| Devotion to Our Lady |
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CLICK ON ANY LINK BELOW
| Advent Journey | Advent with Aquinas | Advent with Dom Gueranger | Advent Sermons |
| Advent Prayers (not psalms) | From Cold to Hot for Christmas |
| Journey to Bethlehem | Pre-Advent Countdown |
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO "GET INTO" ADVENT, THEN PRAY THE PSALMS
TRANSFORM YOUR HOME INTO THE "DOMESTIC CHURCH" IT IS MEANT TO BE!
LINKS TO PSALMS FOR EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK DURING ADVENT
| Sundays | Mondays | Tuesdays | Wednesdays | Thursdays | Fridays | Saturdays |
| Advent Journey | Advent with Aquinas | Advent with Dom Gueranger | Advent Sermons |
| Advent Prayers (not psalms) | From Cold to Hot for Christmas |
| Journey to Bethlehem | Pre-Advent Countdown |
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO "GET INTO" ADVENT, THEN PRAY THE PSALMS
TRANSFORM YOUR HOME INTO THE "DOMESTIC CHURCH" IT IS MEANT TO BE!
LINKS TO PSALMS FOR EVERY DAY OF THE WEEK DURING ADVENT
| Sundays | Mondays | Tuesdays | Wednesdays | Thursdays | Fridays | Saturdays |
“Not in bread alone doth man live,
but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God”
(Matthew 4:4)
but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God”
(Matthew 4:4)
QUOTES ON PREPARATION
"Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure."
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."
"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."
"Today's preparation determines tomorrow's achievement."
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
"Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure."
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure."
"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."
"Today's preparation determines tomorrow's achievement."
"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."
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Now Here!
ADVENT RITUAL see more details at bottom of page A help for a thorough Advent Almost 80 pages 
DOWNLOAD YOUR
CARDS FOR CHRIST Make a spiritual bouquet for Christ for Christmas! Here are a variety of cards to help you keep track of what you do! There are two different files, make sure you download them both! FILE #1 : Has 8 Cards for Christ the download is below the pictures 
FILE #2 : Has 8 Cards for Christ
the download is below the pictures 
MORE ADVENT DOWNLOADS
Preparing your manger for Christ 
DOWNLOAD YOUR ADVENT WREATH BLESSING & YOUR ADVENT WREATH DAILY PRAYERS FOR THE FOUR WEEKS OF ADVENT
MORE POSTERS
The Advent Wreath & Advent Candles show the symbolism that can be found in both the wreath and its candles.
Below you will find a downloadable poster: (1) A PDF poster measuring 8 x 11 inches (Letter Size) 
What Does Advent Mean? treats of the spirit of Advent and shows how this spirit is radically opposed to the spirit of the world.
Below you will find a downloadable poster: (1) A PDF poster measuring 8 x 11 inches (Letter Size) 
Today's Advent is Too Easy gives a very brief overview of the history of Advent, showing how much more rigorous and demanding it was in the "Days of Faith" in comparison to these modern days where Faith is failing. Is there a connection between that?
Below you will find the downloadable poster:: (1) A PDF poster measuring 8 x 11 inches (Letter Size) 
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DON’T FALL FOR THE MATERIALISTIC, HEDONISTIC, UNREALISTIC CHRISTMAS AGAIN!
Same Old Trap―Same Old Fall
You would think that we would learn from our past mistakes! Each year Christmas comes around and each year we fall into a predominantly material, hedonistic (pleasure-seeking), unrealistic Christmas―one that has very little resemblance to what Christmas should be all about! We are Catholic, but our Christmas could be more Catholic and less worldly. The problem is―whether we see it or not, or admit it or not, or like it or not―that we are trying to have a hybrid spiritual-material Christmas, a Godly-mammony Christmas, a prayerful-fun Christmas, a stuff-yourself-with-food-and-drink-Christmas―but a-mere-nibble-on-the-word-of-God-Christmas. It usually ends up with the “Birthday-Boy” (Jesus, in case you didn’t know) becoming a mere ‘wallflower’ or ‘side-show’ on His birthday. Let us not fall (and let us nor permit those closest to us to fall) into that selfish, ungrateful, worldly-minded spirit that has succeeded in almost dechristianizing Christmas into a winter fun-fest of food, drink, parties, presents and pleasure. When we take a realistic and honest look at the Holy Family, we none of those elements present. If our Christmas is full of things, then there is a good chance that there will be no thing or nothing for Christ; but if we have little or nothing to do over Christmas, then there is nothing to distract us from Christ. The soil of our soul will reap whatever we plant therein; if we plant the seed of the infant Christ, then Christ will grow in us; if we plant the seeds the world offers, then worldliness will grow in us. Happy Holiday or Holy Christmas? Therefore, let us not dechristianize this holy day―which is now just a few days away―but, like the Samaritan leper, let us often go back in thoughts and words to the Person whom we should be celebrating today. It is His birthday―not ours or anyone else’s―that is the cause of universal festivities. Otherwise it is like going to a birthday party, and completely ignoring the person whose birthday it is, while taking all the food and drink they have provided. How many will stop their celebrations for prayer, let alone even extra prayers (which should be the case, for, on a birthday, we do more than the usual for the person concerned)? How many will plan to attend a second Mass on Christmas Day (for the Church allows each priest to offer three Masses today)? Most likely, there will be excuses of tiredness―but why tiredness? Why tire yourself out on non-essential, material, pleasure-seeking activities―when you know (in theory at least) that happiness of the soul surpasses happiness of the body? Let us show our gratitude and love for Christ this coming Christmas! As Our Lady has said at several of her apparitions, God is already offended enough, we must stop offending Him. Let us make up for the countless offences that will rise heavenward on what should be a truly holy and spiritual day! However, that means planning in advance. It means ‘disappointing’ people in advance―by telling them that it is not their birthday, but Christ’s―and if they are looking forward to presents and gifts, then so too is Jesus. And there is no better gift to give Him than your heart, rather than your lips. He complains: “This people honoreth Me with their lips―but their heart is far from Me!” (Matthew 15:8). Will your heart be in a “Christ-Christmas” or a “Me-Christmas”? Will it be about what Jesus wants or what you want? The Darkness of Liberalism—Pretending to be Light Most Catholics—since they are to some degree infected with Liberalism—will seek a compromise between the neo-pagan attitude to Christmas and its forerunner, Advent. They are used to having two masters—the world and their Faith. They see no problem in reconciling the two—as always, under a false notion of charity, which loves and bows down to the neighbor, far more than it loves and bows down to God. For many years, they have been gradually whittled down and watered down to a point that they now longer see things clearly anymore—their Faith is no longer the strong, uncompromising, resolute Faith of a St. John the Baptist, but a weak, comprising , irresolute Faith of a Liberal. They could well say: “The enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath brought down my life to the earth. He hath made me to dwell in darkness” (Psalm 142:3). “For we are wrapped up in darkness” (Job 37:19). “Error and darkness are created with sinners: and they that glory in evil things, grow old in evil” (Ecclesiasticus 11:16). They twist the Scriptural of quote of being all things to all men in order to lead them Christ, to being all things to all men so as not to rock the boat, hurt feelings, or correct anyone who is on an erroneous path! The douse all that with a bucketful of man-made ‘charity’ which is no more a charity than a love of drink is a love of God. They sweep under the carpet of hospitality the uncomfortable words of Scripture, such as: “And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:15) … “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15) … “Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God” (James 4:4). “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth” (1 John 1:6). All these embarrassing words are stuffed into the closet, and out comes the Wisdom of the World and the Ten Commandments of the World, as delineated by St. Louis de Montfort, in his book The Love of Eternal Wisdom: Worldly Wisdom “This worldly wisdom consists in the exact compliance with the maxims and the fashions of the world; in a continuous trend toward greatness and esteem. It is a secret and unceasing pursuit of pleasures and personal interests, not in a gross and open manner so as to cause scandal, but in a secret, deceitful and scheming fashion. Those who proceed according to the wisdom of the world are those who know how to manage well their affairs and to arrange things to their temporal advantage without appearing to do so; who know the art of deceiving and how to cleverly cheat without being noticed; who say or do one thing and have another thing in mind; who are thoroughly acquainted with the way and the flattery of the world; who know how to please everybody in order to reach their goal, not troubling much about the honor and interests of God; who make a secret, but deadly, fusion of truth with untruth, of the Gospel with the world, of virtue with vice, of Jesus Christ with Satan; who wish to pass as honest people, but not as religious men; who despise and corrupt, or readily condemn, every religious practice which does not conform to their own. “In short, the worldly wise are those who, being guided only by their human senses and reason, seek only to appear as Christian and honest folk, without troubling much to please God or to do penance for the sins which they have committed against His divine Majesty. The worldling bases his conduct upon his honor, upon what people say, upon convention, upon good cheer, upon personal interest, upon refined manners, upon witty jokes. These are the seven innocent incentives, so he thinks, upon which he can rely that he may lead an easy life. He has virtues of his own for which he is canonized by the world. These are manliness, finesse, diplomacy, tact, gallantry, politeness, sprightliness. He considers as serious sins such traits as lack of feeling, silliness, dullness, sanctimoniousness” (St. Louis de Montfort, The Love of Eternal Wisdom). The Ten Commandments of the World “He adheres as strictly as possible to the commandments which the world has given him: 1. Thou shalt be well acquainted with the world. 2. Thou shalt be an "honest" man. 3. Thou shalt be successful in business. 4. Thou shalt keep what is thine. 5. Thou shalt get on in the world. 6. Thou shalt make friends. 7. Thou shalt be a society man. 8. Thou shalt make merry. 9. Thou shalt not be a killjoy. 10. Thou shalt avoid singularity, dullness and an air of piety. “Never was the world so corrupt as it is now, because it was never so astute, so wise in its own conceit, so cunning. It is so skillful in deceiving the soul seeking perfection that it makes use of truth to foster untruth, of virtue to authorize vice and it even distorts the meaning of Christ's own truths to give authority to its own maxims” (St. Louis de Montfort, The Love of Eternal Wisdom). The Blind Leading the Blind into Deeper Darkness In a nut-shell, these kinds of Catholics are blind and will lead their spouses, families, relatives, friends and colleagues blindly into the pit: “They are blind, and leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit” (Matthew 15:14). “They have not known nor understood: they walk on in darkness” (Psalms 81:5). “And he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither he goeth” (John 12:35). “Therefore is judgment far from us, and justice shall not overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark. We have groped for the wall, and, like the blind, we have groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noonday as in darkness, we are in dark places as dead men.” (Isaias 59:9). “If the morning [true light] suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light” (Job 24:17). THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF IDEAS!
IS THERE A SHORTAGE OF ENTHUSIASM? Here are some practical tips, ideas and guidelines that could put some 'pep' and 'zip' into Advent by making it more creative and appealing Research and Reading Must Come Before Talking
There are plenty of things―interesting things―to talk about during Advent. However, it means you first have to have that information in your mind, or you have to go research and get that information before you open your mouth. Yes, research and learning can be pain in the neck―but that is exactly what penance is: a pain in the neck―and Advent is a time of penance. For those who are electronic-gizmo addicts―Smartphone, Tablet, Laptop, Computer―they are least allowed to use their instrument of addiction, but for a better and more noble purpose―a religious purpose. For those who are addicted to reading―then keep on reading, but read something better and more noble―something religious. Topics For Discussion Here is a list of Advent related topics that could be researched by different members of the family and then “brought to the table” for discussion and for the enlightenment of others. (1) The Topography of the Holy Land at the time of Christ’s birth. The internet abounds with images, maps and facts about this. Have the family be able to locate where Nazareth, Jerusalem and Bethlehem were. How far was it from Nazareth to Jerusalem? How far from Jerusalem to Bethlehem? How long would it take for Joseph and a pregnant Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem? What route would they have taken? What would they encounter on the road? What was the condition of roads back then? What were the dangers at that time? What is the climate like in the Holy Land during December? Would they have slept outside at night? Where would they have got food? What was their clothing like in those days and how well did it protect them from the elements? There are plenty of good resources out there that will give you the answers to those questions. Furthermore, the revelations made by Our Lady to various mystics will give additional details―all of which is readily available on the internet. Yet it takes that spark of love for God to set you off on your own journey of finding the answers. The result will be that you will enter Christmas in a much different frame of mind and attitude than all the past materialistic and spiritually superficial Advents and Christmases that you have journeyed through! (2) The History and Practices of Advent. The internet will allow you to access the works of Dom Gueranger―the famous Benedictine liturgist―whose excellent multi-volume Liturgical Year will provide you with a lot of what you need. The first volume in the series is, of course, that of Advent. There are other resources online that give various insights into the evolution of the Advent season and reveal many varying practices, that vary from nation to nation, from religious order to religious order. Set the research of its history as a project for a family member and discuss regularly what new snippets of information have surfaced. (3) Advent Customs from Around the World. This can also be an interesting research topic―similar to the one above. Whoever is assigned the research project, should try to copy and paste as many pictures as possible from what they find online―in this way the description of the customs will be greatly facilitated. (4) The Prophecies Concerning the Coming of Christ. Once again, the internet abounds with relevant information on this subject. It is not hard to find. Let the person assigned to the task, copy and paste the various prophecies and arrange them in an interesting manner―perhaps including pictures that pertain to the prophecies in some way. (5) The Themes from the Advent Liturgy. The Church has taken much thought and care in preparing her Advent Liturgy. The readings are not haphazardly chosen, but are specially chosen to communicate certain key points. You could loosely say that the Sunday Liturgy is pretty much like a series of ideas or chapter headings that need to be taken home and thought about and discussed―filling them out with further Scripture references or quotes from the saints, theologians, etc. (6) Studying the Symbolism of Advent Things. The two chief elements here are the Advent Wreath with the Advent Candles, and also the Jesse Tree. The Advent Wreath and the Candles are particularly rich in symbolism. When searching the internet for information, just type in “symbolism advent wreath” and later “symbolism advent candles”―you can also look at the general symbolism of candles. Do not forget to look into how they are made, what they are made of, what these elements symbolize, the symbolism of the wax, the wick, the flame, the smoke, the light, etc. Artistic and Creative Ideas Usually, there is always someone who is an artistic family member. There are a variety of projects that such persons can undertake. The method could one of actually personally painting or drawing things―or, alternatively, finding images online and working with those in a variety of ways and manners. For those familiar with artistic computer software programs, such as popular Photoshop―very beautiful results can be obtained. Other possibilities are simply printing out the desired images and working with them―either by cutting them out, making a collage, making your own drawing or painting by initially tracing over the printed picture and then coloring it in yourself, etc., etc. The chief topics for such artistic work can be as follows: (1) The Jesse Tree (2) An Advent Calendar (3) The key figures of Advent: Mary and Joseph in relation to their journey to Bethlehem; the key Old Testament Prophets who foretold Christ’s coming; etc. (4) Pictures containing the central liturgical themes for the Four Sundays of Advent (5) Producing an “Advent Newspaper” which takes you back in time to the Holy Land and gives details of events leading up to the birth of Our Lord Composing Advent Poetry and Hymns If St. Augustine can say that a prayer that is sung, is a prayer said twice―then we can also say that a prayer that is poeticized is also a prayer said twice. To enhance and embellish one’s thoughts by expressing them by poetry, is an act of love that shows that you are prepared to go the “extra-mile” in your devotion, rather than just “getting it over and done with and out of the way.” Now, understandably, not everyone has the mindset or inclination or talent for poetry―but there are many things that, even though we are not born with a particular skill-set, we can nevertheless acquire that skill-set by much practice and frequent application. Just as we often learn to draw by copying someone else’s drawing, so too can we learn to poeticize things by copying to some degree the poetry of others―in a way that seems to make collage out of the thoughts and sentiments of various other poets or hymn writers. God looks at the intention and the effort, more than He looks at the result. Therefore, do not be afraid to tackle the writing of poetry―and, if you are in any way musical, you could even put your poetry to music, thus creating a hymn. Or take the melody of an existing hymn, and then compose you own verses that fit the music. I think that Our Lord and Our Lady will be touched by efforts that will be undergone―even though it may not turn out to be a masterpiece. Liturgical Practices Both St. Augustine and St. John Chrysostom refer to the family as a kind of “domestic church”, not in the strict sense, but in the broad sense. The reason for this is quite simply that the family is the lowest or first social unit in the Universal Church. The Church is a hierarchy―thus the ‘umbrella’ of all churches is the Universal Church. Within that Universal Church, or under its ‘umbrella’, the next in line in the diocesan church led by the bishop. Below that comes the parish church led by the priest. Below that comes the ‘domestic church’ led by the father of the family. Arguably, there is even a lower level, whereby some saints refer to each person being a ‘bishop’ of the their own diocese (their own body and soul with all their faculties)―but this is a mere individual and not a social unit. The family is the primary and first building block of society and of the Church. In that ‘domestic church’, you could analogically say that the father represents the bishop, the wife represents the clergy (no, this does not advocate women priests!), and the children are the parishioners. In this sense, there is nothing wrong with the family mirroring and reproducing, on its own level, what the Church does on a higher level. Thus we have things like community or family prayer, family rules and discipline, etc. A family should, in fact, be religious within the confines of the family home―which should be, in a broad sense, a kind of monastery or convent that seeks to know, love and serve God from a lay perspective. We already see this in some families, where all the family says morning prayers together, will say prayers before and after meals, will pray the Rosary together in the evening, will recite the Angelus as a family and will say night prayers together. Yet, it has to be admitted, that there are very few families that do all of these things. Yet, as Jesus commands, “we ought always to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1), and again, ““He said to them: ‘Why sleep you? Arise! Pray!” (Luke 22:46). “Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times” (Luke 21:36)―to which St. Paul adds: “Pray without ceasing!” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). “My house shall be called the house of prayer―but you have made it a den of thieves!” (Matthew 21:13). These are not commands that are solely intended for bishops, priests, brothers, monks, nuns and sisters, living in religious houses, monasteries and convents, but these are commands that are directed to all Christians worthy of that name. Heck! If we could spend the time in prayer that we spend on the smartphone, tablet, laptop, computer or watching TV―then most families would be holy families producing saints! Instead, most families are unholy families―or lukewarm at best―producing fodder for Hell, or Purgatory at best! To try and worthily fit this appellation of "domestic church", the family should first of all try to restore (or begin for the first time) to adhere to regular prayer times as a family. Morning prayers, night prayers, the Rosary, the Angelus and prayers at meal times. To this could be added a few minutes of reading from Scripture or some other religious or spiritual book, at meal times. Not to occupy the whole meal, but the first few minutes. For Our Lord said: “Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Holy Scripture adds: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God!” (1 Corinthians 10:31). One could also consider imitating the priests and religious by the recitation of the psalms―not necessarily in the same quantity, but as much or little as the family is able to handle (obviously excluding the little children, for whom it would perhaps be above their level). Check out the pages on praying the liturgical psalms through Advent, with each day of the week having a dedicated page click here for each of the following days of the week | Sundays | Mondays | Tuesdays | Wednesdays | Thursdays | Fridays | Saturdays |. You do not have to pray all that you find on those pages―you select what is viable for you and your family. Also, as Christmas draws closer, the family could pray “The Great ‘O’ Antiphons” together―from December 17th to December 23rd (click here). NOW FOR SOME BAD LANGUAGE!
Please do not be offended by the bad language that will be used! There is a purpose to it and you will see that purpose in a moment, even though you will find the language to be quite shocking and, most people will say, quite unnecessary. Apologies are made in advance for the words and the number of times they will be used. Your tolerance and understanding is sincerely begged. For those who cannot tolerate this kind of language, then the best thing to do is to read no further.
Here we go! Take a deep breathe! Sit yourself down! Here's that dirty, foul, despicable, totally unnecessary and unacceptable word—PENANCE! There! I'll say it again—PENANCE!!! As if that wasn't enough, here it is again—PENANCE!! PENANCE!!! PENANCE!!! Are you shocked? Actually, it is reported that Our Lady used that dirty word at Lourdes—three times in succession, and all in one single sentence! She even made St. Bernadette DO SOME PENANCE and told her to dirty her face by washing it with slimy, muddy water as a PENANCE! Can you believe that? Who would have thought it??!!! Our Lady using language like that! Our Lord also seemed to like that kind of language—He said: “Unless you do PENANCE, you will likewise perish!” (Luke 13:3). The Spirit of Advent is a Spirit of Penance The spirit of Advent is somewhat similar to that of Lent, which prepares us for Easter—the greatest feast in the calendar of the Church. Originally the observance of Advent was made up of fasting and took up forty days—as with Lent—but was reduced to four weeks. The first allusion to Advent’s being reduced to four weeks is to be found in the ninth century, in a letter of Pope St. Nicholas I to the Bulgarians. The Greek Church still continues to observe the fast of Advent, though with much less rigor than that of Lent. It consists of forty days, beginning with November 14th, the day on which this Church keeps the feast of the apostle St. Philip. Advent is that time to do penance. The time to heat up our lukewarmness into a fiery zeal; to refocus our blurred indifference into a sharp focus on spiritual matters and our salvation, rather than our relaxation and recreation. So many of the world are so focused on money, wealth, pleasures and treasures that they see enticing them in the distance, that their farsightedness or long-sightedness prevents them from threading the eye of the needle with the thread of their soul. Their spiritual eyesight is all too blurred and they fail, time and time again, year after year, to use Advent well and pass through the eye of the needle. As Our Lord warned us: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 19:24). In fact, it is worth reading the whole passage, for its context is very typical of the Advent-Christmas mentality seen in today's modern world: “Behold one came and said to Him: ‘Good master, what good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?’ Who said to him: ‘If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’ ... The young man saith to Him: ‘All these I have kept from my youth, what is yet wanting to me?’ Jesus saith to him: ‘If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come follow Me.’ And when the young man had heard this word, he went away sad: for he had great possessions. Then Jesus said to His disciples: ‘Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven’” (Matthew 19:16-24). So, to borrow the Church's other opening line, from the season of Lent, when the Church again quotes St. Paul, saying: "Behold, now is the acceptable time! Behold, now is the time of salvation!" Which dovetails with the words quoted above from St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans for the First Sunday of Advent: “It is now the hour for us to rise from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light." Casting-off the works of darkness (which we somewhat like and do not really want to cast-off) is a penance to our pleasurable minds, it is “pain-ance” or a “pain-in-the-neck-ance”! We would prefer to keep our works of darkness and still arrive at the kingdom of light! Yet Our Lord will not tolerate such an attitude of serving God and mammon: “Unless you DO PENANCE, you will likewise perish!” (Luke 13:3). Start As You Mean To Go On! We all know the saying: “Start as you mean to go one!” and Advent is the start of a new Liturgical Year, it is the chance of a new start! Will we start as we mean to go on? Will we even start? If we do, how long will it go on for? “Hell is full of good resolutions” they say, so too is Advent and for some, “Advent is like Hell” if you have to do penance! Advent is for “DOERS” and not “TALKERS”—it not about merely BELIEVING but DOING. In fact, that is the whole point of the Faith—it is not just about BELIEVING OR TALKING, but DOING things also. Don’t believe it? Let Holy Scripture do the talking then: “Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. But some man will say: ‘Thou hast Faith, and I have works!’ Show me thy Faith without works; and I will show thee, by works, my Faith! Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well: the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that Faith without works is dead? Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by Faith only? For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also Faith without works is dead” (James 2:17-26). “Let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed, and in truth” (1 John 3:18). “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22). Penance is a part of doing! Usually, in the days when people still did penance during Advent, the penance of Advent was not as severe as that of Lent—yet today, Lenten penance is about as far from being severe as you could possibly imagine, with fasting having received a 95% reduction from 40 days to only 2 day (Ash Wednesday and Good Friday) with most dioceses requiring additional Lenten abstinence from meat on all the Fridays of Lent—“a piece of cake”, eh? Back in the “good old days” of Lent, it was a mortal sin to break your Lenten fast—nowadays people are just as shocked at having to fast as though it was a mortal sin to fast!!! So as Advent approaches, we quickly need to adjust our minds to the need for some penance—even if the Church dos not formally ask for it. Do you really think that in a time when sin is escalating—nay, when sin is shooting through the roof—then we need less penance than before? Perish the thought! At La Salette, Our Lady said that clergy of the future would neglect prayer and penance! Sr. Lucia of Fatima also said: “We should not wait for a call to the world from Rome on the part of the Holy Father to do penance. Nor should we wait for a call for penance to come from the Bishops in our Dioceses, nor from our Religious Congregations. No, Our Lord has often used these means, and the world has not paid heed. So, now each one of us must begin to reform himself spiritually. Each one has to save not only his own soul, but also all the souls that God has placed on his pathway.” Don't Hide Behind the Crowd! Let us not hide behind the coat-tails of the majority—who do no penance—for we should know in what direction and to where that majority are headed! If we are like the majority, then God help us and have mercy on our soul! “Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!” (Matthew 7:13-14). “For many are called, but few chosen” (Matthew 20:1-16). Many are called to penance, but few choose to take it up: “God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride” (Job 24:23). Let us not abuse Advent, but let us take on its true spirit! Once again, apologies for the ‘bad’ language! Penance will have to be done for it! Yet, on the same distasteful idea of penance, here is an extract from Mary Reed-Newland’s excellent book, The Year and Our Children—watch out for her bad language too! Advent Penances, and a Story about a Juggler Next, there is the all-important matter of a birthday gift for the Light of the World. If there are to be gifts for others, there must first be a gift for Him. It is His birthday, not ours; and what kind of birthday is it when all the gifts go to the wrong people? What kind of gift would He like? There is a story to tell at the beginning of Advent, about someone who had nothing to give. It illustrates best of all for children how the intangible is to God the most tangible, and makes entirely reasonable to them a scale of values one would suppose far over their heads. The story is “The Juggler of Our Lady.” It is as old as old, but each time it is told, it seems more beautiful. It is about a monk who had no great talents, who could not illuminate manuscripts or write music or sing songs or paint pictures or compose prayers or do any of the dozens of things the other monks were preparing to do in honor of the Mother of God and her newborn Son. So he made his way to the crypt below the main altar of his abbey church, and there before her statue, he humbly confessed that he had nothing to give. Unless ... but of course. He had been a tumbler and a juggler in the world. Long ago. He had been a rather brilliant tumbler and juggler, if the truth were known. Might she like to see him juggle and tumble? She was young and happy. She had laughed and clapped her hands. Surely her Child had. Perhaps he could tumble for them, all alone in secret? That is what he would do: give her the only thing he had to give. He would display his talent for the honor and glory of God and the entertainment of the Queen of Heaven. So he removed his habit down to his tunic, and then he danced. And he leaped and he tumbled and he juggled in the most inspired fashion until finally he fell in a swoon at the feet of his Lady. And while he lay there limp and wet from his efforts, sense less as though he were dead, she stepped down from her pedestal and tenderly wiped the sweat from his brow and sweetly considered the love he had put into this performance for her and her dear Son’s sake. And this happened every day. Now, there was another monk there who began to notice that the tumbler came not to Matins and kept watch on him because “he blamed him greatly.” So he followed closely the movements of the tumbler. One day he followed behind him and carefully hid himself in the recesses of the crypt and witnessed the whole performance. So profoundly was he impressed and inspired that he betook himself straight to the abbot, who prayed God would let him, too, witness this wonder of dancing and juggling for the Mother of God. And he did see not only the dancing and the juggling and the leaping and the capers but also the Queen of Heaven, in the company of angels and archangels, come down and with her own white mantle fan her minstrel and minister to him with much sweetness. When it came to pass that the abbot made it known to the minstrel that he had been seen — poor minstrel! He fell to his knees to beg forgiveness and plead with them not to send him out from the monastery. Which, of course, they did not do but held him in high esteem until the day he died, and there about his bedside they saw the Mother of God and the angels of Heaven receive his soul and carry it to everlasting glory. “Think you now that God would have prized his service if that he had not loved Him? By no means, however much he tumbled.... God asks not for gold or for silver but only for true love in the hearts of men, and this one loved God truly. And because of this, God prized his services.” This, then, is the pattern for the gift: it must be a giving of self. Our children usually give Him their desserts and treats during Advent except on Sundays, the two feasts, and the two birthdays that we celebrate with special festivities. These days they give Him something else instead. They try to give more willingly than before their bumps and hurts, and (this really hurts) their will in such matters as being first, sitting by the window in the car, licking the bowl, doing the dishes without being asked, or doing homework first instead of last. No funnies (especially no Sunday funnies) makes a beautiful gift for the funnies and comic-book addicts, and no radio for the radio fans. No TV is an excruciatingly difficult gift to make, but more beautiful for its being difficult; and the Christ Child has a way of giving back more than you have given Him. These gifts of self-denial are not quite so hard when you see that you are accomplishing something. Gift boxes chosen at the beginning of Advent receive a bean for each day of enduring self-denial. On Christmas Eve these are wrapped in bright paper and ribbon and put under the tree to await the feast of Epiphany. Another custom is to make a tiny cradle for the Christ Child; a piece of hay or soft yellow yarn or a shred of finely cut tissue paper for each daily self-denial makes Him a soft bed to lie on. Salt boxes, match boxes, cornmeal boxes, lined and covered with pretty papers, make lovely cradles. Then, on Christmas morning, to their great delight, the children find a tiny Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, contentedly lying on this soft bed they have so arduously made for Him. Going without TV, radio, or these other things need not be so difficult as it appears to be — not if we make good substitutes for them. It is far more satisfying to make, to do, to act, or to sing yourself than it is to watch someone else do it. It is a fundamental part of emotional security and self-confidence to know that you are able to do something in your own special way. Many parents worry about the tendency of children to sit vegetating in front of TV sets, becoming by avocation a perpetual audience, but cannot quite discover the secret to shutting off the set and contenting the children without it. Creative activity is one answer. Taking advantage of the great penitential seasons of Advent and Lent, not only to encourage self-denial but also to explore the spiritual meanings of these seasons with creative activities, is almost certain to bear fruit. Ultimately we must insist on times of quiet, away from the manufactured entertainments of this world, in order to form the habit of recollection. We are supposed to be contemplatives according to the capacity God has given us - which means that we see the world, ourselves, and all that is created in the right relation to God and that we think on these things often with love. Whether we will end up “contemplatives” in cloisters or as contemplatives who are farmers, writers, bus drivers, policemen, dancers, whatever — in order to grow, we must be reaching constantly to God with our minds. We need quiet for the very least of this, for the beginning of meditation. Parents can begin the process for their children with quiet times of creating and conversation together. That is what these conversations are — family meditations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
GET CREATIVE WITH THE CREATOR
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Creativity Creates Love and Love Creates Creativity
To be “creative” usually means having to put in some extra thought, time and effort into doing something. You can paint your own painting, or buy a print at the supermarket or store. You can design and build your own home, or just buy a house on the market that you like. You can make your own Christmas cards, or buy them at the store. You can write your own articles, or you can use somebody else’s work. You can make you own clothes, or buy ready-made clothes. You can cook your own meals, or buy ready-made meals. You can make up your own prayers, or you can read and pray somebody else’s prayers from a book. You can create your own Rosary meditations, or read somebody else’s work. The first option in all of those examples is the “creative” option―the second option is the “non-creative” option. Most people do not want to put in the thought, time and effort to be creative. This is why “creativity” is something special and something that is valued. God values creativity because it manifests love―it shows a willingness and desire to “go the extra mile” for someone or something. God is the Creator of creativity. God is the Creator of all creation. God is love and God loves creativity. We need to learn from His creativity in His school of creativity. The following quotes reflect those truths.
