church year.  It’s a chance to begin again; a time to examine our hearts in the light of the Gospel, repent of our sins and look for the coming of our Savior.

We can’t really experience or understand Christmas unless we first conform our hearts to the longing of Advent.  Advent calls us all to refocus our lives on God’s promise of deliverance and the flesh-and-blood reality of Jesus Christ, our Deliverer – who came to us first in Bethlehem, comes to us today in the Eucharist, and will come again at the end of time.

As the Church reminds us throughout our lives, our Catholic faith, if it’s genuine, must have consequences – first in our private choices and conduct, but also in our public witness.  If we really believe in the coming of a Messiah, our lives will reflect that in the way we treat our families, our friends and business colleagues, the poor, the homeless and the suffering.

Real faith will drive us to live our lives in a spirit of humility, hope and courage, as Mary of Nazareth did.  It will also guide us to press our elected leaders – of both political parties — for laws and social policies that respect the dignity of the human person, from conception to natural death.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph knew the reality of poverty firsthand.  They knew the fear of being without shelter; of being hunted by enemies and being “strangers in a strange land” as refugees in Egypt.  This week might be a good time to remember that millions of immigrants in our own country – many of them undocumented; men and women who in many ways underpin our economy – feel that same uncertainty and vulnerability.  That’s why continuing efforts at immigration reform are so urgently necessary and so in need of Catholic involvement.

But immigration is only one of a dozen pressing issues like defending the unborn child, religious liberty, strengthening marriage and the family, and support for the elderly and disabled, which now face our country and cry out for prayer and action by Christians.  All genuinely Catholic action begins and ends in the worship of Jesus Christ.  If we want to change the world, we begin by saying “yes” to God, as Mary did. We begin with our own obedience to God, using Mary as our model.

The Thanksgiving holiday and the season of Advent give us a chance to start over; to begin the new Church year with a longing for God that leads to Bethlehem, to our own renewal, and to the conversion of the world.

So may God grant all of us the gift of his presence around the Thanksgiving table.  And may God stay with us in the weeks ahead, as we ready ourselves for the birth of his son.

Cherokee Story

This is a fantastic story for the season of Advent:
A grandfather was teaching his grandchildren about life. “Inside of me there is a terrible fight going on, it is a fight between two wolves. A good and a bad wolf. The bad wolf is fear, anger, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, lust, resentment, self-pity, lies, deceit. The good wolf is joy, peace, patience, love, hope, forgiveness, compassion, friendship, truth. The same fight is going on inside you, inside every person." The children thought about this for awhile. Then one said: “Which wolf wins the battle.” The old man said: “The one you feed.” Each of us has to ask ourselves the question... Which wolf am I feeding? Let's pray for one another these days of Advent that we might continue to grow in holiness by feeding the good wolf!

Pope Benedict: Remember God's Faithfulness

The following comes from Zenit.com:

In this Year of Faith, Benedict XVI is encouraging Catholics to nourish their faith by discovering the fidelity of God, and savoring the "memory" of his action in human history.

In today's general audience held in Paul VI Hall, the Pope continued with his reflections on God's revelation. 

"Faith," he said, "is nourished by the discovery and the memory of the God who is always faithful, who guides history and is the secure and stable foundation on which to build one's life."

The Holy Father spoke of God's revelation in history as entering into a "loving dialogue with man," a divine plan that "gives a new meaning to the whole human journey."

He reiterated his call to delve into Scripture during this Year of Faith, since the Bible is "the best place to discover the events of this journey."

"Reading the Old Testament, we see how God's interventions in the history of the people that he has chosen for himself and with whom he makes a covenant are not facts that pass and fall into oblivion, but become 'memory,'" the Pontiff reflected. "Together they constitute the 'history of salvation,' kept alive in the consciousness of the people of Israel through the celebration of the saving events."

Of course, the Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ, the "culmination of God's history with humanity," the Pope said.

