From: Luke 1:26-38
The Annunciation and Incarnation of the Son of God
[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. [32] He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, [33] and He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there will be no end." [34] And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" [35] And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. [36] And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37] For with God nothing will be impossible." [38] And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
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Commentary:
26-38. Here we contemplate our Lady who was "enriched from the first instant of her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique holiness; [...] the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding angel, by divine command, as `full of grace' (cf. Luke 1:28), and to the heavenly messenger she replies, `Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word' (Luke 1:38). Thus the daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly to God's saving will and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with Him, serving the mystery of Redemption, by the grace of Almighty God. Rightly, therefore, the Fathers (of the Church) see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of man's salvation through faith and obedience" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 56).
The annunciation to Mary and incarnation of the Word constitute the deepest mystery of the relationship between God and men and the most important event in the history of mankind: God becomes man, and will remain so forever, such is the extent of His goodness and mercy and love for all of us. And yet on the day when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity assumed frail human nature in the pure womb of the Blessed Virgin, it all happened quietly, without fanfare of any kind.
St. Luke tells the story in a very simple way. We should treasure these words of the Gospel and use them often, for example, practising the Christian custom of saying the Angelus every day and reflecting on the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.
27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed this through the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God, "before all ages made choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother for His only-begotten Son from whom He, after being made flesh, should be born in the blessed fullness of time: and He continued His persevering regard for her in preference to all other creatures, to such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard" (Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus," 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a virgin and a mother at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was the work of the Holy Spirit "who at the conception and the birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart fruitfulness to her while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity" ("St. Pius V Catechism," I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: "We believe that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of virginity, was the Mother of the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" ("Creed of the People of God", 14).
Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary means, most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means "lady". However, no single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.
28. "Hail, full of grace": literally the Greek text reads "Rejoice!", obviously referring to the unique joy over the news which the angel is about to communicate.
"Full of grace": by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals Mary's special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church "taught that this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting showed that all the divine graces reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit", which meant that she "was never subject to the curse", that is, was preserved from all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one of the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus"; Paul VI, "Creed of the People of God").
"The Lord is with you!": these words are not simply a greeting ("the Lord be with you") but an affirmation ("the Lord is with you"), and they are closely connected with the Incarnation. St. Augustine comments by putting these words on the archangel's lips: "He is more with you than He is with me: He is in your heart, He takes shape within you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb" ("Sermo De Nativitate Domini", 4).
Some important Greek manuscripts and early translations add at the end of the verse: "Blessed are you among women!", meaning that God will exalt Mary over all women. She is more excellent than Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, Rachel, Judith, etc., for only she has the supreme honor of being chosen to be the Mother of God.
29-30. Our Lady is troubled by the presence of the archangel and by the confusion truly humble people experience when they receive praise.
30. The Annunciation is the moment when our Lady is given to know the vocation which God planned for her from eternity. When the archangel sets her mind at ease by saying, "Do not be afraid, Mary," he is helping her to overcome that initial fear which a person normally experiences when God gives him or her a special calling. The fact that Mary felt this fear does not imply the least trace of imperfection in her: hers is a perfectly natural reaction in the face of the supernatural. Imperfection would arise if one did not overcome this fear or rejected the advice of those in a position to help--as St. Gabriel helped Mary.
31-33. The archangel Gabriel tells the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is to be the Mother of God by reminding her of the words of Isaiah which announced that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, a prophecy which will find its fulfillment in Mary (cf. Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14).
He reveals that the Child will be "great": His greatness comes from His being God, a greatness He does not lose when He takes on the lowliness of human nature. He also reveals that Jesus will be the king of the Davidic dynasty sent by God in keeping with His promise of salvation; that His Kingdom will last forever, for His humanity will remain forever joined to His divinity; that "He will be called Son of the Most High", that is that He really will be the Son of the Most High and will be publicly recognized as such, that is, the Child will be the Son of God.
The archangel's announcement evokes the ancient prophecies which foretold these prerogatives. Mary, who was well-versed in Sacred Scripture, clearly realized that she was to be the Mother of God.
34-38. Commenting on this passage John Paul II said: "`Virgo fidelis', the faithful Virgin. What does this faithfulness of Mary mean? What are the dimensions of this faithfulness? The first dimension is called search. Mary was faithful first of all when she began, lovingly, to seek the deep sense of God's plan in her and for the world. `Quomodo fiet?' How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the Annunciation [...]."
"The second dimension of faithfulness is called reception, acceptance. The `quomodo fiet?' is changed, on Mary's lips, to a `fiat': Let it be done, I am ready, I accept. This is the crucial moment of faithfulness, the moment in which man perceives that he will never completely understand the `how': that there are in God's plan more areas of mystery than of clarity; that is, however he may try, he will never succeed in understanding it completely[...]."
"The third dimension of faithfulness is consistency to live in accordance with what one believes; to adapt one's own life to the object of one's adherence. To accept misunderstanding, persecutions, rather than a break between what one practises and what one believes: this is consistency[...]."
"But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of duration. Therefore, the fourth dimension of faithfulness is constancy. It is easy to be consistent for a day or two. It is difficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life. It is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole life can be called faithfulness. Mary's `fiat' in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent `fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross" ("Homily in Mexico City Cathedral", 26 January 1979).
34. Mary believed in the archangel's words absolutely; she did not doubt as Zechariah had done (cf. 1:18). Her question, "How can this be?", expresses her readiness to obey the will of God even though at first sight it implied a contradiction: on the one hand, she was convinced that God wished her to remain a virgin; on the other, here was God also announcing that she would become a mother. The archangel announces God's mysterious design, and what had seemed impossible, according to the laws of nature, is explained by a unique intervention on the part of God.
Mary's resolution to remain a virgin was certainly something very unusual, not in line with the practice of righteous people under the Old Covenant, for, as St. Augustine explains, "particularly attentive to the propagation and growth of the people of God, through whom the Prince and Savior of the world might be prophesied and be born, the saints were obliged to make use of the good of matrimony" ("De Bono Matrimonii", 9, 9). However, in the Old Testament, there were some who, in keeping with God's plan, did remain celibate--for example, Jeremiah, Elijah, Eliseus and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin, who received a very special inspiration of the Holy Spirit to practise virginity, is a first-fruit of the New Testament, which will establish the excellence of virginity over marriage while not taking from the holiness of the married state, which it raises to the level of a sacrament (cf. "Gaudium Et Spes", 48).
35. The "shadow" is a symbol of the presence of God. When Israel was journeying through the wilderness, the glory of God filled the Tabernacle and a cloud covered the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 40:34-36). And when God gave Moses the tablets of the Law, a cloud covered Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:15-16); and also, at the Transfiguration of Jesus the voice of God the Father was heard coming out of a cloud (Luke 9:35).
At the moment of the Incarnation the power of God envelops our Lady--an ___expression of God's omnipotence. The Spirit of God--which, according to the account in Genesis (1:2), moved over the face of the waters, bringing things to life--now comes down on Mary. And the fruit of her womb will be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Virgin Mary, who herself was conceived without any stain of sin (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus") becomes, after the Incarnation, a new tabernacle of God. This is the mystery we recall every day when saying the Angelus.
38. Once she learns of God's plan, our Lady yields to God's will with prompt obedience, unreservedly. She realizes the disproportion between what she is going to become--the Mother of God--and what she is--a woman. However, this is what God wants to happen and for Him nothing is impossible; therefore no one should stand in His way. So Mary, combining humility and obedience, responds perfectly to God's call: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done according to your word."
"At the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word became flesh" ([St] J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", first joyful mystery). From the pure body of Mary, God shaped a new body, He created a soul out of nothing, and the Son of God united Himself with this body and soul: prior to this He was only God; now He is still God but also man. Mary is now the Mother of God. This truth is a dogma of faith, first defined by the Council of Ephesus (431). At this point she also begins to be the spiritual Mother of all mankind. What Christ says when He is dying--`Behold, your son..., behold, your mother" (John 19:26-27)--simply promulgates what came about silently at Nazareth. "With her generous `fiat' (Mary) became, through the working of the Spirit, the Mother of God, but also the Mother of the living, and, by receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of the Covenant and true Temple of God" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus", 6).
The Annunciation shows us the Blessed Virgin as perfect model of "purity" (the RSV "I have no husband" is a euphemism); of "humility" ("Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"); of "candor" and "simplicity" ("How can this be?"); of "obedience" and "lively faith" ("Let it be done to me according to your word"). "Following her example of obedience to God, we can learn to serve delicately without being slavish. In Mary, we don't find the slightest trace of the attitude of the foolish virgins, who obey, but thoughtlessly. Our Lady listens attentively to what God wants, ponders what she doesn't fully understand and asks about what she doesn't know. Then she gives herself completely to doing the divine will: `Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word'. Isn't that marvellous? The Blessed Virgin, our teacher in all we do, shows us here that obedience to God is not servile, does not bypass our conscience. We should be inwardly moved to discover the `freedom of the children of God' (cf. Romans 8:21)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 173).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Monday, December 12, 2005
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Another Appeal Letter to St Stanislaus
It would not be an act of justice or prudence to let this letter slip into obscurity:
St. Stanislaus: Rejoin the faithfulFr. Shamleffer is quite right that all of us should continue to pray for these people. In doing so, we are practicing a spiritual work of mercy and with God's grace, they might be reconciled with the Church.
What kind of values are we teaching our children? The St. Stanislaus Board of Directors has hired a suspended priest for its church. The priest, the Rev. Marek Bozek, has been quoted as saying that the Vatican and Archdiocese of St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke are correct that the board is acting outside the law, and yet Rev. Bozek and the board continue to show a blatant disregard for canon law. What value is this teaching our youth?
While it is true that the celebration of the Eucharist will be valid, but illicit, any marriages at St. Stanislaus will not be valid since the Rev. Bozek has no canonical jurisdiction within the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Do the parishioners know this?
Let all of us in St. Louis pray that those at St. Stanislaus may rejoin the faithful of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
The Rev. John B. Shamleffer
St. Louis
Judicial Vicar of Archdiocese of St. Louis
Some "Remarkable" Letters to the Editor:
Catholic is foreverSuch ill-conceived statements above should be a source of emabarrassmnent for the one making them, most especially if one makes the claim to be a "life-long Catholic". A "life-long Catholic" should understand what obedience is and what it is not. A "life-long Catholic" should also understand the eternal ramifications of one who, by obstinate disobedience and rebellion, chooses to separate himself from the Catholic Church. Such a willful separation is also a separation from Christ.
As a life-long Catholic, I find it difficult to accept blind obedience to Archbishop Raymond Burke. In this new century, it's time for church authorities to realize that the church is its people. Excommunication works only if accepted by the excommunicated. Catholic is forever. I don't understand how the love of Christ is expressed through excommunications and interdicts.
Marge Pedtke
St. Charles
St. Ignatius tell us that "A superior is to be obeyed, not be reason of his prudence, his kindness, or any other good qualities which God may have bestowed on him, but solely because he is God's representative, and acts by the authority of Him who said: 'He who hears you, hears Me, and he who despises you, despises Me.'"
Was Jesus lying to us when He told us these things? Was He lying to us when He said those who reject Him also reject the Father Who sent Him?
Some also fail to properly understand the medicinal aspect of excommunication and interdicts. Does a loving parent give his child a distasteful medicine or a painful treatment so that the child might recover to full health? Or does that parent refuse such lifegiving medicine or treatment merely because the child might dislike it and thereby let the child die?
A "life-long Catholic" should not express such ignorant opinions as those listed in the letter above.
Family feudHere we see an attitude of humility and docility to Christ and to lawful Church authority. What a blessing it would be if more Catholics accepted God's graces and adopted an attitude like this!
To the Rev. Marek Bozek and the board of directors of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church: The Catholic Church is not a democracy. Is there a principle involved here? Is money sufficient cause to pull the good people of St. Stanislaus away from our holy Church? Is money reason enough to cause public scandal? What family does not occasionally have differences? Who among us, clergy and laypeople, have not differed with the church at some time?
The answer is love and forgiveness. The answer is to respect the authority of the church.
Janet M. Boyle
Creve Coeur
CourageThe wayward priest is not acting courageously but has decided to take the cowardly approach and follow his own will rather than that of God. Fr. Bozek, like Adam and Eve, has been seduced by the serpent and has mistakenly chosen to decide for himself what is good and what is evil. And his actions, should he continue his rebellion, will likely lead more and more people away from our Lord.
I admire the Rev. Marek Bozek's courage to pastor the people of St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Church. Rev. Bozek is following God; Archbishop Raymond Burke is following the money.
Sheila McDonald
Ferguson
Additionally, one can tell from among the letter writers, those who are aware of the actual facts and those who have only heard the "sound bites" from those who promote the distortions of the rebellious St. Stanislaus group.
Regarding Fr. Bozek's act of "courage", this is a serious sin of arrogance and pride which is most offensive to God. May he repent and return to his diocese before his actions cause an even more disastrous effect on those souls he is supposed to leading to eternal salvation.
Link to the letters is here.
No True Calm for Christmas
An email update:
After protesting against “Corpus Christi” in Nebraska, I had hoped for a period of calm to prepare for Christmas. But that didn’t happen.
I got an email in my box asking me to take a look at a Denis Leary program on Comedy Central. What I saw was so disgusting and unsettling that I knew that I did not have the right to do nothing.
And so, I have to ask you to protest once again. I can’t remain silent when these people say the worst things abut Our Blessed Mother. I know it is Christmas time but these people just don’t seem to care. And so I am asking you to take a moment to join me in protest. Click here for all the details.
