Sunday, Dec 31 – Love and Family

31 Dec – Feast of the Holy Family; Sunday in the Octave of Christmas

The Holy Family

We celebrate that Holy Family of Nazareth which is the model for all who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

- the Sunday Missal
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A Mother’s Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13
by Mrs Mervin Seashore

Though I speak with the language of educators and psychiatrists and have not love, I am as blaring brass or a crashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of planning my child’s future and understanding all the mysteries of the child’s mind and have ample knowledge of teenagers, and though I have all faith in my children, so that I could remove their mountains of doubts and fears and have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed and nourish them properly, and though I give my body to backbreaking housework and have not love, it profits me not.

Love is patient with the naughty child and is kind. Love does not envy when a child wants to move to grandma’s house because “she is nice”.

Love is not anxious to impress a teenager with one’s superior knowledge.

Love ahs good manners in the home – does not act selfishly or with a martyr complex, is not easily provoked by normal childish actions.

Love does not remember the wrongs of yesterday and love thinks no evil – it gives the child the benefit of the doubt.

Love does not make light of sin in the child’s life (or in her own, either), but rejoices when he or she comes to a knowledge of the truth.

Love does not fail. Whether there be comfortable surroundings, they shall fail; whether there be total communication between parents and children, it will cease; whether there be good education, it shall vanish.

When we were children, we spoke and acted and understood as children, but now that we have become parents, we must act maturely.

Now abides faith, hope, and love – these three are needed in the home. Faith in Jesus Christ, eternal hope for the future of the child, and God’s love shed in our hearts, but the greatest of these is love.

- taken from Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, Third Planting, by Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
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1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28

Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son, and called him Samuel, “since”, she said, “I asked the Lord for him.”

When a year had gone by, the husband Elkanah went up again with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfil his vow. Hannah, however, did not go up, having said to her husband, “Not before the child is weaned. Then I will bring him and present him before the Lord and he shall stay there for ever.”

When she had weaned him, she took him up with her together with a three-year old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the temple of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was with them. They slaughtered the bull and the child’s mother came to Eli. She said, “If you please, my lord. As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the Lord. This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the Lord.”
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1 John 3:1-2, 21-24

Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us,
by letting us be called God’s children;
and that is what we are.
Because the world refused to acknowledge him,
therefore it does not acknowledge us.
My dear people, we are already the children of God
but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed,
all we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he really is.

My dear people,
if we cannot be condemned by our own conscience,
we need not be afraid in God’s presence,
and whatever we ask him,
we shall receive,
because we keep his commandments
and live the kind of life that he wants.
His commandments are these:
that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and that we love one another
as he told us to.
Whoever keeps his commandments
lives in God and God lives in him.
we know that he lives in us
by the Spirit that he has given us.
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Luke 2:41-52

Every year the parents of Jesus used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. When they were on their way home after the feast, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. They assumed he was with the caravan, and it was only after a day’s journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere.

Three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them, and asking them questions; and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, “My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.” “Why were you looking for me?” he replied. “Did you not know that I must be busy wit my Father’s affairs?” But they did not understand what he meant.

He then went down with them and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men.
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We know that the family is the basic unit of society, which forms the basic unit of civilisation. But where does this family unit come from? Is it modelled after anything? To find this answer, we must look at the source of all there is – God.

We know that God is love, and that God exists as a trinity. There are three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the creator. Now God the Father is love, and we know from yesterday’s reflection that love is self-giving. God’s love is perfect, so when God the Father gives of himself, he gives all of himself. It’s like a mathematical sum. You are three apples (are, not have). You give all three apples away. What do you have? Three apples.

In other words, when the Father gives all of himself, we get the Father himself. But the Father is the one who gives. The one who receives, which is the same as the Father, is the Son. Thus the Son is begotten from the Father. The Father and the Son are one and the same.

Both persons exist in a relationship of total self-giving love, since they are both of the same perfect love. The Father gives completely of himself to the Son, and the Son receives completely of the Father. Likewise, the Son gives completely of himself to the Father, and the Father receives completely of the Son. Since the Father and the Son give completely of themselves, the bond of love that exists between them is God himself. This third person is called the Holy Spirit.

And this Holy Trinity is the model of all families, including the Holy Family. It is a model of love. All families are called to model themselves after God’s love.

A family begins with a married couple. In a marriage, the husband gives of himself to the wife. The wife receives the husband into herself, and in return gives completely of herself to her husband. This giving of the husband and receiving of the wife is physically seen in the experience of sexual union, where the husband gives his seed into the wife’s womb where it is received and combined with her own gift. This love between husband and wife then forms a third person – their child. Thus, the human family is indeed modelled after the Holy Trinity.

There are, however, two more families that we need to reflect on today. Having celebrated seven days of Christmas, and having had sufficient reflection on the events that have taken place during Advent, we know that God overshadowed Mary and Jesus was conceived as a human. This was possible because Mary, being full of grace and completely without sin, was able to receive God as completely as God gave of himself to her. Since it was God who gave completely of himself, then it was God who was conceived in Mary’s womb.

The last family that we need to reflect on is of a slightly different kind, but no less modelled after the Holy Trinity. We know from the Bible and from the Tradition of the Church, that Christ is the bridegroom of the Church. Through Christ’s sacrifice, his blood cleansed the Church and made her holy and spotless. This was so that the Church would be able to receive Christ as completely as Christ gave himself to the Church. (See the example above regarding God and Mary, which is why Mary is rightfully called Mother of the Church).

When Christ and his Church share a bond of love, their children therefore are begotten of Christ himself. We are those children, who share the same blood as Christ. We are his children and we are little images of Christ present in the world today. We share his mission of bringing all men to God. We follow his example of self-giving love to all of creation.
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Prayer:
God calls us to be fruitful and multiply, to have families modelled after the Holy Family, which in turn is modelled after the Holy Trinity. Let us pray today for all families that are trying to become a model of love after the Holy Family. Help us Lord, to live our lives in love, managing our families in the way that you have shown us how to. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Holy and happy families.