“Every house is built by some man: but He that created all things, is God” (Hebrews 3:4). “In the beginning God created Heaven, and Earth” (Genesis 1:1). “All things were known to the Lord God, before they were created” (Ecclesiasticus 23:29). “Lift up your eyes on high, and see Who hath created these things” (Isaias 40:26). “Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, and honor, and power―because thou hast created all things; and for thy will they were and have been created” (Apocalypse 4:11). “He that loveth not, knoweth not God―for God is charity … In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us” (1 John 4:8-10). “Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee” (Deuteronomy 32:18).
God Wants Creativity
As said above, creativity requires “that bit extra”―which is what God does for us. Creativity requires a loving thoughtfulness and loving efforts. God has planted within us a possibility for creativeness―which is a reflection of Himself. “And God created man to His own image: to the image of God He created him” (Genesis 1:27). “And hath filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and understanding and knowledge and all learning. To devise and to work in gold and silver and brass, and in engraving stones, and in carpenters' work. Whatsoever can be devised artificially, He hath given in his heart … Them hath He instructed with wisdom, to do carpenters' work and tapestry, and embroidery in blue and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and to weave all things, and to invent all new things” (Exodus 35:31-35). “Neglect not the grace that is in thee, which was given thee” (1 Timothy 4:14). God, the creative Creator, created man to be a creative creature. When we fail to put our creative instincts to work, we fail God in a sense. When we fail to be creative for God’s sake, then we fail to give Him the thought, the time and the effort that He deserves. This was the fault of Cain. Both Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God―but Cain’s sacrifice was not acceptable to God and He rejected it. Cain did not give of his best, whereas Abel did.
Cain’s Creativity Collapses
We can, to some extent, presume that Cain’s relationship with God was somewhat stale and at a standstill. Yes, he was sacrificing―just like we go to Mass every Sunday―but there was something missing that made God reject Cain’s sacrifice: “Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord. Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat―and the Lord had respect to Abel and to his offerings; but to Cain and his offerings, He had no respect. And Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said to him: ‘Why art thou angry? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? But if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door?’” (Genesis 4:3-7).
Has our relationship with God gone stale? Are we mechanical and routine in what we do for Him? Is the spark of a true devotion missing―which would also spark our spiritual and religious creativity? Would God address us with the same words that He spoke through Isaias, His prophet: “And the Lord said: ‘Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify Me, but their heart is far from Me, and they have feared Me with the commandment and doctrines of men!’” (Isaias 29:13])―words which Our Lord repeated in the New Testament: “You have made void the commandment of God for your tradition. Hypocrites! Well hath Isaias prophesied of you, saying: ‘This people honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men!’” (Matthew 15:6-9). “The heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them!” (Matthew 13:15).
Does Communist Creativity Beat Catholic Creativity?
Our Lord Himself complained that the worldly people showed more zeal than His followers: “the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light!” (Luke 16:8). We can see that in how Communists can take Catholic failures and transform them in Communist successes. The former Communist editor of London’s Daily Worker, now renamed The Morning Star―a UK daily Communist newspaper, founded in 1930―Douglas Hyde, in his book, Dedication and Sacrifice, paints a clear picture of Catholic failures becoming Communist successes. Hyde was to convert to Catholicism in 1948. After his conversion, he writes in his book the following things―which are an embarrassment to the lack of zeal, energy and creativity of Catholics―truly “the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light!”:
“When the Communists speak of launching the world on the way to Communism in the period in which we are living, it is this that they mean—not the whole world with the exception of the United States, or the United Kingdom or whichever country, being your own, you may feel is proof against assault. Their aim is quite clear. They have never concealed it—it is something that is immensely meaningful to every Communist. It is a Communist world. In the past half-century they have achieved one‑third of that aim. On any reckoning, that is a remarkable achievement, probably an unprecedented one. Nonetheless the world in which we live is still predominantly non‑Communist. Twice as many people live in the non‑Communist world as live under Communism. There is no basis here for defeatism. Even so, it is probably true to say of the Communists that never in man’s history has a small group of people set out to win a world and achieved more in less time. Certainly, they have brought far more people under their sway by the methods they employ than anyone else has done during the same period. Moreover, they have always worked through a minority. This is true of those territories which they now rule and also of those where they have not yet come to power.
“This is, however, less exceptional than would appear. In practice, most organizations and causes work through minorities. Even those who believe most deeply in majority rule still depend upon the faithful few to do the work, to make the necessary sacrifices in time, energy and devotion to keep the movement going.
“The Communists have learned from experience, and as a result both of pooling their ideas and of learning from the successes and failures of their movement everywhere, how best they can make the maximum impact upon others, even though they must work through a minority. Many of the methods they have evolved have grown out of this realization. It is these that I consider it is most useful for us to examine.
“The Communist Party throughout the world has thirty-six million members [this figure is for 1965]. Of these, a very high proportion live in lands ruled by Communism. There, quite consciously and deliberately the party is kept small so that it may retain the character of an e1ite. Only a few million live and work in the non‑Communist world. Yet the impact they make upon it is such that we are conscious of their presence the whole of the time. They have profoundly influenced the thought of the majority. The policies of other parties are notably different from what they would otherwise have been because the Communists exist.
“Communists are a very small minority, in comparison with some of the other groups who are also contending for men’s hearts and minds. There are, for example, [in the year 1965] 400 million Moslems and more than 500 million Catholics [today 1,600 million Moslems and 1,200 million Catholics], the majority of whom live outside the Communist countries. These other great world movements have immensely larger human resources at their disposal, than have the combined Communist parties. Yet no one could claim that, in the period in which Communism has been in our midst, they have had anything like its success. I am not, of course, talking of their ability to seize power by force of arms or by subterfuge, but of their ability to fire the imagination, create a sense of dedication and send their followers into effective, meaningful action.
“It is almost impossible to read a newspaper or to listen to the news on radio or television without learning of something which the Communists are doing. They never let us forget them. This is not just an accident, there are reasons for it and these are worth examining.
“I do not believe that the strength of Communism lies in the strength of its ideas. I believe, as any Christian must, that Christianity has something infinitely better to offer than has Communism. To put it in the rather degraded terminology of our times, we have something immensely better to sell. Yet it is they who have been able to influence our generation much more profoundly than have we.
“Beliefs are important to Communists. Communist policies grow out of them. Reading Marx, Engels, Lenin, may not be easy, but it is necessary to an understanding of Communists and Communism. But it is not this that attracts people to the Communist cause. In my experience, the strength of Communism lies in its people and the way in which they are used. It is at this level that Communists have most to teach us. They use well the human material at their disposal. Most often non‑Communists do not.
“Again, in order to get the picture clear, it must be noted that the human material on which they work is not something different from that which is at the disposal of others. The majority of Communists are ‘first generation’. This means that others, frequently Christians and Christian missionaries, had them in their hands long before they went to the Communist Party. One can, and must for honesty’s sake, be more specific: often these people are identical with those who are available to Christians to instruct and use in the sense that a disturbingly high proportion of them, particularly those who form the hard core of the Communist Party, were once Catholics. In other words the Communists train and use successfully people with whom Christians had failed.
The next article will try to generate a spark of creativity and dedication which is needed to take the usual perennially stale Advent and enthuse it by infusing some ideas that could take the spark and turn into a veritable fire of love.
To be “creative” usually means having to put in some extra thought, time and effort into doing something. You can paint your own painting, or buy a print at the supermarket or store. You can design and build your own home, or just buy a house on the market that you like. You can make your own Christmas cards, or buy them at the store. You can write your own articles, or you can use somebody else’s work. You can make you own clothes, or buy ready-made clothes. You can cook your own meals, or buy ready-made meals. You can make up your own prayers, or you can read and pray somebody else’s prayers from a book. You can create your own Rosary meditations, or read somebody else’s work. The first option in all of those examples is the “creative” option―the second option is the “non-creative” option. Most people do not want to put in the thought, time and effort to be creative. This is why “creativity” is something special and something that is valued. God values creativity because it manifests love―it shows a willingness and desire to “go the extra mile” for someone or something. God is the Creator of creativity. God is the Creator of all creation. God is love and God loves creativity. We need to learn from His creativity in His school of creativity. The following quotes reflect those truths.
“Every house is built by some man: but He that created all things, is God” (Hebrews 3:4). “In the beginning God created Heaven, and Earth” (Genesis 1:1). “All things were known to the Lord God, before they were created” (Ecclesiasticus 23:29). “Lift up your eyes on high, and see Who hath created these things” (Isaias 40:26). “Thou art worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory, and honor, and power―because thou hast created all things; and for thy will they were and have been created” (Apocalypse 4:11). “He that loveth not, knoweth not God―for God is charity … In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us” (1 John 4:8-10). “Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee” (Deuteronomy 32:18).
God Wants Creativity
As said above, creativity requires “that bit extra”―which is what God does for us. Creativity requires a loving thoughtfulness and loving efforts. God has planted within us a possibility for creativeness―which is a reflection of Himself. “And God created man to His own image: to the image of God He created him” (Genesis 1:27). “And hath filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and understanding and knowledge and all learning. To devise and to work in gold and silver and brass, and in engraving stones, and in carpenters' work. Whatsoever can be devised artificially, He hath given in his heart … Them hath He instructed with wisdom, to do carpenters' work and tapestry, and embroidery in blue and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and to weave all things, and to invent all new things” (Exodus 35:31-35). “Neglect not the grace that is in thee, which was given thee” (1 Timothy 4:14). God, the creative Creator, created man to be a creative creature. When we fail to put our creative instincts to work, we fail God in a sense. When we fail to be creative for God’s sake, then we fail to give Him the thought, the time and the effort that He deserves. This was the fault of Cain. Both Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God―but Cain’s sacrifice was not acceptable to God and He rejected it. Cain did not give of his best, whereas Abel did.
Cain’s Creativity Collapses
We can, to some extent, presume that Cain’s relationship with God was somewhat stale and at a standstill. Yes, he was sacrificing―just like we go to Mass every Sunday―but there was something missing that made God reject Cain’s sacrifice: “Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord. Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat―and the Lord had respect to Abel and to his offerings; but to Cain and his offerings, He had no respect. And Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said to him: ‘Why art thou angry? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? But if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door?’” (Genesis 4:3-7).
Has our relationship with God gone stale? Are we mechanical and routine in what we do for Him? Is the spark of a true devotion missing―which would also spark our spiritual and religious creativity? Would God address us with the same words that He spoke through Isaias, His prophet: “And the Lord said: ‘Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify Me, but their heart is far from Me, and they have feared Me with the commandment and doctrines of men!’” (Isaias 29:13])―words which Our Lord repeated in the New Testament: “You have made void the commandment of God for your tradition. Hypocrites! Well hath Isaias prophesied of you, saying: ‘This people honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men!’” (Matthew 15:6-9). “The heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them!” (Matthew 13:15).
Does Communist Creativity Beat Catholic Creativity?
Our Lord Himself complained that the worldly people showed more zeal than His followers: “the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light!” (Luke 16:8). We can see that in how Communists can take Catholic failures and transform them in Communist successes. The former Communist editor of London’s Daily Worker, now renamed The Morning Star―a UK daily Communist newspaper, founded in 1930―Douglas Hyde, in his book, Dedication and Sacrifice, paints a clear picture of Catholic failures becoming Communist successes. Hyde was to convert to Catholicism in 1948. After his conversion, he writes in his book the following things―which are an embarrassment to the lack of zeal, energy and creativity of Catholics―truly “the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light!”:
“When the Communists speak of launching the world on the way to Communism in the period in which we are living, it is this that they mean—not the whole world with the exception of the United States, or the United Kingdom or whichever country, being your own, you may feel is proof against assault. Their aim is quite clear. They have never concealed it—it is something that is immensely meaningful to every Communist. It is a Communist world. In the past half-century they have achieved one‑third of that aim. On any reckoning, that is a remarkable achievement, probably an unprecedented one. Nonetheless the world in which we live is still predominantly non‑Communist. Twice as many people live in the non‑Communist world as live under Communism. There is no basis here for defeatism. Even so, it is probably true to say of the Communists that never in man’s history has a small group of people set out to win a world and achieved more in less time. Certainly, they have brought far more people under their sway by the methods they employ than anyone else has done during the same period. Moreover, they have always worked through a minority. This is true of those territories which they now rule and also of those where they have not yet come to power.
“This is, however, less exceptional than would appear. In practice, most organizations and causes work through minorities. Even those who believe most deeply in majority rule still depend upon the faithful few to do the work, to make the necessary sacrifices in time, energy and devotion to keep the movement going.
“The Communists have learned from experience, and as a result both of pooling their ideas and of learning from the successes and failures of their movement everywhere, how best they can make the maximum impact upon others, even though they must work through a minority. Many of the methods they have evolved have grown out of this realization. It is these that I consider it is most useful for us to examine.
“The Communist Party throughout the world has thirty-six million members [this figure is for 1965]. Of these, a very high proportion live in lands ruled by Communism. There, quite consciously and deliberately the party is kept small so that it may retain the character of an e1ite. Only a few million live and work in the non‑Communist world. Yet the impact they make upon it is such that we are conscious of their presence the whole of the time. They have profoundly influenced the thought of the majority. The policies of other parties are notably different from what they would otherwise have been because the Communists exist.
“Communists are a very small minority, in comparison with some of the other groups who are also contending for men’s hearts and minds. There are, for example, [in the year 1965] 400 million Moslems and more than 500 million Catholics [today 1,600 million Moslems and 1,200 million Catholics], the majority of whom live outside the Communist countries. These other great world movements have immensely larger human resources at their disposal, than have the combined Communist parties. Yet no one could claim that, in the period in which Communism has been in our midst, they have had anything like its success. I am not, of course, talking of their ability to seize power by force of arms or by subterfuge, but of their ability to fire the imagination, create a sense of dedication and send their followers into effective, meaningful action.
“It is almost impossible to read a newspaper or to listen to the news on radio or television without learning of something which the Communists are doing. They never let us forget them. This is not just an accident, there are reasons for it and these are worth examining.
“I do not believe that the strength of Communism lies in the strength of its ideas. I believe, as any Christian must, that Christianity has something infinitely better to offer than has Communism. To put it in the rather degraded terminology of our times, we have something immensely better to sell. Yet it is they who have been able to influence our generation much more profoundly than have we.
“Beliefs are important to Communists. Communist policies grow out of them. Reading Marx, Engels, Lenin, may not be easy, but it is necessary to an understanding of Communists and Communism. But it is not this that attracts people to the Communist cause. In my experience, the strength of Communism lies in its people and the way in which they are used. It is at this level that Communists have most to teach us. They use well the human material at their disposal. Most often non‑Communists do not.
“Again, in order to get the picture clear, it must be noted that the human material on which they work is not something different from that which is at the disposal of others. The majority of Communists are ‘first generation’. This means that others, frequently Christians and Christian missionaries, had them in their hands long before they went to the Communist Party. One can, and must for honesty’s sake, be more specific: often these people are identical with those who are available to Christians to instruct and use in the sense that a disturbingly high proportion of them, particularly those who form the hard core of the Communist Party, were once Catholics. In other words the Communists train and use successfully people with whom Christians had failed.
The next article will try to generate a spark of creativity and dedication which is needed to take the usual perennially stale Advent and enthuse it by infusing some ideas that could take the spark and turn into a veritable fire of love.
IF THE ADVENT WREATH COULD SPEAK!
It would give you a profound spiritual lesson!
It would give you a profound spiritual lesson!
The Advent Wreath is one of the most popular Advent traditions. The Advent Wreath has deep origins, extending back to pre-Christian pagan customs of burning lights during the darkest months of winter. Its origin is in pre-Christian pagan Germany and Scandinavia, where the people gathered to both beg and celebrate the return of the sun during and after the winter solstice.
There is evidence of pre-Christian pagan Germanic peoples using Wreaths, with lit candles, during the cold and dark December, days as a sign of hope in the future warmth and extended-sunlight days of spring. In Scandinavia, during winter, lighted candles were placed around a wheel, and prayers were offered to the god of light to turn “the wheel of the earth” back toward the sun to lengthen the days and restore warmth.
These pagan people thus tried to break the darkness of winter with candles and invoke the sun god to quickly return with the warmth and light of spring. In addition, the evergreen wreath would remind them, during the apparent death of nature during winter, that there is still life and the circle of time would again come back to spring and warmth. As the days grew longer, people lit more candles to offer thanks to the “sun god” for the light.
The design of today’s Advent Wreaths was borrowed from the customs of those pre-Christian pagan cultures, who used candles and greenery (often paired together), where the candle represents light and the evergreen represents life. The circular wreath made of evergreens, with four candles interspersed, and represented the circle of the seasons of year and the life that endures through the winter.
Medieval Christians retained the custom, while seeing such lights as an obvious symbol of Christ, for they used candles themselves in many liturgical functions, not least the Sacrifice of the Mass. For us, the lighting of the Advent candles represents the promise of the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. After all, Christ is “the Light that came into the world” to dispel the darkness of sin and to radiate the truth and love of God (John 3:19-21).
Today, many, if not most, Christian churches and families prominently display an evergreen wreath with four candles throughout the Advent Season. The Christian version of the winter wreath, or Advent Wreath, actually originated among the Lutherans of Eastern Germany in the 16th century. The Advent Wreath became quite popular in homes in post-Reformation Protestant Germany. Many German homes families had a custom of lighting four candles during Advent, candles placed in a wreath of evergreens.
When these candles were lit, Scripture and prayer was part of the custom and the family devotion time was a time of instructing the children about Christ’s coming. Later, the custom crossed over different denominational lines and other Christian religions adapted its use. It was quickly adopted by both Protestants and Catholics throughout Germany, and it was brought to the United States by German immigrants in the 19th century.
The Advent Wreath is very symbolic and therefore, spiritually, very beautiful.
► The circle of the wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end.
► The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life.
► The circular form reminds us that God’s love is eternal; it has no beginning and no end.
► The evergreen leaves of the wreath remind us that God never changes.
► The evergreens used for the wreath itself are a reminder of continuous life. Whereas most the leaves (the children) of most trees have lived their life and are now fallen and rotting on the ground, the evergreens live on, seemingly immortal, though some needles are fallen on the ground, the branches are still laden with them. The shaping of the evergreens into a circle reinforces that meaning.
► The circle of the wreath, which has no beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ. The Faith offers us that immortality, not to mention the strength that it gives us to stand firm on our branch of the Faith, while those of other faiths die and fall to the ground at the approach of the hardships and harshness of winter (which symbolizes the devil and the world, in whom there is no warmth or love of God).
► It is traditionally made of some type or mixture of evergreens (fir, spruce, juniper, holly, etc.), symbolizing the continuation of life in the middle of the cold and dark winter (in the northerly latitudes, at least, which is where the Advent Wreath originated).
► The wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying different virtues.
► The evergreens have a traditional meaning which can be adapted to our Faith.
► The laurel signifies victory over persecution and suffering.
► The pine, holly, and yew, signify immortality; and cedar, strength and healing. Holly also has a special Christian symbolism. One English legend tells of how the cross was made of holly.
► The prickly leaves remind us of the crown of thorns.
► The pine cones, nuts, or seedpods of the evergreens are used to decorate the wreath also symbolize life and resurrection.
► All together, the wreath of evergreens depicts the immortality of our soul and the new, everlasting life promised to us through Christ, the eternal Word of the Father, who entered our world becoming true man and who was victorious over sin and death through His own passion, death, and resurrection.
► Finally, the wreath reminds us of the crown of joy waiting for us in Heaven, if we are prepared to wear Christ’s crown of thorns here below!
There is evidence of pre-Christian pagan Germanic peoples using Wreaths, with lit candles, during the cold and dark December, days as a sign of hope in the future warmth and extended-sunlight days of spring. In Scandinavia, during winter, lighted candles were placed around a wheel, and prayers were offered to the god of light to turn “the wheel of the earth” back toward the sun to lengthen the days and restore warmth.
These pagan people thus tried to break the darkness of winter with candles and invoke the sun god to quickly return with the warmth and light of spring. In addition, the evergreen wreath would remind them, during the apparent death of nature during winter, that there is still life and the circle of time would again come back to spring and warmth. As the days grew longer, people lit more candles to offer thanks to the “sun god” for the light.
The design of today’s Advent Wreaths was borrowed from the customs of those pre-Christian pagan cultures, who used candles and greenery (often paired together), where the candle represents light and the evergreen represents life. The circular wreath made of evergreens, with four candles interspersed, and represented the circle of the seasons of year and the life that endures through the winter.
Medieval Christians retained the custom, while seeing such lights as an obvious symbol of Christ, for they used candles themselves in many liturgical functions, not least the Sacrifice of the Mass. For us, the lighting of the Advent candles represents the promise of the coming of Jesus, the light of the world. After all, Christ is “the Light that came into the world” to dispel the darkness of sin and to radiate the truth and love of God (John 3:19-21).
Today, many, if not most, Christian churches and families prominently display an evergreen wreath with four candles throughout the Advent Season. The Christian version of the winter wreath, or Advent Wreath, actually originated among the Lutherans of Eastern Germany in the 16th century. The Advent Wreath became quite popular in homes in post-Reformation Protestant Germany. Many German homes families had a custom of lighting four candles during Advent, candles placed in a wreath of evergreens.
When these candles were lit, Scripture and prayer was part of the custom and the family devotion time was a time of instructing the children about Christ’s coming. Later, the custom crossed over different denominational lines and other Christian religions adapted its use. It was quickly adopted by both Protestants and Catholics throughout Germany, and it was brought to the United States by German immigrants in the 19th century.
The Advent Wreath is very symbolic and therefore, spiritually, very beautiful.
► The circle of the wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end.
► The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life.
► The circular form reminds us that God’s love is eternal; it has no beginning and no end.
► The evergreen leaves of the wreath remind us that God never changes.
► The evergreens used for the wreath itself are a reminder of continuous life. Whereas most the leaves (the children) of most trees have lived their life and are now fallen and rotting on the ground, the evergreens live on, seemingly immortal, though some needles are fallen on the ground, the branches are still laden with them. The shaping of the evergreens into a circle reinforces that meaning.
► The circle of the wreath, which has no beginning or end, symbolizes the eternity of God, the immortality of the soul, and the everlasting life found in Christ. The Faith offers us that immortality, not to mention the strength that it gives us to stand firm on our branch of the Faith, while those of other faiths die and fall to the ground at the approach of the hardships and harshness of winter (which symbolizes the devil and the world, in whom there is no warmth or love of God).
► It is traditionally made of some type or mixture of evergreens (fir, spruce, juniper, holly, etc.), symbolizing the continuation of life in the middle of the cold and dark winter (in the northerly latitudes, at least, which is where the Advent Wreath originated).
► The wreath is made of various evergreens, signifying different virtues.
► The evergreens have a traditional meaning which can be adapted to our Faith.
► The laurel signifies victory over persecution and suffering.
► The pine, holly, and yew, signify immortality; and cedar, strength and healing. Holly also has a special Christian symbolism. One English legend tells of how the cross was made of holly.
► The prickly leaves remind us of the crown of thorns.
► The pine cones, nuts, or seedpods of the evergreens are used to decorate the wreath also symbolize life and resurrection.
► All together, the wreath of evergreens depicts the immortality of our soul and the new, everlasting life promised to us through Christ, the eternal Word of the Father, who entered our world becoming true man and who was victorious over sin and death through His own passion, death, and resurrection.
► Finally, the wreath reminds us of the crown of joy waiting for us in Heaven, if we are prepared to wear Christ’s crown of thorns here below!
DON'T JUST LOOK AT YOUR ADVENT CANDLES, THINK ABOUT THEM!
As we light our first Advent candle on this first Sunday of Advent,
do we realize its symbolism?
As we light our first Advent candle on this first Sunday of Advent,
do we realize its symbolism?
Taking Things For Granted
Sometimes we can take God for granted. In our spiritual lives, we just go through the motions: automatic and thoughtless signs of the cross; mindless half-hearted prayers; robotic genuflections; chore-like and mundane assistance at Mass; empty-headed and profitless spiritual reading; sleepy and drowsy meditations; machine-gun-like and aimless Rosaries; absent-minded and ill-prepared confessions; fast-food or fast-track style Holy Communions and many other ways of showing the truth of Our Lord’s words: “This people honoureth Me with their lips: but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).
“Familiarity breeds contempt” is what they say, and that so readily applies to our Faith and our relationship with God. What was once a period of awe, amazement and attraction, has now for many become something bland, boring and burdensome. They say that routine is the prime killer of devotion—this is true not only in the natural sphere, but also in the supernatural sphere. This routine affects the relationship between spouses, parents and children, friends and work colleagues and even our relationship with God Himself.
We have been in God’s workplace, the Church, for so long, that familiarity has bred, if not contempt, then at least a growing indifference to God and the things of God. We hear the same readings at Mass year after year; we say the same prayers year after year; we hear the same sermons and appeals year after year; we see the same unimproved faults and weaknesses among our fellow Catholics year after year; we confess the same sins year after year; we seem to get away unpunished by God year after year—so it is hardly surprising that we find ourselves slipping into the fatal fantasy of feeling that God is somehow far away and couldn’t care less about what we are really doing or not doing. This helps us make a compromise with indifference and lukewarmness—at first uneasy, but more and more easy with each passing year.
This is one of the several ingredients that make us go through our spiritual and liturgical exercises in a half-awake, partially attentive, automatic, mindless, thoughtless and loveless manner, like some sort of cloned Catholic robot. Sure, we go through the motions, but our minds, thoughts, hearts and affections—if not yet divorced—are living separated from what we are doing, with only occasional ‘weekend visiting rights.’ The fact that so many religious and spiritual activities have become boring, bland and burdensome, inevitably makes this cancer slowly grow to rapidly approaching fatal levels.
Putting Things Right
How can we pull out this kind of spiritual tail-spin that will rapidly end our hopeful flight to Heaven? The traditional remedy has always been “agere contra” (do the opposite or act against) as St. Ignatius of Loyola puts it in his Rules for the Spiritual Exercises (rules, by the way, which were given to him by Our Lady, as being the fundamental rules that she herself followed in life).
Instead of becoming more superficial, agere contra would require that we go against our natural tendency and dig deeper than usual. Painful? Yes! But how many serious illnesses have a sweet, pleasant, instant remedy? Few, if none!
So in this season Advent, instead of passing through it superficially, with lukewarm or even cold hearts, let us dig deeper into the season and search for the precious nuggets of gold and nutritious minerals that it has to offer. Hard work, but rewarding work. With this in mind, let us try shedding some light on the darkness of our minds, with the deeper meaning and symbolism that lays beneath the all too often routine and superficial lighting of the Advent candles during this season.