We also have a story about our activists at TFP Student Action in Nebraska. They put together a cold Saturday night protest where protesters outnumbered theatergoers almost two to one! Click here to read about their efforts.
You can also read about TFP Student Action’s campaign at Ohio State University against The Da Vinci Code. They took advantage of the trip to Nebraska to visit this huge university. Click here for more.
I would also like to invite you to read about our talk at the TFP’s Washington Bureau about our book, Rejecting the Da Vinci Code. TFP member Jose A. Schelini gave an excellent presentation to friends and supporters. Click here for more.
Finally, I received a story from Norman Fulkerson about one of his visits spreading the Fatima message. He tells how children are thirsting for real role models…and how nobody is telling them about the examples of the saints. Click here to read this story.
I would like to thank everyone who cut and pasted our mini-review of our book Rejecting the Da Vinci Code and posted it on their web sites and blogs. (Click here to see the mini-reivew) I would also like to thank all those who helped with donations to send John Ritchie and his student activists to Nebraska.
Please take a look at our news portal selections and visit our online store for Christmas gift ideas.
Until next time, I remain,
Yours in Jesus and Mary,
John Horvat
Webmaster
http://www.tfp.org
More Reflections for the 3nd Week of Advent
3rd Sunday of Advent-ANGELS AND SAINTS
"I am the voice of one crying in the desert; Make straight the way of the Lord". St. John, 1:23.
One of the most intelligent and well-informed converts to the Catholic Church in the United States was Orestes Brownson. He was a deep student and a sincere seeker after the truth. For years he tried one religion after another without securing satisfaction. After his conversion to the Catholic Church he told how he saw the simple logic of one Catholic practice honoring the saints, praying to the saints. "Many years ago, long before I had the happiness of being received into the communion of the Catholic Church," he wrote, "I was in the habit of frequently closing my letters to my friends with the words, 'pray for me'.
"One day, writing to a very dear friend, who was not precisely a saint, I concluded unthinkingly with the words, 'pray for me'. I did so from force of habit, but I had no sooner written the words than a sudden thought struck me, and I exclaimed to myself: 'There is justification of the Catholic practice of invocation of the saints. Here I am asking a sinful mortal to pray for me. How much rather should I ask the prayers of the beatified saints in heaven'."
Brownson was a thinker, and his thinking, deep and sincere, led him to see the reasonableness of praying to the saints. Honoring the special friends of God and praying to them or through them is not forbidden by the First Commandment. In fact, Mother Church has always asked her children to honor those who have been especially pleasing to God by their lives of goodness and love.
Just what is a saint? A saint is one who died in the grace and friendship of God, and who is already in heaven. This applies particularly to a canonized saint, one whom the Church has listed among those who have led a holy life, one who has secured miracles from Almighty God, and is therefore declared to be worthy of veneration by the Church.
1. We honor the saints because they are the special friends of God. They are the heroes and heroines who have given their best in serving the Lord. We honor and respect the president of the United States, but we also honor more than the average citizen, the members of his cabinet and of Congress.
God Himself honored the saints. That is clear from the Bible and from the lives of His special friends. Hasn't God worked miracles to show His pleasure with their service?
2. We honor the saints because they obtain great graces for us from God. The special friends of the president are more likely than the average citizen to secure a favor from the head of our government.
3. There are various ways of honoring the saints - by praying to them, by celebrating their feasts, by respecting their pictures and statues, by bearing their names in a worthy way, by appealing to them in matters of importance, and by praising them in speech and song. But the best way to honor the saints is by imitating them, trying to follow in their foot-steps.
4. Remembering the saints is the best means of keeping in mind what God wants and the possibility and beauty and reward of doing what God wants.
5. The honor we give God's friends does not in any way take away from the honor due to God Himself. There are two big differences between the two:
Always bear in mind that the saints are beneath God. God makes known our prayers to them. In the vision of God they see our spiritual and material needs and our request for help.
As Brownson discovered, if we ask sinful, weak mortals to pray for us, it is much more reasonable to ask the saintly heroes and heroines of God to pray for us.
Closely allied to veneration of the saints is the veneration of the angels, the special heavenly messengers of God. Particularly are we to honor our guardian angel, the bodiless spirit appointed to take spiritual and physical charge of us.
Read the Bible and you find its pages bright with the wings of angels. There is no question of their existence. There is no question of their power. There is no question of their interest in our welfare.
By honoring the angels and saints we are winning friends, influential and interested friends in heaven, friends who will not forget us in our time of need, friends who will come to our help in time of temptation, unfailing friends who will speak for us at the throne of the all-powerful God.
We hear one of the saints speaking today. St. John the Baptist is calling out:
"I am the voice of one crying in the desert; Make straight the way of the Lord."
That is the work of the angels and saints - to make straight the way of the Lord into our hearts, to make straight the way to the Lord in heaven. Amen.
__________________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Commandments by Fr. Arthur Tonne
"I am the voice of one crying in the desert; Make straight the way of the Lord". St. John, 1:23.
One of the most intelligent and well-informed converts to the Catholic Church in the United States was Orestes Brownson. He was a deep student and a sincere seeker after the truth. For years he tried one religion after another without securing satisfaction. After his conversion to the Catholic Church he told how he saw the simple logic of one Catholic practice honoring the saints, praying to the saints. "Many years ago, long before I had the happiness of being received into the communion of the Catholic Church," he wrote, "I was in the habit of frequently closing my letters to my friends with the words, 'pray for me'.
"One day, writing to a very dear friend, who was not precisely a saint, I concluded unthinkingly with the words, 'pray for me'. I did so from force of habit, but I had no sooner written the words than a sudden thought struck me, and I exclaimed to myself: 'There is justification of the Catholic practice of invocation of the saints. Here I am asking a sinful mortal to pray for me. How much rather should I ask the prayers of the beatified saints in heaven'."
Brownson was a thinker, and his thinking, deep and sincere, led him to see the reasonableness of praying to the saints. Honoring the special friends of God and praying to them or through them is not forbidden by the First Commandment. In fact, Mother Church has always asked her children to honor those who have been especially pleasing to God by their lives of goodness and love.
Just what is a saint? A saint is one who died in the grace and friendship of God, and who is already in heaven. This applies particularly to a canonized saint, one whom the Church has listed among those who have led a holy life, one who has secured miracles from Almighty God, and is therefore declared to be worthy of veneration by the Church.
1. We honor the saints because they are the special friends of God. They are the heroes and heroines who have given their best in serving the Lord. We honor and respect the president of the United States, but we also honor more than the average citizen, the members of his cabinet and of Congress.
God Himself honored the saints. That is clear from the Bible and from the lives of His special friends. Hasn't God worked miracles to show His pleasure with their service?
2. We honor the saints because they obtain great graces for us from God. The special friends of the president are more likely than the average citizen to secure a favor from the head of our government.
3. There are various ways of honoring the saints - by praying to them, by celebrating their feasts, by respecting their pictures and statues, by bearing their names in a worthy way, by appealing to them in matters of importance, and by praising them in speech and song. But the best way to honor the saints is by imitating them, trying to follow in their foot-steps.
4. Remembering the saints is the best means of keeping in mind what God wants and the possibility and beauty and reward of doing what God wants.
5. The honor we give God's friends does not in any way take away from the honor due to God Himself. There are two big differences between the two:
a. We honor God for God's sake, because He is supreme, all-good, all-holy in Himself; we honor the saints as the special servants of God. A king wants his princes and noblemen honored, but not with the respect due to his majesty alone.6. Everyone of you bears the name of some saint. Know that saint; honor that saint; imitate that saint. Likewise, there is some special saint for every walk of life: St. Joseph for the working man; St. Anthony for lost things; St. Blase for sore throats, etc.
b. We honor God for the goodness which He has in Himself; we honor the saints for the goodness which they have received from God.
Always bear in mind that the saints are beneath God. God makes known our prayers to them. In the vision of God they see our spiritual and material needs and our request for help.
As Brownson discovered, if we ask sinful, weak mortals to pray for us, it is much more reasonable to ask the saintly heroes and heroines of God to pray for us.
Closely allied to veneration of the saints is the veneration of the angels, the special heavenly messengers of God. Particularly are we to honor our guardian angel, the bodiless spirit appointed to take spiritual and physical charge of us.
Read the Bible and you find its pages bright with the wings of angels. There is no question of their existence. There is no question of their power. There is no question of their interest in our welfare.
By honoring the angels and saints we are winning friends, influential and interested friends in heaven, friends who will not forget us in our time of need, friends who will come to our help in time of temptation, unfailing friends who will speak for us at the throne of the all-powerful God.
We hear one of the saints speaking today. St. John the Baptist is calling out:
"I am the voice of one crying in the desert; Make straight the way of the Lord."
That is the work of the angels and saints - to make straight the way of the Lord into our hearts, to make straight the way to the Lord in heaven. Amen.
__________________________________
Adapted from Talks on the Commandments by Fr. Arthur Tonne
Reflections for the 3rd Sunday of Advent - Sunday Mass
"In the midst of you there has stood one whom you do not know!" St. John 1:26.
An uplifting story of World War Two concerns a group of British and American prisoners of war, who limped, barefooted and ragged, into a British camp in the Pacific after a march of 60 miles from a Jap prison camp. Can you guess their first request? What did they want first of all? Was it food? clothing? a shave? a shower? Was it bandages for their sore and bleeding feet?
Their first request, expressed by an American officer, Lieutenant Whiley, was that Mass be said for the group. Without their breakfast, without clean clothes, without a shower or shave or any other comfort, those bedraggled boys knelt around the altar and attended Holy Mass. Every single one received Holy Communion.
One of the colonels, a non-Catholic, remarked that it was the most wonderful and touching thing he had ever witnessed. Some of those men had not been to Mass and the sacraments for three years.
Love of the Mass is always one of the most distinguishing marks of the true Catholic. No matter what the cost, a true Catholic attends Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, not only because it is a law of the Church, but because he knows what the Mass really means. What it means is made clear for us by one of the keenest minds of history, that brilliant convert, Cardinal Newman. He speaks of the death of Christ on Calvary:
This first law of the Church is an explanation of the Third Commandment of God: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. The very least a Catholic can do is attend Mass. How little time and attention we give God during the week. At least on His own day we should pay some attention to God. We Catholics do that in a perfect way-by attending Holy Mass.
There are other ways of keeping Sunday holy:
1. By prayer. Free from work-a-day cares, one should do more praying, or at least some praying on the Lord's day.
2. By hearing instructions. For the average Catholic that means listening attentatively to the sermon. Priests are to give you some food for serious thought each Sunday. Take it home. Make it part of your thinking and living.
3. By spiritual reading. Spend some Sunday time with your Bible, your Catechism, or a good Catholic magazine or publication.
4. By attending special services. There should be at least one member from each family at every service, so that your family will share in the blessings.
5. The prescribed and best way of keeping Sunday holy is by hearing Holy Mass:
Christ is right here in the midst of you, in your town, in your community, in your church. Some of you know Him not. But you do want to know Him. You meet Him, you adore Him, you receive Him right there in your church.
__________________
Adapted from Prayer, Precepts, and Virtues
by Fr. Arthur Tonne
An uplifting story of World War Two concerns a group of British and American prisoners of war, who limped, barefooted and ragged, into a British camp in the Pacific after a march of 60 miles from a Jap prison camp. Can you guess their first request? What did they want first of all? Was it food? clothing? a shave? a shower? Was it bandages for their sore and bleeding feet?
Their first request, expressed by an American officer, Lieutenant Whiley, was that Mass be said for the group. Without their breakfast, without clean clothes, without a shower or shave or any other comfort, those bedraggled boys knelt around the altar and attended Holy Mass. Every single one received Holy Communion.
One of the colonels, a non-Catholic, remarked that it was the most wonderful and touching thing he had ever witnessed. Some of those men had not been to Mass and the sacraments for three years.
Love of the Mass is always one of the most distinguishing marks of the true Catholic. No matter what the cost, a true Catholic attends Mass on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, not only because it is a law of the Church, but because he knows what the Mass really means. What it means is made clear for us by one of the keenest minds of history, that brilliant convert, Cardinal Newman. He speaks of the death of Christ on Calvary:
"Such a sacrifice was not to be forgotten. It was not to be - it could not be - a mere event in the world's history, which was to be done and over, and was to pass away except in its obscure, unrecognized effects. If that great deed was what we believe it to be, what we know it is, it must be present though past; it must be a standing fact for all times."And a standing fact it is. Mass is offered every minute of every day of every week of every year - all over God's earth. Because of what the Mass really is, rather than as discipline, Mother Church has made tbe law that every Catholic must hear Holy Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. In the United States the following are Holy Days of Obligation: The Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8; Christmas; New Year's; Ascension Thursday; the Feast of the Assumption, August 15; and the Feast of All Saints, November 1. To miss Mass on Sunday or on one of these days through one's own fault is a mortal sin.
This first law of the Church is an explanation of the Third Commandment of God: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. The very least a Catholic can do is attend Mass. How little time and attention we give God during the week. At least on His own day we should pay some attention to God. We Catholics do that in a perfect way-by attending Holy Mass.
There are other ways of keeping Sunday holy:
1. By prayer. Free from work-a-day cares, one should do more praying, or at least some praying on the Lord's day.
2. By hearing instructions. For the average Catholic that means listening attentatively to the sermon. Priests are to give you some food for serious thought each Sunday. Take it home. Make it part of your thinking and living.
3. By spiritual reading. Spend some Sunday time with your Bible, your Catechism, or a good Catholic magazine or publication.
4. By attending special services. There should be at least one member from each family at every service, so that your family will share in the blessings.