Upcoming Readings:
Mon, 01 Jan – Numbers 6:22-27; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:16-21; Solemnity for Mary, Mother of God; World Day of Prayer for Peace
Tue, 02 Jan – 1 John 2:22-28; John 1:19-28; Memorial for Sts. Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, bishops, doctors
Wed, 03 Jan – 1 John 2:29-3:6; John 1:29-34; Most Holy Name of Jesus
Thu, 04 Jan – 1 John 3:7-10; John 1:35-42
Fri, 05 Jan – 1 John 3:11-21; John 1:43-51
Sat, 06 Jan – 1 John 5:5-13; Mark 1:7-11
Sun, 07 Jan – Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12; Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Saturday, Dec 30 – Love vs Lust

30 Dec – Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas

Conquer Weakness
Anonymous

Lord Nelson, England’s famous naval hero, suffered from seasickness throughout his entire life. Needless to say, the man who destroyed Napoleon’s fleet did not let it interfere with his career and duties. he not only learned to live with this personal weakness, he conquered it.

- taken from Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, Third Planting, by Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
_________________

1 John 2:12-17

I am writing to you, my own children,
whose sins have already been forgiven through his name;
I am writing to you, fathers,
who have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I am writing to you, young men,
who have already overcome the Evil One;
I have written to you children,
because you already know the Father;
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know the one
who has existed since the beginning;
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong and God’s word has made its home in you,
and you have overcome the Evil One.
You must not love this passing world
or anything that is in the world.
The love of the Father cannot be
in any man who loves the world,
because nothing the world has to offer
- the sensual body,
the lustful eye,
pride in possessions -
could ever come from the Father
but only from the world;
and the world, with all it craves for,
is coming to an end;
but anyone who does the will of God
remains for ever.
____________________

Luke 2:36-40

There was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well on in years. Her days of girlhood over, she had been married for seven years before becoming a widow. She was now eighty-four years old and never left the Temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayer. She came by just at that moment and began to praise God; and she spoke of the child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem. When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. Meanwhile the child grew to maturity, and he was filled with wisdom; and God’s favour was with him.
____________________

Today’s first reading requires a basic understanding of what love is. A friend of mine described accurately and succinctly the difference between love and lust. Love is the giving of self; lust is the using of someone else as a tool for one’s own gratification. When we talk about lust, we usually think of sexual lust, which is the using of another person for one’s own sexual gratification. This can take place anywhere, even in a marriage. For example, a husband can lusts for his wife whenever he uses her for his own sexual gratification.

However, there is another kind of lust, which is emotional lust. This is when we use another person for our own emotional gratification. The example my friend gave is when wives use their husbands for their own emotional security or even for economic stability. Women are perfectly capable of saying, “Here, take my body. Have sex with me. Just give me money. Just give me security.” That is emotional lust speaking, not love, because it is using another person for one’s own gratification.

Love, on the other hand, involves the giving of self. Today we tend to misuse this word a lot, forgetting the crucial difference between love and lust. For example, we often say something like “I love chicken rice”, but it would probably be more appropriate to say “I lust for chicken rice” since eating chicken rice gratifies my senses. If I truly loved chicken rice, then I would sacrifice my life for the good of chicken rice. The ridicule of this statement makes obvious how we misuse the word “love”.

With this understanding of what love is, it then becomes much easier to understand what St. John is writing about in the first reading. Essentially he says, anyone who loves what is in the world has put his love in the wrong place. Why give of ourselves, why sacrifice ourselves, for something that is temporal? Why love something that is temporal? Instead, give of ourselves, sacrifice ourselves, love what is eternal, he tells us.

The will of the Father is eternal. Our human souls are eternal. Other people’s souls are eternal. The kingdom of God is eternal. Love these, he says, not what will pass.

In the gospel reading, we read of Anna, the prophetess. She was 84 years old and served God day and night. She loved serving God clearly, because she gave of herself to the service of God. She also fasted and prayed. Fasting is a sacrifice of the self for a higher cause. It shows discipline of the body. It shows mastery over the senses. It shows that a person does not give in to his or her own physical desires.

At the same time, the craving for food is translated into a craving of the spirit, a craving for God. In Anna’s case, her restless heart was rested the moment her eyes beheld the chosen one of God, the Christ. Her years of fasting and prayer have helped her to realise instantly the Christ the moment her eyes beheld him.

We do not need to see God physically to recognise him, but we do need to love him, to give of ourselves out of love for him. We need to pray and to fast, in order to increase our desire for him, our desire for the only one who can satisfy our heart’s deepest longing.
____________________

Prayer:
Dear God, help us to love you and those around us, and indeed anything that is eternal. Help us to master our senses and to discipline our bodies, so that we may be able to focus and give of ourselves to that which lasts for eternity. We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Those who help us to rid ourselves of lust.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, 31 Dec – Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52; Feast of the Holy Family
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Friday, Dec 29 – Light and Darkness

29 Dec – Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

Night and Day
Anonymous

Late one night the Teacher sat around a blazing fire with a small number of disciples. Their conversation was broken by periods of silence when they gazed at the stars or stared into the glowing embers. Suddenly the Teacher posed a question: “How can we know when the night has ended and the day has begun?”

Eagerly a young man answered, “You know the night is over when you can look off in the distance and tell which animal is a dog and which is a sheep. Is that the right answer, Teacher?”

“It is a good answer,” the Teacher said slowly, “but it isn’t quite the answer I would give.”

A second disciple ventured a guess. “You know the night is over when the light falls on the leaves and you can tell whether it is an olive tree or a fig tree,” she said.

Once again the Teacher shook his head. “That was a fine answer; still, it is not the answer I seek,” he said gently.

Immediately the disciples began to argue with one another. Finally, one of them begged the Teacher, “Answer your own question, Teacher, for we cannot think of another response.”

The Teacher looked intently at the eager faces before he spoke. “When you look into the eyes of another human being and see a brother or a sister, you will know it is morning. If you cannot see a brother or a sister, you will know that no matter what time it is, for you it will always be night. And you will always be in the dark.”