What the Candles Teach
As we saw in the previous Daily Advent Thoughts (#7), even the pagans gave their candles some kind of symbolism. For them, the candle represented a weak and poor imitation of their sun-god, who they thought gave them light and warmth. If they can see such things represented in a candle, how much more should a follower of Christ see!
Of course, for us the candle also represents a deity, but not some pagan god, but the one, true God—Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are but poor and weak imitations of Christ in this world. Even though it was the Lutherans who initially, in the 1500’s, took the pagan custom of lighting candles during the winter season and gave to their custom a Christian meaning and symbolism, it does not annul certain truths found therein. Otherwise the Catholic Church would not have accepted and integrated the custom into its bosom. For some particular aspects of truth can still be discovered even by those who are in general error.
Candle Controversies
Some Advent wreathes have four candles; other have five. Those which have five, always have a larger white candle in the center of the four surrounding candles (4 purple, or 3 purple and 1 rose; or 4 white; or 4 blue—varying from country to country, and from one religious denomination to another). Some may argue over the number and the color and which is more appropriate, but personally, since the custom comes the pagans and was then ‘christened’ by the Lutherans, and only then adopted and adapted by the Catholics, I don’t think it really matters—after all, it is not a dogmatic thing, but a symbolic thing, and the symbolic interpretations are many and varied, even among Catholics alone!
Christ is Central
The most Christocentric combination would seem to be the larger, wider and taller central candle that represents Jesus Christ, being surrounded by the four smaller candles. For Christ should be at the center of all things; He should be the center of our existence; He should have the prime place in the center of our hearts; our whole life should revolve around Him.
As for the color, it seems most fitting and theologically correct that the larger central candle, representing Christ, should be made of beeswax (symbolizing innocence and purity); and that the surrounding candles be purple—which symbolizes penance, which in turn presupposes, not innocence and purity, but sin and guilt, that have to be paid for through penance. The small candles are not made of beeswax, but of some lesser material, representing the world. its sin, guilt and worldliness.
Advent Candles & Paschal Candles
This is a foreshadowing of the use of two kinds and sizes of candle used during the Paschal or Easter Vigil ceremonies, that bring to an end another penitential period—that of Lent. There we see the large Paschal Candle representing Christ, which is lit in total darkness—symbolizing the darkness of a world that tries to do without Christ—and from that Paschal Candle we light our smaller candles. Again, the Paschal Candle is made of beeswax, but the smaller candles are not. The more candles that are lit from the Paschal Candle, the more light is shed around and everything brightens up.
The flame of the candles represents God, His divinity and grace. God the Father appeared to Moses in the burning bush; God the Son showed Himself as a burning heart to St. Margaret Mary; God the Holy Ghost came down upon Our Lady and the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire at Pentecost. God chooses fire to show both His love, His mercy and His justice. Those in Heaven experience the fire of His love; those in Purgatory experience the fire of His mercy; those in Hell experience the fire of His justice. We even say, in the prayer to the Holy Ghost, “Come O Holy Ghost … enkindle in us the fire of Thy love.” Without God and His grace in our souls (candles), we are useless, just like an extinguished candle. A candle was made to burn, not to be extinguished. It should spend its life giving light to those around, as Our Lord said: “Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:15).
Candle & Virtue
The candle very fittingly represents the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. A candle gives off light, so that we see the things around us clearly, just as Faith helps us see God more clearly and helps us see the world for what it really is.
A candle is also necessary to light our path and to lead us out of pit or cavern of this world, in which we have blundered into; without that light, there is a danger of injury in the darkness by stumbling into things, and there is no hope of seeing where to go in order to emerge from the darkness; this symbolizes the virtue of Hope.
The candle also gives off, not just light, but also warmth. This is a symbol of Charity, that we should show to all those around us, just as God does, so “that you may be the children of your Father Who is in Heaven, Who maketh His sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
The combination of these three virtues should lead us to imitate the larger Candle of Christ, in burning ourselves out in this life for the love of God and neighbor … “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10:27) ... “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) ... and our first and foremost Friend is God (Father, Son and Holy Ghost), then Our Lady, then the rest of the Mystical Body in hierarchical order.
Candle, Mercy & Grace
As the candle cannot light itself, neither can we obtain the grace of God by ourselves—nobody has an automatic meritorious right to the initial grace of God. Grace, as the catechism tells us, is “a gift of God, freely given.” God’s grace inspires us; God’s grace ‘jump-starts’ us; God’s grace keeps us running until we reach our destination—“Without Me, you can do nothing!” (John 15:5). Each time we relight the Advent candles, we should think of the times when grace was absent from our souls, and God, by His mercy, re-lit divine life in our sinful repentant souls.
We will continue looking at the symbolism of the Advent candles in the next Daily Advent Thoughts article.
Rejoice, O daughter of Sion, and be jubilantly glad, O daughter of Israel!.
Behold, thy Lord cometh, and, in His day, a great light shall arise!
We spoke of the candles symbolizing both Christ and ourselves. Let us begin with a deeper reflection upon that point. The wax of candle is a figure of the body, and the wick inside the body of the candle represents the soul. If we use a 5-candle Advent wreath, with the 5th candle being a larger white candle, surrounded by 4 smaller purple candles, we can see the beautiful symbolism of the innocence of Christ reflected in the color white, and the guilt and need for penance of ourselves reflected in the color purple.
Weeping Burning Candles
The wax that the purple candles ‘weep’ and drip, is symbolic of tears of sorrow for sin. The diminishing size of the candles as they burn with the flame of love and sorrow, is a symbol of humility, as St. John the Baptist, the prophet of penance who burned in the scorching desert heat, said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). These two aspects, humility and charity, are the foundation of our sanctity and salvation. Let us develop that theme a little a more.
The purple candles will have been lit and burned at different stages throughout Advent, yet all will have spent considerable time burning before they enjoy seeing the white candle of Christ finally lit and burning in the midst of them at the end of the Vigil of Christmas, at midnight, signifying the birth and long-awaited arrival of the Son of God at Bethlehem. The fact that the purple candles have been lit at different stages throughout Advent (1st week, 2nd week, 3rd week and 4th week) can interpreted in various ways.
Sometimes we can take God for granted. In our spiritual lives, we just go through the motions: automatic and thoughtless signs of the cross; mindless half-hearted prayers; robotic genuflections; chore-like and mundane assistance at Mass; empty-headed and profitless spiritual reading; sleepy and drowsy meditations; machine-gun-like and aimless Rosaries; absent-minded and ill-prepared confessions; fast-food or fast-track style Holy Communions and many other ways of showing the truth of Our Lord’s words: “This people honoureth Me with their lips: but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8).
“Familiarity breeds contempt” is what they say, and that so readily applies to our Faith and our relationship with God. What was once a period of awe, amazement and attraction, has now for many become something bland, boring and burdensome. They say that routine is the prime killer of devotion—this is true not only in the natural sphere, but also in the supernatural sphere. This routine affects the relationship between spouses, parents and children, friends and work colleagues and even our relationship with God Himself.
We have been in God’s workplace, the Church, for so long, that familiarity has bred, if not contempt, then at least a growing indifference to God and the things of God. We hear the same readings at Mass year after year; we say the same prayers year after year; we hear the same sermons and appeals year after year; we see the same unimproved faults and weaknesses among our fellow Catholics year after year; we confess the same sins year after year; we seem to get away unpunished by God year after year—so it is hardly surprising that we find ourselves slipping into the fatal fantasy of feeling that God is somehow far away and couldn’t care less about what we are really doing or not doing. This helps us make a compromise with indifference and lukewarmness—at first uneasy, but more and more easy with each passing year.
This is one of the several ingredients that make us go through our spiritual and liturgical exercises in a half-awake, partially attentive, automatic, mindless, thoughtless and loveless manner, like some sort of cloned Catholic robot. Sure, we go through the motions, but our minds, thoughts, hearts and affections—if not yet divorced—are living separated from what we are doing, with only occasional ‘weekend visiting rights.’ The fact that so many religious and spiritual activities have become boring, bland and burdensome, inevitably makes this cancer slowly grow to rapidly approaching fatal levels.
Putting Things Right
How can we pull out this kind of spiritual tail-spin that will rapidly end our hopeful flight to Heaven? The traditional remedy has always been “agere contra” (do the opposite or act against) as St. Ignatius of Loyola puts it in his Rules for the Spiritual Exercises (rules, by the way, which were given to him by Our Lady, as being the fundamental rules that she herself followed in life).
Instead of becoming more superficial, agere contra would require that we go against our natural tendency and dig deeper than usual. Painful? Yes! But how many serious illnesses have a sweet, pleasant, instant remedy? Few, if none!
So in this season Advent, instead of passing through it superficially, with lukewarm or even cold hearts, let us dig deeper into the season and search for the precious nuggets of gold and nutritious minerals that it has to offer. Hard work, but rewarding work. With this in mind, let us try shedding some light on the darkness of our minds, with the deeper meaning and symbolism that lays beneath the all too often routine and superficial lighting of the Advent candles during this season.
What the Candles Teach
As we saw in the previous Daily Advent Thoughts (#7), even the pagans gave their candles some kind of symbolism. For them, the candle represented a weak and poor imitation of their sun-god, who they thought gave them light and warmth. If they can see such things represented in a candle, how much more should a follower of Christ see!
Of course, for us the candle also represents a deity, but not some pagan god, but the one, true God—Our Lord Jesus Christ. We are but poor and weak imitations of Christ in this world. Even though it was the Lutherans who initially, in the 1500’s, took the pagan custom of lighting candles during the winter season and gave to their custom a Christian meaning and symbolism, it does not annul certain truths found therein. Otherwise the Catholic Church would not have accepted and integrated the custom into its bosom. For some particular aspects of truth can still be discovered even by those who are in general error.
Candle Controversies
Some Advent wreathes have four candles; other have five. Those which have five, always have a larger white candle in the center of the four surrounding candles (4 purple, or 3 purple and 1 rose; or 4 white; or 4 blue—varying from country to country, and from one religious denomination to another). Some may argue over the number and the color and which is more appropriate, but personally, since the custom comes the pagans and was then ‘christened’ by the Lutherans, and only then adopted and adapted by the Catholics, I don’t think it really matters—after all, it is not a dogmatic thing, but a symbolic thing, and the symbolic interpretations are many and varied, even among Catholics alone!
Christ is Central
The most Christocentric combination would seem to be the larger, wider and taller central candle that represents Jesus Christ, being surrounded by the four smaller candles. For Christ should be at the center of all things; He should be the center of our existence; He should have the prime place in the center of our hearts; our whole life should revolve around Him.
As for the color, it seems most fitting and theologically correct that the larger central candle, representing Christ, should be made of beeswax (symbolizing innocence and purity); and that the surrounding candles be purple—which symbolizes penance, which in turn presupposes, not innocence and purity, but sin and guilt, that have to be paid for through penance. The small candles are not made of beeswax, but of some lesser material, representing the world. its sin, guilt and worldliness.
Advent Candles & Paschal Candles
This is a foreshadowing of the use of two kinds and sizes of candle used during the Paschal or Easter Vigil ceremonies, that bring to an end another penitential period—that of Lent. There we see the large Paschal Candle representing Christ, which is lit in total darkness—symbolizing the darkness of a world that tries to do without Christ—and from that Paschal Candle we light our smaller candles. Again, the Paschal Candle is made of beeswax, but the smaller candles are not. The more candles that are lit from the Paschal Candle, the more light is shed around and everything brightens up.
The flame of the candles represents God, His divinity and grace. God the Father appeared to Moses in the burning bush; God the Son showed Himself as a burning heart to St. Margaret Mary; God the Holy Ghost came down upon Our Lady and the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire at Pentecost. God chooses fire to show both His love, His mercy and His justice. Those in Heaven experience the fire of His love; those in Purgatory experience the fire of His mercy; those in Hell experience the fire of His justice. We even say, in the prayer to the Holy Ghost, “Come O Holy Ghost … enkindle in us the fire of Thy love.” Without God and His grace in our souls (candles), we are useless, just like an extinguished candle. A candle was made to burn, not to be extinguished. It should spend its life giving light to those around, as Our Lord said: “Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven” (Matthew 5:15).
Candle & Virtue
The candle very fittingly represents the three theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity. A candle gives off light, so that we see the things around us clearly, just as Faith helps us see God more clearly and helps us see the world for what it really is.
A candle is also necessary to light our path and to lead us out of pit or cavern of this world, in which we have blundered into; without that light, there is a danger of injury in the darkness by stumbling into things, and there is no hope of seeing where to go in order to emerge from the darkness; this symbolizes the virtue of Hope.
The candle also gives off, not just light, but also warmth. This is a symbol of Charity, that we should show to all those around us, just as God does, so “that you may be the children of your Father Who is in Heaven, Who maketh His sun to rise upon the good, and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
The combination of these three virtues should lead us to imitate the larger Candle of Christ, in burning ourselves out in this life for the love of God and neighbor … “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10:27) ... “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13) ... and our first and foremost Friend is God (Father, Son and Holy Ghost), then Our Lady, then the rest of the Mystical Body in hierarchical order.
Candle, Mercy & Grace
As the candle cannot light itself, neither can we obtain the grace of God by ourselves—nobody has an automatic meritorious right to the initial grace of God. Grace, as the catechism tells us, is “a gift of God, freely given.” God’s grace inspires us; God’s grace ‘jump-starts’ us; God’s grace keeps us running until we reach our destination—“Without Me, you can do nothing!” (John 15:5). Each time we relight the Advent candles, we should think of the times when grace was absent from our souls, and God, by His mercy, re-lit divine life in our sinful repentant souls.
We will continue looking at the symbolism of the Advent candles in the next Daily Advent Thoughts article.
Rejoice, O daughter of Sion, and be jubilantly glad, O daughter of Israel!.
Behold, thy Lord cometh, and, in His day, a great light shall arise!
We spoke of the candles symbolizing both Christ and ourselves. Let us begin with a deeper reflection upon that point. The wax of candle is a figure of the body, and the wick inside the body of the candle represents the soul. If we use a 5-candle Advent wreath, with the 5th candle being a larger white candle, surrounded by 4 smaller purple candles, we can see the beautiful symbolism of the innocence of Christ reflected in the color white, and the guilt and need for penance of ourselves reflected in the color purple.
Weeping Burning Candles
The wax that the purple candles ‘weep’ and drip, is symbolic of tears of sorrow for sin. The diminishing size of the candles as they burn with the flame of love and sorrow, is a symbol of humility, as St. John the Baptist, the prophet of penance who burned in the scorching desert heat, said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). These two aspects, humility and charity, are the foundation of our sanctity and salvation. Let us develop that theme a little a more.
The purple candles will have been lit and burned at different stages throughout Advent, yet all will have spent considerable time burning before they enjoy seeing the white candle of Christ finally lit and burning in the midst of them at the end of the Vigil of Christmas, at midnight, signifying the birth and long-awaited arrival of the Son of God at Bethlehem. The fact that the purple candles have been lit at different stages throughout Advent (1st week, 2nd week, 3rd week and 4th week) can interpreted in various ways.
MAKE YOUR ADVENT SUNDAYS LAST ALL WEEK!
A simple and effective way to let the Sunday liturgy have a profound effect upon the remainder of the week
scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
A simple and effective way to let the Sunday liturgy have a profound effect upon the remainder of the week
scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Supernatural Supermarkets and Spiritual Shopping
You can, you could and should―if only you would―look upon your visit to church and Mass on Sunday as a visit to a ‘spiritual store’ or ‘supernatural supermarket’―where you purchase all that you will need for the week ahead. When we go shopping during the week, we do not eat everything on the spot, there and then, in the store―but we take everything home to be eaten bit by bit throughout the week.
Our Lord Himself said: “Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God!” (Matthew 4:4). Not only are we “fed” the Word of God at Mass on Sunday, but God also feeds us with Himself in the Holy Eucharist: “My Father giveth you the true Bread from Heaven. For the Bread of God is that which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life to the world ... I am the Bread of Life! He that cometh to Me shall not hunger and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst! … I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead! This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die! I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever; and the Bread that I will give, is My Flesh, for the life of the world … Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of man, and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you! He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath everlasting life … For My Flesh is meat indeed: and My Blood is drink indeed! He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so too he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. This is the Bread that came down from Heaven! Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead! He that eateth this Bread, shall live for ever!” (John 6:32-35, 48-52; 54-59).
Thus Our Lord tells us: Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth … but lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven … Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life and what you shall eat … Is not the life more than the meat? … Be not solicitous therefore, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ … For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you!” (Matthew 6:19-20; 25-33).
You could compare Sunday Mass to the field that Our Lord speaks about in the Gospels: “The Kingdom of Heaven [or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass] is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes” (Matthew 13:44-47).
Do Not Undervalue and Underestimate Sunday Mass!
There are very few Catholics who truly profit from Sunday Mass―they are more like a person who has been given the latest computer with so-called “cutting-edge technology” but all they use it for is typing an occasional letter, which they print-out and send by “snail-mail”―they are totally underestimating and undervaluing and under-using a powerful tool. Or you could compare it to a person who has won a prize allowing them to take as much as they can from a supermarket in 60 minutes―and they walk-out with only a soda and a bag of chips. The spiritual shelves are stacked, but there is nothing in their shopping cart! They see many things, but walk away with next to nothing! The words of Holy Scripture could well be applied to them: “Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand!” (Matthew 13:13). “The heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them!” (Matthew 13:15). The problem being that “these people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify Me, but their heart is far from Me!” (Isaias 29:13).
People Want “Birds-Eye” Spirituality and Will Not Cook For Themselves
Just as many people are losing the intricate skills of good-cooking and want ready-made meals that can be fixed in seconds―so too do people want “fast-food-spirituality” in ‘bite-size’ pieces that do not require much chewing and can swallowed almost instantly. A lot of this stems from the fact that modern-man has been dumbed-down (most newspapers are written at a 5th to 8th Grade level―that is to say for a 10-year-old to 13-year-old level of vocabulary). This dumbing-down is enhanced by the heavy reliance on pictures rather than words―we use pictures for little children and phase them out as the children get older, replacing pictures with ever increasingly more difficult words and abstract concepts, which hone and perfect the intelligence. Studies by university researchers show that reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary. Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that pictures and visual media, such as video games and television, do not. When students were tested after class lectures, those who did not have Internet access performed better than those who did.
As one researcher says: “Over the past few years, I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle. Who bothers to write down or memorize detailed information any more, for example, when they know that Google will always retrieve it if it’s needed again? Technology does a lot to make things in life easier, faster, more efficient, but sometimes our cognitive skills can suffer as a result of these shortcuts, and hurt us in the long run.”
Addicted to Images
We have become a race addicted to images―and things that do not have images, we find dull, uninteresting, boring and even incomprehensible. Instead of maturing our intelligence, we are weakening our intelligence. Instead of advancing to maturity, we are regressing into immaturity. We are become more and more like children every day. This is not quite what Our Lord meant when He said: “Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 18:3).
Holy Mass―No Pictures, No Fun, No Profit
This brings us back to our Sunday Supernatural Supermarket Spiritual Shopping―it is wrong to do all your shopping on Sundays, but it is not wrong to do your spiritual shopping on Sundays. In fact, you get some great deals at your local Supernatural Supermarket (a.k.a. parish church). However, the good deals are not pre-packaged Birds-Eye meals, but ingredients that you need to take home and cook yourself. If you are merely going to church like a “fast-food-drive-thru” then there is much worrying to be done over your spiritual health!
Throw These in Your Spiritual Shopping Cart
When you dump the food that you will need for the week into your shopping cart, it does not look very appetizing―there is a lot of work and preparation that must be undertaken before it is digestible and healthful. The same is true, to a certain degree, with the food (Word of God) on offer at your Supernatural Supermarket (church) on Sunday―you need to take it home, cut-it-up, stew-it in your mind, and digest it so that it brings you spiritual health now and eternal salvation later.
Introit or Entrance Hymn, Mass of the First Sunday of Advent
To You I lift up my soul: in You, O my God, I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. No one who waits for You shall be put to shame.
Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. To You I lift up my soul: in You, O my God, I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. No one who waits for You shall be put to shame.
Collect or Opening Prayer, Mass of the First Sunday of Advent
Put forth Your power, O Lord, we beseech You, and come, that with You as our protector we may be rescued from the impending danger of our sins; and with You as our deliverer, may we obtain our salvation.
Lesson from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Romans 13:11-14) for the First Sunday of Advent
Brethren: Understand, for it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we came to believe. The night is far advanced; the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke (21:25-33) for the First Sunday of Advent
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations bewildered by the roaring of sea and waves; men fainting for fear and for expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the son of Man coming upon a cloud with great power and majesty. but when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a parable. Behold the fig tree, and all the trees. When they now put forth their buds, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things coming to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near. Amen I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all things have been accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Homily by Pope St. Gregory the Great (1st Homily on the Gospels) for the First Sunday of Advent
Our Lord and Saviour wisheth to find us ready at His second coming. Therefore He telleth us what will be the evils of the world as it groweth old, that He may wean our hearts from worldly affections. Here we read what great convulsions will go before the end, that, if we will not fear God in our prosperity, we may at least be scourged into fearing His judgment when it is at hand.
Secret of the Mass for the First Sunday of Advent
May these offerings, O Lord, cleanse us by their mighty power and thus make us come purer before You Who are their author.
Preface of the Mass for the First Sunday of Advent
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth! Heaven and Earth are full of Thy glory! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
Communion Prayer (Psalm 84:13) for the First Sunday of Advent
The Lord will give His benefits: and our land shall yield its increase.
Post Communion Prayer for the First Sunday of Advent
May we receive Your mercy, O Lord, in the midst of Your temple, and thus prepare with due observance for the coming festal season of our redemption.
Divine Office: Invitatory and Psalm 94 from Matins for the First Sunday of Advent
The Lord, the King who is to come, O come, let us adore Him! Come let us praise the Lord with joy! Let us joyfully sing to God our Savior! Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful sounds to Him with psalms! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For the Lord will not cast off His people―for in His hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His. Today if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts: As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted Him, they tested Him, and saw His works. For forty years long He was offended with that generation, and He said: “These always err in heart. And these men have not known My ways: so I swore in My anger that they shall not enter into My rest.” (Matins, Psalm 94).
Divine Office: Hymn at Matins for the First Sunday of Advent
Celestial Word, to this our earth
Sent down from God's eternal clime,
To save mankind by mortal birth
Into a world of change and time;
Enlighten our hearts; vain hopes destroy;
And in thy love's consuming fire
Fill all the soul with heavenly joy,
And melt the dross of low desire.
So when the Judge of quick and dead
Shall bid his awful summons come,
To whelm the guilty soul with dread,
And call the blessed to their home.
Saved from the whirling, black abyss,
Forevermore to us be given
To share the feast of saintly bliss,
And see the face of God in heaven.
To God the Father and the Son
Our songs with one accord we raise;
And to the Holy Spirit, One
With them, be ever equal praise
Amen.
The Nine Antiphons from Matins for the First Sunday of Advent
● Antiphon 1 from Matins: Behold, there cometh the King, even the Most High, with great power, to save the nations, alleluia.
● Antiphon 2 from Matins: Strengthen ye the weak hands, be strong, say: “Behold, our God will come, and save us, alleluia!”
● Antiphon 3 from Matins: Rejoice all ye, and be glad for, behold, the Lord will come with vengeance, He will bring a recompense He will come and save us.
● Antiphon 4 from Matins: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh into thee, O Zion; fear not, for thy salvation cometh quickly.
● Antiphon 5 from Matins: Christ our King cometh, Whom John preached, saying: Behold the Lamb That should come!
● Antiphon 6 from Matins: “Behold, I come quickly,” saith the Lord, “and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
● Antiphon 7 from Matins: The Angel Gabriel spoke unto Mary, saying: “Hail, thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!”
● Antiphon 8 from Matins: Mary said: “What manner of salutation is this? My soul is troubled. Shall I bear the King? And will He not break the seal of my virginity?”
● Antiphon 9 from Matins: The King, even the Most High, cometh therefore let the hearts of men be purified to go forth to meet Him, for, behold, He will come and will not tarry.
Reading From Matins for the First Sunday of Advent (Isaias 1:1-6)
[1:1] The vision of Isaias the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda.
[1:2] Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me.
[1:3] The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.
[1:4] Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.
[1:5] For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.
[1:6] From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.
Give a Man a Fish, or Teach a Man to Fish? … Give a Man a Meal, or Teach a Man to Cook?
It is with these ingredients that we shall begin to cook―adding what spices and herbs we may already have in our spiritual cupboards. If you expect spiritual health by eating for only 60 minutes on Sunday, swallowing what is served without chewing each ‘mouthful’―like mamma used to say―thirty-two times, then you are likely to be spiritually disappointed and spiritually undernourished.
To finish this article, a little tidbit of information on that chewing process! Why chew your food 32 times? Where did this advice come from? Didn’t your parents, or grandparents, ever lecture you on the importance of properly chewing your food? Well, chewing is certainly important. It is actually the beginning of the digestion process, where not only mastication starts to break down foods into smaller pieces, but an enzyme is released to begin the process of digesting starches. But why should you chew 32 times? Where did this precise number come from? The 32 times figure comes a self-proclaimed expert on diet in the later 1800’s named Horace Fletcher. Without an ounce of scientific training, he conducted experiments which proved, to him at least, the importance of thorough mastication. He was so into chewing that he became known as the “Great Masticator” and those who followed his recommendations were said to be “fletcherizing.” And people certainly followed his advice, among them John D. Rockefeller, Upton Sinclair, Henry James and William James, Franz Kafka, and President Theodore Roosevelt.
Why 32 times? It’s once for every tooth! Ha! Ha! Ha! Well what if you a missing teeth? Ha! You can chew on that one yourself! Even Mark Twain, who was nothing if not a skeptic about the plethora of dietary advice of his day, is said to have tried the Fletcher diet. The great dietary reformer and cereal guru John Harvey Kellogg, not only touted Fletcher’s advice, he was the one who coined the term ‘fletcherism’ and helped to popularize the method, using it in his Battle Creek Sanitarium. Bernard MacFaddan, and early ‘physical culturist’ or proponent of physical fitness and health reform, also helped popularize fletcherism in his writings. Eventually, it found its way into some school hygiene textbooks, which is likely how it was passed down to use as if it were a proven tenant of nutrition and health.
According to Fletcher, slow and considered chewing basically saved his life. He had been denied health insurance because of his obesity. Writing in books such as Fletcherism: What It Is and How I Became Young at 60 and The New Glutton or Epicure, most of his revelations were anecdotal: “I weighed two hundred and seventeen pounds (about fifty pounds more than I should have for my height of five foot six inches)…I was an old man at forty, on my way to rapid decline.” He claimed that his thorough chewing regimen led to him losing 163 pounds. Not only did the extended chewing time make the food nutrition more available to the body, but it made you eat less. “Nature will castigate those who do not masticate,” he said. Anyway, enough of the trivia―you can chew on it or chew it over if you like! We’ll start the cooking in the next article.
You can, you could and should―if only you would―look upon your visit to church and Mass on Sunday as a visit to a ‘spiritual store’ or ‘supernatural supermarket’―where you purchase all that you will need for the week ahead. When we go shopping during the week, we do not eat everything on the spot, there and then, in the store―but we take everything home to be eaten bit by bit throughout the week.
Our Lord Himself said: “Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God!” (Matthew 4:4). Not only are we “fed” the Word of God at Mass on Sunday, but God also feeds us with Himself in the Holy Eucharist: “My Father giveth you the true Bread from Heaven. For the Bread of God is that which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life to the world ... I am the Bread of Life! He that cometh to Me shall not hunger and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst! … I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead! This is the Bread which cometh down from Heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die! I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven. If any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever; and the Bread that I will give, is My Flesh, for the life of the world … Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of man, and drink His Blood, you shall not have life in you! He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath everlasting life … For My Flesh is meat indeed: and My Blood is drink indeed! He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so too he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. This is the Bread that came down from Heaven! Not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead! He that eateth this Bread, shall live for ever!” (John 6:32-35, 48-52; 54-59).
Thus Our Lord tells us: Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth … but lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven … Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life and what you shall eat … Is not the life more than the meat? … Be not solicitous therefore, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ … For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you!” (Matthew 6:19-20; 25-33).
You could compare Sunday Mass to the field that Our Lord speaks about in the Gospels: “The Kingdom of Heaven [or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass] is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it. Again the Kingdom of Heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes” (Matthew 13:44-47).
Do Not Undervalue and Underestimate Sunday Mass!