5. The prescribed and best way of keeping Sunday holy is by hearing Holy Mass:
A. It is the continuation of the Last Supper and the death of Christ on Calvary, the most perfect act of homage and attention we can give to God.Look at the Mass as did that group of British and American soldiers, who had been imprisoned for three years, who had been deprived of Holy Mass and Communion during that long and trying time. How they longed for God. How they longed for the Holy Sacrifice. Go to Mass every Sunday with that same longing and eagerness.
B. You fulfil your obligation by attending any Mass in any Catholic church. If possible, attend Mass in your parish church.
C. One must attend a complete Mass. Be on time. Punctuality is the courtesy of kings, especially of the King of kings. To come late to Mass is an insult to God, to the priest, and to the congregation. Don't be stingy with God.
D. It is enough to attend one Mass, should a Holy Day of Obligation fall on a Sunday.
E. Most important, you must attend Mass with the right dispositions of mind and body. Take your nap some other place. Pick your teeth and trim your fingernails some other place. So, too, plan your work and dinner and your picnic anywhere, but not in church during Mass. Give God a respectful and attentive service of your body. Give Him your full attention of mind by using a missal.
F. A further Sunday obligation is to rest from manual labor or servile work, unless excused by necessity, charity or piety.
Christ is right here in the midst of you, in your town, in your community, in your church. Some of you know Him not. But you do want to know Him. You meet Him, you adore Him, you receive Him right there in your church.
__________________
Adapted from Prayer, Precepts, and Virtues
by Fr. Arthur Tonne
Gospel for the 3rd Sunday of Advent
From: John 1:6-8, 19-28
Prologue (Continuation)
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came for testimony to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through Him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
The Witness of John
[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20] He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." [21] And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." [22] They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" [23] He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."
[24] Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. [25] They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" [26] John answered, "I baptize with water; but among you stands One whom you do not know, [27] even He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." [28] This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
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Commentary:
6-8. After considering the divinity of the Lord, the text moves on to deal with His incarnation, and begins by speaking of John the Baptist, who makes his appearance at a precise point in history to bear direct witness before man to Jesus Christ (Jn 1:15, 19-36; 3:22ff). As St Augustine comments: "For as much as He [the Word Incarnate] was man and His Godhead was concealed there was sent before Him a great man, through whose testimony He might be found to be more than man" ("In Joann. Evang.", 2, 5).
All of the Old Testament was a preparation for the coming of Christ. Thus, the patriarchs and prophets announced, in different ways, the salvation the Messiah would bring. But John the Baptist, the greatest of those born of woman (cf. Mt 11: 11), was actually able to point out the Messiah himself; his testimony marked the culmination of all the previous prophecies.
So important is John the Baptist's mission to bear witness to Jesus Christ that the Synoptic Gospels start their account of the public ministry with John's testimony. The discourses of St Peter and St Paul recorded in the Acts of the Apostles also refer to this testimony (Acts 1:22; 10:37; 12:24). The Fourth Gospel mentions it as many as seven times (1:6, 15, 19, 29, 35; 3:27; 5:33). We know, of course, that St John the Apostle was a disciple of the Baptist before becoming a disciple of Jesus, and that it was precisely the Baptist who showed him the way to Christ (cf. 1 :37ff).
The New Testament, then, shows us the importance of the Baptist's mission, as also his own awareness that he is merely the immediate Precursor of the Messiah, whose sandals he is unworthy to untie (cf. Mk 1:7): the Baptist stresses his role as witness to Christ and his mission as preparer of the way for the Messiah (cf. Lk 1:15-17; Mt 3:3-12). John the Baptist's testimony is undiminished by time: he invites people in every generation to have faith in Jesus, the true Light.
19-34. This passage forms a unity, beginning and ending with reference to the Baptist's "testimony": it thereby emphasizes the mission given him by God to bear witness, by his life and preaching, to Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. The Precursor exhorts people to do penance and he practices the austerity he preaches; he points Jesus out as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; and he proclaims him boldly in the face of the Jewish authorities. He is an example to us of the fortitude with which we should confess Christ: "All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of the word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which the put on in Baptism" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 11).
19-24. In this setting of intense expectation of the imminent coming of the Messiah, the Baptist is a personality with enormous prestige, as is shown by the fact that the Jewish authorities send qualified people (priests and Levites from Jerusalem) to ask him if he is the Messiah.
John's great humility should be noted: he is quick to tell his questioners: "I am not the Christ". He sees himself as someone insignificant compared with our Lord: "I am not worthy to untie the thong of His sandal" (verse 27). He places all his prestige at the service of his mission as precursor of the Messiah and, leaving himself completely to one side, he asserts that "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
25-26. "Baptize": this originally meant to submerge in water, to bathe. For the Jews the rite of immersion meant legal purification of those who had contracted some impurity under the Law. Baptism was also used as a rite for the incorporation of Gentile proselytes into the Jewish people. In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is mention of a baptism as a rite of initiation and purification into the Jewish Qumran community, which existed in our Lord's time.
John's baptism laid marked stress on interior conversion. His words of exhortation and the person's humble recognition of his sins prepared people to receive Christ's grace: it was a very efficacious rite of penance, preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, and it fulfilled the prophecies that spoke precisely of a cleansing by water prior to the coming of the Kingdom of God in the messianic times (cf. Zechariah 13:1; Ezekiel 36:25; 37-23; Jeremiah 4:14). John's baptism, however, had no power to cleanse the soul of sins, as Christian Baptism does (cf. Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:4).
"One whom you do not know": Jesus had not yet publicly revealed Himself as Messiah and Son of God; although some people did know as a man, St. John the Baptist could assert that really they did not know Him.
27. The Baptist declares Christ's importance by comparing himself to a slave undoing the laces of his master's sandals. If we want to approach Christ, whom St. John heralds, we need to imitate the Baptist. As St. Augustine says: "He who imitates the humility of the Precursor will understand these words. [...] John's greatest merit, my brethren, is this act of humility" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 4, 7).
28. This is a reference to the town of Bethany which was situated on the eastern bank of the Jordan, across from Jericho--different from the Bethany where Lazarus and his family lived, near Jerusalem (cf. John 11:18).
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Prologue (Continuation)
[6] There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. [7] He came for testimony to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through Him. [8] He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light.
The Witness of John
[19] And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" [20] He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." [21] And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" And he answered, "No." [22] They said to him then, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" [23] He said, "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,' as the prophet Isaiah said."
[24] Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. [25] They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" [26] John answered, "I baptize with water; but among you stands One whom you do not know, [27] even He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie." [28] This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
*****************
Commentary:
6-8. After considering the divinity of the Lord, the text moves on to deal with His incarnation, and begins by speaking of John the Baptist, who makes his appearance at a precise point in history to bear direct witness before man to Jesus Christ (Jn 1:15, 19-36; 3:22ff). As St Augustine comments: "For as much as He [the Word Incarnate] was man and His Godhead was concealed there was sent before Him a great man, through whose testimony He might be found to be more than man" ("In Joann. Evang.", 2, 5).
All of the Old Testament was a preparation for the coming of Christ. Thus, the patriarchs and prophets announced, in different ways, the salvation the Messiah would bring. But John the Baptist, the greatest of those born of woman (cf. Mt 11: 11), was actually able to point out the Messiah himself; his testimony marked the culmination of all the previous prophecies.
So important is John the Baptist's mission to bear witness to Jesus Christ that the Synoptic Gospels start their account of the public ministry with John's testimony. The discourses of St Peter and St Paul recorded in the Acts of the Apostles also refer to this testimony (Acts 1:22; 10:37; 12:24). The Fourth Gospel mentions it as many as seven times (1:6, 15, 19, 29, 35; 3:27; 5:33). We know, of course, that St John the Apostle was a disciple of the Baptist before becoming a disciple of Jesus, and that it was precisely the Baptist who showed him the way to Christ (cf. 1 :37ff).
The New Testament, then, shows us the importance of the Baptist's mission, as also his own awareness that he is merely the immediate Precursor of the Messiah, whose sandals he is unworthy to untie (cf. Mk 1:7): the Baptist stresses his role as witness to Christ and his mission as preparer of the way for the Messiah (cf. Lk 1:15-17; Mt 3:3-12). John the Baptist's testimony is undiminished by time: he invites people in every generation to have faith in Jesus, the true Light.
19-34. This passage forms a unity, beginning and ending with reference to the Baptist's "testimony": it thereby emphasizes the mission given him by God to bear witness, by his life and preaching, to Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. The Precursor exhorts people to do penance and he practices the austerity he preaches; he points Jesus out as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; and he proclaims him boldly in the face of the Jewish authorities. He is an example to us of the fortitude with which we should confess Christ: "All Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of the word, wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which the put on in Baptism" (Vatican II, "Ad Gentes", 11).
19-24. In this setting of intense expectation of the imminent coming of the Messiah, the Baptist is a personality with enormous prestige, as is shown by the fact that the Jewish authorities send qualified people (priests and Levites from Jerusalem) to ask him if he is the Messiah.
John's great humility should be noted: he is quick to tell his questioners: "I am not the Christ". He sees himself as someone insignificant compared with our Lord: "I am not worthy to untie the thong of His sandal" (verse 27). He places all his prestige at the service of his mission as precursor of the Messiah and, leaving himself completely to one side, he asserts that "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
25-26. "Baptize": this originally meant to submerge in water, to bathe. For the Jews the rite of immersion meant legal purification of those who had contracted some impurity under the Law. Baptism was also used as a rite for the incorporation of Gentile proselytes into the Jewish people. In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is mention of a baptism as a rite of initiation and purification into the Jewish Qumran community, which existed in our Lord's time.
John's baptism laid marked stress on interior conversion. His words of exhortation and the person's humble recognition of his sins prepared people to receive Christ's grace: it was a very efficacious rite of penance, preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah, and it fulfilled the prophecies that spoke precisely of a cleansing by water prior to the coming of the Kingdom of God in the messianic times (cf. Zechariah 13:1; Ezekiel 36:25; 37-23; Jeremiah 4:14). John's baptism, however, had no power to cleanse the soul of sins, as Christian Baptism does (cf. Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:4).
"One whom you do not know": Jesus had not yet publicly revealed Himself as Messiah and Son of God; although some people did know as a man, St. John the Baptist could assert that really they did not know Him.
27. The Baptist declares Christ's importance by comparing himself to a slave undoing the laces of his master's sandals. If we want to approach Christ, whom St. John heralds, we need to imitate the Baptist. As St. Augustine says: "He who imitates the humility of the Precursor will understand these words. [...] John's greatest merit, my brethren, is this act of humility" ("In Ioann. Evang.", 4, 7).
28. This is a reference to the town of Bethany which was situated on the eastern bank of the Jordan, across from Jericho--different from the Bethany where Lazarus and his family lived, near Jerusalem (cf. John 11:18).
*****************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
St John the Baptist-The Third Sunday of Advent
St. John the Baptist
by Fr. H. G Hughes
"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord." St. John 1:23.
SYNOPSIS. I. Advent, season of preparation for the coming of Christ.Wisdom with which we are reminded, in ChurcWs offices, of the three-fold coming of Christ, viz: (1) at Bethlehem, (2) by Grace, (3) at the Last Day. St. Bernard. Thus, Gospel for last Sunday after Pentecost, and first Sunday of Advent: Epistle for the last-named. Last Sunday, "The Root of Jesse." Two-fold object of Church during Advent: To prepare for Christmas, and for the Judgment.
II. Quite in keeping with this, that the Church brings St. John the Baptist before us in to-day's Gospel. We cannot better prepare than by listening to his cry, "Do penance," etc. His preaching fitted to "make straight the way of the Lord" in our hearts. History of the Forerunner:-His birth: Zachary: His Circumcision-The "Benedictus" and its prophecies: Sanctification of St. John at the Visitation. His preparation in the desert; where he learned how to prepare the way of the Lord in the hearts of God's people. His appearance and preaching. All classes come to him: he preaches penance, because the Kingdom of God is at hand. They are baptized: "confessing their sins." Exhortation-have we not need of penance '!
The Pharisees rebuked by the Baptist. Serious warning in this for us Catholics. St. John, in his preaching, points out the plain path of daily duty alld amendment. The Sanhedrin, they send a deputation. Their questions, and the Baptist's answer. "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, etc." Humility and self-abasement; devotion to duty shown by St. John in this answer. The next day: "Behold the Lamb of God."
Conclusion.-Lessons for us. Come to Christ: prepare the way for Him in our hearts. For a long time He has been knocking in vain. The example of the Baptist, as well as his words tell us what to do. Amend daily faults, give up besetting sins: imitate humility of the Baptist; above all "Do penance." Beg for grace from the Holy Child.
Dear brethren in Jesus Christ:
We have now reached the third Sunday of the holy season of Advent, during which the Church calls upon us to direct our thoughts to the" Advent," or coming, of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. With that wisdom which is from on high, which she has by the constant indwelling of the Holy Ghost, she puts before us in her holy offices during this time, everything that can most vividly remind us of that coming. She brings to our mind; not one only, but three comings of our Blessed Lord: His first coming in meekness and lowliness to save us; His present coming by His grace into our hearts to sanctify us; His last great coming in dreadful power and majesty to judge us.
To use the words of St. Bernard: "In the first coming He comes in the flesh, and in weakness; in the second, He comes into our souls in spirit and in power; in the third, He comes in glory and in majesty." "And," adds the saint, "it is by the second that we pass from the first to the third." That is, it is by His dwelling in our souls by sanctifying grace that we are led from our low earthly condition, which He shared with us, sin apart, in His first coming, to a share in the glory and triumph of His final Advent.