- taken from Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, Third Planting, by Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
____________________

1 John 2:3-11

We can be sure that we know Jesus
only by keeping his commandments.
Anyone who says, “I know him”,
and does not keep his commandments,
is a liar,
refusing to admit the truth.
But when anyone does obey what he has said,
God’s love comes to perfection in him.
We can be sure
that we are in God
only when the one who claims to be living in him is living the same kind of life as Christ lived.
My dear people,
this is not a new commandment that I am writing to tell you,
but an old commandment
that you were given from the beginning,
the original commandment which was the message brought to you.
Yet in another way, what I am writing to you,
and what is being carried out in your lives as it was in his,
is a new commandment;
because the night is over
and the real light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light
but hates his brother
is still in the dark.
But anyone who loves his brother is living in the light
and need not be afraid of stumbling;
unlike the man who hates his brother and is in the darkness,
not knowing where he is going,
because it is too dark to see.
____________________

Luke 2:22-35

When the day came for them to be purified as laid down by the Law of Moses, the parents of Jesus took him up to Jerusalem to present him tot he Lord – observing what stands written in the Law of the Lord: Every first-born male must be consecrated to the Lord – and also to offer in sacrifice, in accordance with what is said in the Law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. Now in Jerusalem there was a man called Simeon. He was an upright and devout man; he looked forward to Israel’s comforting and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had set eyes on the Christ of the Lord. Prompted by the Spirit he came to the Temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the Law required, he took him into his arms and blessed god; and he said:

    “Now, Master, you can let your servant go in peace,
    just as you promised;
    because my eyes have seen the salvation
    which you have prepared for all the nations to see,
    a light to enlighten the pagans
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

As the child’s father and mother stood there wondering at the things that were being said about him, Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “You see this child: he is destined for the fall and for the rising of many in Israel, destined to be a sign that is rejected – and a sword will pierce your own soul too – so that the secret thoughts of many may be laid bare.”
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A friend e-mailed me the above story a couple of days ago and I put it onto my blog. I find that this story accurately describes what the Holy Spirit is revealing to us in the readings today.

A person who lives in the light, that is to say, a person who has been enlightened (in whatever religion he professes), is one who sees a brother or a sister in another person. Whatever faith he professes, this enlightenment will see him striving for peace among all humans, and doing the most good that he can wherever he is.

A person who lives in the dark is one whose vision is obscured by darkness. That darkness can be one of hate, discrimination, bias, racism, elitism, prejudice, etc. So long as such a person chooses to live in this darkness, he cannot see a brother or sister in every human that he looks at.

What is this light then, that enlightens men of every race, nationality, and religion? This light is the light of Christ. Or rather, this light is Christ himself, as it was revealed by the Holy Spirit to Simeon. This light which is Christ is the manifestation of the Father in a visible manner. As such, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are all at work in any enlightened person of any religion.

This is why the Vatican II document “Nostra Aetate” teaches us that “The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.” (italics mine)

This is also why the people who are involved in the Inter-Religious Organization in Singapore are all of a certain kind – they are all able to see a brother or a sister in all that they meet, regardless of whatever religion that they may profess. It is therefore the hope that members of the various religions in each country may come to have their darkness dispelled and to be enlightened through the revelations of the Holy Spirit and come to see each man, woman, and child, as a member of the same family.
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Prayer:
We pray for all leaders involved in interfaith movements throughout the world, that they may continue to strive for world peace, a reality possible only through the common revelation of the light which is Christ that all men are indeed brothers, and all women are indeed sisters. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Our Pope who places such importance on our relations with our Muslim brothers and sisters.

Upcoming Readings:
Sat, 30 Dec – 1 John 2:12-17; Luke 2:36-40; Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas
Sun, 31 Dec – Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52; Feast of the Holy Family
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Wednesday, Dec 27 – Christmas exists because of Good Friday and Easter

27 Dec – Feast of St. John, apostle, evangelist

St. John, also known as the “beloved disciple” of Jesus’ was the son of Zebedee and Salome, brother of St. James the Great, and was called one of the Sons of Thunder. Before becoming Jesus’ disciple, he was already a disciple of St. John the Baptist, and a friend of St. Peter the Apostle. He was called by Jesus during the first year of Christ’s ministry, and travelled everywhere with him. He took part in the Last Supper, and was the only one of the Twelve not to forsake the Saviour in the hour of his Passion, standing at the foot of the cross.

He was made guardian of Our Lady by Jesus, and he took her into his home. Upon hearing of the Resurrection, he was the first to reach the tomb; when he met the risen Lord at the Lake of Tiberius, he was the first to recognise him.

During the era of the new Church, he worked in Jerusalem and at Ephesus. During Jesus’ ministry, he tried to block a Samaritan from their group, but Jesus explained the open nature of the new Way, and he worked on that principle to found churches in Asia Minor and baptising converts in Samaria. He was imprisoned with Peter for preaching after Pentecost. He wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles, and possibly the Book of Revelation.

- Patron Saint Index
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1 John 1:1-4

Something which has existed since the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have watched and touched with our own hands, the Word of life—this is our theme. That life was made visible; we saw it and are giving our testimony, declaring to you the eternal life, which was present to the Father and has been revealed to us. We are declaring to you what we have seen and heard, so that you too may share our life. Our life is shared with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing this to you so that our joy may be complete.
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John 20:2-8

Mary of Magdala came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,’ she said, ‘and we don’t know where they have put him.’

So Peter set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple, running faster than Peter, reached the tomb first; he bent down and saw the linen cloths lying on the ground, but did not go in. Simon Peter, following him, also came up, went into the tomb, saw the linen cloths lying on the ground and also the cloth that had been over his head; this was not with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and he believed.
____________________

Do you fear how your career may turn out in a few years’ time? What about your grades next semester? Or how your relationships will turn out?