There are very few Catholics who truly profit from Sunday Mass―they are more like a person who has been given the latest computer with so-called “cutting-edge technology” but all they use it for is typing an occasional letter, which they print-out and send by “snail-mail”―they are totally underestimating and undervaluing and under-using a powerful tool. Or you could compare it to a person who has won a prize allowing them to take as much as they can from a supermarket in 60 minutes―and they walk-out with only a soda and a bag of chips. The spiritual shelves are stacked, but there is nothing in their shopping cart! They see many things, but walk away with next to nothing! The words of Holy Scripture could well be applied to them: “Seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand!” (Matthew 13:13). “The heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them!” (Matthew 13:15). The problem being that “these people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify Me, but their heart is far from Me!” (Isaias 29:13).
People Want “Birds-Eye” Spirituality and Will Not Cook For Themselves
Just as many people are losing the intricate skills of good-cooking and want ready-made meals that can be fixed in seconds―so too do people want “fast-food-spirituality” in ‘bite-size’ pieces that do not require much chewing and can swallowed almost instantly. A lot of this stems from the fact that modern-man has been dumbed-down (most newspapers are written at a 5th to 8th Grade level―that is to say for a 10-year-old to 13-year-old level of vocabulary). This dumbing-down is enhanced by the heavy reliance on pictures rather than words―we use pictures for little children and phase them out as the children get older, replacing pictures with ever increasingly more difficult words and abstract concepts, which hone and perfect the intelligence. Studies by university researchers show that reading develops imagination, induction, reflection and critical thinking, as well as vocabulary. Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that pictures and visual media, such as video games and television, do not. When students were tested after class lectures, those who did not have Internet access performed better than those who did.
As one researcher says: “Over the past few years, I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle. Who bothers to write down or memorize detailed information any more, for example, when they know that Google will always retrieve it if it’s needed again? Technology does a lot to make things in life easier, faster, more efficient, but sometimes our cognitive skills can suffer as a result of these shortcuts, and hurt us in the long run.”
Addicted to Images
We have become a race addicted to images―and things that do not have images, we find dull, uninteresting, boring and even incomprehensible. Instead of maturing our intelligence, we are weakening our intelligence. Instead of advancing to maturity, we are regressing into immaturity. We are become more and more like children every day. This is not quite what Our Lord meant when He said: “Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 18:3).
Holy Mass―No Pictures, No Fun, No Profit
This brings us back to our Sunday Supernatural Supermarket Spiritual Shopping―it is wrong to do all your shopping on Sundays, but it is not wrong to do your spiritual shopping on Sundays. In fact, you get some great deals at your local Supernatural Supermarket (a.k.a. parish church). However, the good deals are not pre-packaged Birds-Eye meals, but ingredients that you need to take home and cook yourself. If you are merely going to church like a “fast-food-drive-thru” then there is much worrying to be done over your spiritual health!
Throw These in Your Spiritual Shopping Cart
When you dump the food that you will need for the week into your shopping cart, it does not look very appetizing―there is a lot of work and preparation that must be undertaken before it is digestible and healthful. The same is true, to a certain degree, with the food (Word of God) on offer at your Supernatural Supermarket (church) on Sunday―you need to take it home, cut-it-up, stew-it in your mind, and digest it so that it brings you spiritual health now and eternal salvation later.
Introit or Entrance Hymn, Mass of the First Sunday of Advent
To You I lift up my soul: in You, O my God, I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. No one who waits for You shall be put to shame.
Your ways, O Lord, make known to me; teach me Your paths. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. To You I lift up my soul: in You, O my God, I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. No one who waits for You shall be put to shame.
Collect or Opening Prayer, Mass of the First Sunday of Advent
Put forth Your power, O Lord, we beseech You, and come, that with You as our protector we may be rescued from the impending danger of our sins; and with You as our deliverer, may we obtain our salvation.
Lesson from the letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans (Romans 13:11-14) for the First Sunday of Advent
Brethren: Understand, for it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we came to believe. The night is far advanced; the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. Let us walk becomingly as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Gospel according to Luke (21:25-33) for the First Sunday of Advent
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations bewildered by the roaring of sea and waves; men fainting for fear and for expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the son of Man coming upon a cloud with great power and majesty. but when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a parable. Behold the fig tree, and all the trees. When they now put forth their buds, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things coming to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near. Amen I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all things have been accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
Homily by Pope St. Gregory the Great (1st Homily on the Gospels) for the First Sunday of Advent
Our Lord and Saviour wisheth to find us ready at His second coming. Therefore He telleth us what will be the evils of the world as it groweth old, that He may wean our hearts from worldly affections. Here we read what great convulsions will go before the end, that, if we will not fear God in our prosperity, we may at least be scourged into fearing His judgment when it is at hand.
Secret of the Mass for the First Sunday of Advent
May these offerings, O Lord, cleanse us by their mighty power and thus make us come purer before You Who are their author.
Preface of the Mass for the First Sunday of Advent
It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God; Who, together with Thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Ghost, art one God, one Lord: not in the oneness of a single Person, but in the Trinity of one substance. For what we believe by Thy revelation of Thy glory, the same do we believe of Thy Son, the same of the Holy Ghost, without difference or separation. So that in confessing the true and everlasting Godhead, distinction in persons, unity in essence, and equality in majesty may be adored. Which the Angels and Archangels, the Cherubim also and Seraphim do praise: who cease not daily to cry out, with one voice saying: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth! Heaven and Earth are full of Thy glory! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!
Communion Prayer (Psalm 84:13) for the First Sunday of Advent
The Lord will give His benefits: and our land shall yield its increase.
Post Communion Prayer for the First Sunday of Advent
May we receive Your mercy, O Lord, in the midst of Your temple, and thus prepare with due observance for the coming festal season of our redemption.
Divine Office: Invitatory and Psalm 94 from Matins for the First Sunday of Advent
The Lord, the King who is to come, O come, let us adore Him! Come let us praise the Lord with joy! Let us joyfully sing to God our Savior! Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful sounds to Him with psalms! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. For the Lord will not cast off His people―for in His hand are all the ends of the earth, and the heights of the mountains are His. Today if you shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts: As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted Him, they tested Him, and saw His works. For forty years long He was offended with that generation, and He said: “These always err in heart. And these men have not known My ways: so I swore in My anger that they shall not enter into My rest.” (Matins, Psalm 94).
Divine Office: Hymn at Matins for the First Sunday of Advent
Celestial Word, to this our earth
Sent down from God's eternal clime,
To save mankind by mortal birth
Into a world of change and time;
Enlighten our hearts; vain hopes destroy;
And in thy love's consuming fire
Fill all the soul with heavenly joy,
And melt the dross of low desire.
So when the Judge of quick and dead
Shall bid his awful summons come,
To whelm the guilty soul with dread,
And call the blessed to their home.
Saved from the whirling, black abyss,
Forevermore to us be given
To share the feast of saintly bliss,
And see the face of God in heaven.
To God the Father and the Son
Our songs with one accord we raise;
And to the Holy Spirit, One
With them, be ever equal praise
Amen.
The Nine Antiphons from Matins for the First Sunday of Advent
● Antiphon 1 from Matins: Behold, there cometh the King, even the Most High, with great power, to save the nations, alleluia.
● Antiphon 2 from Matins: Strengthen ye the weak hands, be strong, say: “Behold, our God will come, and save us, alleluia!”
● Antiphon 3 from Matins: Rejoice all ye, and be glad for, behold, the Lord will come with vengeance, He will bring a recompense He will come and save us.
● Antiphon 4 from Matins: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh into thee, O Zion; fear not, for thy salvation cometh quickly.
● Antiphon 5 from Matins: Christ our King cometh, Whom John preached, saying: Behold the Lamb That should come!
● Antiphon 6 from Matins: “Behold, I come quickly,” saith the Lord, “and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
● Antiphon 7 from Matins: The Angel Gabriel spoke unto Mary, saying: “Hail, thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women!”
● Antiphon 8 from Matins: Mary said: “What manner of salutation is this? My soul is troubled. Shall I bear the King? And will He not break the seal of my virginity?”
● Antiphon 9 from Matins: The King, even the Most High, cometh therefore let the hearts of men be purified to go forth to meet Him, for, behold, He will come and will not tarry.
Reading From Matins for the First Sunday of Advent (Isaias 1:1-6)
[1:1] The vision of Isaias the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda.
[1:2] Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me.
[1:3] The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood.
[1:4] Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards.
[1:5] For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad.
[1:6] From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil.
Give a Man a Fish, or Teach a Man to Fish? … Give a Man a Meal, or Teach a Man to Cook?
It is with these ingredients that we shall begin to cook―adding what spices and herbs we may already have in our spiritual cupboards. If you expect spiritual health by eating for only 60 minutes on Sunday, swallowing what is served without chewing each ‘mouthful’―like mamma used to say―thirty-two times, then you are likely to be spiritually disappointed and spiritually undernourished.
To finish this article, a little tidbit of information on that chewing process! Why chew your food 32 times? Where did this advice come from? Didn’t your parents, or grandparents, ever lecture you on the importance of properly chewing your food? Well, chewing is certainly important. It is actually the beginning of the digestion process, where not only mastication starts to break down foods into smaller pieces, but an enzyme is released to begin the process of digesting starches. But why should you chew 32 times? Where did this precise number come from? The 32 times figure comes a self-proclaimed expert on diet in the later 1800’s named Horace Fletcher. Without an ounce of scientific training, he conducted experiments which proved, to him at least, the importance of thorough mastication. He was so into chewing that he became known as the “Great Masticator” and those who followed his recommendations were said to be “fletcherizing.” And people certainly followed his advice, among them John D. Rockefeller, Upton Sinclair, Henry James and William James, Franz Kafka, and President Theodore Roosevelt.
Why 32 times? It’s once for every tooth! Ha! Ha! Ha! Well what if you a missing teeth? Ha! You can chew on that one yourself! Even Mark Twain, who was nothing if not a skeptic about the plethora of dietary advice of his day, is said to have tried the Fletcher diet. The great dietary reformer and cereal guru John Harvey Kellogg, not only touted Fletcher’s advice, he was the one who coined the term ‘fletcherism’ and helped to popularize the method, using it in his Battle Creek Sanitarium. Bernard MacFaddan, and early ‘physical culturist’ or proponent of physical fitness and health reform, also helped popularize fletcherism in his writings. Eventually, it found its way into some school hygiene textbooks, which is likely how it was passed down to use as if it were a proven tenant of nutrition and health.
According to Fletcher, slow and considered chewing basically saved his life. He had been denied health insurance because of his obesity. Writing in books such as Fletcherism: What It Is and How I Became Young at 60 and The New Glutton or Epicure, most of his revelations were anecdotal: “I weighed two hundred and seventeen pounds (about fifty pounds more than I should have for my height of five foot six inches)…I was an old man at forty, on my way to rapid decline.” He claimed that his thorough chewing regimen led to him losing 163 pounds. Not only did the extended chewing time make the food nutrition more available to the body, but it made you eat less. “Nature will castigate those who do not masticate,” he said. Anyway, enough of the trivia―you can chew on it or chew it over if you like! We’ll start the cooking in the next article.
GET IN THE "FAST-LANE"! START AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON!
Fast from your "fast-food" and Fast from your "fast-prayers"
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Fast from your "fast-food" and Fast from your "fast-prayers"
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Heaven is Not a “Piece of Cake”―Neither is Advent!
Getting to Heaven is not a ‘piece-of-cake’, but more like a lot of penance and hard work―for, as Our Lord says: “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (Matthew 11:12), meaning that we have to fight hard to obtain that prize, as St. Paul writes: “Fight the good fight of Faith! Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called!” (1 Timothy 6:12) … “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain! … I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air, but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection―lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
Heaven is a Race―Quit the “Rat-Race”
That last quote of St. Paul―about running the race and fighting―is used by Holy Mother Church at the opening of the Lenten season: a season of penance, just as Advent is a season of penance. Athlete’s do a lot of “penance” as a part of their training―but for what? St. Paul rightly notes: “they indeed [run] that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one!” (1 Corinthians 9:25). What race are you running in? The race for Heaven, or the rat-race? You might be running fast―but in which direction?
Artificial Fast World
We live in an artificially created “fast world” and so all things must be fast and easy. There is no time to go out and buy something that will take 1 hour to prepare, so fast food wins. It becomes a habit of ease and convenience―with added ‘kick’ of the drug-like ingredients of sugar, salt and fat. If you like to snack while watching TV, you are not typically going to nosh on carrot sticks and celery. You’re going to eat chips or candy. You are not going to drink water, but soda. Something easy to eat and drink in a mindless fashion, and appealing to your sweet/salty preferences. If you want to combat this, you’ll need to replace the mindless eating with conscious eating, the hurry up eating with leisurely eating, the take out eating with brown bag eating, and retraining your taste buds to settle for subtle flavors and good nutrition. Fast food is often equated with junk food, and it is cheap, quick, easy to find, and tasty. It has fat to taste good, a lot of it is deep fried —because it tastes good. It is salty, which most people like. Or it is sweet, which most people like. It spikes your blood sugar, gives you quick energy, (before you crash), and keeps you moving so you can keep turning that hamster wheel and keep running that rat race.
Beware the Devil of Junk and Speed!
The same is true for the spiritual life. The devil markets the junk of sin as something good, convenient and cheap―with a ‘kick’ in it that promises to ‘spike’ the pleasure buds. Most people are too dumb to think otherwise―for it is often very subtly and craftily packaged and sold. The evil angel takes upon himself the appearance of an angel of light, in order to enter into communication with the devout soul and eventually lead that devout soul away with himself―that is to say, in the beginning to bring good and holy thoughts that are acceptable to a devout soul, and then little by little he aims at drawing the soul to his hidden deceits and perverse intentions by imperceptibly introducing things that will lead that soul astray.
For those who sincerely wish to be spiritual―and refuse to enter into the rat-race of the world―for them the devil will market and sell “junk spirituality” or “fast-food spirituality”―a spirituality of convenience, of no preparation, of no real length, easy and comfortable. Our spiritual exercises―when well done―can be very meritorious. However, when we get into the “fast-lane” and perform them quickly and poorly―then they become sinful and merit punishment.
A Rosary Lesson!
We would do well to seriously mediate the following extracts from various parts of St. Louis de Montfort’s book, The Secret of the Rosary―and then apply the principles, that he puts forward, to all our different kinds of spiritual exercises and duties―whether the prayer of the Rosary, the Breviary, the Mass, our spiritual reading, meditations, etc. Here is what St. Louis says:
One Trumps Hundreds
A single Hail Mary said properly is worth more than a hundred and fifty said badly. Most Catholics say the Rosary, either the whole fifteen mysteries or five of them, or at least a few decades. Why is it then that so few of them give up their sins and make progress in virtue, if not because they are not saying them as they should …
To say the Holy Rosary with advantage, one must be in a state of grace, or at least be fully determined to give up sin, for all our theology teaches us that good works and prayers are dead works if they are done in a state of mortal sin.
The stronger our Faith the more merit our Rosary will have. This Faith must be lively and informed by charity; in other words, to recite the Rosary properly it is necessary to be in God’s grace, or at least seeking it.
Heart, Not Just Mouth
In order to pray well, it is not enough to give expression to our petitions by means of that most excellent of all prayers, the Rosary, but we must also pray with great attention, for God listens more to the voice of the heart than that of the mouth. To be guilty of willful distractions during prayer would show a great lack of respect and reverence; it would make our Rosaries unfruitful and make us guilty of sin.
How can we expect God to listen to us if we ourselves do not pay attention to what we are saying? How can we expect him to be pleased if, while in the presence of his tremendous majesty, we give in to distractions, like a child running after a butterfly? People who do that forfeit God’s blessing, which is changed into a curse for having treated the things of God disrespectfully: “Cursed be the one who does God’s work negligently” (Jeremias 48:10).
When the Rosary is well said, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious for the soul than any other prayer. But it is also the hardest prayer to say well and to persevere in, owing especially to the distractions which almost inevitably attend the constant repetition of the same words.
Of course, you cannot say your Rosary without having a few involuntary distractions; it is even difficult to say a Hail Mary without your imagination troubling you a little, for it is never still; but you can say it without voluntary distractions, and you must take all sorts of precautions to lessen involuntary distractions and to control your imagination.
To do this, put yourself in the presence of God and imagine that God and his Blessed Mother are watching you, and that your guardian angel is at your right hand, taking your Hail Marys, if they are well said, and using them like roses to make crowns for Jesus and Mary. Our imagination, which is hardly still a minute, makes our task harder, and then of course there is the devil who never tires of trying to distract us and keep us from praying. To what ends does not the evil one go against us while we are engaged in saying our Rosary against him. Remember that at your left hand is the devil, ready to pounce on every Hail Mary that comes his way and to write it down in his book of death, if they are not said with attention, devotion, and reverence.
Don’t Just Say It―Pray It!
Our Lady also taught it to Blessed Alan de la Roche and said to him in a vision, “When people say 150 Hail Marys, that prayer is very helpful to them and a most pleasing tribute to me. But they will do better still and will please me more if they say these salutations while meditating on the life, death, and passion of Jesus Christ, for this meditation is the soul of this prayer.” For the Rosary said without the meditation on the sacred mysteries of our salvation would almost be a body without a soul, excellent matter, but without the form, which is the meditation
Above all, do not fail to offer up each decade in honor of one of the mysteries, and try to form a picture in your mind of Jesus and Mary in connection with that mystery … We must not only say the Rosary with our lips in honor of Jesus and Mary, but also meditate upon the sacred mysteries while we are saying it … A Christian who does not meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary is very ungrateful to Our Lord and shows how little he cares for all that our divine Savior has suffered to save the world. This attitude seems to show that he knows little or nothing of the life of Jesus Christ, and that he has never taken the trouble to find out what He has done and what He went through in order to save us. A Christian of that kind ought to fear that, not having known Jesus Christ or having put Him out of his mind, Jesus will reject him on the Day of Judgment with the reproach, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.”
We read in the life of Blessed Hermann of the Order of the Premonstratensians, that at one time when he used to say the Rosary attentively and devoutly while meditating on the mysteries, Our Lady used to appear to him resplendent in breathtaking majesty and beauty. But, as time went on, his fervor cooled and he fell into the way of saying his Rosary hurriedly and without giving it his full attention. Then one day Our Lady appeared to him again, but this time she was far from beautiful, and her face was furrowed and drawn with sadness. Blessed Hermann was appalled at the change in her, and Our Lady explained, “This is how I look to you, Hermann, because this is how you are treating me; as a woman to be despised and of no importance. Why do you no longer greet me with respect and attention while meditating on my mysteries and praising my privileges?”
The Devil of the Rosary
Being human, we easily become tired and slipshod, but the devil makes these difficulties worse when we are saying the Rosary. Before we even begin, he makes us feel bored, distracted, or exhausted; and when we have started praying, he oppresses us from all sides, and when after much difficulty and many distractions, we have finished, he whispers to us, “What you have just said is worthless. It is useless for you to say the Rosary. You had better get on with other things. It is only a waste of time to pray without paying attention to what you are saying; half‑an‑hour’s meditation or some spiritual reading would be much better. Tomorrow, when you are not feeling so sluggish, you’ll pray better; leave the rest of your Rosary till then.” By tricks of this kind the devil gets us to give up the Rosary altogether or to say it less often, and we keep putting it off or change to some other devotion.
Dear friend of the Rosary Confraternity, do not listen to the devil, but be of good heart, even if your imagination has been bothering you throughout your Rosary, filling your mind with all kinds of distracting thoughts, so long as you tried your best to get rid of them as soon as you noticed them. Always remember that the best Rosary is the one with the most merit, and there is more merit in praying when it is hard than when it is easy. Prayer is all the harder when it is, naturally speaking, distasteful to the soul and is filled with those annoying little ants and flies running about in your imagination, against your will, and scarcely allowing you the time to enjoy a little peace and appreciate the beauty of what you are saying.
Even if you have to fight distractions all through your whole Rosary, be sure to fight well, arms in hand: that is to say, do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is difficult to say and you have no sensible devotion. It is a terrible battle, but one that is profitable to the faithful soul. If you put down your arms, that is, if you give up the Rosary, you will be admitting defeat and then the devil, having got what he wanted, will leave you in peace, and on the day of judgment will taunt you because of your faithlessness and lack of courage. “He who is faithful in little things will also be faithful in those that are greater” (Luke 16:10).
He who is faithful in rejecting the smallest distractions when he says even the smallest prayer, will also be faithful in great things. Nothing is more certain, since the Holy Spirit has told us so.
So all of you, servants and handmaids of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin, who have made up your minds to say the Rosary every day, be of good heart. Do not let the multitude of flies (as I call the distractions that make war on you during prayer) make you abandon the company of Jesus and Mary, in whose holy presence you are when saying the Rosary. In what follows I shall give you suggestions for diminishing distractions in prayer.
After you have invoked the Holy Spirit, in order to say your Rosary well, place yourself for a moment in the presence of God and make the offering of the decades in the way I will show you later.
Before beginning a decade, pause for a moment or two, depending on how much time you have, and contemplate the mystery that you are about to honor in that decade. Always be sure to ask, by this mystery and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, for one of the virtues that shines forth most in this mystery or one of which you are in particular need.
The Rosary Pitfalls
Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not asking for any graces at all, so that if some good people were asked their Rosary intention they would not know what to say. So, whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace or virtue, or strength to overcome some sin.
The second fault commonly committed in saying the Rosary is to have no intention other than that of getting it over with as quickly as possible. This is because so many look upon the Rosary as a burden, which weighs heavily upon them when it has not been said, especially when we have promised to say it regularly or have been told to say it as a penance more or less against our will.
It is sad to see how most people say the Rosary. They say it astonishingly fast, slipping over part of the words. We could not possibly expect anyone, even the most important person, to think that a slipshod address of this kind was a compliment, and yet we imagine that Jesus and Mary will be honored by it!
Small wonder, then, that the most sacred prayers of our holy religion seem to bear no fruit, and that, after saying thousands of Rosaries, we are still no better than we were before.
Dear friend of the Confraternity, I beg you to restrain your natural precipitation when saying your Rosary, and make some pauses in the middle of the Our Father and Hail Mary, and a smaller one after the words of the Our Father and Hail Mary which I have marked with a cross, as follows:
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, + hallowed by Thy Name, + Thy kingdom come, + Thy will be done + on Earth as it is in Heaven. + Give us this day + our daily bread, + and forgive us our trespasses + as we forgive those who trespass against us, + and lead us not into temptation, + but deliver us from evil. Amen. +
Hail, Mary, full of grace, + the Lord is with thee, + blessed art thou among women, + and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. +
Holy Mary, Mother of God, + pray for us sinners, now + and at the hour of our death. Amen. +
At first, you may find it difficult to make these pauses because of your bad habit of saying prayers in a hurry; but a decade said recollectedly in this way will be worth more than thousands of Rosaries said in a hurry, without pausing or reflecting.
Getting to Heaven is not a ‘piece-of-cake’, but more like a lot of penance and hard work―for, as Our Lord says: “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away” (Matthew 11:12), meaning that we have to fight hard to obtain that prize, as St. Paul writes: “Fight the good fight of Faith! Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art called!” (1 Timothy 6:12) … “Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain! … I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty: I so fight, not as one beating the air, but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection―lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway!” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
Heaven is a Race―Quit the “Rat-Race”
That last quote of St. Paul―about running the race and fighting―is used by Holy Mother Church at the opening of the Lenten season: a season of penance, just as Advent is a season of penance. Athlete’s do a lot of “penance” as a part of their training―but for what? St. Paul rightly notes: “they indeed [run] that they may receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible one!” (1 Corinthians 9:25). What race are you running in? The race for Heaven, or the rat-race? You might be running fast―but in which direction?
Artificial Fast World
We live in an artificially created “fast world” and so all things must be fast and easy. There is no time to go out and buy something that will take 1 hour to prepare, so fast food wins. It becomes a habit of ease and convenience―with added ‘kick’ of the drug-like ingredients of sugar, salt and fat. If you like to snack while watching TV, you are not typically going to nosh on carrot sticks and celery. You’re going to eat chips or candy. You are not going to drink water, but soda. Something easy to eat and drink in a mindless fashion, and appealing to your sweet/salty preferences. If you want to combat this, you’ll need to replace the mindless eating with conscious eating, the hurry up eating with leisurely eating, the take out eating with brown bag eating, and retraining your taste buds to settle for subtle flavors and good nutrition. Fast food is often equated with junk food, and it is cheap, quick, easy to find, and tasty. It has fat to taste good, a lot of it is deep fried —because it tastes good. It is salty, which most people like. Or it is sweet, which most people like. It spikes your blood sugar, gives you quick energy, (before you crash), and keeps you moving so you can keep turning that hamster wheel and keep running that rat race.
Beware the Devil of Junk and Speed!
The same is true for the spiritual life. The devil markets the junk of sin as something good, convenient and cheap―with a ‘kick’ in it that promises to ‘spike’ the pleasure buds. Most people are too dumb to think otherwise―for it is often very subtly and craftily packaged and sold. The evil angel takes upon himself the appearance of an angel of light, in order to enter into communication with the devout soul and eventually lead that devout soul away with himself―that is to say, in the beginning to bring good and holy thoughts that are acceptable to a devout soul, and then little by little he aims at drawing the soul to his hidden deceits and perverse intentions by imperceptibly introducing things that will lead that soul astray.
For those who sincerely wish to be spiritual―and refuse to enter into the rat-race of the world―for them the devil will market and sell “junk spirituality” or “fast-food spirituality”―a spirituality of convenience, of no preparation, of no real length, easy and comfortable. Our spiritual exercises―when well done―can be very meritorious. However, when we get into the “fast-lane” and perform them quickly and poorly―then they become sinful and merit punishment.
A Rosary Lesson!
We would do well to seriously mediate the following extracts from various parts of St. Louis de Montfort’s book, The Secret of the Rosary―and then apply the principles, that he puts forward, to all our different kinds of spiritual exercises and duties―whether the prayer of the Rosary, the Breviary, the Mass, our spiritual reading, meditations, etc. Here is what St. Louis says:
One Trumps Hundreds
A single Hail Mary said properly is worth more than a hundred and fifty said badly. Most Catholics say the Rosary, either the whole fifteen mysteries or five of them, or at least a few decades. Why is it then that so few of them give up their sins and make progress in virtue, if not because they are not saying them as they should …
To say the Holy Rosary with advantage, one must be in a state of grace, or at least be fully determined to give up sin, for all our theology teaches us that good works and prayers are dead works if they are done in a state of mortal sin.
The stronger our Faith the more merit our Rosary will have. This Faith must be lively and informed by charity; in other words, to recite the Rosary properly it is necessary to be in God’s grace, or at least seeking it.
Heart, Not Just Mouth
In order to pray well, it is not enough to give expression to our petitions by means of that most excellent of all prayers, the Rosary, but we must also pray with great attention, for God listens more to the voice of the heart than that of the mouth. To be guilty of willful distractions during prayer would show a great lack of respect and reverence; it would make our Rosaries unfruitful and make us guilty of sin.
How can we expect God to listen to us if we ourselves do not pay attention to what we are saying? How can we expect him to be pleased if, while in the presence of his tremendous majesty, we give in to distractions, like a child running after a butterfly? People who do that forfeit God’s blessing, which is changed into a curse for having treated the things of God disrespectfully: “Cursed be the one who does God’s work negligently” (Jeremias 48:10).
When the Rosary is well said, it gives Jesus and Mary more glory and is more meritorious for the soul than any other prayer. But it is also the hardest prayer to say well and to persevere in, owing especially to the distractions which almost inevitably attend the constant repetition of the same words.
Of course, you cannot say your Rosary without having a few involuntary distractions; it is even difficult to say a Hail Mary without your imagination troubling you a little, for it is never still; but you can say it without voluntary distractions, and you must take all sorts of precautions to lessen involuntary distractions and to control your imagination.
To do this, put yourself in the presence of God and imagine that God and his Blessed Mother are watching you, and that your guardian angel is at your right hand, taking your Hail Marys, if they are well said, and using them like roses to make crowns for Jesus and Mary. Our imagination, which is hardly still a minute, makes our task harder, and then of course there is the devil who never tires of trying to distract us and keep us from praying. To what ends does not the evil one go against us while we are engaged in saying our Rosary against him. Remember that at your left hand is the devil, ready to pounce on every Hail Mary that comes his way and to write it down in his book of death, if they are not said with attention, devotion, and reverence.
Don’t Just Say It―Pray It!
Our Lady also taught it to Blessed Alan de la Roche and said to him in a vision, “When people say 150 Hail Marys, that prayer is very helpful to them and a most pleasing tribute to me. But they will do better still and will please me more if they say these salutations while meditating on the life, death, and passion of Jesus Christ, for this meditation is the soul of this prayer.” For the Rosary said without the meditation on the sacred mysteries of our salvation would almost be a body without a soul, excellent matter, but without the form, which is the meditation
Above all, do not fail to offer up each decade in honor of one of the mysteries, and try to form a picture in your mind of Jesus and Mary in connection with that mystery … We must not only say the Rosary with our lips in honor of Jesus and Mary, but also meditate upon the sacred mysteries while we are saying it … A Christian who does not meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary is very ungrateful to Our Lord and shows how little he cares for all that our divine Savior has suffered to save the world. This attitude seems to show that he knows little or nothing of the life of Jesus Christ, and that he has never taken the trouble to find out what He has done and what He went through in order to save us. A Christian of that kind ought to fear that, not having known Jesus Christ or having put Him out of his mind, Jesus will reject him on the Day of Judgment with the reproach, “I tell you solemnly, I do not know you.”