The Old and New Testaments witness to the stages of God's "great plan of love," he continued, "a single plan of salvation addressed to all humanity, progressively revealed and realized by the power of God."

Advent

Benedict XVI concluded by suggesting that this liturgical season of Advent is a particularly fruitful time to reflect on God's action in history and plan for salvation.

"As we all know, the word 'advent' means 'coming,' 'presence,' and originally meant specifically the arrival of the king or emperor to a particular province," he explained. "For us Christians it means a wonderful and overwhelming reality: God himself has crossed his Heavens and stooped down to man; he has forged an alliance with him entering into the history of a people; he is the king who descended into this poor province that is Earth, and has made a gift to us of his visitation by taking on our flesh, becoming man like us."

"Advent," the Pope said, "invites us to follow the path of this presence and reminds us again and again that God has not withdrawn from the world, he is not absent, he has not abandoned us to ourselves, but comes to us in different ways, which we need to learn to discern. And we, too, with our faith, our hope and our charity, are called every day to see and bear witness to this presence, in a world often superficial and distracted, to make shine in our lives the light that illuminated the cave of Bethlehem."

Pope Benedict: Preparing the way for Emmanuel

The following comes from the Vatican Radio Site:

Thousands of pilgrims wrapped in scarves and hats withstood a gelid northerly wind that swept St Peter’s Square Sunday to pray the midday Angelus prayer with Pope Benedict XVI, who urged them to prepare their hearts and lives for the coming of the Lord. Emer McCarthy reports Listen:  

On the second Sunday of Advent the Pope dwelt on the figure of John the Baptist, presented in Luke’s Gospel. He spoke of him as ‘the voice’ crying out in the desert of today’s consumerist society, “where we seek joy in things”. Instead the Baptist teaches us to live in an essential way, so that Christmas is not only experienced as an outward celebration, but as the feast of the Son of God who came to bring peace, life and true joy to people.

“Our aim today” he continued “is to listen to that voice, to give space and welcome Jesus, the Word that saves us, to our hearts”. 

In comments in French Pope Benedict said “Advent invites us to go out to meet the Lord, and therefore we set off on a journey. This reality is very familiar to people forced to leave their region, for various reasons, including war or poverty. Migrants are aware of the precarious nature of their situation and often encounter little understanding. May they be welcomed and have a dignified life! In preparation for Christmas time, may a joyous and fraternal solidarity come to aid their needs and support their hopes! Do not forget that every Christian is en route to his or her true home: Heaven. Christ is the only way!”

Below a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s Angelus reflections

Dear brothers and sisters!
In the season of Advent, the liturgy particularly emphasizes two figures who prepare the coming of the Messiah, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. Today St. Luke presents us with the latter, and does so with characteristics that differ from the other Evangelists. "All four Gospels place the figure of John the Baptist at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, as his precursor. St. Luke has further moved the connection between the two figures and their respective missions ... Already in their conception and birth, Jesus and John are brought into relation with each other "(The Infancy of Jesus, 23). This setting helps to understand that John, as the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, both of priestly families, is not only the last of the prophets, but also represents the whole priesthood of the Old Covenant and therefore prepares men to spiritual worship of the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus (cf. ibid. 27-28). Luke also dispels a mythical reading that is often made of the Gospels and historically contextualizes the life of John the Baptist: "In the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor ... during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas" (Lk 3, 1-2). Within this historical framework lies the true great event, the birth of Christ, which his contemporaries will not even notice. By God the great men of history form the backdrop to small! 
John the Baptist is defined as the "voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths" (Lk 3:4). The voice proclaims the word, but in this case the Word of God, as it comes down to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness (cf. Lk 3:2). Thus he plays an important role, but always in relation to Christ. St. Augustine says: "John is the voice. Instead of the Lord says: "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1). John is the voice that passes away, Christ is the eternal Word who was in the beginning. If you take the word away from the voice, what is left? A faint sound. The voice without the word strikes the hearing, but does not build up the heart"(Sermon 293, 3). Our aim today is to listen to that voice, to give space and welcome Jesus, the Word that saves us, to our hearts. In this time of Advent, let us prepare to see, with the eyes of faith, God's salvation in the humble stable in Bethlehem (cf. Lk 3:6). In a consumerist society, where we seek joy in things, the Baptist teaches us to live in an essential way, so that Christmas is not only experienced as an outward party, but as the feast of the Son of God who came to bring peace, life and true joy to people.
We entrust our journey towards the Lord to the maternal intercession of Mary, Virgin of Advent, so we may be ready to welcome, into our hearts and life, Emmanuel, God-with-us.
I would now like to offer a word of greeting to all the English-speaking visitors present at this Angelus prayer. In today’s Gospel John the Baptist reminds us of the need for repentance and purification as we prepare a way for the Lord and await in hope his coming in glory. May God abundantly bless you and your loved ones!