You will already have noticed how, even before the beginning of Advent, on the last Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel read in the Holy Mass gave us a terrible description of the last Judgment; while on the first Sunday of this season the same lesson was repeated in the words of another of the Evangelists. In the Epistle for that day the Church cried out to us in the words of St. Paul: "Brethren, the hour is come for us to rise from sleep: the night is passed; the day is at hand: let .us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light." Last Sunday, in the Epistle, we were told of the "Root of Jesse," who should rise up to rule the Gentiles, and in whom the Gentiles should hope; while the Gospel showed us that same Root of Jesse, the Healer of the Nations, Jesus Christ the Just One, going about doing good, and confirming His Divine Mission by appealing, to His Works: "The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to them."
The Church, then, has a twofold object in appointing this time of preparation and penance: she desires to prepare us for two events-for the worthy keeping of the great festival of Christmas, in memory of our Blessed Lord's first coming, and also for a joyful and confident meeting with the same Lord Jesus at His last coming; and this can only be by preparing ourselves to receive Him now, when He graciously condescends to come into our hearts.
It is quite in keeping with this two-fold purpose that the Church brings before us again, in to-day's Gospel, that wonderful saint of whom we read last Sunday; who was chosen by God to be the fore-runner and herald. of His Son at His first coming into this world. For how can we better prepare our hearts to welcome our Divine Saviour at Christmas, than by listening to the words and looking at the deeds of St. John the Baptist, of whom it was written, "Behold, I send my Angel before thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee"? (Mal. 3:1). And how can we, better prepare for the last Advent, "the great and terrible day of the Lord," than by listening to the great preacher of repentance, with his reiterated cry of warning: "Do penance; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
If the preaching and example of the Baptist were fitted to "make straight the way of the Lord" in the hearts of the children of Israel, they are none the less fitted to do the same work in our hearts now. We are the spiritual Israel, the chosen seed, who "through faith inherit the promises" made "to Abraham and his seed for ever"; and, therefore, the inspired message of the Baptist is as much for us as for those who heard him preach in the desert wilds of Judea.
You are familiar, dear brethren, with the wonderful facts that attended the birth of the fore-runner. How that birth was foretold by the Archangel Gabriel: how Zachary, the father of the child, was struck dumb for his want of faith, and remained so till the day of the circumcision of the child. You remember how, his tongue being suddenly loosed, he broke forth into that sublime canticle of praise and prophecy, "Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel." -B1essed be the Lord God of Israel; because He hath visited and wrought the Redemption of His people. And hath raised up a horn of Salvation-that is to say, a mighty and invincible power of Salvation-for us in the house of David, His servant: "Salvation from our enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us."
And having thus spoken of the Redeemer of Israel, he turned to the child before him, and prophesied, as the Holy Ghost inspired him, his glorious future: "And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for thou shalt go before the Face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of Salvation to His people, for the remission of their sins" (Luke 1, 76-77).
We know how this child of promise was sanctified in his mother's womb by the approach of God Incarnate hidden within His Virginal shrine; and how he kept unsullied through life the grace then bestowed upon him. "And the child grew up," writes St. Luke, "and was strengthened in spirit, and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel" This was his preparation for the work he had to do: "He was in the deserts." Although, coming of a priestly family, he might have assumed the dignity of the priestly office, yet, in obedience to the call of God, he went apart from men, into the wild and rugged hill-country that stretches southward from Jerusalem, and eastward to the desolate shores of the Dead Sea, stricken and blasted by the awful judgment that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah. There, dwelling in caves and holes of the earth, giving up utterly all the luxuries and conveniences, and what other men would have called the necessaries of life, he lived, as St. Matthew tells us, on locusts and wild honey, and clothed himself in a rough garment of camel's hair, with a leathern girdle about his waist.
Here, in the wilderness, in lonely communing with God, he learned the lesson he had to teach, and practiced, in a most exalted degree, the penance he was to preach to others. Here, too, he doubtless pondered upon the sayings of the prophets, which foretold his own coming and work, and especially upon those words of Isaias, which he afterward applied to himself: "The voice of one crying in the desert: prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted; and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see that the mouth. of the Lord hath spoken" (Isaias 11). Living in this wilderness of high hills and steep boulders, broken by rugged and precipitous gorges, with rough and narrow paths winding their dangerous way among the rocks, these words of Isaias must have been brought home to his soul by the scenes he saw around him.
Among these scenes he meditated on the mission God had given him, and gained strength by prayer and fasting for the work he was to do; to bring down the high hills of pride in the souls of men; to fill up the deep and miry valleys of sensuality and sloth, and to prepare in human hearts by word and by example a straight and even pathway for their Lord.
When his time of preparation was completed, the Baptist suddenly came forth from his retreat. He came at a time very favorable for his purpose, for it was the Sabbatical year, a year of rest which the Jews kept once in every seven. During this year the land was allowed to lie fallow, and the fruits which it bore of itself were given up to the stranger and the poor. All debts were forgiven, and all slaves set free. Everyone therefore was at liberty to follow the Baptist and listen to his preaching. His coming produced at once a remarkable effect. All eyes were turned to that thin, rough-clad figure, whose appearance reminded them so strongly of the great Elias who had been caught up to heaven in a chariot of fire from those same fields on the Jordan's banks. All hearts were moved by the holiness and penance which shone out from every feature of the saint. Nor must it be forgotten that God's grace was powerfully and abundantly poured out at that season upon men's hearts, at it always is when He has some special message to deliver to us, or some special call to make upon us, so that we may be helped to answer to His call, and to do our part.
So then, there came to St. John people of all classes from the surrounding districts, flocking to see and hear, as the news of the great prophet who had arisen spread far and wide over the land. From both sides of the Jordan, near to which the Baptist always stayed to perform his baptisms, they came in eager crowds, "from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from all the country about Jordan," says the Evangelist, "and they were baptized by him in Jordan, confessing their sins."
And all the time, the text of his preaching was very simple: he preached two things; the need of penance, and the near approach of the Kingdom of God: "Do penance, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."
Can we afford, dear brethren, to set aside these words? Have we not all need of penance? Is not the Kingdom of Heaven near at hand for us? The longest life comes to an end, and death, whenever it comes, always seems sudden at the last.
Multitudes, especially of the poor and needy, came to St. John, and submitted to his baptism in Jordan, and were cleansed by true inward contrition from the sins which that Baptism had no power in itself to wash away. And they gave good proof of heartfelt sorrow by humbly confessing the sins of their past lives. Among the rest, not to be outdone by the vulgar crowd in any outward religious observances, came certain Pharisees; only to be met by the terrible denunciation: "You brood of vipers, who hath showed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance, and think not to say within yourselves 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I tell you, God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham: for now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that yielded not good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into the fire." We, dear brethren, must take care that we merit not this severe rebuke. Let us not say to ourselves, "We have Abraham for our father," or rather, "We have the Church for our mother, and all will be well with us," thinking ourselves to be safe without taking trouble, by the observance of certain outward formalities - going to our duties now and then just to keep within the law; receiving the Sacraments occasionally in a formal way, reciting our prayers without care or attention, and all the time living a life unworthy of our profession as children of the Church; for God can raise up other children to the Church from the very stones; that is, He is able to bring in others from the ranks of heresy and schism to take our place and to take our crown if we prove unworthy of it.
I may not stay, dear brethren, to dwell at length upon the preaching of the Baptist; to show you how, in answer to the anxious cry of the multitude seeking the way of Salvation, he pointed out the plain and straight forward path of daily duty; bidding them amend what was amiss in their daily lives. We must go on to consider the incident related in the Gospel of to-day.
At this period of Jewish history, there still sat at Jerusalem that great national and religious council known as the Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy-one members, chosen from the priests, the scribes, and the Ancients, or elders of the people. Their Roman masters allowed to this council a certain remnant of their original power and authority; and, among other things, one of their most important offices was to approve and sanction all religious movements within the Jewish Church. The members of this supreme council were for a time indifferent to the preaching of the Baptist. But when the news reached them that this rough, ignorant preacher, as they thought him, had pointed out One to the crowds that followed him, and had declared "This is He of whom I spoke: He that comes after me is preferred before me," the council began to think that perhaps St. John might have some connection with the Saviour of the People for whom all were looking at that time. They heard, too, that many took John to be the Messiah himself already come. To clear up this doubt, and to find out for certain who this man was that preached and baptized without reference to their authority, they sent some of their members to him, to demand an account of himself and his doings. "Who are you?" asked the messengers. St. John knew that it was in their minds that he might be the Christ, and he had already been called upon to deny this. Therefore, "He confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed, I am not the Christ." They asked again, "Art thou Elias?" Again he answered, "No." "Are you the Prophet?" they then asked, thinking of the great prophet one day to be raised up according to the promise of Moses: "The Lord thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: Him shall thou hear." And the Baptist answered also to this question, "No."
"Who are you then, that we may give an answer to the council, whose messengers we are? What account have you to give of yourself ?"
“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord."
What self-abasement, my brethren; what unselfishness. What entire devotion to the one duty of his life! He does not think of his own advancement, nor of claiming any credit. He does not take into account the wonderful graces bestowed upon him from the beginning of his existence. He knows, and he acknowledges, that he has but to prepare the way for One mightier than he, that he is only the Bridegroom's friend, not the Bridegroom Himself; that he, the fore-runner, must now begin to decrease, while that Great One whom he came to announce, must increase. He is only the humble slave running before the great King to prepare the way for Him. And so he calls himself a "voice" - the sound of a cry, that fades upon the air as soon as it is uttered.
Then they ask him of his Baptism, and by what authority he baptizes, since he is neither the Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet. "I baptize with water," he replies, "but there hath already stood among you One Whom you knew not. The same is He that shall come after me, Who is preferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am unworthy to unloose." And, on the next day, the Saviour Himself, coming from His fasting and temptation in the wilderness, arrived at the place where St. John was, Whom, when he saw ;Him, he pointed out to all, crying, "Behold the Lamb of God: behold Him Who takes away the sins of the world."
Brethren, let us fulfill the Baptist's bidding. That is, let us turn with all our hearts to Him Who takes away the sins of the world; and is ready and willing to take away our sins also. Let us prepare in our hearts a way for our Lord Jesus Christ, and make His paths straight. Is it not true that for a long time He has been knocking at the door of our hearts, and we have not opened to Him? Is it not true that our pride, our self-love, our sensuality and sloth still set up barriers which hinder Him from entering our hearts and working within them the work of grace which His loving Heart desires? St. John the Baptist points the way; and, as we have seen, he preaches even more forcibly by his example than by his words. We know what we ought to do. The fore-runner speaks as plainly to us as he did to the Jews of old.
Amend those daily faults; give up those besetting sins; carry out those good resolutions, so often made, so seldom put into action. Give up that amusement or that enjoyment, which sensuality would say is harmless, but which conscience knows to be wrong, or which, at least, has often led to sin. Imitate the grand humility of the Baptist; above all listen to the burden of his message, "Do penance: for the Kingdom of God is at hand." If we have hitherto been negligent of the lessons of this season of preparation and penance, we have still some time left before Christmas comes; and we must at once earnestly beg of the Infant Saviour grace to do those things necessary to prepare our hearts for His coming.
So the blessed feast of His Nativity will not find us wanting; and the way will be open within us for those floods of grace which He will pour down upon us at that holy time. So, too, His Second Advent will not find us wanting, and while the wicked are withering away for fear in that day, we shall look up with joy, and shall lift up our heads, because our Redemption is at hand.
________________________________
From Plain Sermons by Practical Preachers (1916)
by Fr. H. G Hughes
"I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord." St. John 1:23.
SYNOPSIS. I. Advent, season of preparation for the coming of Christ.Wisdom with which we are reminded, in ChurcWs offices, of the three-fold coming of Christ, viz: (1) at Bethlehem, (2) by Grace, (3) at the Last Day. St. Bernard. Thus, Gospel for last Sunday after Pentecost, and first Sunday of Advent: Epistle for the last-named. Last Sunday, "The Root of Jesse." Two-fold object of Church during Advent: To prepare for Christmas, and for the Judgment.
II. Quite in keeping with this, that the Church brings St. John the Baptist before us in to-day's Gospel. We cannot better prepare than by listening to his cry, "Do penance," etc. His preaching fitted to "make straight the way of the Lord" in our hearts. History of the Forerunner:-His birth: Zachary: His Circumcision-The "Benedictus" and its prophecies: Sanctification of St. John at the Visitation. His preparation in the desert; where he learned how to prepare the way of the Lord in the hearts of God's people. His appearance and preaching. All classes come to him: he preaches penance, because the Kingdom of God is at hand. They are baptized: "confessing their sins." Exhortation-have we not need of penance '!
The Pharisees rebuked by the Baptist. Serious warning in this for us Catholics. St. John, in his preaching, points out the plain path of daily duty alld amendment. The Sanhedrin, they send a deputation. Their questions, and the Baptist's answer. "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, etc." Humility and self-abasement; devotion to duty shown by St. John in this answer. The next day: "Behold the Lamb of God."
Conclusion.-Lessons for us. Come to Christ: prepare the way for Him in our hearts. For a long time He has been knocking in vain. The example of the Baptist, as well as his words tell us what to do. Amend daily faults, give up besetting sins: imitate humility of the Baptist; above all "Do penance." Beg for grace from the Holy Child.