We read in the life of Blessed Hermann of the Order of the Premonstratensians, that at one time when he used to say the Rosary attentively and devoutly while meditating on the mysteries, Our Lady used to appear to him resplendent in breathtaking majesty and beauty. But, as time went on, his fervor cooled and he fell into the way of saying his Rosary hurriedly and without giving it his full attention. Then one day Our Lady appeared to him again, but this time she was far from beautiful, and her face was furrowed and drawn with sadness. Blessed Hermann was appalled at the change in her, and Our Lady explained, “This is how I look to you, Hermann, because this is how you are treating me; as a woman to be despised and of no importance. Why do you no longer greet me with respect and attention while meditating on my mysteries and praising my privileges?”
The Devil of the Rosary
Being human, we easily become tired and slipshod, but the devil makes these difficulties worse when we are saying the Rosary. Before we even begin, he makes us feel bored, distracted, or exhausted; and when we have started praying, he oppresses us from all sides, and when after much difficulty and many distractions, we have finished, he whispers to us, “What you have just said is worthless. It is useless for you to say the Rosary. You had better get on with other things. It is only a waste of time to pray without paying attention to what you are saying; half‑an‑hour’s meditation or some spiritual reading would be much better. Tomorrow, when you are not feeling so sluggish, you’ll pray better; leave the rest of your Rosary till then.” By tricks of this kind the devil gets us to give up the Rosary altogether or to say it less often, and we keep putting it off or change to some other devotion.
Dear friend of the Rosary Confraternity, do not listen to the devil, but be of good heart, even if your imagination has been bothering you throughout your Rosary, filling your mind with all kinds of distracting thoughts, so long as you tried your best to get rid of them as soon as you noticed them. Always remember that the best Rosary is the one with the most merit, and there is more merit in praying when it is hard than when it is easy. Prayer is all the harder when it is, naturally speaking, distasteful to the soul and is filled with those annoying little ants and flies running about in your imagination, against your will, and scarcely allowing you the time to enjoy a little peace and appreciate the beauty of what you are saying.
Even if you have to fight distractions all through your whole Rosary, be sure to fight well, arms in hand: that is to say, do not stop saying your Rosary even if it is difficult to say and you have no sensible devotion. It is a terrible battle, but one that is profitable to the faithful soul. If you put down your arms, that is, if you give up the Rosary, you will be admitting defeat and then the devil, having got what he wanted, will leave you in peace, and on the day of judgment will taunt you because of your faithlessness and lack of courage. “He who is faithful in little things will also be faithful in those that are greater” (Luke 16:10).
He who is faithful in rejecting the smallest distractions when he says even the smallest prayer, will also be faithful in great things. Nothing is more certain, since the Holy Spirit has told us so.
So all of you, servants and handmaids of Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin, who have made up your minds to say the Rosary every day, be of good heart. Do not let the multitude of flies (as I call the distractions that make war on you during prayer) make you abandon the company of Jesus and Mary, in whose holy presence you are when saying the Rosary. In what follows I shall give you suggestions for diminishing distractions in prayer.
After you have invoked the Holy Spirit, in order to say your Rosary well, place yourself for a moment in the presence of God and make the offering of the decades in the way I will show you later.
Before beginning a decade, pause for a moment or two, depending on how much time you have, and contemplate the mystery that you are about to honor in that decade. Always be sure to ask, by this mystery and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, for one of the virtues that shines forth most in this mystery or one of which you are in particular need.
The Rosary Pitfalls
Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not asking for any graces at all, so that if some good people were asked their Rosary intention they would not know what to say. So, whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace or virtue, or strength to overcome some sin.
The second fault commonly committed in saying the Rosary is to have no intention other than that of getting it over with as quickly as possible. This is because so many look upon the Rosary as a burden, which weighs heavily upon them when it has not been said, especially when we have promised to say it regularly or have been told to say it as a penance more or less against our will.
It is sad to see how most people say the Rosary. They say it astonishingly fast, slipping over part of the words. We could not possibly expect anyone, even the most important person, to think that a slipshod address of this kind was a compliment, and yet we imagine that Jesus and Mary will be honored by it!
Small wonder, then, that the most sacred prayers of our holy religion seem to bear no fruit, and that, after saying thousands of Rosaries, we are still no better than we were before.
Dear friend of the Confraternity, I beg you to restrain your natural precipitation when saying your Rosary, and make some pauses in the middle of the Our Father and Hail Mary, and a smaller one after the words of the Our Father and Hail Mary which I have marked with a cross, as follows:
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, + hallowed by Thy Name, + Thy kingdom come, + Thy will be done + on Earth as it is in Heaven. + Give us this day + our daily bread, + and forgive us our trespasses + as we forgive those who trespass against us, + and lead us not into temptation, + but deliver us from evil. Amen. +
Hail, Mary, full of grace, + the Lord is with thee, + blessed art thou among women, + and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. +
Holy Mary, Mother of God, + pray for us sinners, now + and at the hour of our death. Amen. +
At first, you may find it difficult to make these pauses because of your bad habit of saying prayers in a hurry; but a decade said recollectedly in this way will be worth more than thousands of Rosaries said in a hurry, without pausing or reflecting.
DO YOU NEED A PUSH?
Have you fallen for the temptations of "The Devil of Later"?
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Have you fallen for the temptations of "The Devil of Later"?
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
The Devil Made Me Do It
How is your Advent going? Racing along fine? Chugging along? Spluttering and misfiring? Come to a stop? Never got going? Or dead in the water?
The devil is a master of procrastination and distraction. For centuries he has mastered the art. When he sees that we are contemplating doing something good, the master tactician weighs in with his almost limitless “side-shows”, mood-swings, delays, distractions or derailings.
Here are some extracts from a book entitled Discernment of Spirits, by Fr. Barrielle:
“Many people do not realize the influences that a spirit can have on us. A young man may say to me: ‘Father, I’m down in the dumps!’ I reply: ‘No, you are not down in the dumps. That does not exist. You have the devil hovering about you.’ He replies: ‘Father, you see the devil everywhere. I’m down in the dumps because the sun is not out today, and when the weather is bad I’m sad, that’s all! It has nothing to do with the devil’―so I tell him: ‘Exactly! Do you not know that the devil uses everything when coming to tempt you? He will use advantageously the bad weather, as a disposition. You just are not aware of the fact that if you are feeling sad, the devil is hovering about you. Beware!’ Behold a sad young man. I do not say that he has sinned. I say: ‘The devil is hovering about him.’ Attention! How does one know that? ... There are rules, brought by the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Ignatius.” (Discernment of Spirits, by Fr. Barrielle),
The Screwtape Letters
Here is an extract from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, which is a book that presents an exchange of letters from two devils, Screwtape being the uncle and master tempter, and the other his nephew, a beginner in the field of temptation. The master tempter, Screwtape, writes to his apprentice nephew:
“Never having been a human (oh, that abominable advantage of the Enemy’s!), you don’t realize how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary. I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in British Museum. One day, as he sat reading, I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to go the ‘wrong way’ towards the Enemy [God]. The Enemy, of course, was at his elbow in a moment. Before I knew where I was I saw my twenty years’ work beginning to totter. If I had lost my head and begun to attempt a defense by argument, I should have been undone.
“But I was not such a fool. I struck instantly at the part of the man which I had best under my control, and suggested that it was just about time he had some lunch. The Enemy presumably made the counter suggestion (you know how one can never quite overhear what He says to them?) that this was more important than lunch. At least I think that must have been His line, for when I said, “Quite. In fact much too important to tackle at the end of a morning,” the patient brightened up considerably, and by the time I had added “Much better come back after lunch and go into it with a fresh mind,” he was already halfway to the door.
“Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man’s head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of “real life” (by which he meant the bus and the newsboy) was enough to show him that all “that sort of thing” just couldn’t be true. He knew he’d had a narrow escape, and in later years was fond of talking about that inarticulate sense for actuality which is our ultimate safeguard against the aberrations of mere logic. He is now safe in Our Father’s house [Hell].”
The Devil of Later
The devil works similarly on our spiritual duties and exercises. If he can, he will have us lay them aside until later. It is easier for him, and more likely to be successful, if he whispers to us: “Oh, you can do it later!” than saying to us: “Don’t do it!” This is because he knows that it is easier to extract from us a compromise rather than an outright capitulation or surrender. Thereby, he has us midway, neither doing our spiritual exercises, nor rejecting our spiritual exercise, but simply putting them off until later. But, as we all know, later, like tomorrow, never comes. Feeling comfortable with “a little later” it soon becomes “a lot later” and this often becomes “never” and our good intention is consigned to the cemetery of good intentions. Remember that phrase: “Hell is full of good intentions!”
So when Advent or Lent comes around, which are essentially times of more prayer and penance, the devil is working overtime, camouflaged better than ever, at getting us to consign our good intentions for Advent to that cemetery of good intentions.
Advent’s False Sense of Security
Most Catholics will have fallen victim to this subtle purveyor of spiritual lethargy during this Advent season. They are led by him to falsely imagine and erroneously feel secure in their superficial Advent preparations. The fact they have an Advent wreath and candles burning at home, makes them feel secure from burning in Purgatory, or worse yet, Hell. The fact that they do not give in to the modern temptation of hanging out the Christmas lights and putting up the Christmas Tree and Nativity set at the start of December, makes them feel some kind of aura of holiness, as they wait for the real Christmas season to begin on the 25th day of the month.
Yet for many, if not most, there are no extra prayers, no penances, no special readings, no deepening and multiplying of spiritual exercises. Advent is just like any other month of the year, except for the above-mentioned superficial trimmings. Any extra time they may have will be spent on those lights, trees and statues—unpacking them, unraveling them, cleaning them and then hanging them up and putting them on display. They will spend far more time, effort and money on these material trimmings than they do on the essential spiritual duties that should be foremost in their minds.
Brighten Up! Lighten Up!
In this area of the country, there is one man whose front and back garden would put most towns, villages and churches to shame in the matter of Christmas lights. It is all one sea of lights! All the trees and bushes glitter, his sidewalk has a tunnel erected covered with lights, there are all kinds of light-laden shapes and animals sitting on the lawn, Santa Claus, sleigh and reindeers sparkling on the roof with a massive LED American flag, and finally and unashamedly, to his credit, a nativity scene right in your face by the sidewalk, and the flashing (forbidden words) “Merry Christmas” lights accompanied with piped Christmas Carols coming from speakers parked on the front lawn. Oh, and a “Donations Welcome” box too!
The man said that it took him one whole month, of time after work, to set everything up and the electricity bill for the 6,000 lights he had working, was an extra $250 a month (he puts it up way before Thanksgiving, around the start of November, and takes it down in late January). Dedication? Yes! But sadly in the wrong area. Does he put in equal time into spiritual duties? No! Because there is not enough time in the day. He has a lot of zeal; is tireless in his efforts, generous from his wallet; but misguided in putting those qualities to good or better use.
“First Things First” or
“The First Shall Be Last and the Last Shall Be First”
And that is what the devil will do to us, distract us into focusing more on the secondary aspects of Advent and Christmas, rather than focusing on the essentials. As the saying goes: “First things first!” If we are not guilty of the above recounted Christmas Lights story, then perhaps we have our own distractions that take us away from a preparation that would please the souls in Heaven more than the souls on earth. In fact, if we did prepare properly for Christmas through Advent, we would, most likely, end up being very unpopular with souls upon earth.
So we fall into the world’s non-spiritual habit of preparing for the Christmas arrival of family, relatives and friends, rather than prepare for the arrival of Christ in our souls. The planning, the shopping, the setting-up, the cooking, the many little extras to impress and delight the visitors, etc., all this takes up our main focus and most of our time. We twist and pervert to our favor the Scriptural phrase: “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” (Matthew 19:30). Christ, who should be first, ends up being last; and our family, relatives and friends, who should come after Christ, end up being first.
That is why, for many, if not most, Advent has been a superficial non-starter. There is little or nothing different in their lives except for some external trimmings and lights. In fact, with all the time and effort they spend in preparing for a mainly human Christmas, they have even less time for their usual meager prayers and spiritual exercises!
Never Too Late! Start Now!
However, here we must bring in the devil’s Enemy, God. It is never too late to change, as the Good Thief on his cross found out, and it is never too late to start work in the Lord’s Advent Vineyard, as the Parable of the workers in the vineyard tells us:
“And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.’ And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: ‘Why stand you here all the day idle?’ They say to him: ‘Because no man hath hired us.’ He saith to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard.’“ (Matthew 20:3-7).
Roll Up Those Sleeves
If we have been more or less idle so far, let us go into the Advent Vineyard and work. Here are a few items on the work-list that you could tackle:
(1) Read about the life of Mary and Joseph from the time of the Annunciation to the Nativity of Our Lord. Some good books are: (a) The Life of Mary As Seen By The Mystics by Raphael Brown; (b) The Mystical City of God by the Venerable Mary of Agreda; (c) The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.
(2) Make your daily Rosary more meaningful and fruitful by inserting either Scriptural readings between the mysteries, or by reading accounts of the mystery from some good book (the above books would also supply for this need).
(3) Pick several virtues that you know you are definitely lacking and then do two things about them: (a) read up on those virtues from books you may already have, or look up those virtues online, there are many sources available; (b) make a plan, where and when you will try to practice those virtues. Don’t just keep it in your head, but write it down; better still, rewrite it every day; even better than that, tell everyone around you what virtues you are trying to acquire, that way you commit yourself to the public scrutiny and assessment on how you are doing! Tough, but effective!
(4) In the old days, when the Faith was taken more seriously as it should be, some would fast all through Advent just as they did in Lent; others would fast on three days of the week. Fasting with prayer, as Our Lord said, is one of the most powerful tools against the devil. Why not fast? At least on some days of the week. If we cannot or will not fast, then how about a simpler manner of eating. It does not have to be unhealthy, but more frugal. Eat raw rather than cook; eat foods that are healthy, but ones we don’t usually buy, because we don’t like them; eat all that is on the plate rather than waste food by having it thrown away; eat it in a timely manner, so that it does not spoil through our negligence in eating it earlier. There are many, many ways that we can practice mortification with regard to food and drink.
(5) Let’s face it; never has the world been as spoiled as it is today! Not even the kings and queens of old had such a wide selection of goods available to them. Nor the vast array of technological titillation that surrounds us all day long: radios, hi-fi’s, TV’s, computers, i-Pods, i-Pads, i-Phones, and I don’t know what else! They coped without these things and were not much sadder or more deprived for it. Could we not banish the non-essentials for the rest of the month?
These are just some of many possible suggestions on how to ‘kick-start’ our Advent if it hasn’t really started as yet, or is stuttering and spluttering! Hope the push helps!
How is your Advent going? Racing along fine? Chugging along? Spluttering and misfiring? Come to a stop? Never got going? Or dead in the water?
The devil is a master of procrastination and distraction. For centuries he has mastered the art. When he sees that we are contemplating doing something good, the master tactician weighs in with his almost limitless “side-shows”, mood-swings, delays, distractions or derailings.
Here are some extracts from a book entitled Discernment of Spirits, by Fr. Barrielle:
“Many people do not realize the influences that a spirit can have on us. A young man may say to me: ‘Father, I’m down in the dumps!’ I reply: ‘No, you are not down in the dumps. That does not exist. You have the devil hovering about you.’ He replies: ‘Father, you see the devil everywhere. I’m down in the dumps because the sun is not out today, and when the weather is bad I’m sad, that’s all! It has nothing to do with the devil’―so I tell him: ‘Exactly! Do you not know that the devil uses everything when coming to tempt you? He will use advantageously the bad weather, as a disposition. You just are not aware of the fact that if you are feeling sad, the devil is hovering about you. Beware!’ Behold a sad young man. I do not say that he has sinned. I say: ‘The devil is hovering about him.’ Attention! How does one know that? ... There are rules, brought by the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Ignatius.” (Discernment of Spirits, by Fr. Barrielle),
The Screwtape Letters
Here is an extract from C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, which is a book that presents an exchange of letters from two devils, Screwtape being the uncle and master tempter, and the other his nephew, a beginner in the field of temptation. The master tempter, Screwtape, writes to his apprentice nephew:
“Never having been a human (oh, that abominable advantage of the Enemy’s!), you don’t realize how enslaved they are to the pressure of the ordinary. I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in British Museum. One day, as he sat reading, I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to go the ‘wrong way’ towards the Enemy [God]. The Enemy, of course, was at his elbow in a moment. Before I knew where I was I saw my twenty years’ work beginning to totter. If I had lost my head and begun to attempt a defense by argument, I should have been undone.
“But I was not such a fool. I struck instantly at the part of the man which I had best under my control, and suggested that it was just about time he had some lunch. The Enemy presumably made the counter suggestion (you know how one can never quite overhear what He says to them?) that this was more important than lunch. At least I think that must have been His line, for when I said, “Quite. In fact much too important to tackle at the end of a morning,” the patient brightened up considerably, and by the time I had added “Much better come back after lunch and go into it with a fresh mind,” he was already halfway to the door.
“Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man’s head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of “real life” (by which he meant the bus and the newsboy) was enough to show him that all “that sort of thing” just couldn’t be true. He knew he’d had a narrow escape, and in later years was fond of talking about that inarticulate sense for actuality which is our ultimate safeguard against the aberrations of mere logic. He is now safe in Our Father’s house [Hell].”
The Devil of Later
The devil works similarly on our spiritual duties and exercises. If he can, he will have us lay them aside until later. It is easier for him, and more likely to be successful, if he whispers to us: “Oh, you can do it later!” than saying to us: “Don’t do it!” This is because he knows that it is easier to extract from us a compromise rather than an outright capitulation or surrender. Thereby, he has us midway, neither doing our spiritual exercises, nor rejecting our spiritual exercise, but simply putting them off until later. But, as we all know, later, like tomorrow, never comes. Feeling comfortable with “a little later” it soon becomes “a lot later” and this often becomes “never” and our good intention is consigned to the cemetery of good intentions. Remember that phrase: “Hell is full of good intentions!”
So when Advent or Lent comes around, which are essentially times of more prayer and penance, the devil is working overtime, camouflaged better than ever, at getting us to consign our good intentions for Advent to that cemetery of good intentions.
Advent’s False Sense of Security
Most Catholics will have fallen victim to this subtle purveyor of spiritual lethargy during this Advent season. They are led by him to falsely imagine and erroneously feel secure in their superficial Advent preparations. The fact they have an Advent wreath and candles burning at home, makes them feel secure from burning in Purgatory, or worse yet, Hell. The fact that they do not give in to the modern temptation of hanging out the Christmas lights and putting up the Christmas Tree and Nativity set at the start of December, makes them feel some kind of aura of holiness, as they wait for the real Christmas season to begin on the 25th day of the month.
Yet for many, if not most, there are no extra prayers, no penances, no special readings, no deepening and multiplying of spiritual exercises. Advent is just like any other month of the year, except for the above-mentioned superficial trimmings. Any extra time they may have will be spent on those lights, trees and statues—unpacking them, unraveling them, cleaning them and then hanging them up and putting them on display. They will spend far more time, effort and money on these material trimmings than they do on the essential spiritual duties that should be foremost in their minds.
Brighten Up! Lighten Up!
In this area of the country, there is one man whose front and back garden would put most towns, villages and churches to shame in the matter of Christmas lights. It is all one sea of lights! All the trees and bushes glitter, his sidewalk has a tunnel erected covered with lights, there are all kinds of light-laden shapes and animals sitting on the lawn, Santa Claus, sleigh and reindeers sparkling on the roof with a massive LED American flag, and finally and unashamedly, to his credit, a nativity scene right in your face by the sidewalk, and the flashing (forbidden words) “Merry Christmas” lights accompanied with piped Christmas Carols coming from speakers parked on the front lawn. Oh, and a “Donations Welcome” box too!
The man said that it took him one whole month, of time after work, to set everything up and the electricity bill for the 6,000 lights he had working, was an extra $250 a month (he puts it up way before Thanksgiving, around the start of November, and takes it down in late January). Dedication? Yes! But sadly in the wrong area. Does he put in equal time into spiritual duties? No! Because there is not enough time in the day. He has a lot of zeal; is tireless in his efforts, generous from his wallet; but misguided in putting those qualities to good or better use.
“First Things First” or
“The First Shall Be Last and the Last Shall Be First”
And that is what the devil will do to us, distract us into focusing more on the secondary aspects of Advent and Christmas, rather than focusing on the essentials. As the saying goes: “First things first!” If we are not guilty of the above recounted Christmas Lights story, then perhaps we have our own distractions that take us away from a preparation that would please the souls in Heaven more than the souls on earth. In fact, if we did prepare properly for Christmas through Advent, we would, most likely, end up being very unpopular with souls upon earth.
So we fall into the world’s non-spiritual habit of preparing for the Christmas arrival of family, relatives and friends, rather than prepare for the arrival of Christ in our souls. The planning, the shopping, the setting-up, the cooking, the many little extras to impress and delight the visitors, etc., all this takes up our main focus and most of our time. We twist and pervert to our favor the Scriptural phrase: “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” (Matthew 19:30). Christ, who should be first, ends up being last; and our family, relatives and friends, who should come after Christ, end up being first.
That is why, for many, if not most, Advent has been a superficial non-starter. There is little or nothing different in their lives except for some external trimmings and lights. In fact, with all the time and effort they spend in preparing for a mainly human Christmas, they have even less time for their usual meager prayers and spiritual exercises!
Never Too Late! Start Now!
However, here we must bring in the devil’s Enemy, God. It is never too late to change, as the Good Thief on his cross found out, and it is never too late to start work in the Lord’s Advent Vineyard, as the Parable of the workers in the vineyard tells us:
“And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just.’ And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: ‘Why stand you here all the day idle?’ They say to him: ‘Because no man hath hired us.’ He saith to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard.’“ (Matthew 20:3-7).
Roll Up Those Sleeves
If we have been more or less idle so far, let us go into the Advent Vineyard and work. Here are a few items on the work-list that you could tackle:
(1) Read about the life of Mary and Joseph from the time of the Annunciation to the Nativity of Our Lord. Some good books are: (a) The Life of Mary As Seen By The Mystics by Raphael Brown; (b) The Mystical City of God by the Venerable Mary of Agreda; (c) The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich.
(2) Make your daily Rosary more meaningful and fruitful by inserting either Scriptural readings between the mysteries, or by reading accounts of the mystery from some good book (the above books would also supply for this need).
(3) Pick several virtues that you know you are definitely lacking and then do two things about them: (a) read up on those virtues from books you may already have, or look up those virtues online, there are many sources available; (b) make a plan, where and when you will try to practice those virtues. Don’t just keep it in your head, but write it down; better still, rewrite it every day; even better than that, tell everyone around you what virtues you are trying to acquire, that way you commit yourself to the public scrutiny and assessment on how you are doing! Tough, but effective!
(4) In the old days, when the Faith was taken more seriously as it should be, some would fast all through Advent just as they did in Lent; others would fast on three days of the week. Fasting with prayer, as Our Lord said, is one of the most powerful tools against the devil. Why not fast? At least on some days of the week. If we cannot or will not fast, then how about a simpler manner of eating. It does not have to be unhealthy, but more frugal. Eat raw rather than cook; eat foods that are healthy, but ones we don’t usually buy, because we don’t like them; eat all that is on the plate rather than waste food by having it thrown away; eat it in a timely manner, so that it does not spoil through our negligence in eating it earlier. There are many, many ways that we can practice mortification with regard to food and drink.
(5) Let’s face it; never has the world been as spoiled as it is today! Not even the kings and queens of old had such a wide selection of goods available to them. Nor the vast array of technological titillation that surrounds us all day long: radios, hi-fi’s, TV’s, computers, i-Pods, i-Pads, i-Phones, and I don’t know what else! They coped without these things and were not much sadder or more deprived for it. Could we not banish the non-essentials for the rest of the month?
These are just some of many possible suggestions on how to ‘kick-start’ our Advent if it hasn’t really started as yet, or is stuttering and spluttering! Hope the push helps!
CREATING A SPARK OF ENTHUSIASM FOR ADVENT!
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Kindling Wood and Paper Needs a Spark
You can have all the wood, kindling wood, paper or even gasoline to start a fire―but if cannot provide that necessary spark, nothing will happen. The same is true for our spiritual life. We can have lots of information and materials in our minds and hands, but if there is no spiritual spark, it will remain lifeless and useless. In a very broad sense, this is what St. Paul speaks about when he writes: “If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity―then I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity―then I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity―then it profiteth me nothing!” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). The spark, of course, being charity or the love of God. It is this same context that you can take the words of Our Lord: “‘Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men!” (Mark 7:6-9).
The Spark of Love
Without that spark of a SINCERE―heartfelt not just lip-said―love of God, our potential fires of love will be nothing other the piles of wood. This idea can be seen in the incident between Elias and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where Elias and the false prophets had built wooden bonfires upon which to sacrifice their bullocks―Elias to the true God, and the prophets of Baal to their false god.
A Spark From Heaven
“And Elias coming to all the people, said: ‘How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him!’ And the people did not answer him a word. And Elias said again to the people: ‘I only remain a prophet of the Lord―but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men! Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under. And I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the Name of my Lord―and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God!’ And all the people answering said: ‘A very good proposal!’
“Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: ‘Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many, and call on the names of your gods, but put no fire under!’ And they took the bullock which he gave them, and dressed it. And they called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying: ‘O Baal, hear us!’ But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made. And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: ‘Cry with a louder voice! For he is a god, and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked!’ So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood. And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed. Elias said to all the people: ‘Come ye unto me!’ And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down. And he took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: ‘Israel shall be thy name!’ And he built with the stones an altar to the Name of the Lord; and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows round about the altar. And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood. And he said: ‘Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt offering, and upon the wood!’ And again he said: ‘Do the same the second time!’ And when they had done it the second time, he said: ‘Do the same also the third time!’ And they did so the third time. And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water.
“And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias the prophet came near and said: ‘O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, show this day that Thou art the God of Israel, and I Thy servant, and that according to Thy commandment I have done all these things! Hear me, O Lord, hear me! That this people may learn, that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart again!’ Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: ‘The Lord He is God, the Lord He is God!’ And Elias said to them: ‘Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape!’ And when they had taken them, Elias brought them down to the torrent Cison and killed them there” (3 Kings 18:21-40).
Spiritual Bullocks, Wood and Fire
From the above incident, we see that three essential elements were required―the bullock, the bonfire of wood, and the spark or fire from Heaven. Likewise, in our Advent preparations for Christmas, those three elements could be said to constitute our heart (bullock), knowledge and materials (wood) and a love of what we are doing (fire).
Our hearts (the bullock) are often animalistic―in the sense that we seek merely the ‘base’ material things of this world. The bullocks had to be killed before being sacrificed―our hearts must die to the world before we can effectively sacrifice them to God. “This people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify Me, but their heart is far from Me!” (Isaias 29:13). “A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit―a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise!” (Psalm 50:19). “The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, that thou mayest then love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 30:6). Circumcision is painful surgery upon the sexual organs―which needs to be done symbolically today too―for the world is besotted with sexual things. “His heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God” (3 Kings 11:4). “I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh” (Ezechiel 11:19).
Getting Charity
“Let wine may cheer the heart of man. That he may make the face cheerful with oil: and that bread may strengthen man's heart” (Psalm 103:15). What is wine, but a symbol of charity. It is charity that cheers the heart of man―a love of God cheers the heart of man. Water does not. Notice how Elias had the bullocks soaked and drenched with water three times―which, one would have thought, would have made it impossible to light a soaking wet bonfire. Water is inferior to wine. We could say, in this case, that water symbolizes the love of inferior worldly things, whereas wine symbolizes the love of God. At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, only a tiny drop of water is placed into the chalice which contains the wine. The wine absorbs the water, in a sense changing it, and the tiny drop of water becomes a part of the wine―and not the other way round. Likewise, for us to be made acceptable to enter the chalice of God, we must reduce our worldliness to a tiny drop, so that we may be changed into something godlike―from a love of the world, to a love of God. At the marriage feast of Cana, Our Lord miraculously changes the water into wine―we need to have the water of our love of the world, changed into the wine of a love of God.