When you read the Bible, do you realise how different our lives are from those in the Bible? Their concerns were so different. Perhaps it’s because of how their lives were presented by the authors of the various books, leaving out the mundane parts when they had to earn a living and contend with problems with others around them.

But there is something about these people that made them different from us. They were so focused on God that they lived their lives for Him. In the Old Testament, we had the prophets who would proclaim God’s messages on pain of death. In the New Testament, the followers of Christ spent their lives evangelising and making His love known. While we fear how the next stages in our lives will turn out, the disciples faced death, and died for Christ. For many of us, our concerns, and the questions in our hearts, are of a different nature.

So it is in today’s readings. In the first, the writer’s passion seems to be in sharing Christ with others. ‘We are writing this to you so that our joy may be complete.’ In the Gospel, we see the people who had followed Jesus closely during His life on earth.

Today, we are reminded of the reason to have that same conviction as God’s people of old. Jesus, the Word made flesh, came and conquered sin and death through His crucifixion and resurrection. Two days ago we remembered His coming. Today, we remember the reason for His coming. Are we going to live it out with more conviction, or are we going to continue living in constant worry and fear?

(Today’s reflection by Regina Xie)
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Prayer:
Lord, today we lift up our fears and worries to You. Holy Spirit, remind us that Jesus has conquered everything and help us to live out the reality that is His victory over sin and death.

Give thanks to the Lord for: people who can keep their focus on Him in times of trouble.

Upcoming Readings:
Thu, 28 Dec – 1 John 1:5 – 2:2; Matthew 2:13-18; Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs; Octave of Christmas
Fri, 29 Dec – 1 John 2:3-11; Luke 2:22-35; Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas
Sat, 30 Dec – 1 John 2:12-17; Luke 2:36-40; Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas
Sun, 31 Dec – Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52; Feast of the Holy Family
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Tuesday, Dec 26 – Reality of Christianity

26 Dec – Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr

St. Stephen was the first Christian martyr. A deacon and a preacher, all we know of him is related in the Acts of the Apostles. While preaching the gospel in the streets, angry Jews who believed his message to be blasphemy dragged him outside the city, and stoned him to death. In the crowd, on the side of the mob, was a man who would later be known as St. Paul.

- Patron Saint Index
__________________

Acts of the Apostles 6:8-10, 7:54-59

Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people. But then certain people came forward to debate with Stephen, some from Cyrene and Alexandria who were members of the synagogue called the Synagogue of Freedmen, and others from Cilicia and Asia. They found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said. They were infuriated when they heard what he said, and ground their teeth at him.

But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God’s right hand. “I can see heaven thrown open,” he said, “and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this all the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they all rushed at him, sent him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and said aloud, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and with these words he fell asleep. Saul entirely approved of the killing.
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Matthew 10:17-22

Jesus said to his apostles: “Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
____________________

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas. Such joy and peace and wonder. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. And tomorrow, two days later, we will celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents. Such dreary memorials… why are they placed in the midst of the Christmas celebrations? It’s almost like talking about death at the birth of a new child.

And yet that’s exactly why these feasts are placed where they are. Just as death is part of life, and a natural consequence of being alive, so too is persecution a part of believing in Christ. In the midst of celebrating the spirit of Christmas, it is easy to forget what it means to be a Christian. It is easy to forget that just by being a follower of Jesus, we will be persecuted by other men.

And yet Jesus tells us, “Don’t worry”. The Holy Spirit is watching over us and will give us the words of wisdom to refute our persecutors. He does not guarantee us a painless life and death, but he does guarantee that God will be with us through it all, and that at the end of it all, we shall be saved.

So as you go about celebrating Christmas, do not forget what it means to be a Christian. Take every opportunity that is presented to you to be a witness for Christ, a witness for love.
____________________

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help us to realise that every encounter we have with another person is an opportunity to witness for you to them. Help us to always keep in mind what it means to be your follower. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: The reality of Christianity.

Upcoming Readings:
Wed, 27 Dec – 1 John 1:1-4, John 20:2-8; Feast of St. John, apostle, evangelist; Octave of Christmas
Thu, 28 Dec – 1 John 1:5 – 2:2; Matthew 2:13-18; Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs; Octave of Christmas
Fri, 29 Dec – 1 John 2:3-11; Luke 2:22-35; Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas
Sat, 30 Dec – 1 John 2:12-17; Luke 2:36-40; Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas
Sun, 31 Dec – Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52; Feast of the Holy Family
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Monday, Dec 25 – Meaning of Christmas

25 Dec – The Nativity of our Lord

Meaning of Christmas
Anonymous

Once upon a cold Christmas Eve, a man sat in reflective silence before the flames flickering in the fireplace, thinking about the meaning of Christmas. “There is no point to a God who became human,” he mused. “Why would an all-powerful God want to share even one of his precious moments with the likes of us? And even if he did, why would God choose to be born in a stable? No way! The whole thing is absurd! I’m sure that if God really wanted to come down to earth, he would have chosen some other way.”

Suddenly, the man was roused from his musings by a strange sound outside. He sprang to the window and leaned on the sash. Outside he saw a gaggle of snow geese frantically honking and wildly flapping their wings amid the deep snow and frigid cold. They seemed dazed and confused. Apparently, due to exhaustion, they had dropped out of a larger flock migrating to a warmer climate.

Moved to compassion, the man bundled up and went outside. He tried to “shoo” the shivering geese into the warm garage, but the more he “shoo-ed”, the more the geese panicked. “If they only realized that I’m trying to save them,” he thought to himself. “How can I make them understand my concern for their well-being?”

Then a thought came to him: “If for a minute, I could become one of them, if I could become a snow goose and communicate with them in their own language, then they would know what I’m trying to do.”

In a flash of inspiration, he remembered it was Christmas Eve. A warm smile crossed his face. The Christmas story no longer seemed absurd. He visualized an ordinary-looking infant lying in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem. He understood the answer to his Christmas problem: God became one-like-us to tell us, in human terms, that we can understand, that he loves us, that he loves us right now, adn that he is concerned with our well-being.