Dear brethren in Jesus Christ:
We have now reached the third Sunday of the holy season of Advent, during which the Church calls upon us to direct our thoughts to the" Advent," or coming, of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. With that wisdom which is from on high, which she has by the constant indwelling of the Holy Ghost, she puts before us in her holy offices during this time, everything that can most vividly remind us of that coming. She brings to our mind; not one only, but three comings of our Blessed Lord: His first coming in meekness and lowliness to save us; His present coming by His grace into our hearts to sanctify us; His last great coming in dreadful power and majesty to judge us.
To use the words of St. Bernard: "In the first coming He comes in the flesh, and in weakness; in the second, He comes into our souls in spirit and in power; in the third, He comes in glory and in majesty." "And," adds the saint, "it is by the second that we pass from the first to the third." That is, it is by His dwelling in our souls by sanctifying grace that we are led from our low earthly condition, which He shared with us, sin apart, in His first coming, to a share in the glory and triumph of His final Advent.
You will already have noticed how, even before the beginning of Advent, on the last Sunday after Pentecost, the Gospel read in the Holy Mass gave us a terrible description of the last Judgment; while on the first Sunday of this season the same lesson was repeated in the words of another of the Evangelists. In the Epistle for that day the Church cried out to us in the words of St. Paul: "Brethren, the hour is come for us to rise from sleep: the night is passed; the day is at hand: let .us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light." Last Sunday, in the Epistle, we were told of the "Root of Jesse," who should rise up to rule the Gentiles, and in whom the Gentiles should hope; while the Gospel showed us that same Root of Jesse, the Healer of the Nations, Jesus Christ the Just One, going about doing good, and confirming His Divine Mission by appealing, to His Works: "The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the Gospel preached to them."
The Church, then, has a twofold object in appointing this time of preparation and penance: she desires to prepare us for two events-for the worthy keeping of the great festival of Christmas, in memory of our Blessed Lord's first coming, and also for a joyful and confident meeting with the same Lord Jesus at His last coming; and this can only be by preparing ourselves to receive Him now, when He graciously condescends to come into our hearts.
It is quite in keeping with this two-fold purpose that the Church brings before us again, in to-day's Gospel, that wonderful saint of whom we read last Sunday; who was chosen by God to be the fore-runner and herald. of His Son at His first coming into this world. For how can we better prepare our hearts to welcome our Divine Saviour at Christmas, than by listening to the words and looking at the deeds of St. John the Baptist, of whom it was written, "Behold, I send my Angel before thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee"? (Mal. 3:1). And how can we, better prepare for the last Advent, "the great and terrible day of the Lord," than by listening to the great preacher of repentance, with his reiterated cry of warning: "Do penance; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."
If the preaching and example of the Baptist were fitted to "make straight the way of the Lord" in the hearts of the children of Israel, they are none the less fitted to do the same work in our hearts now. We are the spiritual Israel, the chosen seed, who "through faith inherit the promises" made "to Abraham and his seed for ever"; and, therefore, the inspired message of the Baptist is as much for us as for those who heard him preach in the desert wilds of Judea.
You are familiar, dear brethren, with the wonderful facts that attended the birth of the fore-runner. How that birth was foretold by the Archangel Gabriel: how Zachary, the father of the child, was struck dumb for his want of faith, and remained so till the day of the circumcision of the child. You remember how, his tongue being suddenly loosed, he broke forth into that sublime canticle of praise and prophecy, "Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel." -B1essed be the Lord God of Israel; because He hath visited and wrought the Redemption of His people. And hath raised up a horn of Salvation-that is to say, a mighty and invincible power of Salvation-for us in the house of David, His servant: "Salvation from our enemies, and from the hands of all that hate us."
And having thus spoken of the Redeemer of Israel, he turned to the child before him, and prophesied, as the Holy Ghost inspired him, his glorious future: "And thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for thou shalt go before the Face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of Salvation to His people, for the remission of their sins" (Luke 1, 76-77).
We know how this child of promise was sanctified in his mother's womb by the approach of God Incarnate hidden within His Virginal shrine; and how he kept unsullied through life the grace then bestowed upon him. "And the child grew up," writes St. Luke, "and was strengthened in spirit, and was in the deserts until the day of his manifestation to Israel" This was his preparation for the work he had to do: "He was in the deserts." Although, coming of a priestly family, he might have assumed the dignity of the priestly office, yet, in obedience to the call of God, he went apart from men, into the wild and rugged hill-country that stretches southward from Jerusalem, and eastward to the desolate shores of the Dead Sea, stricken and blasted by the awful judgment that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah. There, dwelling in caves and holes of the earth, giving up utterly all the luxuries and conveniences, and what other men would have called the necessaries of life, he lived, as St. Matthew tells us, on locusts and wild honey, and clothed himself in a rough garment of camel's hair, with a leathern girdle about his waist.
Here, in the wilderness, in lonely communing with God, he learned the lesson he had to teach, and practiced, in a most exalted degree, the penance he was to preach to others. Here, too, he doubtless pondered upon the sayings of the prophets, which foretold his own coming and work, and especially upon those words of Isaias, which he afterward applied to himself: "The voice of one crying in the desert: prepare ye the way of the Lord: make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. Every valley shall be exalted; and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see that the mouth. of the Lord hath spoken" (Isaias 11). Living in this wilderness of high hills and steep boulders, broken by rugged and precipitous gorges, with rough and narrow paths winding their dangerous way among the rocks, these words of Isaias must have been brought home to his soul by the scenes he saw around him.
Among these scenes he meditated on the mission God had given him, and gained strength by prayer and fasting for the work he was to do; to bring down the high hills of pride in the souls of men; to fill up the deep and miry valleys of sensuality and sloth, and to prepare in human hearts by word and by example a straight and even pathway for their Lord.
When his time of preparation was completed, the Baptist suddenly came forth from his retreat. He came at a time very favorable for his purpose, for it was the Sabbatical year, a year of rest which the Jews kept once in every seven. During this year the land was allowed to lie fallow, and the fruits which it bore of itself were given up to the stranger and the poor. All debts were forgiven, and all slaves set free. Everyone therefore was at liberty to follow the Baptist and listen to his preaching. His coming produced at once a remarkable effect. All eyes were turned to that thin, rough-clad figure, whose appearance reminded them so strongly of the great Elias who had been caught up to heaven in a chariot of fire from those same fields on the Jordan's banks. All hearts were moved by the holiness and penance which shone out from every feature of the saint. Nor must it be forgotten that God's grace was powerfully and abundantly poured out at that season upon men's hearts, at it always is when He has some special message to deliver to us, or some special call to make upon us, so that we may be helped to answer to His call, and to do our part.
So then, there came to St. John people of all classes from the surrounding districts, flocking to see and hear, as the news of the great prophet who had arisen spread far and wide over the land. From both sides of the Jordan, near to which the Baptist always stayed to perform his baptisms, they came in eager crowds, "from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from all the country about Jordan," says the Evangelist, "and they were baptized by him in Jordan, confessing their sins."
And all the time, the text of his preaching was very simple: he preached two things; the need of penance, and the near approach of the Kingdom of God: "Do penance, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."
Can we afford, dear brethren, to set aside these words? Have we not all need of penance? Is not the Kingdom of Heaven near at hand for us? The longest life comes to an end, and death, whenever it comes, always seems sudden at the last.
Multitudes, especially of the poor and needy, came to St. John, and submitted to his baptism in Jordan, and were cleansed by true inward contrition from the sins which that Baptism had no power in itself to wash away. And they gave good proof of heartfelt sorrow by humbly confessing the sins of their past lives. Among the rest, not to be outdone by the vulgar crowd in any outward religious observances, came certain Pharisees; only to be met by the terrible denunciation: "You brood of vipers, who hath showed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruit worthy of penance, and think not to say within yourselves 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I tell you, God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham: for now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that yielded not good fruit, shall be cut down and cast into the fire." We, dear brethren, must take care that we merit not this severe rebuke. Let us not say to ourselves, "We have Abraham for our father," or rather, "We have the Church for our mother, and all will be well with us," thinking ourselves to be safe without taking trouble, by the observance of certain outward formalities - going to our duties now and then just to keep within the law; receiving the Sacraments occasionally in a formal way, reciting our prayers without care or attention, and all the time living a life unworthy of our profession as children of the Church; for God can raise up other children to the Church from the very stones; that is, He is able to bring in others from the ranks of heresy and schism to take our place and to take our crown if we prove unworthy of it.
I may not stay, dear brethren, to dwell at length upon the preaching of the Baptist; to show you how, in answer to the anxious cry of the multitude seeking the way of Salvation, he pointed out the plain and straight forward path of daily duty; bidding them amend what was amiss in their daily lives. We must go on to consider the incident related in the Gospel of to-day.
At this period of Jewish history, there still sat at Jerusalem that great national and religious council known as the Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy-one members, chosen from the priests, the scribes, and the Ancients, or elders of the people. Their Roman masters allowed to this council a certain remnant of their original power and authority; and, among other things, one of their most important offices was to approve and sanction all religious movements within the Jewish Church. The members of this supreme council were for a time indifferent to the preaching of the Baptist. But when the news reached them that this rough, ignorant preacher, as they thought him, had pointed out One to the crowds that followed him, and had declared "This is He of whom I spoke: He that comes after me is preferred before me," the council began to think that perhaps St. John might have some connection with the Saviour of the People for whom all were looking at that time. They heard, too, that many took John to be the Messiah himself already come. To clear up this doubt, and to find out for certain who this man was that preached and baptized without reference to their authority, they sent some of their members to him, to demand an account of himself and his doings. "Who are you?" asked the messengers. St. John knew that it was in their minds that he might be the Christ, and he had already been called upon to deny this. Therefore, "He confessed, and did not deny; and he confessed, I am not the Christ." They asked again, "Art thou Elias?" Again he answered, "No." "Are you the Prophet?" they then asked, thinking of the great prophet one day to be raised up according to the promise of Moses: "The Lord thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren like unto me: Him shall thou hear." And the Baptist answered also to this question, "No."
"Who are you then, that we may give an answer to the council, whose messengers we are? What account have you to give of yourself ?"
“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness; make straight the way of the Lord."
What self-abasement, my brethren; what unselfishness. What entire devotion to the one duty of his life! He does not think of his own advancement, nor of claiming any credit. He does not take into account the wonderful graces bestowed upon him from the beginning of his existence. He knows, and he acknowledges, that he has but to prepare the way for One mightier than he, that he is only the Bridegroom's friend, not the Bridegroom Himself; that he, the fore-runner, must now begin to decrease, while that Great One whom he came to announce, must increase. He is only the humble slave running before the great King to prepare the way for Him. And so he calls himself a "voice" - the sound of a cry, that fades upon the air as soon as it is uttered.
Then they ask him of his Baptism, and by what authority he baptizes, since he is neither the Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet. "I baptize with water," he replies, "but there hath already stood among you One Whom you knew not. The same is He that shall come after me, Who is preferred before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am unworthy to unloose." And, on the next day, the Saviour Himself, coming from His fasting and temptation in the wilderness, arrived at the place where St. John was, Whom, when he saw ;Him, he pointed out to all, crying, "Behold the Lamb of God: behold Him Who takes away the sins of the world."
Brethren, let us fulfill the Baptist's bidding. That is, let us turn with all our hearts to Him Who takes away the sins of the world; and is ready and willing to take away our sins also. Let us prepare in our hearts a way for our Lord Jesus Christ, and make His paths straight. Is it not true that for a long time He has been knocking at the door of our hearts, and we have not opened to Him? Is it not true that our pride, our self-love, our sensuality and sloth still set up barriers which hinder Him from entering our hearts and working within them the work of grace which His loving Heart desires? St. John the Baptist points the way; and, as we have seen, he preaches even more forcibly by his example than by his words. We know what we ought to do. The fore-runner speaks as plainly to us as he did to the Jews of old.
Amend those daily faults; give up those besetting sins; carry out those good resolutions, so often made, so seldom put into action. Give up that amusement or that enjoyment, which sensuality would say is harmless, but which conscience knows to be wrong, or which, at least, has often led to sin. Imitate the grand humility of the Baptist; above all listen to the burden of his message, "Do penance: for the Kingdom of God is at hand." If we have hitherto been negligent of the lessons of this season of preparation and penance, we have still some time left before Christmas comes; and we must at once earnestly beg of the Infant Saviour grace to do those things necessary to prepare our hearts for His coming.
So the blessed feast of His Nativity will not find us wanting; and the way will be open within us for those floods of grace which He will pour down upon us at that holy time. So, too, His Second Advent will not find us wanting, and while the wicked are withering away for fear in that day, we shall look up with joy, and shall lift up our heads, because our Redemption is at hand.
________________________________
From Plain Sermons by Practical Preachers (1916)
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Bishop Doran: New instruction really does set limits
Bishop Doran's entire article is reproduced here...I'm not certain that there is an archive available via the web:
The Catholic News Service News Briefs as I write this have the headline, “Bishops Debate Whether Vatican Document is Total Ban On Gays.”
It seems to me that the whole of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church has suffered an attack of dyslexia. See what you think.
In an Instruction Concerning The Criteria For The Discernment Of Vocations With Regard To Persons With Homosexual Tendencies In View Of Their Admission To The Seminary And To Holy Orders, issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education on Nov. 4, 2005, having received the approval of our Most Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI on Aug. 31, 2005, states as follows:
From the time of the Second Vatican Council until today, various documents of the Magisterium, and especially the Catechism of the Catholic Church, have confirmed the teaching of the Church on homosexuality. The Catechism distinguishes between homosexual acts and homosexual tendencies.
Regarding acts, it teaches that Sacred Scripture presents them as grave sins. The Tradition has constantly considered them as intrinsically immoral and contrary to the natural law. Consequently, under no circumstances can they be approved.