How do we attain to a love of God? How do get that spark of love? How can we make that spark become a flame and a veritable fire? The answer, once again, we see with Elias on Mount Carmel―it is by humble, confident, persevering prayer, that comes not just from the lips, but from the heart. Our Lord says: “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you! … Whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive!” (Matthew 7:7; 21:22). “Hitherto you have not asked anything in My Name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full!” (John 16:24). To which Holy Scripture adds: “You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss: that you may consume it on your concupiscences!” (James 4:3). St. Thomas Aquinas explains: “The charity of a wayfarer can increase. For we are called wayfarers by reason of our being on the way to God, Who is the last end of our happiness. On this way we advance as we get near to God, Who is approached, not by steps of the body, but by the affections of the soul; and this approach is the result of charity, since it unites man’s mind to God. Consequently it is essential to the charity of a wayfarer that it can increase, for if it could not, all further advance along the way would cease … Charity does not increase by addition … Charity increases by being intensified … The cause of prayer is the desire of charity … ” (Summa Theologica, IIa-IIae, q. 24, articles 4 & 5; q. 83, art. 14).
Fire can be created through friction by rapidly grinding pieces of solid combustible material (such as wood) against each other (or a hard surface), which gradually generates heat and creates an ember. Once hot enough, the ember is introduced to the tinder, more oxygen is added by blowing and the result is ignition. The hand drill is the most widespread among indigenous cultures, characterized by the use of a thin, straightened wooden shaft or reed, which is spun with the hands, grinding within a notch, against the soft wooden base of a fire board (which is a wooden board with a carved notch in which to catch heated wood fibers created by the friction). This repeated spinning and downward pressure causes black dust to form in the notch of the fireboard, eventually creating a hot, glowing coal. The coal is then carefully placed among dense, fine tinder, which is pressed against it as one blows directly onto the coal until the tinder begins burning and eventually catches into flame. Successfully creating fire by friction involves skill, fitness, knowledge, and acceptable environmental conditions. Some techniques involve crafting a system of interlocking pieces that give the practitioner an improved mechanical advantage; these techniques require more skill and knowledge but less fitness, and work in less ideal conditions.
No Charity, No Enthusiasm
If you don’t acquire an increase in charity, you will find there is no lasting increase in your enthusiasm―apart from the superficial enthusiasm everyone has when starting a new project, but which quickly dies out. It is a sincere love of God that is the fire that drives the engine of our soul. The Imitation of Christ has a beautiful chapter that epitomizes this truth.
“Love is an excellent thing, a very great blessing, indeed. It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity. For it bears a burden without being weighted and renders sweet all that is bitter. The noble love of Jesus spurs to great deeds and excites longing for that which is more perfect. Love tends upward; it will not be held down by anything low. Love wishes to be free and estranged from all worldly affections, lest its inward sight be obstructed, lest it be entangled in any temporal interest and overcome by adversity. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider; nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller, and nothing better in Heaven or on earth, for love is born of God and cannot rest except in God, Who is above all created things. One who is in love flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free, not bound. He gives all for all and possesses all in all, because he rests in the one sovereign Good, Who is above all things, and from Whom every good flows and proceeds. He does not look to the gift but turns himself above all gifts to the Giver. Love often knows no limits but overflows all bounds. Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things. For this reason, it is able to do all, performing and effecting much where he who does not love fails and falls. Love is watchful. Sleeping, it does not slumber. Wearied, it is not tired. Pressed, it is not straitened. Alarmed, it is not confused, but like a living flame, a burning torch, it forces its way upward and passes unharmed through every obstacle. Love is swift, sincere, kind, pleasant, and delightful. Love is strong, patient and faithful, prudent, long-suffering, and manly. Love is never self-seeking, for in whatever a person seeks himself there he falls from love. Love is circumspect, humble, and upright. It is neither soft nor light, nor intent upon vain things. It is sober and chaste, firm and quiet, guarded in all the senses. If a man loves, he will know the sound of this voice. For this warm affection of soul is a loud voice crying in the ears of God, and it says: ‘My God, my love, You are all mine and I am all Yours. Give me an increase of love, that I may follow You, my Love, to the heights.’” (The Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 5).
Without this love of God driving the soul onwards, our spiritual batteries will drain very, very quickly and our good intentions and resolutions will just as quickly come to a lethargic standstill.
Let us be honest about our love of God―or lack of it. If there is anyone who thinks or feels that their love of God is at the level God wants it to be, or if anyone is fully satisfied with their level of love of God―then they are either insane or liars. Therefore, the first thing to do in asking God to increase our love, is to confess to our lack of love. We may often tell God that we love Him―but, more often than not, it is a mere cliché that falls from our lips―just as when we tell our family members and relatives that we love them. “This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Mark 7:6). The next thing to do, is to start thanking God much, much more―for all the blessings that He pours upon us, despite our sinfulness, indifference, apathy, lukewarmness, sloth and negligence. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that one of the most effective ways to dispose ourselves for an increase in the love of God, is to start to thank God for all that He has done for us―this is like the flint, or steel, or wood that is being used to create heat, embers or sparks. In the meantime, let us gather our Advent materials (the spiritual firewood for the season), nevertheless realizing that it can only be profitable in proportion to the flame of love that we manage to produce―or, more correctly, that God manages to produce in us. However, just as wood has to be properly dried-out and ‘seasoned’ for it to be disposed to burn well―we need to “dry ourselves out of worldliness” and “season ourselves with penance” to dispose our souls for an increase in charity.
You can have all the wood, kindling wood, paper or even gasoline to start a fire―but if cannot provide that necessary spark, nothing will happen. The same is true for our spiritual life. We can have lots of information and materials in our minds and hands, but if there is no spiritual spark, it will remain lifeless and useless. In a very broad sense, this is what St. Paul speaks about when he writes: “If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity―then I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity―then I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity―then it profiteth me nothing!” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). The spark, of course, being charity or the love of God. It is this same context that you can take the words of Our Lord: “‘Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: “This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men!” (Mark 7:6-9).
The Spark of Love
Without that spark of a SINCERE―heartfelt not just lip-said―love of God, our potential fires of love will be nothing other the piles of wood. This idea can be seen in the incident between Elias and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, where Elias and the false prophets had built wooden bonfires upon which to sacrifice their bullocks―Elias to the true God, and the prophets of Baal to their false god.
A Spark From Heaven
“And Elias coming to all the people, said: ‘How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him!’ And the people did not answer him a word. And Elias said again to the people: ‘I only remain a prophet of the Lord―but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men! Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under. And I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the Name of my Lord―and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God!’ And all the people answering said: ‘A very good proposal!’
“Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: ‘Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many, and call on the names of your gods, but put no fire under!’ And they took the bullock which he gave them, and dressed it. And they called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying: ‘O Baal, hear us!’ But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made. And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: ‘Cry with a louder voice! For he is a god, and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked!’ So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood. And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed. Elias said to all the people: ‘Come ye unto me!’ And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down. And he took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: ‘Israel shall be thy name!’ And he built with the stones an altar to the Name of the Lord; and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows round about the altar. And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood. And he said: ‘Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt offering, and upon the wood!’ And again he said: ‘Do the same the second time!’ And when they had done it the second time, he said: ‘Do the same also the third time!’ And they did so the third time. And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water.
“And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias the prophet came near and said: ‘O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, show this day that Thou art the God of Israel, and I Thy servant, and that according to Thy commandment I have done all these things! Hear me, O Lord, hear me! That this people may learn, that Thou art the Lord God, and that Thou hast turned their heart again!’ Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: ‘The Lord He is God, the Lord He is God!’ And Elias said to them: ‘Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape!’ And when they had taken them, Elias brought them down to the torrent Cison and killed them there” (3 Kings 18:21-40).
Spiritual Bullocks, Wood and Fire
From the above incident, we see that three essential elements were required―the bullock, the bonfire of wood, and the spark or fire from Heaven. Likewise, in our Advent preparations for Christmas, those three elements could be said to constitute our heart (bullock), knowledge and materials (wood) and a love of what we are doing (fire).
Our hearts (the bullock) are often animalistic―in the sense that we seek merely the ‘base’ material things of this world. The bullocks had to be killed before being sacrificed―our hearts must die to the world before we can effectively sacrifice them to God. “This people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify Me, but their heart is far from Me!” (Isaias 29:13). “A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit―a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise!” (Psalm 50:19). “The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, that thou mayest then love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 30:6). Circumcision is painful surgery upon the sexual organs―which needs to be done symbolically today too―for the world is besotted with sexual things. “His heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods, and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God” (3 Kings 11:4). “I will give them one heart, and will put a new spirit in their bowels: and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh” (Ezechiel 11:19).
Getting Charity
“Let wine may cheer the heart of man. That he may make the face cheerful with oil: and that bread may strengthen man's heart” (Psalm 103:15). What is wine, but a symbol of charity. It is charity that cheers the heart of man―a love of God cheers the heart of man. Water does not. Notice how Elias had the bullocks soaked and drenched with water three times―which, one would have thought, would have made it impossible to light a soaking wet bonfire. Water is inferior to wine. We could say, in this case, that water symbolizes the love of inferior worldly things, whereas wine symbolizes the love of God. At the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, only a tiny drop of water is placed into the chalice which contains the wine. The wine absorbs the water, in a sense changing it, and the tiny drop of water becomes a part of the wine―and not the other way round. Likewise, for us to be made acceptable to enter the chalice of God, we must reduce our worldliness to a tiny drop, so that we may be changed into something godlike―from a love of the world, to a love of God. At the marriage feast of Cana, Our Lord miraculously changes the water into wine―we need to have the water of our love of the world, changed into the wine of a love of God.
How do we attain to a love of God? How do get that spark of love? How can we make that spark become a flame and a veritable fire? The answer, once again, we see with Elias on Mount Carmel―it is by humble, confident, persevering prayer, that comes not just from the lips, but from the heart. Our Lord says: “Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you! … Whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive!” (Matthew 7:7; 21:22). “Hitherto you have not asked anything in My Name. Ask, and you shall receive; that your joy may be full!” (John 16:24). To which Holy Scripture adds: “You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss: that you may consume it on your concupiscences!” (James 4:3). St. Thomas Aquinas explains: “The charity of a wayfarer can increase. For we are called wayfarers by reason of our being on the way to God, Who is the last end of our happiness. On this way we advance as we get near to God, Who is approached, not by steps of the body, but by the affections of the soul; and this approach is the result of charity, since it unites man’s mind to God. Consequently it is essential to the charity of a wayfarer that it can increase, for if it could not, all further advance along the way would cease … Charity does not increase by addition … Charity increases by being intensified … The cause of prayer is the desire of charity … ” (Summa Theologica, IIa-IIae, q. 24, articles 4 & 5; q. 83, art. 14).
Fire can be created through friction by rapidly grinding pieces of solid combustible material (such as wood) against each other (or a hard surface), which gradually generates heat and creates an ember. Once hot enough, the ember is introduced to the tinder, more oxygen is added by blowing and the result is ignition. The hand drill is the most widespread among indigenous cultures, characterized by the use of a thin, straightened wooden shaft or reed, which is spun with the hands, grinding within a notch, against the soft wooden base of a fire board (which is a wooden board with a carved notch in which to catch heated wood fibers created by the friction). This repeated spinning and downward pressure causes black dust to form in the notch of the fireboard, eventually creating a hot, glowing coal. The coal is then carefully placed among dense, fine tinder, which is pressed against it as one blows directly onto the coal until the tinder begins burning and eventually catches into flame. Successfully creating fire by friction involves skill, fitness, knowledge, and acceptable environmental conditions. Some techniques involve crafting a system of interlocking pieces that give the practitioner an improved mechanical advantage; these techniques require more skill and knowledge but less fitness, and work in less ideal conditions.
No Charity, No Enthusiasm
If you don’t acquire an increase in charity, you will find there is no lasting increase in your enthusiasm―apart from the superficial enthusiasm everyone has when starting a new project, but which quickly dies out. It is a sincere love of God that is the fire that drives the engine of our soul. The Imitation of Christ has a beautiful chapter that epitomizes this truth.
“Love is an excellent thing, a very great blessing, indeed. It makes every difficulty easy, and bears all wrongs with equanimity. For it bears a burden without being weighted and renders sweet all that is bitter. The noble love of Jesus spurs to great deeds and excites longing for that which is more perfect. Love tends upward; it will not be held down by anything low. Love wishes to be free and estranged from all worldly affections, lest its inward sight be obstructed, lest it be entangled in any temporal interest and overcome by adversity. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger or higher or wider; nothing is more pleasant, nothing fuller, and nothing better in Heaven or on earth, for love is born of God and cannot rest except in God, Who is above all created things. One who is in love flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free, not bound. He gives all for all and possesses all in all, because he rests in the one sovereign Good, Who is above all things, and from Whom every good flows and proceeds. He does not look to the gift but turns himself above all gifts to the Giver. Love often knows no limits but overflows all bounds. Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things. For this reason, it is able to do all, performing and effecting much where he who does not love fails and falls. Love is watchful. Sleeping, it does not slumber. Wearied, it is not tired. Pressed, it is not straitened. Alarmed, it is not confused, but like a living flame, a burning torch, it forces its way upward and passes unharmed through every obstacle. Love is swift, sincere, kind, pleasant, and delightful. Love is strong, patient and faithful, prudent, long-suffering, and manly. Love is never self-seeking, for in whatever a person seeks himself there he falls from love. Love is circumspect, humble, and upright. It is neither soft nor light, nor intent upon vain things. It is sober and chaste, firm and quiet, guarded in all the senses. If a man loves, he will know the sound of this voice. For this warm affection of soul is a loud voice crying in the ears of God, and it says: ‘My God, my love, You are all mine and I am all Yours. Give me an increase of love, that I may follow You, my Love, to the heights.’” (The Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 5).
Without this love of God driving the soul onwards, our spiritual batteries will drain very, very quickly and our good intentions and resolutions will just as quickly come to a lethargic standstill.
Let us be honest about our love of God―or lack of it. If there is anyone who thinks or feels that their love of God is at the level God wants it to be, or if anyone is fully satisfied with their level of love of God―then they are either insane or liars. Therefore, the first thing to do in asking God to increase our love, is to confess to our lack of love. We may often tell God that we love Him―but, more often than not, it is a mere cliché that falls from our lips―just as when we tell our family members and relatives that we love them. “This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Mark 7:6). The next thing to do, is to start thanking God much, much more―for all the blessings that He pours upon us, despite our sinfulness, indifference, apathy, lukewarmness, sloth and negligence. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that one of the most effective ways to dispose ourselves for an increase in the love of God, is to start to thank God for all that He has done for us―this is like the flint, or steel, or wood that is being used to create heat, embers or sparks. In the meantime, let us gather our Advent materials (the spiritual firewood for the season), nevertheless realizing that it can only be profitable in proportion to the flame of love that we manage to produce―or, more correctly, that God manages to produce in us. However, just as wood has to be properly dried-out and ‘seasoned’ for it to be disposed to burn well―we need to “dry ourselves out of worldliness” and “season ourselves with penance” to dispose our souls for an increase in charity.
SPARKING YOUR STALE ADVENT INTO LIFE!
As they say: "Familiarity breeds contempt." Have we become too familiar with Advent?
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
As they say: "Familiarity breeds contempt." Have we become too familiar with Advent?
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Love Sparks the Imagination!
Taking a cue and a springboard from the previous article, what will be said here will go over like a lead-balloon if there little love in the soul for God. As that beautiful passage from The Imitation of Christ so truly stated: “Love is an excellent thing … It makes every difficulty easy, and … bears a burden without being weighted … Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things … The noble love of Jesus spurs to great deeds and excites longing for that which is more perfect. Love tends upward; it will not be held down by anything low. Love wishes to be free and estranged from all worldly affections … One who is in love flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free, not bound. He gives all for all and possesses all in all … For this reason, it is able to do all, performing and effecting much where he who does not love fails and falls” (The Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 5).
For one who does not love very much―even the bare spiritual bare minimum seems like a mountain to climb! They imagine themselves to be spiritual heroes by regularly attending Mass each Sunday (distractedly), saying a daily Rosary (hurriedly), and fasting during Lent (for only two days―Ash Wednesday and Good Friday)! For them to take on what will now be suggested, will seem like “Hell on Earth” or “Purgatory on Earth”! They feel they do enough already without having to indulge in “religious fanaticism” or “exaggerated piety” or “holy-roller-overkill”―Advent to them is merely a name, or even a mini-Christmas whereby you warm-up for Christmas by a multitude of pre-Christmas-Christmas-parties! The words of Our Lord, as spoken to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres (of Our Lady of Good Success fame), mean little or nothing to such folk: “If men would only realize how greatly I am wounded and displeased with the coldness, indifference, lack of confidence and small spineless imperfections on the part of those who so closely belong to Me ... But I will not tolerate this! Halfway measures are not pleasing to Me! I desire all or nothing! — according to My example, for I gave of Myself to the last drop of Blood and Water from My shattered Body on the Cross ... Woe to souls like this! Woe!” (Our Lord to Mother Mariana, Quito Ecuador).
The Positives and Negatives of Advent
As the commonly known introduction to doctor jokes has it: “We’ve got good news and bad news for you! Which do you want to hear first?” And then, one of many variations, goes on to say: “Well, the good news is that the surgery was a success! The bad news is that we amputated the wrong leg!” Similarly, if you want a good Advent, which is the only real way to have a good and honest Christmas, is to do some serious surgery. What can you amputate? What needs amputating? Obviously, things that are done together have a greater chance of success than things done individually―there is the benefit of mutual support and encouragement throughout what can seem like a veritable mountain that has to be climbed.
Family Penances
There are certain family penances―abstinence or fasting can not only be applied to food and drink (especially alcohol and sodas), but can also be extended to fasting or abstaining from the TV, worldly internet sites, social-media sites, music, movies, secular worldly reading materials, etc. However, these are, for the most part, largely electronic appliance orientated penances. There are other areas to consider also.
Another domain for family penance could bear upon the social sphere and interactions with other family members, relatives, friends, neighbors (which can also be extended outside the home and its neighborhood, to the workplace and school). One chief penitential goal would be to cut-out uncharitable comments towards others―which, to avoid the aforementioned vacuum, could be replaced by praying for those who have wronged us, let us down, insulted us, criticized us, irritated us, lied about us, detracted us, ignored us, etc. This is nothing other than following Our Lord’s own commands: “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in Heaven! … If someone strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other! And if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him! And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two! Give to him that asketh of thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away. You have heard that it hath been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy!’ But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you!’ So that you may be the children of your Father Who is in Heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? Do not also the heathens do this? Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect!” (Matthew 5:11-12; 39-48) … “Forgive, if you have anything against any man; so that your Father also, Who is in Heaven, may forgive you your sins. But if you will not forgive, neither will your Father that is in Heaven, forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25-26),
Replacing the Amputated Worldly Limbs
Now, of course, nature abhors a vacuum. Once you have taken away all those things―life, for modern-Catholic addict, can be quite depressing! So with what do you fill the gap or void? After all the above amputations, you will be “out on a limb” or “out of a limb”! Once you turn the ‘worldly electricity’ off and cease using the electronics for worldly, fun, distracting activities―which distract you from what Advent is really about―then you need to replace those man-made ‘gifts’ with you God-given gifts―which means starting to use the ‘electricity’ or energy of your mind and your senses.
First of all, here is a brief overview of the various activities that you can engage the family in―depending upon their ages of course. You cannot expect toddlers or very young children to take part in some of these things, but they will still profit from hearing or seeing what is done, and perhaps in some limited, accessory, helpful way participate in some of their aspects. In a later article, the toddlers and their possible activities will be dealt with separately. For now, let us stay with adults and older children―since the example, the lead and the example has to come from the top and filter down.
Talk is Cheap
Yes, as they say, “Talk is cheap”―in the sense that anyone can talk about doing something, but few people actually go and “walk-the-walk” after having “talked-the-talk.” All of this is true, of course. However, let us look at another aspect of “Talk is cheap.” Talk is also cheap in the sense that you do not have to go out and buy anything! You have it right there, implanted in your head―it is your mouth! It needs no electricity to make it run and work―you just open it and start using it! However, the problem is not talking, but WHAT to talk about! It is needless to say that, during this season of Advent, if we are in anyway trying to pass ourselves off as being Catholic, then we need to be talking about spiritual things that pertain to the season of Advent! Aha! Now that’s a problem! It is a problem because it is hard to talk about what you don’t know! “O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity?” (Psalm 4:3). “O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22).
As Holy Scripture says: “Even a fool, if he will hold his peace shall be counted wise: and if he close his lips, a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:28)―a verse that has given birth to a whole gamut of auxiliary verses, such as: “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut!” and “It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt!” … “Fools seem smart when they are quiet!” … “People may wonder if you are a fool if you say nothing, but when you say something, you will remove all doubt!” … “Even fools may be thought as wise and intelligent if they stay quiet and keep their mouths shut!” The fact is that most of today’s Catholics are fools―they read little or nothing about the Faith, therefore they know little or nothing about the Faith, therefore they say little or nothing about the Faith―“Receive My instruction, and not money! Choose knowledge rather than gold! ... Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that possesseth it: the instruction of fools is foolishness … A wise heart shall acquire knowledge: and the ear of the wise seeketh instruction … Where there is no knowledge of the soul, there is no good: and he that is hasty with his feet shall stumble … Cease not, O my son, to hear instruction, and be not ignorant of the words of knowledge” (Proverbs 8:10; 16:22; 18:15; 19:2; 19:27).
You Cannot Give What You Have Not Got!
The philosophical axiom and legal principle―“Nemo dat quod non habet”, literally meaning “no one gives what they don not have” or “you cannot give what you have not got”―is pretty much common sense too. If you ask someone for a $1,000 and they only have $200, then they cannot give a thousand―you can only give what you’ve got. You cannot teach a language you do not know in the first place. If you are a paralytic, you cannot run in a race. It is also patently true in matters of the Faith. You can’t teach very much about the Faith if you know very little. What is worse, the little that you do know is likely to be even less in your children. This comes from the indisputable application of the The Second Law of Thermodynamics―commonly known as The Law of Increased Entropy. The word “entropy” means “the tendency to disorder and the degree of disorder” in any given thing―thus you could call it The Law of Increased Decay and Disorder. Thus, the spiritual life becomes more and more disordered, decayed and broken with each successive generation. There is no regularity in going to Mass, no regularity in prayer, no regular penances and sacrifices, no regular spiritual reading and meditation, no regular examination of conscience―everything is sporadic and gradually winding-down. That is a perfect example of The Second Law of Thermodynamics, or The Law of Increased Entropy, or The Law of Increased Decay and Disorder. If we were to closely analyze the degree of penance and spiritual exercises practiced by Catholics over the last 60 years, then we would clearly see an extremely great reduction―whereby thy focus has dramatically shifted away from the spiritual towards the material. Consequently, Advent today is much more of a material preparation for Christmas and much less a spiritual preparation. The only way The Second Law of Thermodynamics, or The Law of Increased Entropy, or The Law of Increased Decay and Disorder can be reversed, is by outside intervention by another agent. In our case, the outside intervention is the grace of God, as well as the materials available to us to put a brake on the slide, bring it to a stop, and then climb back up the mountain of God.
Research and Reading Must Come Before Talking
There are plenty of things―interesting things―to talk about during Advent. However, it means you first have to have that information in your mind, or you have to go research and get that information before you open your mouth. Yes, research and learning can be pain in the neck―but that is exactly what penance is: a pain in the neck―and Advent is a time of penance. For those who are electronic-gizmo addicts―Smartphone, Tablet, Laptop, Computer―they are least allowed to use their instrument of addiction, but for a better and more noble purpose―a religious purpose. For those who are addicted to reading―then keep on reading, but read something better and more noble―something religious.
Topics For Discussion
Here is a list of Advent related topics that could be researched by different members of the family and then “brought to the table” for discussion and for the enlightenment of others.
(1) The Topography of the Holy Land at the time of Christ’s birth. The internet abounds with images, maps and facts about this. Have the family be able to locate where Nazareth, Jerusalem and Bethlehem were. How far was it from Nazareth to Jerusalem? How far from Jerusalem to Bethlehem? How long would it take for Joseph and a pregnant Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem? What route would they have taken? What would they encounter on the road? What was the condition of roads back then? What were the dangers at that time? What is the climate like in the Holy Land during December? Would they have slept outside at night? Where would they have got food? What was their clothing like in those days and how well did it protect them from the elements? There are plenty of good resources out there that will give you the answers to those questions. Furthermore, the revelations made by Our Lady to various mystics will give additional details―all of which is readily available on the internet. Yet it takes that spark of love for God to set you off on your own journey of finding the answers. The result will be that you will enter Christmas in a much different frame of mind and attitude than all the past materialistic and spiritually superficial Advents and Christmases that you have journeyed through!
(2) The History and Practices of Advent. The internet will allow you to access the works of Dom Gueranger―the famous Benedictine liturgist―whose excellent multi-volume Liturgical Year will provide you with a lot of what you need. The first volume in the series is, of course, that of Advent. There are other resources online that give various insights into the evolution of the Advent season and reveal many varying practices, that vary from nation to nation, from religious order to religious order. Set the research of its history as a project for a family member and discuss regularly what new snippets of information have surfaced.
(3) Advent Customs from Around the World. This can also be an interesting research topic―similar to the one above. Whoever is assigned the research project, should try to copy and paste as many pictures as possible from what they find online―in this way the description of the customs will be greatly facilitated.
(4) The Prophecies Concerning the Coming of Christ. Once again, the internet abounds with relevant information on this subject. It is not hard to find. Let the person assigned to the task, copy and paste the various prophecies and arrange them in an interesting manner―perhaps including pictures that pertain to the prophecies in some way.
(5) The Themes from the Advent Liturgy. The Church has taken much thought and care in preparing her Advent Liturgy. The readings are not haphazardly chosen, but are specially chosen to communicate certain key points. You could loosely say that the Sunday Liturgy is pretty much like a series of ideas or chapter headings that need to be taken home and thought about and discussed―filling them out with further Scripture references or quotes from the saints, theologians, etc.
(6) Studying the Symbolism of Advent Things. The two chief elements here are the Advent Wreath with the Advent Candles, and also the Jesse Tree. The Advent Wreath and the Candles are particularly rich in symbolism. When searching the internet for information, just type in “symbolism advent wreath” and later “symbolism advent candles”―you can also look at the general symbolism of candles. Do not forget to look into how they are made, what they are made of, what these elements symbolize, the symbolism of the wax, the wick, the flame, the smoke, the light, etc.
Artistic and Creative Ideas
Usually, there is always someone who is an artistic family member. There are a variety of projects that such persons can undertake. The method could one of actually personally painting or drawing things―or, alternatively, finding images online and working with those in a variety of ways and manners. For those familiar with artistic computer software programs, such as popular Photoshop―very beautiful results can be obtained. Other possibilities are simply printing out the desired images and working with them―either by cutting them out, making a collage, making your own drawing or painting by initially tracing over the printed picture and then coloring it in yourself, etc., etc.
The chief topics for such artistic work can be as follows:
(1) The Jesse Tree
(2) An Advent Calendar
(3) The key figures of Advent: Mary and Joseph in relation to their journey to Bethlehem; the key Old Testament Prophets who foretold Christ’s coming; etc.
(4) Pictures containing the central liturgical themes for the Four Sundays of Advent
(5) Producing an “Advent Newspaper” which takes you back in time to the Holy Land and gives details of events leading up to the birth of Our Lord
Taking a cue and a springboard from the previous article, what will be said here will go over like a lead-balloon if there little love in the soul for God. As that beautiful passage from The Imitation of Christ so truly stated: “Love is an excellent thing … It makes every difficulty easy, and … bears a burden without being weighted … Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things … The noble love of Jesus spurs to great deeds and excites longing for that which is more perfect. Love tends upward; it will not be held down by anything low. Love wishes to be free and estranged from all worldly affections … One who is in love flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free, not bound. He gives all for all and possesses all in all … For this reason, it is able to do all, performing and effecting much where he who does not love fails and falls” (The Imitation of Christ, Book 3, Chapter 5).
For one who does not love very much―even the bare spiritual bare minimum seems like a mountain to climb! They imagine themselves to be spiritual heroes by regularly attending Mass each Sunday (distractedly), saying a daily Rosary (hurriedly), and fasting during Lent (for only two days―Ash Wednesday and Good Friday)! For them to take on what will now be suggested, will seem like “Hell on Earth” or “Purgatory on Earth”! They feel they do enough already without having to indulge in “religious fanaticism” or “exaggerated piety” or “holy-roller-overkill”―Advent to them is merely a name, or even a mini-Christmas whereby you warm-up for Christmas by a multitude of pre-Christmas-Christmas-parties! The words of Our Lord, as spoken to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres (of Our Lady of Good Success fame), mean little or nothing to such folk: “If men would only realize how greatly I am wounded and displeased with the coldness, indifference, lack of confidence and small spineless imperfections on the part of those who so closely belong to Me ... But I will not tolerate this! Halfway measures are not pleasing to Me! I desire all or nothing! — according to My example, for I gave of Myself to the last drop of Blood and Water from My shattered Body on the Cross ... Woe to souls like this! Woe!” (Our Lord to Mother Mariana, Quito Ecuador).