- taken from Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, Third Planting, by Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
___________________

Isaiah 52:7-10

How beautiful on the mountains,
are the feet of one who brings good news,
who heralds peace, brings happiness,
proclaims salvation,
and tells Zion,
“Your God is king!”
Listen! Your watchmen raise their voices,
they shout for joy together,
for they see the Lord face to face,
as he returns to Zion.
Break into shouts of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem;
for the Lord is consoling his people,
redeeming Jerusalem.
The Lord bares his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
____________________

Hebrews 1:1-6

At various times in the past and in various different ways, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; but in our own time, the last days, he has spoken to us through his Son, the Son that he has appointed to inherit everything and through whom he made everything there is. He is the radiant light of God’s glory and the perfect copy of his nature, sustaining the universe by his powerful command; and now that he has destroyed the defilement of sin, he has gone to take his place in heaven at the right hand of divine Majesty. So he is now as far above the angels as the title which he has inherited is higher than their own name.

God has never said to any angel: You are my Son, today I have become your father, or: I will be a father to him and he a son to me. Again, when he brings the First-born into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.
____________________

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word:
the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things came to be,
not one thing had its being but through him.
All that came to be had life in him
and that life was the light of men,
a light that shines in the dark,
a light that darkness could not overpower.

A man came, sent by God.
His name was John.
He came as a witness,
as a witness to speak for the light,
so that everyone might believe through him.
He was not the light,
only a witness to speak for the light.

The Word was the true light
that enlightens all men;
and he was coming into the world.
He was in the world
that had its being through him,
and the world did not know him.
He came to his own domain
and his own people did not accept him.
But to all who did accept him
he gave power to become children of God,
to all who believe in the name of him
who was born not out of human stock
or urge of the flesh
or will of man
but of God himself.
The Word was made flesh,
he lived among us,
and we saw his glory,
the glory that is his as the only Son of the Father,
full of grace and truth.

John appears as his witness. He proclaims:
“This is the one of whom I said:
He who comes after me
ranks before me
because he existed before me.”

Indeed, from his fullness we have, all of us, received -
Yes, grace in return for grace,
since, through the Law was given through Moses,
grace and truth have come through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God;
it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart,
who has made him known.
____________________

Christmas is, perhaps, one of the times that we might wonder, if we could free ourselves from the hustle and bustle long enough to wonder: If Adam and Eve did not sin, would God have been made man and dwell among his people? Have you ever wondered about this question? Perhaps someone asked you this, or you read it somewhere, or maybe you asked it yourself. For if man did not sin, there was no need for salvation. Would Jesus’ purpose in being incarnate have been lost so that he no longer needed to be a man?

In today’s gospel reading, and indeed in the Nicene Creed which we profess every Sunday, the words :

Through him all things were made.
For us men and our salvation,
he came down from heaven,
…
and was made man.

Our Catholic faith teaches us that Jesus, the Word of God made man, is the centre of the universe. Everything was made for Jesus, and everything came into being because of the Word of God. God’s plan from the beginning was to unite man with God.

Man, a being made of matter and spirit, was already a fascinating creation. The angels which were pure spirit were created to the one man who would be God incarnate. Because the angels were created to serve God, and God’s desire was that man be fully alive, so the angels are here to help us to achieve that end.

Man, that fusion of matter and spirit, was one thing. But when the Word of God was made incarnate, it was literally a fusion of God and man. When God was brought to the level of lowly man, man was conversely raised to the level of God, so that both were now of the same level.

This is different from the sin of Adam and Eve, although the end was the same. The sin of Adam and Eve was that they desired to become like God, and they took things into their own hands to achieve it. For humans to become like God was God’s own desire, but it had to be done in his way, not ours. His way was the incarnation, when man was raised to his level. Because only when we are raised to God’s level are we able to see God as he really is. And that was the purpose of Jesus – to reveal the Father to us.

This is the beauty of Christmas which we celebrate. And in answer to the question: Yes, Jesus would still have come even if there was no sin, because he wanted us to be one with God and on the same level as himself.
___________________

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help us to grow to be more aware of the reason of your incarnation, to look beyond salvation as salvation from sin, to look beyond incarnation as you coming to our level, that we might desire once more to see the face of God and live fully. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: The incarnation of the Word of God.

Upcoming Readings:
Tue, 26 Dec – Acts 6:8-10, 7:54-59; Matthew 10:17-22; Feast of St. Stephen, First Martyr, Octave of Christmas
Wed, 27 Dec – 1 John 1:1-4, John 20:2-8; Feast of St. John, apostle, evangelist; Octave of Christmas
Thu, 28 Dec – 1 John 1:5 – 2:2; Matthew 2:13-18; Feast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs; Octave of Christmas
Fri, 29 Dec – 1 John 2:3-11; Luke 2:22-35; Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas
Sat, 30 Dec – 1 John 2:12-17; Luke 2:36-40; Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas
Sun, 31 Dec – Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Colossians 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Luke 2:41-52; Feast of the Holy Family

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Sunday, Dec 24 – Is Christ In Your Christmas?

24 Dec – Fourth Sunday in Advent

Mary’s Child: The Prince of Peace

From the least of the clans of Judah, from Mary his lowly handmaid, God prepared a body for his Christ, who comes to fill the world with his spirit of peace.

- the Sunday Missal
____________________

We’ve Lost Sight of Christmas
by Brian Cavanaugh, TOR

During the frenzied pace of the Christmas season, we tend to lose sight of the message and promise that Christmas heralds. So often, we’re caught up in getting ready for this’ and last minute that’s. We rush here. We push there, and practically run over people seeking that special gift which we really cannot afford.

Could all this hurrying and scurrying be Satan’s vengeance against God, or his revenge against the Incarnation = the birth of the Son of God? Satan blinds us all with the glitter and gloss, sounds of bells tingling and cash registers jingling. We’ve lost sight of the meaning of Christ – the message of peace among all men and women, the promise of joy to everyone of good will.