Deep-seated homosexual tendencies, which are found in a number of men and women, are also objectively disordered and, for those same people, often constitute a trial. Such persons must be accepted with respect and sensitivity.
Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. They are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter.
In the light of such teaching, this dicastery, in accord with the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, believes it necessary to state clearly that the Church, while profoundly respecting the persons in question, cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called “gay culture”.
Such persons, in fact, find themselves in a situation that gravely hinders them from relating correctly to men and women. One must in no way overlook the negative consequences that can derive from the ordination of persons with deep-seated homosexual tendencies.
Different, however, would be the case in which one were dealing with homosexual tendencies that were only the expression of a transitory problem — for example, that of an adolescence not yet superseded. Nevertheless, such tendencies must be clearly overcome at least three years before ordination to the diaconate.
My reading of the above material is this. As a bishop of the Church I cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who (a) practice homosexuality, (b) present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or (c) support the so-called gay culture. In this it seems that the Holy See is most wise. A candidate who clearly falls into one or more of those three categories cannot be admitted to the seminary or advanced to the priesthood. In order to make these determinations, those charged with the admission of candidates to the seminary and to holy orders must use all of the resources at their disposal to examine each prospective candidate individually and to make a determination based upon the information legitimately obtained. The Code of Canon Law, can.1052 §3, states that if “the bishop doubts for specific reasons that a candidate is suitable to receive Orders he is not to promote him.”
I take up so much time and space on this issue because all of this has been so horribly mutilated in both the secular and religious press. It is important for each devout Catholic to be sure of what has been required by the Holy See before forming an opinion about it. In our devolving society, evermore dedicated to an oppressive moral relativism, the setting of any limits is regarded as intrinsically unjust.
But this age will pass as other hedonist ages have. What must remain constant is the teaching of the Church which, left in the hands of the apostles and their successors by our Lord himself, has always taken seriously its duty to lay hands not lightly on any man so as to be sure that those called to the priesthood are, insofar as it is possible for humankind to determine, apt for bearing the responsibilities they are asked to discharge. All of these things give us added reason to pray for seminarians and priests; first, so that God will call them in sufficient number to do His work, and then that these candidates may show themselves equal to the high calling to which they aspire.
Above all we should place these causes in the hands of the Blessed Mother whose great feast we have just celebrated that she, as Queen of the Clergy, will guide seminarians and priests to the fulfillment of their duties with that fidelity with which they themselves wish to carry out the sacred offices of the priesthood.
Gospel for Saturday, 2nd Week of Advent
From: Matthew 17:9a, 10-13
The Transfiguration (Continuation)
[9] And as they were coming down the mountains, [10] (And) the disciples asked Him (Jesus), "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come?" [11] He replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; [12] but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will suffer at their hands." [13] Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
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Commentary:
10-13. Malachi 4:5 (3:23 in the Hebrew) speaks of the coming of Elijah the prophet before "the great and terrible day of the Lord", the Judgment Day. When Jesus says that Elijah has already come, He is referring to St. John the Baptist, whose mission it was to prepare the way for the First Coming of the Lord, the same as Elijah will have to do prior to His last coming. The scribes failed to grasp the meaning of the prophecy of Malachi; they thought it referred simply to the coming of the Messiah, the First Coming of Christ.
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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
The Transfiguration (Continuation)
[9] And as they were coming down the mountains, [10] (And) the disciples asked Him (Jesus), "Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come?" [11] He replied, "Elijah does come, and he is to restore all things; [12] but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will suffer at their hands." [13] Then the disciples understood that He was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
**************
Commentary:
10-13. Malachi 4:5 (3:23 in the Hebrew) speaks of the coming of Elijah the prophet before "the great and terrible day of the Lord", the Judgment Day. When Jesus says that Elijah has already come, He is referring to St. John the Baptist, whose mission it was to prepare the way for the First Coming of the Lord, the same as Elijah will have to do prior to His last coming. The scribes failed to grasp the meaning of the prophecy of Malachi; they thought it referred simply to the coming of the Messiah, the First Coming of Christ.
**************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Friday, December 09, 2005
First Ever Face Transplant - Face Came from Live Donor
AMIENS, France, December 9, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Much controversy has been made over the first-ever face transplant surgery conducted in France on a 38-year-old woman Isabelle Dinoire who was attacked by a dog. Covered by the media in recent days, the surgery was performed November 26-27 in a hospital in Amiens. The controversy has revolved around two aspects of the operation and totally ignored a third - and the most disturbing of the controversies surrounding the operation.Words cannot express the sickening and repulsive feeling I have from reading about this sordid, morbid, and evil act.
Ethicists and experts the world over have been discussing the need of the transplant recipient to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life and of the psychological consequences of having a different face. Ignored however has been the fact that the face, in order to be transplanted had to come from a live donor - heart beating and still breathing.
LifeSiteNews story here
Two Thumbs Up for "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"
We saw it this evening and I thought it was very well done...Here is a review which is quite on track with my own thoughts about the movie...
See it if you get the chance!
See it if you get the chance!
Holiday Songs....Courtesy of the Catholic League
In keeping with the spirit of political correctness, the Catholic League recommends the adoption of the following songs at Holidaytime:Should one who, if in a store, hears a song with the word "Christmas" in it, then complain to management and tell them that one is offended? Perhaps. Certainly it would be difficult trying to select that perfect "holiday" tree and "holiday" lights while being subjected to music that contains that 'awful' word...
“I’m Dreaming of a White Holiday”;
“O Holiday Tree”;
“All I Want for The Holiday Is My Two Front Teeth;
“We Wish You a Merry Holiday”;
“The Twelve Days of the Holiday”;
“The Holiday Song”;
“Rockin’ Around The Holiday Tree”;
“You’re All I Want For The Holiday”;
“Baby’s First Holiday”;
“Do They Know It’s The Holiday”;
“Merry Holiday Darling”;
“I’ll Be Home For The Holiday”;
“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like The Holiday”;
“Blue Holiday”;
“The Holiday Waltz”;
“Holly Jolly Holiday”;
“So This Is The Holiday”;
“Merry, Merry Holiday Baby”;
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Holiday”;
“Twas the Night Before The Holiday”;
“Holiday Serenade”;
“Feliz Vacaciones.”
Pity those poor people of societies of yesteryear who were not as enlightened as we are today...
Well, I have to go - I'm being called to help with some "holiday" cookies...Merry "Holidays"!!!
Our Blessed Mother Mary Defiled on South Park
From yesterday's Release
This is a report of an extremely offensive show...These people chose to insult Our Blessed Mother on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and on the Holy Day itself.
Link is here
Catholic League president Bill Donohue remarked today about last night’s episode of “South Park” (it will run again for the next three nights)...CAUTION...The program is titled “Bloody Mary."
This is a report of an extremely offensive show...These people chose to insult Our Blessed Mother on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and on the Holy Day itself.
Link is here
Dr. James Hitchcock: New Instructions from Vatican Are Welcome
Contrasted with the banshee-like cries of some and the wailing and gnashing of teeth of others, there are still many voices of reason and rational thinking:
Anyway continued here.
New instructions from the Holy See concerning homosexuals in the priesthood have been dismissed by some people as irrelevant ("they change nothing") and criticized by others as repressive. I think that, if implemented, they will have a greatly beneficial effect.It's probably coming sooner than we expect...
The obvious starting point, which many of the critics do not acknowledge, is the simple fact that the Church has always taught that homosexual activity is a sinful disorder and that no one can legitimately engage in it. Many homosexuals openly reject that teaching and live in defiance of it. The only thing they want from the Church is a stamp of approval, a kind of official apology. The dominant homosexual ideology rejects all attempts to distinguish homosexual orientation from homosexual activity, on the grounds that to suppress such activity would be unnatural, perhaps even impossible.
Homosexuals point out that all priests, indeed all unmarried persons, must be celibate, but there is a difference. Heterosexual priests give up something that the Church holds to be a tremendous good — marriage — in order to live entirely for the kingdom of heaven, whereas homosexuals give up something intrinsically disordered. Priests can be granted permission to marry, but no one can be granted permission to live an active homosexual life.
Homosexuals do have gifts to bring to the priesthood, but their sexual orientation is not one of them and is in fact an obstacle to overcome, as all of us have to fight against our temptations. It would be quite bizarre if an avaricious priest boasted that his greed was a "gift" that he brought to his ministry. Homosexuality is perhaps the only sin whose practitioners are organized and boast publicly of their activity. Imagine, for example, a group demanding moral acceptance for adulterers or embezzlers.
Anyway continued here.
Voice of the UNFaithful to Protest Vatican Instruction on Homosexual
So, you might ask, what else is new?...But I must ask, why do all those who wish to be diobedient insist on always having "candlelight vigils"? I recall that the St. Stanislaus dissidents had one in the middle of the day, and the "Holy Families" group from "Catholic Action Network" periodically protests at the Cathedral...It's enough to make me want to stay away from "candlelight vigils" since it seems that every dissident, rebellious, disobedient "Catholic" group in existence must have one at some time or another.
An organization of lay Catholics will hold a candlelight vigil Sunday at Bishop George W. Coleman's office to protest the Vatican's near-ban on homosexual seminarians.More fun here.
The local Voice of the Faithful group, which has been prohibited from meeting in Fall River Diocese facilities, expects about 25 people to attend, said George Lee, a parishioner at St. Patrick's in Somerset and a Voice member.
Its participants are not worried about getting in trouble with the Fall River bishop, he said.
Polish Priest’s Action Saddens his Bishop
A priest of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, in disobedience to his bishop, has been hired by the board of directors of the civil corporation of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in North St. Louis.Archbishop Burke reminds Catholics, especially those considering attending Mass at St. Stanislaus "that to participate knowingly and willingly in the celebration of the Mass by a suspended priest is gravely sinful."
. . .
"Father [Marek] Bozek’s action saddens me greatly," Bishop [John] Leibrecht wrote in a letter to parishioners at St. Agnes Cathedral. He noted that Father Bozek has been suspended from priestly ministry.
As a suspended priest, Father Bozek’s celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist would be considered valid, but also illicit. . .But if a priest acts out of communion with his bishop, that means the sacrament is illicit. The illegal action is considered a mortal sin. . .So what "spiritual" needs does this priest think he is able to provide, besides leading all of them away from Christ and His Church? If particpation in illicit acts are mortal sins and if the "unfaithful" cannot validly marry or receive absolution in the Sacrament of Penance, what, exactly, is he to do?
Other sacraments, including marriage and reconciliation would be considered invalid. According to canon law, the priest does not have the faculties from his bishop to validly assist at marriages and give absolution in confession.
And in an apparent display of utter confusion and a loss of words,
Roger Krasnicki, a board spokesman for St. Stanislaus, declined to comment for this story.All emphasis above is mine.
From the "Restricted Access" St. Louis Review here.
Wisconsin Elementary School Changes "Silent Night" to "Cold in the Night" While Decorating For A Christmas Witch!
Redefining words, meanings, and symbols at will - this is one of the surest ways to reshape a culture. We now have, not only freedom OF religion, but we are witnessing a deadly trend toward freedom FROM religion - and that religion is, (dare I say it?) Christianity.
It seems that I daily shake my head in disbelief and shock as I read about some of the happenings in various parts of this country - a country which once possessed a strong Christian foundation and ethic.
We are in a war - a culture war - a war for life against those who promote death. And since unborn children are now viewed as legally disposable for whatever specious reason one can imagine, so also it everything good and wholesome. It follows that when the vices take hold of a people, their self-made slavery demands that all virtues and all that is good be aborted as well - never to be born in the hearts and minds of others, especially any children to happen to survive the murderous intents of the wicked and become actual 'persons'.
But I digress...Here is what was in my inbox recently. I am thankful that I am not a parent with children at one of these 'institutions':
It seems that I daily shake my head in disbelief and shock as I read about some of the happenings in various parts of this country - a country which once possessed a strong Christian foundation and ethic.
We are in a war - a culture war - a war for life against those who promote death. And since unborn children are now viewed as legally disposable for whatever specious reason one can imagine, so also it everything good and wholesome. It follows that when the vices take hold of a people, their self-made slavery demands that all virtues and all that is good be aborted as well - never to be born in the hearts and minds of others, especially any children to happen to survive the murderous intents of the wicked and become actual 'persons'.
But I digress...Here is what was in my inbox recently. I am thankful that I am not a parent with children at one of these 'institutions':
In Dodgeville, Wisconsin, Ridgeway Elementary School's "winter program" has changed the name of "Silent Night" to "Cold in the Night." Sung to the tune of "Silent Night," the lyrics include: "Cold in the night, no one in sight, winter winds whirl and bite, how I wish I were happy and warm, safe with my family out of the storm."
The "winter program" included decorating classrooms with Santa Claus, Kwanza symbols, Menorahs, and Labafana--a Christmas witch!
Also in Wisconsin, the Glendale-River Hills School District has banned every Christmas song which has any Christian "motive or theme." But while banning Christian Christmas songs, the district permits secular holiday songs as well as songs celebrating Hanukkah. In defending this policy, Frances Smith, the district administrator, says that the Hanukkah songs are more cultural than spiritual.
What these schools are doing to our children is not educating, but indoctrinating! And they are using Christmas as an excuse. Following the lead of the National Educational Association, Wisconsin educational leaders preach tolerance and diversity while being highly intolerant! Most of the residents of Wisconsin are tolerant, but not their educational leaders.
Banning nativity scenes. Banning Christmas songs in school. Banning Christmas in advertising. Calling a Christmas tree a "holiday" tree. Calling a Christmas parade a holiday parade. Refusing to mention the Reason for the season. It is time to take a stand for our children, our families, our faith and our freedom!