The Positives and Negatives of Advent
As the commonly known introduction to doctor jokes has it: “We’ve got good news and bad news for you! Which do you want to hear first?” And then, one of many variations, goes on to say: “Well, the good news is that the surgery was a success! The bad news is that we amputated the wrong leg!” Similarly, if you want a good Advent, which is the only real way to have a good and honest Christmas, is to do some serious surgery. What can you amputate? What needs amputating? Obviously, things that are done together have a greater chance of success than things done individually―there is the benefit of mutual support and encouragement throughout what can seem like a veritable mountain that has to be climbed.
Family Penances
There are certain family penances―abstinence or fasting can not only be applied to food and drink (especially alcohol and sodas), but can also be extended to fasting or abstaining from the TV, worldly internet sites, social-media sites, music, movies, secular worldly reading materials, etc. However, these are, for the most part, largely electronic appliance orientated penances. There are other areas to consider also.
Another domain for family penance could bear upon the social sphere and interactions with other family members, relatives, friends, neighbors (which can also be extended outside the home and its neighborhood, to the workplace and school). One chief penitential goal would be to cut-out uncharitable comments towards others―which, to avoid the aforementioned vacuum, could be replaced by praying for those who have wronged us, let us down, insulted us, criticized us, irritated us, lied about us, detracted us, ignored us, etc. This is nothing other than following Our Lord’s own commands: “Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in Heaven! … If someone strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other! And if a man will contend with thee in judgment, and take away thy coat, let go thy cloak also unto him! And whosoever will force thee one mile, go with him other two! Give to him that asketh of thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not away. You have heard that it hath been said, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy!’ But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you!’ So that you may be the children of your Father Who is in Heaven, who maketh his sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust. For if you love them that love you, what reward shall you have? do not even the publicans this? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more? Do not also the heathens do this? Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect!” (Matthew 5:11-12; 39-48) … “Forgive, if you have anything against any man; so that your Father also, Who is in Heaven, may forgive you your sins. But if you will not forgive, neither will your Father that is in Heaven, forgive you your sins” (Mark 11:25-26),
Replacing the Amputated Worldly Limbs
Now, of course, nature abhors a vacuum. Once you have taken away all those things―life, for modern-Catholic addict, can be quite depressing! So with what do you fill the gap or void? After all the above amputations, you will be “out on a limb” or “out of a limb”! Once you turn the ‘worldly electricity’ off and cease using the electronics for worldly, fun, distracting activities―which distract you from what Advent is really about―then you need to replace those man-made ‘gifts’ with you God-given gifts―which means starting to use the ‘electricity’ or energy of your mind and your senses.
First of all, here is a brief overview of the various activities that you can engage the family in―depending upon their ages of course. You cannot expect toddlers or very young children to take part in some of these things, but they will still profit from hearing or seeing what is done, and perhaps in some limited, accessory, helpful way participate in some of their aspects. In a later article, the toddlers and their possible activities will be dealt with separately. For now, let us stay with adults and older children―since the example, the lead and the example has to come from the top and filter down.
Talk is Cheap
Yes, as they say, “Talk is cheap”―in the sense that anyone can talk about doing something, but few people actually go and “walk-the-walk” after having “talked-the-talk.” All of this is true, of course. However, let us look at another aspect of “Talk is cheap.” Talk is also cheap in the sense that you do not have to go out and buy anything! You have it right there, implanted in your head―it is your mouth! It needs no electricity to make it run and work―you just open it and start using it! However, the problem is not talking, but WHAT to talk about! It is needless to say that, during this season of Advent, if we are in anyway trying to pass ourselves off as being Catholic, then we need to be talking about spiritual things that pertain to the season of Advent! Aha! Now that’s a problem! It is a problem because it is hard to talk about what you don’t know! “O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity?” (Psalm 4:3). “O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22).
As Holy Scripture says: “Even a fool, if he will hold his peace shall be counted wise: and if he close his lips, a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:28)―a verse that has given birth to a whole gamut of auxiliary verses, such as: “Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent; with their mouths shut!” and “It is better to keep one's mouth shut and be thought a fool, than to open it and remove all doubt!” … “Fools seem smart when they are quiet!” … “People may wonder if you are a fool if you say nothing, but when you say something, you will remove all doubt!” … “Even fools may be thought as wise and intelligent if they stay quiet and keep their mouths shut!” The fact is that most of today’s Catholics are fools―they read little or nothing about the Faith, therefore they know little or nothing about the Faith, therefore they say little or nothing about the Faith―“Receive My instruction, and not money! Choose knowledge rather than gold! ... Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that possesseth it: the instruction of fools is foolishness … A wise heart shall acquire knowledge: and the ear of the wise seeketh instruction … Where there is no knowledge of the soul, there is no good: and he that is hasty with his feet shall stumble … Cease not, O my son, to hear instruction, and be not ignorant of the words of knowledge” (Proverbs 8:10; 16:22; 18:15; 19:2; 19:27).
You Cannot Give What You Have Not Got!
The philosophical axiom and legal principle―“Nemo dat quod non habet”, literally meaning “no one gives what they don not have” or “you cannot give what you have not got”―is pretty much common sense too. If you ask someone for a $1,000 and they only have $200, then they cannot give a thousand―you can only give what you’ve got. You cannot teach a language you do not know in the first place. If you are a paralytic, you cannot run in a race. It is also patently true in matters of the Faith. You can’t teach very much about the Faith if you know very little. What is worse, the little that you do know is likely to be even less in your children. This comes from the indisputable application of the The Second Law of Thermodynamics―commonly known as The Law of Increased Entropy. The word “entropy” means “the tendency to disorder and the degree of disorder” in any given thing―thus you could call it The Law of Increased Decay and Disorder. Thus, the spiritual life becomes more and more disordered, decayed and broken with each successive generation. There is no regularity in going to Mass, no regularity in prayer, no regular penances and sacrifices, no regular spiritual reading and meditation, no regular examination of conscience―everything is sporadic and gradually winding-down. That is a perfect example of The Second Law of Thermodynamics, or The Law of Increased Entropy, or The Law of Increased Decay and Disorder. If we were to closely analyze the degree of penance and spiritual exercises practiced by Catholics over the last 60 years, then we would clearly see an extremely great reduction―whereby thy focus has dramatically shifted away from the spiritual towards the material. Consequently, Advent today is much more of a material preparation for Christmas and much less a spiritual preparation. The only way The Second Law of Thermodynamics, or The Law of Increased Entropy, or The Law of Increased Decay and Disorder can be reversed, is by outside intervention by another agent. In our case, the outside intervention is the grace of God, as well as the materials available to us to put a brake on the slide, bring it to a stop, and then climb back up the mountain of God.
Research and Reading Must Come Before Talking
There are plenty of things―interesting things―to talk about during Advent. However, it means you first have to have that information in your mind, or you have to go research and get that information before you open your mouth. Yes, research and learning can be pain in the neck―but that is exactly what penance is: a pain in the neck―and Advent is a time of penance. For those who are electronic-gizmo addicts―Smartphone, Tablet, Laptop, Computer―they are least allowed to use their instrument of addiction, but for a better and more noble purpose―a religious purpose. For those who are addicted to reading―then keep on reading, but read something better and more noble―something religious.
Topics For Discussion
Here is a list of Advent related topics that could be researched by different members of the family and then “brought to the table” for discussion and for the enlightenment of others.
(1) The Topography of the Holy Land at the time of Christ’s birth. The internet abounds with images, maps and facts about this. Have the family be able to locate where Nazareth, Jerusalem and Bethlehem were. How far was it from Nazareth to Jerusalem? How far from Jerusalem to Bethlehem? How long would it take for Joseph and a pregnant Mary to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem? What route would they have taken? What would they encounter on the road? What was the condition of roads back then? What were the dangers at that time? What is the climate like in the Holy Land during December? Would they have slept outside at night? Where would they have got food? What was their clothing like in those days and how well did it protect them from the elements? There are plenty of good resources out there that will give you the answers to those questions. Furthermore, the revelations made by Our Lady to various mystics will give additional details―all of which is readily available on the internet. Yet it takes that spark of love for God to set you off on your own journey of finding the answers. The result will be that you will enter Christmas in a much different frame of mind and attitude than all the past materialistic and spiritually superficial Advents and Christmases that you have journeyed through!
(2) The History and Practices of Advent. The internet will allow you to access the works of Dom Gueranger―the famous Benedictine liturgist―whose excellent multi-volume Liturgical Year will provide you with a lot of what you need. The first volume in the series is, of course, that of Advent. There are other resources online that give various insights into the evolution of the Advent season and reveal many varying practices, that vary from nation to nation, from religious order to religious order. Set the research of its history as a project for a family member and discuss regularly what new snippets of information have surfaced.
(3) Advent Customs from Around the World. This can also be an interesting research topic―similar to the one above. Whoever is assigned the research project, should try to copy and paste as many pictures as possible from what they find online―in this way the description of the customs will be greatly facilitated.
(4) The Prophecies Concerning the Coming of Christ. Once again, the internet abounds with relevant information on this subject. It is not hard to find. Let the person assigned to the task, copy and paste the various prophecies and arrange them in an interesting manner―perhaps including pictures that pertain to the prophecies in some way.
(5) The Themes from the Advent Liturgy. The Church has taken much thought and care in preparing her Advent Liturgy. The readings are not haphazardly chosen, but are specially chosen to communicate certain key points. You could loosely say that the Sunday Liturgy is pretty much like a series of ideas or chapter headings that need to be taken home and thought about and discussed―filling them out with further Scripture references or quotes from the saints, theologians, etc.
(6) Studying the Symbolism of Advent Things. The two chief elements here are the Advent Wreath with the Advent Candles, and also the Jesse Tree. The Advent Wreath and the Candles are particularly rich in symbolism. When searching the internet for information, just type in “symbolism advent wreath” and later “symbolism advent candles”―you can also look at the general symbolism of candles. Do not forget to look into how they are made, what they are made of, what these elements symbolize, the symbolism of the wax, the wick, the flame, the smoke, the light, etc.
Artistic and Creative Ideas
Usually, there is always someone who is an artistic family member. There are a variety of projects that such persons can undertake. The method could one of actually personally painting or drawing things―or, alternatively, finding images online and working with those in a variety of ways and manners. For those familiar with artistic computer software programs, such as popular Photoshop―very beautiful results can be obtained. Other possibilities are simply printing out the desired images and working with them―either by cutting them out, making a collage, making your own drawing or painting by initially tracing over the printed picture and then coloring it in yourself, etc., etc.
The chief topics for such artistic work can be as follows:
(1) The Jesse Tree
(2) An Advent Calendar
(3) The key figures of Advent: Mary and Joseph in relation to their journey to Bethlehem; the key Old Testament Prophets who foretold Christ’s coming; etc.
(4) Pictures containing the central liturgical themes for the Four Sundays of Advent
(5) Producing an “Advent Newspaper” which takes you back in time to the Holy Land and gives details of events leading up to the birth of Our Lord
TAKE ON THE SPIRIT OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST FOR ADVENT!
The Church gives us the Four Pillars of Advent for a reason! They are there for our imitation!
St. John the Baptist, Isaias the Prophet, Our Lady and St. Joseph!
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
The Church gives us the Four Pillars of Advent for a reason! They are there for our imitation!
St. John the Baptist, Isaias the Prophet, Our Lady and St. Joseph!
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
A Pillar of Advent
Much like the prophet Isaias, St. John the Baptist is a major figure for the season of Advent, since he is a precursor or forerunner of Christ. Isaias was a remote forerunner and prophet of the future Christ; whereas St. John the Baptist was the immediate forerunner of Christ. His role was to baptize Christ and be the catalyst to the Public Life of Christ. He was a second cousin to Jesus―since St. Elizabeth was a cousin to Our Lady. Jesus said of him: “Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist!” (Matthew 11:11).
Therefore, St. John the Baptist has a pretty good pedigree and an excellent testimonial given by Christ Himself. Hence, there should be much to glean and learn from St. John the Baptist, especially in this Advent season.
Desert Life
We are given the story of the public ministry of St. John the Baptist, with some variation in details, in the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as in the Book of John. Luke tells us of the birth of John the Baptist in a town of Judaea, about six months before the birth of the Savior. The circumstances are miraculous and wonderful. The New Testament tells us nothing much of John’s early years. St. Luke tell us only that “the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts, until the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Luke 1:80).
Should we ask just when the Precursor went into the wilderness, an old tradition, echoed in the hymn, “Ut queant laxis”, composed in honor of the saint, gives an equally vague answer, hardly more precise than the statement of the Gospel, saying that in his early years he was in the desert praying. Other writers, thought they knew better.
For instance, St. Peter of Alexandria believed St. John was taken into the desert to escape the wrath of Herod, who, if we may believe report, was impelled by fear of losing his kingdom to seek the life of the Precursor, just as he was, later on, to seek that of the new-born Savior. It was added also that Herod on this account had Zachary put to death between the temple and the altar, because he had prophesied the coming of the Messias. These are legends long since branded by St. Jerome as “apocryphorum somnia—apocryphal dreams”.
Man of Penance—Living Rough
The desert where St. John lived and fasted and prayed was actually a grazing land, unfit for growing crops but able to sustain the life of hermits and herds; nor was it rare in those days for hermits to seek a life of solitude in the desert. That he ate locusts (grasshoppers, if you prefer) invariably draws a shudder, but this was not uncommon, and is not today, when Arab and African people still dry and save them as protection against famine. Or they may have been carob beans, a common "fruit" used for thousands of years in Mediterranean lands and called by the name of locust. Wild honey, on the other hand, sounds quite delicious.
Rough Clothes, Tough Food
His garment, like the tents of Saul of Tarsus, was cloth woven of camel's hair, and he wore a leather girdle about his loins. This is the extent of his physical description. It is only when we meet him in public life that we discover what he was like; and when we hear him addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees in almost the same words Our Lord used later, we realize the divine cunning and wisdom in naming John the Voice that would announce Christ the Word.
Calling Others to Penance
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,”―this was John’s oft-repeated theme. For the evils of the times his remedy was individual purification. “Every tree,” he said, “that is not bringing forth good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.” The reformation of each person’s life must be complete—the wheat must be separated from the chaff and the chaff burned “with unquenchable fire.”
“Brood of vipers! Who has shown you how to flee from the wrath to come?” he cried out to their faces.
“Serpents, brood of vipers, how are you to escape the judgment of Hell?” Jesus would cry, perhaps to the same faces.
But John was tender; and when earnest seekers asked him what to do, he gave them straight answers that they could understand. “Let him who has two coats share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.”
When the soldiers asked what they should do, he said: “Do not plunder, nor accuse the innocent falsely, and be content with your pay.” He told the tax collectors to take no more than was due from the people they taxed.
Foundation of Humility
He lived in humble surroundings; he ate humble food; he dressed humbly; and he had a humble opinion of himself. When the followers who loved him began to wonder if he was the Messias, he finally spoke the words for which he is most famous: “I, indeed, baptize you with water. But one mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.”
Humility was his staple diet—in dwelling, in food, in clothing. It is humility that attracts the love and graces of God—as Our Lady said in her Magnificat, spoken to St. John’s mother, St. Elizabeth: “He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid … He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.”
Humility to a Point and No Further
Rarely does anyone sincerely say: “I am not worthy.” Most sinners, even pint-size sinners, are certain that their business is far too important to be interrupted for the tying of someone shoes. But when St. John says he is unworthy to tie Our Lord’s shoe, it is what all of us would say, isn’t it? Likewise when St. Peter said, at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night, that he was not worthy to have Our Lord wash his feet—it is what anyone would say, right? Yet it is not just about Jesus, but all the other members of His Mystical Body.
We, Catholics, are the arms, legs, hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, etc., of Christ in His Mystical Body. Our Lord said that whatever we do to the least of His brethren, we do unto Him: “Amen I say to you, as long as you DID it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me ... as long as you DID IT NOT to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me” (Matthew 25:40, 45). This is not just about seeing Christ in Christ, but in seeing Christ in others.
Looking For and Seeing Christ in Others
If we are to see Christ in our brothers and sisters, then like St. John we are not even worthy to tie their shoes. We tend to want to lord it over others, but Jesus did the work of a servant before us, and told us to imitate Him: “Whosoever will be first among you, shall be the servant of all” (Mark 10:44). It is being another Christ and seeing Christ in one another, at one and the same time. To be like Him we must do as He did. To see Him in one another, we must feel as St. John did.
He Must Increase and I Must Decrease
John said, concerning Christ: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Once again, we have no problem if this refers to Christ—but if it refers to other Members of Christ’s Mystical Body, then we might be reluctant to say the same. After all, modern man’s attitude is one of “another man’s gain is my loss”. Much like the Apostles, who were arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest among them, we tend to bicker and squabble in a similar selfish way.
“And there was also a strife amongst them, which of them should seem to be the greater. And he said to them: ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them, are called beneficent. But you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth. For which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is it not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth.’” (Luke 22:24-27).
Amazing Life—Ignominious Death
John was an amazing man. Imagine the Faith of him, doggedly preaching the advent of Christ, Whom he would not recognize if he saw Him. That day Jesus approached to be baptized, he guessed, but not until it was done did he know. It had been so many years since their childhood and they had both changed so much.
Ironically enough, after all those years of self-denial and hardship; the reputation he had earned; the glowing testimonial Jesus had given of him, his final curtain-call and final bow was not what the world would look upon as successful—he was imprisoned and beheaded at the behest of a dancer! His death became an entertainment at a king’s birthday party. Another Herod was king, a son of the Herod who was king when John and Jesus were born; and beside him on the throne sat the impure wife of his brother.
In the course of John’s preaching, he had denounced in unmeasured terms the immorality of Herod’s petty court, and had even boldly upbraided Herod to his face for his defiance of old Jewish law, especially in having taken to himself the wife of his half-brother, Philip. This woman, the dissolute Herodias, was also Herod’s niece. Herod feared and reverenced John, knowing him to be a holy man, and he followed his advice in many matters; but he could not endure having his private life castigated.
Herodias stoked-up Herod’s anger by lies and artifices. His resentment at length got the better of his judgment and he had John cast into the fortress of Machaerus, near the Dead Sea. When Jesus heard of this, and knew that some of His disciples had gone to see John, He spoke thus of him: “What went you to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say to you, amongst those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11: 10-12).
Herodias, Herod’s invalid wife, hated John because he had shouted at the sinfulness of their invalid adulterous marriage. Not content with having had him thrown in prison, she was determined to take his life. Slyly she watched Herod admire the dancing of her daughter. Greedily she waited for Herod to offer the girl a gift. When he did, the mother viciously whispered what it should be, and the child ran back to the king and said: “I want thee right away to give me on a dish the head of John the Baptist.” The strange thing is that Herod didn’t want to kill John, just as Pilate didn’t want the death of Jesus. But high men in high places cannot bear to lose face. St. Mark tells that because of his promise, and “because of his oath and because of his guests,” he sent an executioner and commanded that his head be brought on a dish.
John’s death, like Christ’s, was a spectacle, and St. Mark concludes his account of it with words that could refer to the death of Our Lord. “And his disciples, hearing it, came and took away his body, and laid it in a tomb”, while the angels with joy took away his soul to Heaven.
Learning from and Imitating St. John the Baptist
What do we learn from this man of whom Jesus said: “there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11)? We learn many things that can and should be imitated:
The Archangel Gabriel, when announcing the future birth of St. John the Baptist to his father, St. Zacahry, had said: “Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and they wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John: and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people” (1:8-17).
DETACHMENT FROM THE WORLD: St. John the Baptist—as great as he was in God’s eyes—lived away from the world in the barren, bleak lands of the desert.
POVERTY: St. John was the son of a priest—he could have had an illustrious and comfortable ‘career’ in the service of the Temple, yet his temple was the desert and rich trappings of the Temple he exchanged for the rich trappings of virtues in his soul. Life was far from comfortable, but life was far richer spiritually. His treasure was in Heaven, where thief cannot break in and steal, nor rust or moth corrupt. As Jesus would say: “Lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal” (Matthew 6:20).
PRAYER: What was St. John doing for those many years in the desert before God finally launched his public ministry? Building sand-castles? Counting grains of sand? Of course, not! His mind and heart would have been raised to God—which is the definition of prayer. Would Jesus give that glowing testimonial of St. John if he was not a man of prayer? Of course not! The desert is conducive to prayer—for there little else there and little else to do. When God’s future chastisement renders earth desert-like (as prophecies have foretold), then those who survive will have little else to do but pray and clean up the mess.
PENANCE: And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching” (Luke 3:1-3), clothed not in the soft garments of a courtier (Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:24), but in those “of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle about his loins”; and “his meat” — he looked as if he came neither eating nor drinking (Matthew 11:18; Luke 7:33) — “was locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6); his whole countenance, far from suggesting the idea of a reed shaken by the wind (Matthew 11:7; Luke 7:24), manifested undaunted constancy. A few incredulous scoffers feigned to be scandalized: “He hath a devil” (Matthew 11:18). Nevertheless, “Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan” (Matthew 3:5), drawn by his strong and winning personality, went out to him; the austerity of his life added immensely to the weight of his words; for the simple folk, he was truly a prophet (Matthew 11:9; cf. Luke 1:76, 77). “Do penance: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2), such was the burden of his teaching. Men of all conditions flocked round him.
COURAGE: St. John was not afraid to lay his life on the line for God and His Law. Just like Christ would do some time later. He could have remained silent, but Herod was living in sin. Truth would cost him his life, just as truth cost Jesus His life. For Catholics today, besieged by Liberalism, Modernism and a false Ecumenism with false religions, there is a temptation to turn a blind-eye; to be silent about compromises of the Faith; to go along with these false –ISMS and to scornfully say, like Pilate, “What is truth?” St. John may have lost his head, but he did not lose his soul, which reminds us of the words of Our Lord: “Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him that can destroy both soul and body in Hell” (Matthew 10:28).
APOSTOLIC SPIRIT: The Archangel Gabriel said that St. John would be filled with the Holy Ghost and the spirit of the prophet Elias and that he would convert many souls to God. This is everyone’s calling to a certain degree. Our Lord said that we should go and preach and teach all nations, every creature and bring them to the Faith (Matthew 28:19-20). Priests alone (today less than 500,000) cannot convert and given spiritual maintenance to 7,000,000,000 souls by themselves—it is the work of the entire Mystical Body of Christ. That is why everyone, in the Sacrament of Confirmation, is made a soldier for Christ—to not only defend the Faith, but go out and conquer more souls for the Faith.
HUMILITY: So transcendant was the power radiating out from the holy man that, after hearing him, many believed he was indeed the long-awaited Messias. John quickly put them right, saying he had come only to prepare the way, and that he was not worthy to unloose the Master’s sandals. Although his preaching and baptizing continued for some months during the Savior’s own ministry, John always made plain that he was merely the Forerunner. His humility remained incorruptible even when his fame spread to Jerusalem and members of the higher priesthood came to make inquiries and to hear him. His whole desire was to efface himself, which is typified by his words:: “He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
Let us reflect more than once, in this Advent season, upon the life and spirit of St. John the Baptist. There is much to see, learn and imitate!
Much like the prophet Isaias, St. John the Baptist is a major figure for the season of Advent, since he is a precursor or forerunner of Christ. Isaias was a remote forerunner and prophet of the future Christ; whereas St. John the Baptist was the immediate forerunner of Christ. His role was to baptize Christ and be the catalyst to the Public Life of Christ. He was a second cousin to Jesus―since St. Elizabeth was a cousin to Our Lady. Jesus said of him: “Amen I say to you, there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist!” (Matthew 11:11).
Therefore, St. John the Baptist has a pretty good pedigree and an excellent testimonial given by Christ Himself. Hence, there should be much to glean and learn from St. John the Baptist, especially in this Advent season.
Desert Life
We are given the story of the public ministry of St. John the Baptist, with some variation in details, in the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as in the Book of John. Luke tells us of the birth of John the Baptist in a town of Judaea, about six months before the birth of the Savior. The circumstances are miraculous and wonderful. The New Testament tells us nothing much of John’s early years. St. Luke tell us only that “the child grew, and was strengthened in spirit; and was in the deserts, until the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Luke 1:80).
Should we ask just when the Precursor went into the wilderness, an old tradition, echoed in the hymn, “Ut queant laxis”, composed in honor of the saint, gives an equally vague answer, hardly more precise than the statement of the Gospel, saying that in his early years he was in the desert praying. Other writers, thought they knew better.
For instance, St. Peter of Alexandria believed St. John was taken into the desert to escape the wrath of Herod, who, if we may believe report, was impelled by fear of losing his kingdom to seek the life of the Precursor, just as he was, later on, to seek that of the new-born Savior. It was added also that Herod on this account had Zachary put to death between the temple and the altar, because he had prophesied the coming of the Messias. These are legends long since branded by St. Jerome as “apocryphorum somnia—apocryphal dreams”.
Man of Penance—Living Rough
The desert where St. John lived and fasted and prayed was actually a grazing land, unfit for growing crops but able to sustain the life of hermits and herds; nor was it rare in those days for hermits to seek a life of solitude in the desert. That he ate locusts (grasshoppers, if you prefer) invariably draws a shudder, but this was not uncommon, and is not today, when Arab and African people still dry and save them as protection against famine. Or they may have been carob beans, a common "fruit" used for thousands of years in Mediterranean lands and called by the name of locust. Wild honey, on the other hand, sounds quite delicious.
Rough Clothes, Tough Food
His garment, like the tents of Saul of Tarsus, was cloth woven of camel's hair, and he wore a leather girdle about his loins. This is the extent of his physical description. It is only when we meet him in public life that we discover what he was like; and when we hear him addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees in almost the same words Our Lord used later, we realize the divine cunning and wisdom in naming John the Voice that would announce Christ the Word.
Calling Others to Penance
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,”―this was John’s oft-repeated theme. For the evils of the times his remedy was individual purification. “Every tree,” he said, “that is not bringing forth good fruit is to be cut down and thrown into the fire.” The reformation of each person’s life must be complete—the wheat must be separated from the chaff and the chaff burned “with unquenchable fire.”
“Brood of vipers! Who has shown you how to flee from the wrath to come?” he cried out to their faces.
“Serpents, brood of vipers, how are you to escape the judgment of Hell?” Jesus would cry, perhaps to the same faces.
But John was tender; and when earnest seekers asked him what to do, he gave them straight answers that they could understand. “Let him who has two coats share with him who has none, and let him who has food do likewise.”
When the soldiers asked what they should do, he said: “Do not plunder, nor accuse the innocent falsely, and be content with your pay.” He told the tax collectors to take no more than was due from the people they taxed.
Foundation of Humility
He lived in humble surroundings; he ate humble food; he dressed humbly; and he had a humble opinion of himself. When the followers who loved him began to wonder if he was the Messias, he finally spoke the words for which he is most famous: “I, indeed, baptize you with water. But one mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose.”
Humility was his staple diet—in dwelling, in food, in clothing. It is humility that attracts the love and graces of God—as Our Lady said in her Magnificat, spoken to St. John’s mother, St. Elizabeth: “He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid … He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.”
Humility to a Point and No Further
Rarely does anyone sincerely say: “I am not worthy.” Most sinners, even pint-size sinners, are certain that their business is far too important to be interrupted for the tying of someone shoes. But when St. John says he is unworthy to tie Our Lord’s shoe, it is what all of us would say, isn’t it? Likewise when St. Peter said, at the Last Supper on Holy Thursday night, that he was not worthy to have Our Lord wash his feet—it is what anyone would say, right? Yet it is not just about Jesus, but all the other members of His Mystical Body.
We, Catholics, are the arms, legs, hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, etc., of Christ in His Mystical Body. Our Lord said that whatever we do to the least of His brethren, we do unto Him: “Amen I say to you, as long as you DID it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me ... as long as you DID IT NOT to one of these least, neither did you do it to Me” (Matthew 25:40, 45). This is not just about seeing Christ in Christ, but in seeing Christ in others.
Looking For and Seeing Christ in Others
If we are to see Christ in our brothers and sisters, then like St. John we are not even worthy to tie their shoes. We tend to want to lord it over others, but Jesus did the work of a servant before us, and told us to imitate Him: “Whosoever will be first among you, shall be the servant of all” (Mark 10:44). It is being another Christ and seeing Christ in one another, at one and the same time. To be like Him we must do as He did. To see Him in one another, we must feel as St. John did.
He Must Increase and I Must Decrease
John said, concerning Christ: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Once again, we have no problem if this refers to Christ—but if it refers to other Members of Christ’s Mystical Body, then we might be reluctant to say the same. After all, modern man’s attitude is one of “another man’s gain is my loss”. Much like the Apostles, who were arguing among themselves as to who was the greatest among them, we tend to bicker and squabble in a similar selfish way.
“And there was also a strife amongst them, which of them should seem to be the greater. And he said to them: ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and they that have power over them, are called beneficent. But you not so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is the leader, as he that serveth. For which is greater, he that sitteth at table, or he that serveth? Is it not he that sitteth at table? But I am in the midst of you, as he that serveth.’” (Luke 22:24-27).