Christmas’ true splendour is found more often in simplicity – simplicity rooted in awareness and listening. For as we listen more to the world around us, we become increasingly aware of the troubles and pain, the anger and strain that men and women suffer. it is the message and promise of Christmas which can bring hope to the little, the lost and the least; to the bruised, the battered and the broken.

One of the greatest gifts we can bring to the world, bring to each man, woman or child we meet this Christmas season, is to “practise random kindness and senseless acts of beauty”. I’m reminded of the B.C. comic strip from several years ago in which cartoonist Johnny Hart has the character Wiley searching for answers to one of life’s great questions. it is a question so simple and yet so timely. In the first panel Wiley asks, “Whatever happened to kindness?” He then proceeds to write the following verse:

“Why do people go to the trouble
    to give other people some trouble?
Why do they burst someone’s bubble,
    when they now it comes back to them double?
Why do we go to the effort to hurt
    someone we actually love?
Why can’t we say something sweet ’stead of curt?
    A push only leads to a shove.
Why can’t we treat other folks with respect?
    With a smile or a kind word or two?
Treat them with honour, the way you’d expect
    they should act when they’re dealing with you.
Why can’t we overlook others’ mistakes?
    We’ve all surely been there before.
Love and forgiveness is all that it takes,
    to boot Satan’s butt out the door.”

This Christmas season, give a gift that will last, a gift that will endure long after you are gone. “Practise random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” Go ahead, try it! It will shock you only a bit. I’m sure it will astound others, too, and I am certain it will startle the world around you. Go ahead, practise kindness anyway. The world could use a jolt such as this.

- taken from Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, Third Planting, by Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
____________________

Micah 5:1-4

The Lord says this:

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
the least of the clans of Judah,
out of you will be born for me
the one who is to rule over Israel;
his origin goes back to the distant past,
to the days of old.
The Lord is therefore going to abandon them
till the time when she who is to give birth gives birth.
Then the remnant of his brothers will come back
to the sons of Israel.
He will stand and feed his flock
with the powers of the Lord,
with the majesty of the name of his God.
They will live secure, for from then on he will extend his power
to the ends of the land.
He himself will be peace.
____________________

Hebrews 10:5-10

This is what Christ said, on coming into the world:

You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body for me.
You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;
then I said,
just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book,
“God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.”

Notice that he says first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am1 I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.
____________________

Luke 1:39-44

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, “Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
____________________

“Is Christ in your Christmas?” someone asked me that today, and I thought about it. We’ve been receiving various emails containing Christmas greetings, and we’ve been receiving some emails about how lonely Christ feels this season while everyone is out partying and feasting and giving gifts (and Christ doesn’t get any gift). Maybe emails like these are sending out the wrong messages, that Christ is apart from the celebrations and feasts with loved ones.

My family has a Christmas tradition. Every Christmas Eve, we gather at my grandmother’s house (which happens to be where I currently live) and we have a nice big meal together. Each family unit brings a dish or at least arranges for a dish to be prepared. Those living in my grandmother’s house will cook a dish (mine is usually salted vegetables with duck). Then in the evening, we will gather and have a nice meal together.

Later on in the night, about a quarter of an hour to midnight, we will count the presents under the tree and have a mini prize-giving ceremony for the one who guessed beforehand the number of presents (or is closest to the number). Then at midnight, we will wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and then proceed to spend the next hour or so opening and comparing presents before finally clearing up and going home.

All of us very much look forward to this tradition. Some of us also invite friends who do not celebrate Christmas with their families to come and join us. And I think about it – Is Christ in my Christmas? Of course he is. He is present in the love that makes us spend hours choosing or making a perfect present for our family members and friends. He is present in the manner that we treat our loved ones. He is present in the happiness and peace in the family or among friends. He is present when we gather to share food from the same table. We might not name him in front of everyone (since not all of us are Christians), but he is there nonetheless in the love that is most present.

Even for those of us who do not celebrate Christmas with our families, or for those of us who are not into the gift exchange at Christmas, Christ still can be present when we make ourselves truly present to the ones who celebrate the wonderful day with. When we take our minds off work, or relationships, or something else we’d rather be doing, and we make a gift of ourselves by being truly present to those we celebrate with, then we are bringing Christ into that celebration… for Christ is the one who taught us how to give of ourselves to others. That is the most beautiful and perfect gift that we can give to others – the gift of ourselves.
____________________

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, help us to prepare those around us for your coming by making a gift of ourselves to them, so that when you come and give of yourselves to them, they will be more ready to accept your gift. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: The gift of himself this Christmas.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, Dec 24 – Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25 or 1:18-25; Vigil of Christmas
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Saturday, Dec 23 – Conscience

23 Dec – Memorial for St. John Kanty

John Kanty (1390-1473) was a Polish country lad and a brilliant student at the University of Cracow in Poland. He became a priest and a professor of theology in that university, but was falsely accused and ousted by university rivals. At the age of 41, he was assigned parish priest at Olkusz, Bohemia. He took his position seriously and was terrified of the responsibility, but did his best. For a long time, that wasn’t enough for his parishioners, but in the end he won their hearts. After several years in his parish, he returned to Cracow and taught Scripture for the rest of his life.

He was a serious, humble man, generous to a fault with the poor. He slept little, ate no meat and little of anything else. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem hoping to be martyred by Turks. He also made four pilgrimages to Rome, carrying luggage on his back. When warned to look after his health, he pointed out that the early desert fathers lived long lives in conditions that had nothing to recommend them but the presence of God.

At the time of his death, John was so well loved that his veneration began immediately. For years his doctoral gown was worn by graduates receiving advanced degrees at the University of Cracow. He was declared patron of Poland and Lithuania in 1737 by Pope Clement XII, 30 years before his final canonization.