Cardinal Dolan: The Annual Advent Argument

The following comes from Cardinal Dolan:

A blessed Advent!

I discussed it with folks visiting me over the weekend, right after Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the First Sunday of Advent.

It’s the yearly debate about Advent, and it goes something like this: The first person began, “Why do we start to celebrate Christmas so early?  The decorations are up in early November; the carols begin before Thanksgiving; the tree goes up now . . . no wonder we’re sick of Christmas by December 26^th!”

Another will chime-in, “Yeah, remember fifty years ago when we were kids?  The tree would not go up until Christmas Eve; carols would never be heard till real close to Christmas; there were some added days of fast and abstinence during Advent; even Christmas Eve was a day of penance!  Wasn’t that better?  We so looked forward to Christmas because we waited!”

But – - as the Annual Advent Argument continues – - the next person observed, “But, there’s nothing we can do about it!  Society begins the Christmas season on Thanksgiving, and ends it on December 25; the Church starts preparing for Christmas during Advent – - purple vestments, advent wreathes, no carols or decorations in church – - then begins the Christmas season with Mass on Christmas Eve, and ends it on theEpiphany  (the Sunday after New Year’s).  The Church is out of it and will just have to change.”

What to do?  Well, we can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube, as much as we might be nostalgic for a very serious Advent.  So, on the one hand, I guess we’ll have to make some peace with our culture’s way-too-early celebration of Christmas.

But we can hardly forget about Advent altogether! Spiritually, it’s part of our Catholic birthright; and, even from a human point of view, we’ll enjoy Christmas a lot more if we wait . . . as the old saying goes, “pleasure delayed is pleasure enjoyed.”

For instance, just last Thursday, I enjoyed an evening at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in Crestwood.  It was a magnificent Evening Prayer, followed by the seminary Thanksgiving Dinner (a week after the feast itself, since the community had been at home for their own family Thanksgiving.)  Great, I thought:  we’ll have turkey, dressing, gravy, pumpkin pie . . . bring it on!  But, we get to the table for a very delicious meal, and no meat!

“We’ve begun our forty day Advent fasting to prepare for Christmas, and we Orthodox abstain from meat,” my host explained.

They haven’t “lost” Advent. Neither should we!

So, here are a few ideas I might propose to preserve at least some seriousness about Advent:

–last night I was at our seminary for Advent Lessons and Carols.  It was splendid!

For a little over an hour, we had readings from the Bible about all the preparations for and prophesies of the coming of the Messiah, with the classical Advent hymns, and even one or two actual Christmas carols at the end to remind us of our goal.  It was a real concentration on the waiting of the People of Israel for the Messiah, a genuine Advent experience;

–Let’s take the two magnificent Advent feasts of Our Lady – - December 8, the Immaculate Conception, and December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe, – - very attentively;

–don’t forget the advent wreath, the advent calendar, and the Jesse Tree;      

– okay, if you have to, put the tree-up now, but maybe only gradually decorate it, a few more ornaments each day, for instance, so it’s not in “full bloom” until December 24.  I was at Holy Trinity Parish at West Point Saturday, for example, and the trees were already up, but not decorated so there was a sense of expectation; or, even at St. Patrick’s Cathedral the crib is already up – - since thousands visit daily – - but the manger is dramatically empty, with the baby Jesus not arriving until Christmas.  While the visitors admire the crib scene, they realize someone is missing – - Jesus! – - and are reminded what Advent is all about;

–How about fasting from meat on the Fridays of Advent, like we do in Lent?