Educational leaders in your state could be the next officials to join this anti-Christian bigotry parade.
I urge you to email Wisconsin Governor Gov. Jim Doyle and Wisconsin State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster and ask them to stop this intolerant anti-Christian bigotry.
Click Here to Send Your Letter Now!Very important! Please forward this to your family and friends. They need to be aware of this anti-Christian bigotry.
Thanks for caring enough to get involved.
Sincerely,
Don
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
C.S. Lewis on ‘Xmas and Christmas’
Archbishop Chaput's latest article:
Some lessons from the barbarian mists of NiatirbContinued here.
Fifty years ago C.S. Lewis published an ironic little essay called, “Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus.” In it, he reverses the letters of his home country, “Britain.” Then he writes about the strange winter customs of a barbarian nation called Niatirb.
It’s worth reading, as we get deeper into Advent. I’ll share with you just one passage.“In the middle of winter when fogs and rains most abound, (the Niatirbians) have a great festival called Exmas, and for 50 days they prepare for it (in the manner which is called,) in their barbarian speech, the Exmas Rush".
Gospel for Friday, 2nd Week of Advent
From: Matthew 11:16-19
Jesus Reproaches People for their Unbelief
(Jesus spoke to the crowds), [16] "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates. [17] `We piped to you, and you did not dance, we wailed and you did not mourn.' [18] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon'; [19] the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."
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Commentary:
16-19. Making reference to a popular song or a child's game of His time, Jesus reproaches those who offer groundless excuses for not recognizing Him. From the beginning of human history the Lord has striven to attract all men to Himself: "What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Isaiah 5:4), and often He has been rejected: "When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:4).
Our Lord also condemns calumny: some people do try to justify their own behavior by seeing sin where there is only virtue. "When they find something which is quite obviously good," St. Gregory the Great says, "they pry into it to see if there is not also some badness hidden in it" ("Moralia", 6, 22). The Baptist's fasting they interpret as the work of the devil; whereas they accuse Jesus of being a glutton. The evangelist has to report these calumnies and accusations spoken against our Lord; otherwise, we would have no notion of the extent of the malice of those who show such furious opposition to Him who went about doing good (Acts 10:38). On other occasions Jesus warned His disciples that they would be treated the same as He was (cf. John 15:20).
The works of Jesus and John the Baptist, each in their own way, lead to the accomplishment of God's plan for man's salvation: the fact that some people do not recognize Him does not prevent God's plan being carried into effect.
*****************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Jesus Reproaches People for their Unbelief
(Jesus spoke to the crowds), [16] "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates. [17] `We piped to you, and you did not dance, we wailed and you did not mourn.' [18] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon'; [19] the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."
***********************
Commentary:
16-19. Making reference to a popular song or a child's game of His time, Jesus reproaches those who offer groundless excuses for not recognizing Him. From the beginning of human history the Lord has striven to attract all men to Himself: "What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Isaiah 5:4), and often He has been rejected: "When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:4).
Our Lord also condemns calumny: some people do try to justify their own behavior by seeing sin where there is only virtue. "When they find something which is quite obviously good," St. Gregory the Great says, "they pry into it to see if there is not also some badness hidden in it" ("Moralia", 6, 22). The Baptist's fasting they interpret as the work of the devil; whereas they accuse Jesus of being a glutton. The evangelist has to report these calumnies and accusations spoken against our Lord; otherwise, we would have no notion of the extent of the malice of those who show such furious opposition to Him who went about doing good (Acts 10:38). On other occasions Jesus warned His disciples that they would be treated the same as He was (cf. John 15:20).
The works of Jesus and John the Baptist, each in their own way, lead to the accomplishment of God's plan for man's salvation: the fact that some people do not recognize Him does not prevent God's plan being carried into effect.
*****************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
USCCB President Equates Deep Seated Homosexuality With Heterosexuality
We received this email from Culture and Cosmos:
We report today on reactions of American Bishops to the new Vatican directive on homosexuals in the priesthood. Confusingly, at least one Bishop is comparing homosexuality to heterosexuality.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse
President
================================
USCCB President Equates
Deep Seated Homosexuality With Heterosexuality
In multiple interviews the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said that "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" are equivalent to "deep-seated heterosexual" tendencies. Spokane Bishop William S. Skylstad made the remarks to the Washington Post and the Catholic News Service in discussing the recent Vatican instruction that addresses whether or not homosexual men should be ordained.
The long-awaited and speculated upon document issued November 29 by the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education declares that the Church "cannot admit to the seminary or to holy orders those who practice homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called 'gay culture'." The document has angered many dissenters inside and outside the Church.
The Washington Post paraphrased Bishop Skylstad as saying that the ban on men with deep-seated homosexuality applies to men with deep seated heterosexual impulses. "Absolutely, it cuts both ways. . . . I think if the orientation dominates one's personality, whether that be homosexual or heterosexual," then the candidate cannot be ordained, Bishops Skylstad said. A Catholic New Service story reported Bishops Skylstad as saying that if a seminarian "has a deep-seated heterosexual impediment" he should not be ordained.
Bishop John M. D'Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese interpreted the document differently. He says it is clear that the homosexual condition poses a unique impediment to ordination that is not found in heterosexuality. "To be happy, a priest must be convinced in his heart that he would be a good father and a good husband. . . . It is a sacrifice. It's supposed to be a sacrifice. It is not a sacrifice in the same way for a person with deep-seated homosexual tendencies. He is not drawn to marriage in the same way," Bishop D'Arcy said in a statement. Bishop D'Arcy also said that a "heterosexual man who enters the seminary does not enter a school with attractive young women. . . The homosexual candidate, however, is forced to live closely with other males. In fact, he will live most of his life with males. This is not fair to him for his own spiritual growth."
In the Washington Post story Bishop D'Arcy said he disagreed with Bishop Skylstad, who said the document still gives room for ordaining homosexual men, saying that interpretation is "simply wrong."
At issue is what is meant by the phrase "deep-seated homosexual tendencies." Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons, a practicing psychiatrist and expert on homosexuality discussed the question in an interview with the Zenit News Service. "Those with deep-seated homosexual tendencies identify themselves as homosexual persons and are usually unwilling to examine their emotional conflicts that caused this tendency," he said. "Strong physical attraction is present to other men's bodies and to the masculinity of others due to profound weakness in male confidence." In contrast, "Those with mild homosexual tendencies do not identify themselves as homosexuals. Such men are motivated to understand and to overcome their emotional conflicts. They regularly seek psychotherapy and spiritual direction."
Culture of Life Foundation
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Washington DC 20005
Phone: (202) 289-2500
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E-mail: clf@culture-of-life.org
Website: http://www.culture-of-life.org
Gospel for Dec 8, Solemnity: The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary
From: Luke 1:26-38
The Annunciation and Incarnation of the Son of God
[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. [32] He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, [33] and He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there will be no end." [34] And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" [35] And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. [36] And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37] For with God nothing will be impossible." [38] And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
*********
Commentary:
26-38. Here we contemplate our Lady who was "enriched from the first instant of her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique holiness; [...] the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding angel, by divine command, as `full of grace' (cf. Luke 1:28), and to the heavenly messenger she replies, `Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word' (Luke 1:38). Thus the daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly to God's saving will and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with Him, serving the mystery of Redemption, by the grace of Almighty God. Rightly, therefore, the Fathers (of the Church) see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of man's salvation through faith and obedience" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 56).
The annunciation to Mary and incarnation of the Word constitute the deepest mystery of the relationship between God and men and the most important event in the history of mankind: God becomes man, and will remain so forever, such is the extent of His goodness and mercy and love for all of us. And yet on the day when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity assumed frail human nature in the pure womb of the Blessed Virgin, it all happened quietly, without fanfare of any kind.
St. Luke tells the story in a very simple way. We should treasure these words of the Gospel and use them often, for example, practising the Christian custom of saying the Angelus every day and reflecting on the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.
27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed this through the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God, "before all ages made choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother for His only-begotten Son from whom He, after being made flesh, should be born in the blessed fullness of time: and He continued His persevering regard for her in preference to all other creatures, to such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard" (Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus," 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a virgin and a mother at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was the work of the Holy Spirit "who at the conception and the birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart fruitfulness to her while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity" ("St. Pius V Catechism," I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: "We believe that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of virginity, was the Mother of the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" ("Creed of the People of God", 14).
Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary means, most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means "lady". However, no single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.
28. "Hail, full of grace": literally the Greek text reads "Rejoice!", obviously referring to the unique joy over the news which the angel is about to communicate.
"Full of grace": by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals Mary's special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church "taught that this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting showed that all the divine graces reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit", which meant that she "was never subject to the curse", that is, was preserved from all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one of the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus"; Paul VI, "Creed of the People of God").
"The Lord is with you!": these words are not simply a greeting ("the Lord be with you") but an affirmation ("the Lord is with you"), and they are closely connected with the Incarnation. St. Augustine comments by putting these words on the archangel's lips: "He is more with you than He is with me: He is in your heart, He takes shape within you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb" ("Sermo De Nativitate Domini", 4).
Some important Greek manuscripts and early translations add at the end of the verse: "Blessed are you among women!", meaning that God will exalt Mary over all women. She is more excellent than Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, Rachel, Judith, etc., for only she has the supreme honor of being chosen to be the Mother of God.
29-30. Our Lady is troubled by the presence of the archangel and by the confusion truly humble people experience when they receive praise.
30. The Annunciation is the moment when our Lady is given to know the vocation which God planned for her from eternity. When the archangel sets her mind at ease by saying, "Do not be afraid, Mary," he is helping her to overcome that initial fear which a person normally experiences when God gives him or her a special calling. The fact that Mary felt this fear does not imply the least trace of imperfection in her: hers is a perfectly natural reaction in the face of the supernatural. Imperfection would arise if one did not overcome this fear or rejected the advice of those in a position to help--as St. Gabriel helped Mary.
31-33. The archangel Gabriel tells the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is to be the Mother of God by reminding her of the words of Isaiah which announced that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, a prophecy which will find its fulfillment in Mary (cf. Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14).
He reveals that the Child will be "great": His greatness comes from His being God, a greatness He does not lose when He takes on the lowliness of human nature. He also reveals that Jesus will be the king of the Davidic dynasty sent by God in keeping with His promise of salvation; that His Kingdom will last forever, for His humanity will remain forever joined to His divinity; that "He will be called Son of the Most High", that is that He really will be the Son of the Most High and will be publicly recognized as such, that is, the Child will be the Son of God.
The archangel's announcement evokes the ancient prophecies which foretold these prerogatives. Mary, who was well-versed in Sacred Scripture, clearly realized that she was to be the Mother of God.
34-38. Commenting on this passage John Paul II said: "`Virgo fidelis', the faithful Virgin. What does this faithfulness of Mary mean? What are the dimensions of this faithfulness? The first dimension is called search. Mary was faithful first of all when she began, lovingly, to seek the deep sense of God's plan in her and for the world. `Quomodo fiet?' How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the Annunciation [...]."
"The second dimension of faithfulness is called reception, acceptance. The `quomodo fiet?' is changed, on Mary's lips, to a `fiat': Let it be done, I am ready, I accept. This is the crucial moment of faithfulness, the moment in which man perceives that he will never completely understand the `how': that there are in God's plan more areas of mystery than of clarity; that is, however he may try, he will never succeed in understanding it completely[...]."
"The third dimension of faithfulness is consistency to live in accordance with what one believes; to adapt one's own life to the object of one's adherence. To accept misunderstanding, persecutions, rather than a break between what one practises and what one believes: this is consistency[...]."
"But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of duration. Therefore, the fourth dimension of faithfulness is constancy. It is easy to be consistent for a day or two. It is difficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life. It is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole life can be called faithfulness. Mary's `fiat' in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent `fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross" ("Homily in Mexico City Cathedral", 26 January 1979).
34. Mary believed in the archangel's words absolutely; she did not doubt as Zechariah had done (cf. 1:18). Her question, "How can this be?", expresses her readiness to obey the will of God even though at first sight it implied a contradiction: on the one hand, she was convinced that God wished her to remain a virgin; on the other, here was God also announcing that she would become a mother. The archangel announces God's mysterious design, and what had seemed impossible, according to the laws of nature, is explained by a unique intervention on the part of God.
Mary's resolution to remain a virgin was certainly something very unusual, not in line with the practice of righteous people under the Old Covenant, for, as St. Augustine explains, "particularly attentive to the propagation and growth of the people of God, through whom the Prince and Savior of the world might be prophesied and be born, the saints were obliged to make use of the good of matrimony" ("De Bono Matrimonii", 9, 9). However, in the Old Testament, there were some who, in keeping with God's plan, did remain celibate--for example, Jeremiah, Elijah, Eliseus and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin, who received a very special inspiration of the Holy Spirit to practise virginity, is a first-fruit of the New Testament, which will establish the excellence of virginity over marriage while not taking from the holiness of the married state, which it raises to the level of a sacrament (cf. "Gaudium Et Spes", 48).
35. The "shadow" is a symbol of the presence of God. When Israel was journeying through the wilderness, the glory of God filled the Tabernacle and a cloud covered the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 40:34-36). And when God gave Moses the tablets of the Law, a cloud covered Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:15-16); and also, at the transfiguration of Jesus the voice of God the Father was heard coming out of a cloud (Luke 9:35).