- Source: Patron Saint Index

Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.
- Saint John of Kanty
____________________

Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24

The Lord God says this: Look, I am going to send my messenger to prepare a way before me. And the Lord you are seeking will suddenly enter his Temple; and the angel of the covenant whom you are longing for, yes, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. Who will be able to resist the day of his coming? Who will remain standing when he appears? For he is like refiner’s fire and the fullers’ alkali. He will take his seat as refiner and purifier; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and then they will make the offering to the Lord as it should be made. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be welcomed by the Lord as in former days, as in the years of old.

Know that I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before my day comes, that great and terrible day. He shall turn the hearts of fathers towards their children and the hearts of the children towards their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a curse.
____________________

Luke 1:57-66

The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy.

Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. “No,” she said, “he is to be called John.” They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name”, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, “His name is John”. And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. “What will this child turn out to be?” they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
____________________

I was talking to a friend about the relationship between sin and conscience. When a person does (or omits) something that is sinful, the action itself can be gravely sinful, but the person who does it with a clear conscience may not be held totally accountable. Even if the person has not sinned, because he didn’t know better, the action is still considered sinful.

A sin can be defined as something that harms someone, be it the person himself or someone else near to the person, or perhaps even someone that the person will never know. The bottom line is that a sin harms someone, whether or not it was the intention of the one who committed the act. If a person does not know that what he is doing is wrong, and goes ahead and does it, he will not be held fully accountable for his actions.

However, if that person knows that what he is doing is wrong, and he still goes ahead and does it, then he has committed a sin. The three conditions of mortal sin are: 1) It must be grave; 2) It must have been done with the full consent of the person; 3) It must have been done with full knowledge of the gravity of the sin.

But this does not mean that we can plead ignorance each time we commit a serious sin just by saying that our conscience is clear. One other thing that must be taken into consideration is that we have done everything that we can to form our consciences according to the teachings of the Church. In other words actually, the more we know about what the Church teaches, the more responsible we have to be in avoiding sin. Once we know something is sinful and understand why, and we still go ahead and do it, we are deliberately sinning.

What does all this have to do with today’s readings anyhow? Simply put, John the Baptist’s purpose was to form the consciences of the people. He came to prepare the hearts of the people who Jesus would be sent to. So he preached and people came to him and they listened. Bothered by their occupation or lifestyle, they asked him questions, and he answered them. This was their way of forming their consciences by obtaining more knowledge. With more knowledge, they would be better able to avoid sin. Remember that even if our conscience is clear, a sinful action remains sinful i.e. someone is harmed. So the more we know and the better formed our conscience is, the less likely that someone is harmed as a result of our actions (or omissions).

This Christmas, let us not ignore the calls of the people around us, or the emails we receive, or the posters that we read on the wall, or the bulletins in church. Let us remember the various ways God is calling us to form our consciences and to remember that Christmas is about Christ, and it is about giving to those who cannot repay the favour.
____________________

Prayer:
Dear Lord, help us to form our consciences according to the teachings of the Church which is your physical presence in the world today. Help us to listen then to our formed consciences and to avoid sin, so that we may not harm others through our actions and omissions. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Those who form our consciences.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, Dec 24 – Micah 5:1-4a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45; Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sun, Dec 24 – Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25 or 1:18-25; Vigil of Christmas
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Friday, Dec 22 – We Offer Our All

22 Dec

Giving or Keeping
Author Unknown

I read somewhere that the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea are formed by the same water supply. It flows down, clear and cool, from Mount Hermon. The Sea of Galilee makes beauty of its water, for the sea has an outlet. It gets to give. It gathers in its riches that it may pour them out again to fertilize the Jordan plain.

The Dead Sea, on the other hand, with the same source of refreshing water, is desolate, forthe Dead Sea has no outlet. It gets only to keep.

Interestingly, unselfish and selfish people act much the same way. Unselfish people get to give and luxuriate in their generosity while selfish people only get to keep and stagnate into desolation.

- taken from Fresh Packet of Sower’s Seeds, Third Planting, by Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
_____________________

1 Samuel 1:24-28

When Hannah had weaned Samuel, she took him up with her together with a three-year old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and she brought him to the temple of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was with them. They slaughtered the bull and the child’s mother came to Eli. She said, “If you please, my lord. As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood her beside you, praying to the Lord. this is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to the Lord.”

There she left him, for the Lord.
____________________

Luke 1:46-56

Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because he has looked upon his lowly handmaid.
Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me.
Holy is his name,
and his mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

“He has shown the power of his arm,
he has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.
He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of his mercy
- according to the promise he made to our ancestors -
of his mercy to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.”
____________________

Today’s first reading makes me think of Christmas, when we all hurry to open our presents that have been lovingly chosen, bought or made, wrapped neatly and placed under the Christmas tree. We tear open the wrapping to unveil something that brings a smile to our face. How long have we waited for this! But does it end there? Not for Hannah.

Hannah waited so long for a child, and when she was finally granted her wish, she gave him up to the Lord. How many of us would give even half of our presents to the Lord? Think of it this way… for those of us working, many of us would have received our year end bonuses. You’ve waited an entire year for this to come. Would you offer it all up to the Lord? Very few, if any, of us would.

We would either save the money, spend it on ourselves, or spend it on people that we love. Maybe we would give a fraction of it to the Lord, but most of us can think of better ways to spend that money. Therein lies the key of our weakness – we think that we know better than God what to do with our gifts.

Hannah and Mary were two wonderful women in the Bible. They both received a valuable gift from God, and they both offered it up completely to God. Under their teaching and mothering, both Samuel and Jesus might have turned out to be very fine men. Maybe they would have had a large family. Maybe they would have become successful businessmen. Who knows?

But what is striking is that God had far bigger plans for the both of them. Samuel would be the one to anoint the first two kings of Israel, while Jesus, well, you know what he did. And for Hannah and Mary, their names and deeds have been recorded in history, remembered by billions. None of this would have come about had not the two mothers offered their sons, those valuable gifts, up to to God. None of this would have come about if these two mothers thought that they knew better than God how to raise their children to survive in the world.