–A good, sincere confession before Christmas!  (Our Advent Reconciliation Monday, with confessors available for four hours in every parish, is December 17  this year);

–Pay attention to the daily Mass readings for Advent, preferably, of course, at Mass itself; but, even if you can’t attend, get a missalette and meditate on the Readings from the Bible;

–Acts of charity for the poor;

–And, finally, let’s look on the bright side; okay, we admit that society – - including ourselves – - start celebrating Christmas way too soon, usually forgetting about Advent preparation.  But, at least we can thank God that such noble sentiments abound this time of the year:  friendship, generosity, family unity, rallying for the poor and hungry, attention to babies and children, gift-giving, happy memories, goodwill.  I’ll take that anytime of the year!

However, wherever, whenever you do it . . . please do Advent!  It’s too significant to forget!  Christmas will be a lot happier if we prepare and wait . . .

Again, a blessed Advent!

Pope Benedict: Advent is a time to listen to God

The following comes from the CNA:

Pope Benedict XVI has said Advent is a time to extend God’s “kingdom of love” and to reflect on the coming of Jesus into the world.

“Amid the turmoil of the world, or the deserts of indifference and materialism, Christians accept salvation from God and witness with a different way of life, like a city set on a hill,” said Pope Benedict during his Dec. 2 Angelus comments at St. Peter’s Square.

The pontiff said that the community of believers is “a sign of the love of God, his justice that is present in the history but that is not yet fully realized, and that we therefore must always be waiting and seeking it with courage and patience.”

He said Advent begins a new liturgical year that this year is “further enriched” by the Year of Faith, which also marks the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council.

The word “advent” means “coming” or “presence.” In ancient times, it originally meant the visit of a king or emperor, but for Christians it now refers to the coming of God, the Pope explained.

Advent refers to two moments related to the first and second coming of Jesus, he added. The first is the Incarnation and the second is his coming at the end of time.

Pope Benedict stated that these two moments "touch us deeply, because by his death and resurrection Jesus has already accomplished that transformation of humanity and of the cosmos that is the final goal of creation."

The Virgin Mary, he said, perfectly embodies the spirit of Advent, which involves both listening to God and having deep desire to do his will in joyful service to others.

“Let us be guided by her, because some are closed to or distracted from God,” he said. “May each of us extend a little of his kingdom of love, justice and peace.”

The Pope referred to the Sunday reading from Gospel of Luke, which says, “'Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life ... Be vigilant at all times and pray,' inviting them to simplicity and prayer."

He also spoke of St. Paul’s exhortation to “increase and abound in love.”

Turning to more specific concerns, the Pope appealed to governments to promote disabled people's full participation in society.

“Each person, despite his physical and psychological limits, even serious ones, is always invaluable, and must be considered as such,” he said.

The Pope encouraged church communities to be attentive and welcoming towards them and urged governments to “protect people with disabilities and promote their full participation in society.”

Dec. 3 marks the International Day for People with Disabilities.

Pope Benedict also mentioned the beatification of Devasahayam Pillai, an Indian lay Catholic from the 18th century who died as a martyr.

“We join the joy of the Church in India and pray that the new blessed sustain the faith of the Christians of that great and noble country,” he said.

Pope Benedict: The world must be filled with the presence of Christ

The following comes from Vatican Radio:


 In his weekly Angelus address, Pope Benedict noted that the first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year.