At the moment of the Incarnation the power of God envelops our Lady--an expression of God's omnipotence. The Spirit of God--which, according to the account in Genesis (1:2), moved over the face of the waters, bringing things to life--now comes down on Mary. And the fruit of her womb will be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Virgin Mary, who herself was conceived without any stain of sin (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus") becomes, after the Incarnation, a new tabernacle of God. This is the mystery we recall every day when saying the Angelus.
38. Once she learns of God's plan, our Lady yields to God's will with prompt obedience, unreservedly. She realizes the disproportion between what she is going to become--the Mother of God--and what she is--a woman. However, this is what God wants to happen and for Him nothing is impossible; therefore no one should stand in His way. So Mary, combining humility and obedience, responds perfectly to God's call: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done according to your word."
"At the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word became flesh" ([St] J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", first joyful mystery). From the pure body of Mary, God shaped a new body, He created a soul out of nothing, and the Son of God united Himself with this body and soul: prior to this He was only God; now He is still God but also man. Mary is now the Mother of God. This truth is a dogma of faith, first defined by the Council of Ephesus (431). At this point she also begins to be the spiritual Mother of all mankind. What Christ says when He is dying--`Behold, your son..., behold, your mother" (John 19:26-27)--simply promulgates what came about silently at Nazareth. "With her generous `fiat' (Mary) became, through the working of the Spirit, the Mother of God, but also the Mother of the living, and, by receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of the Covenant and true Temple of God" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus", 6).
The Annunciation shows us the Blessed Virgin as perfect model of "purity" (the RSV "I have no husband" is a euphemism); of "humility" ("Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"); of "candor" and "simplicity" ("How can this be?"); of "obedience" and "lively faith" ("Let it be done to me according to your word"). "Following her example of obedience to God, we can learn to serve delicately without being slavish. In Mary, we don't find the slightest trace of the attitude of the foolish virgins, who obey, but thoughtlessly. Our Lady listens attentively to what God wants, ponders what she doesn't fully understand and asks about what she doesn't know. Then she gives herself completely to doing the divine will: `Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word'. Isn't that marvellous? The Blessed Virgin, our teacher in all we do, shows us here that obedience to God is not servile, does not bypass our conscience. We should be inwardly moved to discover the `freedom of the children of God' (cf. Romans 8:21)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 173).
****************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
The Annunciation and Incarnation of the Son of God
[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. [32] He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, [33] and He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there will be no end." [34] And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no husband?" [35] And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. [36] And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37] For with God nothing will be impossible." [38] And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.
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Commentary:
26-38. Here we contemplate our Lady who was "enriched from the first instant of her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique holiness; [...] the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding angel, by divine command, as `full of grace' (cf. Luke 1:28), and to the heavenly messenger she replies, `Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word' (Luke 1:38). Thus the daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly to God's saving will and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with Him, serving the mystery of Redemption, by the grace of Almighty God. Rightly, therefore, the Fathers (of the Church) see Mary not merely as passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of man's salvation through faith and obedience" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 56).
The annunciation to Mary and incarnation of the Word constitute the deepest mystery of the relationship between God and men and the most important event in the history of mankind: God becomes man, and will remain so forever, such is the extent of His goodness and mercy and love for all of us. And yet on the day when the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity assumed frail human nature in the pure womb of the Blessed Virgin, it all happened quietly, without fanfare of any kind.
St. Luke tells the story in a very simple way. We should treasure these words of the Gospel and use them often, for example, practising the Christian custom of saying the Angelus every day and reflecting on the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.
27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed this through the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God, "before all ages made choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother for His only-begotten Son from whom He, after being made flesh, should be born in the blessed fullness of time: and He continued His persevering regard for her in preference to all other creatures, to such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard" (Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus," 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a virgin and a mother at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was the work of the Holy Spirit "who at the conception and the birth of the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart fruitfulness to her while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity" ("St. Pius V Catechism," I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: "We believe that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of virginity, was the Mother of the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior Jesus Christ" ("Creed of the People of God", 14).
Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary means, most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means "lady". However, no single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.
28. "Hail, full of grace": literally the Greek text reads "Rejoice!", obviously referring to the unique joy over the news which the angel is about to communicate.
"Full of grace": by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals Mary's special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church "taught that this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting showed that all the divine graces reposed in the Mother of God and that she was adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit", which meant that she "was never subject to the curse", that is, was preserved from all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one of the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus"; Paul VI, "Creed of the People of God").
"The Lord is with you!": these words are not simply a greeting ("the Lord be with you") but an affirmation ("the Lord is with you"), and they are closely connected with the Incarnation. St. Augustine comments by putting these words on the archangel's lips: "He is more with you than He is with me: He is in your heart, He takes shape within you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb" ("Sermo De Nativitate Domini", 4).
Some important Greek manuscripts and early translations add at the end of the verse: "Blessed are you among women!", meaning that God will exalt Mary over all women. She is more excellent than Sarah, Hannah, Deborah, Rachel, Judith, etc., for only she has the supreme honor of being chosen to be the Mother of God.
29-30. Our Lady is troubled by the presence of the archangel and by the confusion truly humble people experience when they receive praise.
30. The Annunciation is the moment when our Lady is given to know the vocation which God planned for her from eternity. When the archangel sets her mind at ease by saying, "Do not be afraid, Mary," he is helping her to overcome that initial fear which a person normally experiences when God gives him or her a special calling. The fact that Mary felt this fear does not imply the least trace of imperfection in her: hers is a perfectly natural reaction in the face of the supernatural. Imperfection would arise if one did not overcome this fear or rejected the advice of those in a position to help--as St. Gabriel helped Mary.
31-33. The archangel Gabriel tells the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is to be the Mother of God by reminding her of the words of Isaiah which announced that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, a prophecy which will find its fulfillment in Mary (cf. Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14).
He reveals that the Child will be "great": His greatness comes from His being God, a greatness He does not lose when He takes on the lowliness of human nature. He also reveals that Jesus will be the king of the Davidic dynasty sent by God in keeping with His promise of salvation; that His Kingdom will last forever, for His humanity will remain forever joined to His divinity; that "He will be called Son of the Most High", that is that He really will be the Son of the Most High and will be publicly recognized as such, that is, the Child will be the Son of God.
The archangel's announcement evokes the ancient prophecies which foretold these prerogatives. Mary, who was well-versed in Sacred Scripture, clearly realized that she was to be the Mother of God.
34-38. Commenting on this passage John Paul II said: "`Virgo fidelis', the faithful Virgin. What does this faithfulness of Mary mean? What are the dimensions of this faithfulness? The first dimension is called search. Mary was faithful first of all when she began, lovingly, to seek the deep sense of God's plan in her and for the world. `Quomodo fiet?' How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the Annunciation [...]."
"The second dimension of faithfulness is called reception, acceptance. The `quomodo fiet?' is changed, on Mary's lips, to a `fiat': Let it be done, I am ready, I accept. This is the crucial moment of faithfulness, the moment in which man perceives that he will never completely understand the `how': that there are in God's plan more areas of mystery than of clarity; that is, however he may try, he will never succeed in understanding it completely[...]."
"The third dimension of faithfulness is consistency to live in accordance with what one believes; to adapt one's own life to the object of one's adherence. To accept misunderstanding, persecutions, rather than a break between what one practises and what one believes: this is consistency[...]."
"But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of duration. Therefore, the fourth dimension of faithfulness is constancy. It is easy to be consistent for a day or two. It is difficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life. It is easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts throughout the whole life can be called faithfulness. Mary's `fiat' in the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent `fiat' that she repeats at the foot of the Cross" ("Homily in Mexico City Cathedral", 26 January 1979).
34. Mary believed in the archangel's words absolutely; she did not doubt as Zechariah had done (cf. 1:18). Her question, "How can this be?", expresses her readiness to obey the will of God even though at first sight it implied a contradiction: on the one hand, she was convinced that God wished her to remain a virgin; on the other, here was God also announcing that she would become a mother. The archangel announces God's mysterious design, and what had seemed impossible, according to the laws of nature, is explained by a unique intervention on the part of God.
Mary's resolution to remain a virgin was certainly something very unusual, not in line with the practice of righteous people under the Old Covenant, for, as St. Augustine explains, "particularly attentive to the propagation and growth of the people of God, through whom the Prince and Savior of the world might be prophesied and be born, the saints were obliged to make use of the good of matrimony" ("De Bono Matrimonii", 9, 9). However, in the Old Testament, there were some who, in keeping with God's plan, did remain celibate--for example, Jeremiah, Elijah, Eliseus and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin, who received a very special inspiration of the Holy Spirit to practise virginity, is a first-fruit of the New Testament, which will establish the excellence of virginity over marriage while not taking from the holiness of the married state, which it raises to the level of a sacrament (cf. "Gaudium Et Spes", 48).
35. The "shadow" is a symbol of the presence of God. When Israel was journeying through the wilderness, the glory of God filled the Tabernacle and a cloud covered the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 40:34-36). And when God gave Moses the tablets of the Law, a cloud covered Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:15-16); and also, at the transfiguration of Jesus the voice of God the Father was heard coming out of a cloud (Luke 9:35).
At the moment of the Incarnation the power of God envelops our Lady--an expression of God's omnipotence. The Spirit of God--which, according to the account in Genesis (1:2), moved over the face of the waters, bringing things to life--now comes down on Mary. And the fruit of her womb will be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Virgin Mary, who herself was conceived without any stain of sin (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus") becomes, after the Incarnation, a new tabernacle of God. This is the mystery we recall every day when saying the Angelus.
38. Once she learns of God's plan, our Lady yields to God's will with prompt obedience, unreservedly. She realizes the disproportion between what she is going to become--the Mother of God--and what she is--a woman. However, this is what God wants to happen and for Him nothing is impossible; therefore no one should stand in His way. So Mary, combining humility and obedience, responds perfectly to God's call: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done according to your word."
"At the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word became flesh" ([St] J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", first joyful mystery). From the pure body of Mary, God shaped a new body, He created a soul out of nothing, and the Son of God united Himself with this body and soul: prior to this He was only God; now He is still God but also man. Mary is now the Mother of God. This truth is a dogma of faith, first defined by the Council of Ephesus (431). At this point she also begins to be the spiritual Mother of all mankind. What Christ says when He is dying--`Behold, your son..., behold, your mother" (John 19:26-27)--simply promulgates what came about silently at Nazareth. "With her generous `fiat' (Mary) became, through the working of the Spirit, the Mother of God, but also the Mother of the living, and, by receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of the Covenant and true Temple of God" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus", 6).
The Annunciation shows us the Blessed Virgin as perfect model of "purity" (the RSV "I have no husband" is a euphemism); of "humility" ("Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"); of "candor" and "simplicity" ("How can this be?"); of "obedience" and "lively faith" ("Let it be done to me according to your word"). "Following her example of obedience to God, we can learn to serve delicately without being slavish. In Mary, we don't find the slightest trace of the attitude of the foolish virgins, who obey, but thoughtlessly. Our Lady listens attentively to what God wants, ponders what she doesn't fully understand and asks about what she doesn't know. Then she gives herself completely to doing the divine will: `Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word'. Isn't that marvellous? The Blessed Virgin, our teacher in all we do, shows us here that obedience to God is not servile, does not bypass our conscience. We should be inwardly moved to discover the `freedom of the children of God' (cf. Romans 8:21)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 173).
****************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,Co. Dublin, Ireland.
Reprinted with permission from Four Courts Press and Scepter Publishers, the U.S. publisher.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
This ought to be good...
Dissident "theologian" Fr. Richard McBrien consults for 'The Da Vinci Code' movie.
Theology professor Father Richard McBrien is helping "crack the code" - as promotional ads for "The Da Vinci Code" movie say - as a consultant for the Sony Pictures film based on the widely popular and controversial novel by Dan Brown.More here.
"According to the terms of my contract, I'm not at liberty to discuss my role as a consultant to 'The Da Vinci Code' film, other than to confirm that I am, in fact, a consultant and that I have been in touch with [director] Ron Howard and others involved in the production of the film," McBrien said Tuesday.
Celibacy Requires That Priests Renounce Marriage...
. . . Something Homosexuals Cannot Do
It's refreshing to see that others realize that a man who wishes to become a priest forsakes one good (marriage) for another good (the priesthood). One cannot legitimately forsake a disordered inclination, something which is not a good (homosexual attractions) for a good (the priesthood). There is something out of balance with this type of thinking. There is no sacrifice involved.
The LifeSiteNews article is here.
FRONT ROYAL, VA December 7, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, has succinctly explained the concerns of the Catholic Church in relation to homosexual men and the priesthood. Commenting on the new Vatican document on the subject, Fr Euteneuer said, ""Engaging in homosexual acts is a grave, mortal sin that endangers the immortal soul of the practitioner and such a lifestyle compromises a man's ability to competently serve as a priest."I recall hearing Cardinal Bevilaqua stating much the same thing during an EWTN interview from Dallas, I believe, when the "scandal" was the topic of all.
. . .
"The Church does not deny that those with homosexual tendencies cannot be chaste. It just makes a clear distinction between chastity and celibacy. Christians are called to live sexually chaste lives regardless of any personal tendency or disorder. Celibacy however requires that men renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God-- something homosexuals cannot do. The Church is within her rights to ask that her priests make this sacrifice in imitation of Christ" concluded Fr. Euteneuer.
It's refreshing to see that others realize that a man who wishes to become a priest forsakes one good (marriage) for another good (the priesthood). One cannot legitimately forsake a disordered inclination, something which is not a good (homosexual attractions) for a good (the priesthood). There is something out of balance with this type of thinking. There is no sacrifice involved.
The LifeSiteNews article is here.
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