So this Christmas, as you open your gifts from loved ones and friends, do spend a moment thinking about how you can offer it up to God rather than focusing on how you can use those gifts on your own. God has much bigger plans than you can imagine.
____________________

Prayer:
Dear God, help us to recognise our gifts and learn to be more willing to completely offer them up to you, trusting that you will make far better use of them than we ever will. Amen.

Give Thanks to the Lord for: Our gifts this Christmas.

Upcoming Readings:
Sat, Dec 23 – Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Luke 1:57-66; Memorial for St. John Kanty, priest
Sun, Dec 24 – Micah 5:1-4a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45; Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sun, Dec 24 – Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25 or 1:18-25; Vigil of Christmas
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.

Thursday, Dec 21 – Advent – It All Boils Down To… Love

21 Dec – Memorial for St. Peter Canisius, priest, doctor

Peter Canisius (1521-1597) was known as the Hammer of Protestantism. He was educated in Cologne, Germany. An excellent student, he received a master’s degree by the age of 19. He became a Jesuit after attending a retreat conducted by Blessed Peter Faber. He was a preacher, a writer, and a teacher. He travelled and worked with St. Ignatius of Loyola. During prayers, he received a vision of the Sacred Heart, and ever after offered his work to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He led the Counter-Reformation in German lands. His catechism went through 200 editions during his life, and was translated into 12 languages.

He was ordained in 1546, and was known for having founded colleges. He addressed the Council of Trent on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. He was proclaimed Doctor of the Church in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

The following quote by Peter Canisius is reassuring for those who are still rushing to prepare for Christmas:

“If you have too much to do, with God’s help you will find time to do it all.” – Peter Canisius

- Source: Patron Saint Index
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Song of Songs 2:8-14

I hear my Beloved.
See how he comes
leaping on the mountains,
bounding over the hills.
My Beloved is like a gazelle,
like a young stag.

See where he stands
behind our wall.
He looks in at the window,
he peers through the lattice.

My Beloved lifts up his voice,
he says to me,
‘Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
For see, winter is past,
the rains are over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth.
The season of glad songs has come,
the cooing of the turtledove is heard
in our land.
The fig tree is forming its first figs
and the blossoming vines give out their fragrance.
Come then, my love,
my lovely one, come.
My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock,
in the coverts of the cliff,
show me your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet
and your face is beautiful.’
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Luke 1:39-45

Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to a town in the hill country of Judah. She went into Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. Now as soon as Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. She gave a loud cry and said, ‘Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.
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What a beautiful first reading we have today! It speaks for just one thing – Love. My sisters and brothers, let us note how the song is worded and we can see how unbridled and filled with vibrancy this love is. The first verse shows us how joyful the lover is, letting it show in the way he acts and moves. The second verse has him in a scenario we often see in romantic comedies, the bashful lover who is shy but sweet and true in his love. The third verse is also the longest and it comes from the lover himself. He serenades his love with an eloquent expressions of his feelings. He coaxes his partner with hopeful images of good things. He recognises the fear and apprehension in his partner and reaches out to soothe them and affirm his love. Together the three verses give us a glimpse into the fullness of his love. This true love and affects the lover so deeply, being visibly in his very actions. The sweetness of this love reaches out from the lover as well to touch the ones he loves, bringing them light and warmth and comfort. It is indeed a fitting song for this lover we have, my brothers and sisters, who is our Lord Christ Jesus. As for the partner He is so earnest about, it is us.

This year’s Advent is a unique one. We are rightfully in the third week of Advent but due to Christmas falling on next Monday, we are also rightfully in the last week of Advent before Christmas. This situation is interesting because the third week is traditionally associated with “Joy” and the fourth week with “Love”. Having them overlap this way is a testimony to just how these two virtues go together, a fact which is exemplified by our first reading. Not just these two virtues as well but also the two from the previous two weeks of Advent – “Hope” and “Peace”. They each have a common factor and that is “Love” itself. “Hope”, “Peace” and “Joy”, they all stem from “Love” and lead back to “Love”. We see the lover in our first reading not only being joyful but bringing hope to his love and setting her at peace.

That the first reading is a song actually reminds me of my sharing for the first Thursday of Advent, when I spoke on the hope that singing or listening to Christmas carols can bring. The peace that lover brings to his love ties into the peace which the readings of the second Thursday spoke about. All this tied up by the joy and love in the song a tight unity.

This unity we see in Advent is also visible in the Gospel passage. The love is God’s love for his people leading to Mary’s conception of the Christ and her love for her cousin bringing her to visit her. The hope of the Messiah’s impending arrival is recognized by Elizabeth who by way of her salutations brings peace to Mary who is no doubt is apprehensive of the situation. This hope also heralds the greater peace on earth that Christ comes to proclaim. The result is that joy which filled John while he was still in the womb and which fills us (or ought to) each day.

I’m currently reading Pope John Paul II’s “Rise, let us be on our Way”, a biography of his episcopy, and I’d like to share from the book.

“The personal holiness of every individual gives added beauty to the face of the Church, the Bride of Christ. This enables our contemporary world to accept her message more easily.”

A beautiful and eloquent description of the proper response we should take for the love we received from Christ. My sisters and brothers, as we await with eager anticipation the birth of Jesus, let us be mindful of the love that abounds, not only in this season of Advent but at all times and ponder as Mary did the meaning of receiving such an honor.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Aloysius Ting)
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Prayer:
Lord, may we be able to distill in all things we face, the essence of Yourself in them.

Give thanks to the Lord for: The chain of faith which binds us all.

Upcoming Readings:
Fri, Dec 22 – 1 Samuel 1:24-28; Luke 1:46-56
Sat, Dec 23 – Malachi 3:1-4, 23-24; Luke 1:57-66; Memorial for St. John Kanty, priest
Sun, Dec 24 – Micah 5:1-4a; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45; Fourth Sunday of Advent
Sun, Dec 24 – Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25 or 1:18-25; Vigil of Christmas
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Disclaimer: The reflections expressed in this e-mail are the writer’s own. They may not necessarily reflect the teachings of the Catholic Church. Nonetheless we should all be able to learn something from it.