Advent, a word that means “coming” or “presence”, refers both to the first coming of Christ in the Incarnation, and to the second coming, when Jesus will return in glory. These two events, the focal points of salvation history, touch us deeply, the Pope said, “because by His death and resurrection Jesus has already accomplished that transformation of humanity and of the cosmos that is the final goal of creation.” But before that final end, the Gospel must be proclaimed to all nations. “This permanent coming of the Lord in the proclamation of the Gospel requires our continual collaboration; and the Church, which is like the Betrothed, the promised Bride of the crucified and risen Lamb of God (cfr. Rev. 21,9), in communion with her Lord collaborates in this coming of the Lord, in which His glorious return is already begun.”

Sunday’s readings, Pope Benedict said, show us what we must do to be ready when the Lord comes. The Gospel reminds us that we must live simply and moderately, and pray constantly. Saint Paul urges us to continually grow in love for one another. And the reading from the prophet Jeremiah reminds us that the Church, the community of believers, “is a sign of the love of God, of His justice that is already present in history, but not yet fully realised, and that therefore should always be awaited, invoked, and sought after with patience and courage.”

In his remarks to English speaking pilgrims and visitors after the Angelus, the Holy Father made special mention of Devasahayam Pillai, a convert from Hinduism who was martyred in India in 1752. Blessed Devasahayam was beatified today in the diocese of Kottar. “His witness to Christ,” the Pope said, “is an example of that attentiveness to the coming of Christ recalled by this first Sunday of Advent. May this holy season help us to centre our lives once more on Christ, our hope.”

Listen:

Below, please find the full text of the Pope’s remarks at Sunday’s Angelus.

Today the Church begins a new liturgical year, a path that is further enriched by the Year of Faith, 50 years since the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The first Time of this journey is Advent, composed, in the Roman Rite, of the four weeks that precede the Birth of the Lord, that is, the mystery of the Incarnation. The word “Advent” means “coming” or “presence.” In the ancient world, it signified the coming of the king or the emperor into one of the provinces; in the language of Christians, it referred to the coming of God, to His presence in the world; a mystery that involves the whole of the cosmos and of history, but that recognises two culminating moments: the first and the second coming of Jesus Christ. The first is the Incarnation itself; the second is the glorious return at the end of time. These two moments, chronologically distant – and it is not given to us to know how far apart they are – touch us deeply, because by His death and resurrection Jesus has already accomplished that transformation of humanity and of the cosmos that is the final goal of creation. But before that end, it is necessary that the Gospel be proclaimed to all nations, as Jesus says in the Gospel of Saint Mark. The coming of Christ is continuous; the world must be infused by His presence. This permanent coming of the Lord in the proclamation of the Gospel requires our continual collaboration; and the Church, which is like the Betrothed, the promised Bride of the crucified and risen Lamb of God (cfr. Rev. 21,9), in communion with her Lord collaborates in this coming of the Lord, in which His glorious return is already begun.

It is to this that the Word of God recalls us today, tracing out a line of conduct to pursue in order to be ready for the coming of the Lord. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says to the disciples: “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life . . . Be vigilant at all times and pray.” So: simplicity and prayer. And the apostle Paul adds the invitation to “increase and abound in love” among ourselves and towards everyone, to strengthen our hearts and to be blameless in holiness (cfr. 1 Thess 3, 12-13). In the midst of the turmoil of the world, or the desert of indifference and materialism, Christians accept the salvation of God and witness to it by a different way of life, as a city set on a hill. “In those days,” the prophet Jeremiah proclaims, “Jerusalem shall dwell safely; this is the name they shall call her: ‘The Lord our justice’” (Jer 33,16). The community of believers is a sign of the love of God, of His justice that is already present and working in history, but not yet fully realised, and that therefore should always be awaited, invoked, and sought after with patience and courage.

The Virgin Mary perfectly embodies the spirit of Advent, which consists of listening to God, a profound desire to do His will, and joyful service to others. Let us be guided by her, so that God who is coming may not find us closed or distracted, but might extend to each of us a small part of His kingdom of love, of justice, and of peace.