Amazing Life—Ignominious Death
John was an amazing man. Imagine the Faith of him, doggedly preaching the advent of Christ, Whom he would not recognize if he saw Him. That day Jesus approached to be baptized, he guessed, but not until it was done did he know. It had been so many years since their childhood and they had both changed so much.
Ironically enough, after all those years of self-denial and hardship; the reputation he had earned; the glowing testimonial Jesus had given of him, his final curtain-call and final bow was not what the world would look upon as successful—he was imprisoned and beheaded at the behest of a dancer! His death became an entertainment at a king’s birthday party. Another Herod was king, a son of the Herod who was king when John and Jesus were born; and beside him on the throne sat the impure wife of his brother.
In the course of John’s preaching, he had denounced in unmeasured terms the immorality of Herod’s petty court, and had even boldly upbraided Herod to his face for his defiance of old Jewish law, especially in having taken to himself the wife of his half-brother, Philip. This woman, the dissolute Herodias, was also Herod’s niece. Herod feared and reverenced John, knowing him to be a holy man, and he followed his advice in many matters; but he could not endure having his private life castigated.
Herodias stoked-up Herod’s anger by lies and artifices. His resentment at length got the better of his judgment and he had John cast into the fortress of Machaerus, near the Dead Sea. When Jesus heard of this, and knew that some of His disciples had gone to see John, He spoke thus of him: “What went you to see? A prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my angel before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say to you, amongst those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11: 10-12).
Herodias, Herod’s invalid wife, hated John because he had shouted at the sinfulness of their invalid adulterous marriage. Not content with having had him thrown in prison, she was determined to take his life. Slyly she watched Herod admire the dancing of her daughter. Greedily she waited for Herod to offer the girl a gift. When he did, the mother viciously whispered what it should be, and the child ran back to the king and said: “I want thee right away to give me on a dish the head of John the Baptist.” The strange thing is that Herod didn’t want to kill John, just as Pilate didn’t want the death of Jesus. But high men in high places cannot bear to lose face. St. Mark tells that because of his promise, and “because of his oath and because of his guests,” he sent an executioner and commanded that his head be brought on a dish.
John’s death, like Christ’s, was a spectacle, and St. Mark concludes his account of it with words that could refer to the death of Our Lord. “And his disciples, hearing it, came and took away his body, and laid it in a tomb”, while the angels with joy took away his soul to Heaven.
Learning from and Imitating St. John the Baptist
What do we learn from this man of whom Jesus said: “there hath not risen among them that are born of women a greater than John the Baptist” (Matthew 11:11)? We learn many things that can and should be imitated:
The Archangel Gabriel, when announcing the future birth of St. John the Baptist to his father, St. Zacahry, had said: “Fear not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard; and they wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John: and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice in his nativity. For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. And he shall convert many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias; that he may turn the hearts of the fathers unto the children, and the incredulous to the wisdom of the just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect people” (1:8-17).
DETACHMENT FROM THE WORLD: St. John the Baptist—as great as he was in God’s eyes—lived away from the world in the barren, bleak lands of the desert.
POVERTY: St. John was the son of a priest—he could have had an illustrious and comfortable ‘career’ in the service of the Temple, yet his temple was the desert and rich trappings of the Temple he exchanged for the rich trappings of virtues in his soul. Life was far from comfortable, but life was far richer spiritually. His treasure was in Heaven, where thief cannot break in and steal, nor rust or moth corrupt. As Jesus would say: “Lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal” (Matthew 6:20).
PRAYER: What was St. John doing for those many years in the desert before God finally launched his public ministry? Building sand-castles? Counting grains of sand? Of course, not! His mind and heart would have been raised to God—which is the definition of prayer. Would Jesus give that glowing testimonial of St. John if he was not a man of prayer? Of course not! The desert is conducive to prayer—for there little else there and little else to do. When God’s future chastisement renders earth desert-like (as prophecies have foretold), then those who survive will have little else to do but pray and clean up the mess.
PENANCE: And he came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching” (Luke 3:1-3), clothed not in the soft garments of a courtier (Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:24), but in those “of camel’s hair, and a leather girdle about his loins”; and “his meat” — he looked as if he came neither eating nor drinking (Matthew 11:18; Luke 7:33) — “was locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6); his whole countenance, far from suggesting the idea of a reed shaken by the wind (Matthew 11:7; Luke 7:24), manifested undaunted constancy. A few incredulous scoffers feigned to be scandalized: “He hath a devil” (Matthew 11:18). Nevertheless, “Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the country about Jordan” (Matthew 3:5), drawn by his strong and winning personality, went out to him; the austerity of his life added immensely to the weight of his words; for the simple folk, he was truly a prophet (Matthew 11:9; cf. Luke 1:76, 77). “Do penance: for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2), such was the burden of his teaching. Men of all conditions flocked round him.
COURAGE: St. John was not afraid to lay his life on the line for God and His Law. Just like Christ would do some time later. He could have remained silent, but Herod was living in sin. Truth would cost him his life, just as truth cost Jesus His life. For Catholics today, besieged by Liberalism, Modernism and a false Ecumenism with false religions, there is a temptation to turn a blind-eye; to be silent about compromises of the Faith; to go along with these false –ISMS and to scornfully say, like Pilate, “What is truth?” St. John may have lost his head, but he did not lose his soul, which reminds us of the words of Our Lord: “Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him that can destroy both soul and body in Hell” (Matthew 10:28).
APOSTOLIC SPIRIT: The Archangel Gabriel said that St. John would be filled with the Holy Ghost and the spirit of the prophet Elias and that he would convert many souls to God. This is everyone’s calling to a certain degree. Our Lord said that we should go and preach and teach all nations, every creature and bring them to the Faith (Matthew 28:19-20). Priests alone (today less than 500,000) cannot convert and given spiritual maintenance to 7,000,000,000 souls by themselves—it is the work of the entire Mystical Body of Christ. That is why everyone, in the Sacrament of Confirmation, is made a soldier for Christ—to not only defend the Faith, but go out and conquer more souls for the Faith.
HUMILITY: So transcendant was the power radiating out from the holy man that, after hearing him, many believed he was indeed the long-awaited Messias. John quickly put them right, saying he had come only to prepare the way, and that he was not worthy to unloose the Master’s sandals. Although his preaching and baptizing continued for some months during the Savior’s own ministry, John always made plain that he was merely the Forerunner. His humility remained incorruptible even when his fame spread to Jerusalem and members of the higher priesthood came to make inquiries and to hear him. His whole desire was to efface himself, which is typified by his words:: “He [Christ] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
Let us reflect more than once, in this Advent season, upon the life and spirit of St. John the Baptist. There is much to see, learn and imitate!
IDEAS FROM THE PAST FOR THE PRESENT DAY
A priest gives ideas for celebrating the Immaculate Conception
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
A priest gives ideas for celebrating the Immaculate Conception
Scroll to the bottom of the page for your Advent Ritual download
Activity Source: True Christmas Spirit by Rev. Fr. Edward J. Sutfin, Grail Publications, St. Meinrad, Indiana, 1955
The Immaculate Conception is the patroness of the United States, and December 8th is a holy day of obligation. Included here is the Mary Candle, hymns to Mary and an idea to invoke Our Lady during the octave of her feast for our country and for the virtue of piety.
DIRECTIONS
With such a glorious feast as this during the month of December, we are almost tempted to give up all hope of doing much penance during the season of Advent. On December 8th we celebrate the wondrous moment when the Blessed Virgin began her existence in this world. At the same time we celebrate the sublime privilege by which Mary, alone among all human beings and in virtue of the future merits of Christ, was preserved at the very first moment of conception from the stain of original sin.
It is true, of course, that in origin and in principle this great feast does not have any relationship with the time of Advent. It was fixed on December 8th in order to separate the feast by nine months from the date of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on September 8th. However, in celebrating this feast we may easily enter into the spirit of Christmastide, for the feast is like the dawn of the Sun of Christmas. Mary is our hope, guide, and mother along the path of salvation.
The vigil of the Immaculate Conception is an opportune time to introduce the children to the practice of lighting a special Advent candle in Mary's honor. The Advent candle expresses symbolically the words of Isaias, “There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of this root.”
A beautiful candle is placed in a candleholder, which is covered with a white silk cloth tied together with ribbon. The candle is then placed before an image, statue or icon of Our Lady before which the family prays to the Mother of God. This ancient custom preaches its lesson with an eloquent simplicity which is comprehensible to little children.
The covered candleholder represents the rod out of the root of Jesse, Our Lady, from whose womb will come the Savior of the world. The candle represents Christ, the Light of the World, who shall come to dispel all darkness and stain of sin. In conjunction with this little ceremony, one of the family could tell of the purity and childlike simplicity of our Blessed Mother, and of how she came to be the mother of us all.
Some of the prophetic lessons of Isaias could also be read, along with Gertrude von le Fort's poem to Our Lady of Advent, from Hymns to the Church. The singing of the Alma Redemptoris Mater, or the beautiful Tota Pulchra Es of Dom Pothier would be a suitable conclusion for the little ceremony. [You can look up these hymns and canticles online and listen to them]
Several remarks may be added concerning the hymns which we teach children in honor of Our Lady. Much bad taste, musical and theological, has entered into the praises of Our Lady. It would indeed be wise always to teach children only the best, and that which is always truthful and in accord with reality. Would we dare to compare “Macula non est in te,” “Mother Dear, O Pray for Me,” “On This Day, O Beautiful Mother,” or “Bring Flowers of the Rarest,” with the Ave, Maris Stella (sung in English, perhaps; but you will find that the children easily come to love and understand the Latin); the Ave Maria, as edited by Solesmes; the sequence Inviolata; the hymn Maria Mater Gratiae, or the Tota Pulchra Es of Dom Pothier? [You can look up these hymns and canticles online and listen to them]
Mother Church recommends the Ave Maris Stella, which is the vesper hymn of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Compare the theology of this hymn with the sentimental ballads which are customarily taught to children in honor of their heavenly Mother and Mediatrix:
Ave, Star of ocean,
Child divine who bearest,
Mother, ever Virgin,
Heaven's portal fairest.
Taking that sweet Ave,
First by Gabriel spoken,
Eva's name reversing,
Be of peace the token.
Break the sinner's fetters,
Light to blind restoring,
All our ills dispelling,
Every boon imploring.
Show thyself a mother
In thy supplication,
He will hear who chose thee
At His Incarnation.
Maid all maids excelling,
Passing meek and lowly,
Win for sinners pardon,
Make us chaste and holy.
As we onward journey
Aid our weak endeavor,
Till we gaze on Jesus
And rejoice forever.
Father, Son, and Spirit,
Three in One confessing,
Give we equal glory
Equal praise and blessing.
(Ethelstan Riley translation)
Should we desire other hymns in honor of the Immaculate Conception, we may choose such hymns and carols as “A Child Is Born in Bethlehem,” or the superb German Advent carol “Behold, a Branch Is Growing.” The latter, a fifteenth-century carol harmonized by Praetorius, is given below:
Behold a branch is growing
Of loveliest form and grace.
As prophets sung, foreknowing;
It springs from Jesse's race.
And bears one little flower.
In midst of coldest winter,
At deepest midnight hour.
Isaias hath foretold it
In words of promise sure,
And Mary's arms enfold it,
A Virgin meek and pure.
Through God's eternal will,
This Child to her is given
At midnight calm and still.
Even the cook is not allowed respite during the octave of the Immaculate Conception, for it is time to make Moravian Spritz for the children. Ordinarily these gingerbread cookies are made for the vigil of the Immaculate Conception since Mary, too, “gave forth sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatic balm and yielded a sweet odor like the best myrrh.” These cookies are loaded with fine, aromatic spices, tempting the appetites of any child of Mary. The spirit of mortification enters in readily, for the cookies must stand for ten days in the refrigerator before baking, and are then shaped into Christmas figures, especially hearts and liturgical symbols. Later on in the season, when we come to Candlemas, we could cut the cookies into the form of candles and turtle-doves.
The Immaculate Conception is the Patroness of the United States. How often our Holy Father [he is referring to Pope Pius XII in 1955] has stated in recent years that the hope of peace in the world does not lie in force of arms, but rather in prayers and recourse to the intercession of Our Lady. The octave of the Immaculate Conception furnishes an admirable occasion for a renewal of true love for our country. Children should be reminded that the part played by the Church in the development of the United States was a very important one. The flag could be raised over the school building each day during the octave, and after the pledge of allegiance, it would be most appropriate to sing a hymn in honor of our Patroness. The whole week should foster in the minds and hearts of the children a true conception of the meaning of piety, for piety is essentially the devotion and love of the child for his parents and homeland. It should never be forgotten, moreover, that St. Thomas Aquinas associates the virtue of piety with religion as a part of the cardinal virtue of justice.
Activity Source: True Christmas Spirit by Rev. Fr. Edward J. Sutfin, Grail Publications, St. Meinrad, Indiana, 1955
The Immaculate Conception is the patroness of the United States, and December 8th is a holy day of obligation. Included here is the Mary Candle, hymns to Mary and an idea to invoke Our Lady during the octave of her feast for our country and for the virtue of piety.
DIRECTIONS
With such a glorious feast as this during the month of December, we are almost tempted to give up all hope of doing much penance during the season of Advent. On December 8th we celebrate the wondrous moment when the Blessed Virgin began her existence in this world. At the same time we celebrate the sublime privilege by which Mary, alone among all human beings and in virtue of the future merits of Christ, was preserved at the very first moment of conception from the stain of original sin.
It is true, of course, that in origin and in principle this great feast does not have any relationship with the time of Advent. It was fixed on December 8th in order to separate the feast by nine months from the date of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin on September 8th. However, in celebrating this feast we may easily enter into the spirit of Christmastide, for the feast is like the dawn of the Sun of Christmas. Mary is our hope, guide, and mother along the path of salvation.
The vigil of the Immaculate Conception is an opportune time to introduce the children to the practice of lighting a special Advent candle in Mary's honor. The Advent candle expresses symbolically the words of Isaias, “There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of this root.”
A beautiful candle is placed in a candleholder, which is covered with a white silk cloth tied together with ribbon. The candle is then placed before an image, statue or icon of Our Lady before which the family prays to the Mother of God. This ancient custom preaches its lesson with an eloquent simplicity which is comprehensible to little children.
The covered candleholder represents the rod out of the root of Jesse, Our Lady, from whose womb will come the Savior of the world. The candle represents Christ, the Light of the World, who shall come to dispel all darkness and stain of sin. In conjunction with this little ceremony, one of the family could tell of the purity and childlike simplicity of our Blessed Mother, and of how she came to be the mother of us all.
Some of the prophetic lessons of Isaias could also be read, along with Gertrude von le Fort's poem to Our Lady of Advent, from Hymns to the Church. The singing of the Alma Redemptoris Mater, or the beautiful Tota Pulchra Es of Dom Pothier would be a suitable conclusion for the little ceremony. [You can look up these hymns and canticles online and listen to them]
Several remarks may be added concerning the hymns which we teach children in honor of Our Lady. Much bad taste, musical and theological, has entered into the praises of Our Lady. It would indeed be wise always to teach children only the best, and that which is always truthful and in accord with reality. Would we dare to compare “Macula non est in te,” “Mother Dear, O Pray for Me,” “On This Day, O Beautiful Mother,” or “Bring Flowers of the Rarest,” with the Ave, Maris Stella (sung in English, perhaps; but you will find that the children easily come to love and understand the Latin); the Ave Maria, as edited by Solesmes; the sequence Inviolata; the hymn Maria Mater Gratiae, or the Tota Pulchra Es of Dom Pothier? [You can look up these hymns and canticles online and listen to them]
Mother Church recommends the Ave Maris Stella, which is the vesper hymn of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Compare the theology of this hymn with the sentimental ballads which are customarily taught to children in honor of their heavenly Mother and Mediatrix:
Ave, Star of ocean,
Child divine who bearest,
Mother, ever Virgin,
Heaven's portal fairest.
Taking that sweet Ave,
First by Gabriel spoken,
Eva's name reversing,
Be of peace the token.
Break the sinner's fetters,
Light to blind restoring,
All our ills dispelling,
Every boon imploring.
Show thyself a mother
In thy supplication,
He will hear who chose thee
At His Incarnation.
Maid all maids excelling,
Passing meek and lowly,
Win for sinners pardon,
Make us chaste and holy.
As we onward journey
Aid our weak endeavor,
Till we gaze on Jesus
And rejoice forever.
Father, Son, and Spirit,
Three in One confessing,
Give we equal glory
Equal praise and blessing.
(Ethelstan Riley translation)
Should we desire other hymns in honor of the Immaculate Conception, we may choose such hymns and carols as “A Child Is Born in Bethlehem,” or the superb German Advent carol “Behold, a Branch Is Growing.” The latter, a fifteenth-century carol harmonized by Praetorius, is given below:
Behold a branch is growing
Of loveliest form and grace.
As prophets sung, foreknowing;
It springs from Jesse's race.
And bears one little flower.
In midst of coldest winter,
At deepest midnight hour.
Isaias hath foretold it
In words of promise sure,
And Mary's arms enfold it,
A Virgin meek and pure.
Through God's eternal will,
This Child to her is given
At midnight calm and still.
Even the cook is not allowed respite during the octave of the Immaculate Conception, for it is time to make Moravian Spritz for the children. Ordinarily these gingerbread cookies are made for the vigil of the Immaculate Conception since Mary, too, “gave forth sweet smell like cinnamon and aromatic balm and yielded a sweet odor like the best myrrh.” These cookies are loaded with fine, aromatic spices, tempting the appetites of any child of Mary. The spirit of mortification enters in readily, for the cookies must stand for ten days in the refrigerator before baking, and are then shaped into Christmas figures, especially hearts and liturgical symbols. Later on in the season, when we come to Candlemas, we could cut the cookies into the form of candles and turtle-doves.
The Immaculate Conception is the Patroness of the United States. How often our Holy Father [he is referring to Pope Pius XII in 1955] has stated in recent years that the hope of peace in the world does not lie in force of arms, but rather in prayers and recourse to the intercession of Our Lady. The octave of the Immaculate Conception furnishes an admirable occasion for a renewal of true love for our country. Children should be reminded that the part played by the Church in the development of the United States was a very important one. The flag could be raised over the school building each day during the octave, and after the pledge of allegiance, it would be most appropriate to sing a hymn in honor of our Patroness. The whole week should foster in the minds and hearts of the children a true conception of the meaning of piety, for piety is essentially the devotion and love of the child for his parents and homeland. It should never be forgotten, moreover, that St. Thomas Aquinas associates the virtue of piety with religion as a part of the cardinal virtue of justice.
December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception
CELEBRATING THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AROUND THE WORLD
A brief glimpse at how some countries celebrate the feast
CELEBRATING THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION AROUND THE WORLD
A brief glimpse at how some countries celebrate the feast
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is observed in many Catholic countries as a holy day of obligation or patronal feast, and in some as a national public holiday. The feast is often celebrated with Holy Mass, parades, fireworks, processions, ethnic foods, and cultural festivities in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is generally considered a “family day”, especially in many Catholic countries.
Already in the fifth century, Saint Augustine affirmed that “piety imposed the recognition of Mary as not having sin.” Popular devotion took up this belief and the feast of the Immaculate Conception was already celebrated in the Oriental Catholic Church as early as the sixth century. Beginning in the eleventh century, theologians made detailed studies into the matter and verified the fact that popular devotion had grown. Popular enthusiasm for the feast increased so much that it was celebrated all over Europe in 1476.
► ITALY, EUROPE
In other countries, Thanksgiving (or even Halloween!) signals the start of the Christmas season. In Italy, they begin their “Christmas Season” on December 8th with the celebration of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception. The famous Christmas markets are officially open for the season on this special day. Decorations and huge Christmas trees can be found in main piazzas, like in front of the Colosseum or in Milan’s Piazza Duomo, and Babbo Natale (Father Christmas, the Italian version of Santa Claus). Between the nativity scenes, staged plays, bonfires, and strung lights, Italian cities become Christmas wonderlands. While the Immaculate Conception is celebrated by Catholics on nearly every continent, there are many holiday traditions that are unique to Italy.
Many consider the feast to be a day to spend with relatives and loved ones, choosing to gather and attend Holy Mass, parades and processions as well as celebrating with firework displays, family meals and cultural festivities. Here is a brief selection of some of them.
Bonfires―Many Italians, in small towns and villages, celebrate the Immaculate Conception by lighting huge bonfires. According to traditional beliefs, these fires destroy sins and remove negativity from communities. The fires also serve the practical purpose of warming the outdoor areas that people celebrate in. This allows people to congregate in open outdoor spaces during cold December nights. Informal bonfire competitions, between nearby towns and villages, also take place during the feast of the Immaculate Conception. These competitions result in Italians building large roaring fires that often make entire towns glow. These bonfire celebrations are based on some of Italy’s oldest traditions. They can be dated back to the pre-Byzantine period of Italy.
Religious Processions―Torchbearers also participate in processions through towns and villages. They often accompany a group of people who carry cult statues of the Virgin Mary. These religious parades occur during the day. Entire communities often line up on the edges of the streets to see the processions.
Food―The main event of the Immaculate Conception in Italy is a large feast that honors the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. The dishes in this meal vary greatly, depending on region and the preferences of families, but traditional meals are usually prepared. Various kinds of pasta, bread, and sauces are often enjoyed by families. Prior to beginning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a seasonally-appropriate prayer is said. In some areas of Italy, people do not prepare and eat a feast. Instead, they eat very modest meals. In areas like Maglie, people honor the Virgin Mary by behaving austerely, solemnly and eating puccia. Puccia comes in many forms, but it always consists of bread, cheese, olives, olive oil, and tomatoes.
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass―A holy day of obligation is not complete until families go to their local church to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Religious Italian families (few and far between these days) also sing hymns and read Holy Scripture in their own homes on the night of the Immaculate Conception, in addition to having already attended Mass.
Wreath-Laying―One of the most popular events for the Immaculate Conception occurs in Rome. Since 1953 the Pope, as Bishop of Rome, has visited the Column of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza di Spagna to offer reparatory prayers and commemorate the solemn event. On December 8th, the Pope leads a procession to the Column of the Immaculate Conception. Once the Pope arrives, he leaves a wreath and says a prayer.
► SPAIN, EUROPE
December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is a public holiday in Spain. Día de la Inmaculada Concepción (Day of the Immaculate Conception), has been celebrated in Spain since 1854, when Pope Pius IX, through the Papal Bull “God Ineffable” (Ineffabilis Deus) gave the Spanish Crown the privilege of allowing priests in Spain and its territories to wear blue vestments in honor of this important feast day. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception has been the patronress of Guaro in Malaga since 1854 and every year, on the 7th and 8th of December, there are processions through the town and other religious acts. There are also processions in Arroyo de la Miel, where the women of the Rocío brotherhood process through the streets carrying a statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. She is also the patroness of Sierra de Yeguas, Alameda, Teba and Almargen.
► PERU, SOUTH AMERICA
For Peruvian inhabitants, December 8th has been ordained a public holiday known as Día de la Purísima Concepción (Day of the Immaculate Conception). This day marks the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary, which takes place on September 8th to mark Mary’s birth. The public holiday is said to have been celebrated since as far back as the fifth century in the east, but only solemnized as a Holy Day of Obligation in 1708 by Pope Clement XI.
Peruvians celebrate this religious holiday with devotion, to honor the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary. Different type Events take place in few cities; in Cusco, a shrine to the Virgin Mary is carried around the main square. While each region in Peru celebrates in their own special way, during a visit to Inkaterra La Casona in Cusco you can join churchgoers in their local parade, with some members carrying statues of the Virgin Mary ― everyone is welcome! In addition to the religious ceremonies in Cusco, revelers merge the festivities with ancient Andean traditions, with local music and dances being performed throughout the city. The Liberals and Modernists in the Church would call it “inculturation”!
► COLOMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA
The Colombians have a Christmas tradition called la Noche de las Velitas (“Night of the Candles”). Noche de las Velitas is a celebration that takes places every year on the evening of December 7th, leading up to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th―which is a Catholic holy day of obligation and a national holiday in Colombia. Noche de las Velitas is celebrated differently in different regions of Colombia. For instance, on the Caribbean Coast the majority of people wake up at, or stay up until, 3am or 4am to light candles; while in Bogotá and Medellín, people begin lighting candles from 7pm and onward. Also, the location and setting of the candles varies from region to region. In and around Medellín, for example, people place the candles in the streets, often creating unique designs by arranging the candles to form a variety of shapes and designs. In Barranquilla, people place the candles in their windows or in plastic farolitos (luminarias), as it can be too windy for candles to burn on their own outdoors. Even so, all Colombians celebrate the conception of the Blessed Virgin, and, with each candle that is lit, a wish is made to the Blessed Virgin for the upcoming year; and/or thanks is given for the blessings she has bestowed during the year that is ending.
► NICARAGUA, CENTRAL AMERICA
The Purísima or the Gritería is the most popular religious festival in Nicaragua celebrated in honor of Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. It is celebrated on December 7th on the eve of the feast commemorating Mary with the Gritería, where devotees walk the streets and visit different altars erected in honor of the Virgin Mary, in churches and private homes. Participants then perform prayers, religious songs, and chants while shouting, “Quien causa tanta alegría?” (“What is the reason for all this joy?”) and responding, “La Concepción de María!” (“The Conception of Mary!”). In between the prayers, singing, and shouting, the hosts of the purísima hands our fruits, traditional sweets, caramels, traditional drinks, sugar-cane and many other gifts to the guests.
► COSTA RICA, CENTRAL AMERICA
In Costa Rica, the holiday season used to start on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and its introduction was celebrated with fireworks and firecrackers. This custom became part of Christmas and New Year festivities, causing many permanent injuries, and is now prohibited. Over the years new customs have joined the old. The straw deer sold in markets and street bazaars are Costa Rican inventions that are now part of home decorations. They come in all sizes and can be decorated with ribbons and bells. The gritería, or “shouting,” was introduced by Nicaraguan immigrants (see above) who consider December 8th, the Immaculate Conception, as part of the Christmas season. Friends and neighbors greet each other by shouting, “Qué es la causa de tanta alegría?” and are answered by “La concepción de la Virgen María!” (“What is the cause of such joy/happiness?”… “The conception of the Virgin Mary!”) This is followed by refreshments and good feelings. Griterías on Deember 8th are now seen around the country.
► THE PHILIPPINES, SOUTH-EAST ASIA & PACIFIC REGION
In Guam and the Philippines (and other countries as well), the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a public holiday. It is also a public holiday in Panama, where December 8th is also Mother’s Day. In many churches around the world, special Masses and services are held to commemorate the feast. In some places, the feast is celebrated with parades, fireworks, hymns and songs.
The Immaculate Conception is the patroness of many countries including Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Nicaragua, Paraguay, the Philippines, Spain, and Uruguay. She was declared the Patroness of the United States in 1846 by the members of the Sixth Provincial Council of the Congress of Baltimore. A royal decree also pronounced the Immaculate Conception as the Patroness of Portugal.
Already in the fifth century, Saint Augustine affirmed that “piety imposed the recognition of Mary as not having sin.” Popular devotion took up this belief and the feast of the Immaculate Conception was already celebrated in the Oriental Catholic Church as early as the sixth century. Beginning in the eleventh century, theologians made detailed studies into the matter and verified the fact that popular devotion had grown. Popular enthusiasm for the feast increased so much that it was celebrated all over Europe in 1476.
► ITALY, EUROPE
In other countries, Thanksgiving (or even Halloween!) signals the start of the Christmas season. In Italy, they begin their “Christmas Season” on December 8th with the celebration of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception. The famous Christmas markets are officially open for the season on this special day. Decorations and huge Christmas trees can be found in main piazzas, like in front of the Colosseum or in Milan’s Piazza Duomo, and Babbo Natale (Father Christmas, the Italian version of Santa Claus). Between the nativity scenes, staged plays, bonfires, and strung lights, Italian cities become Christmas wonderlands. While the Immaculate Conception is celebrated by Catholics on nearly every continent, there are many holiday traditions that are unique to Italy.
Many consider the feast to be a day to spend with relatives and loved ones, choosing to gather and attend Holy Mass, parades and processions as well as celebrating with firework displays, family meals and cultural festivities. Here is a brief selection of some of them.
Bonfires―Many Italians, in small towns and villages, celebrate the Immaculate Conception by lighting huge bonfires. According to traditional beliefs, these fires destroy sins and remove negativity from communities. The fires also serve the practical purpose of warming the outdoor areas that people celebrate in. This allows people to congregate in open outdoor spaces during cold December nights. Informal bonfire competitions, between nearby towns and villages, also take place during the feast of the Immaculate Conception. These competitions result in Italians building large roaring fires that often make entire towns glow. These bonfire celebrations are based on some of Italy’s oldest traditions. They can be dated back to the pre-Byzantine period of Italy.
Religious Processions―Torchbearers also participate in processions through towns and villages. They often accompany a group of people who carry cult statues of the Virgin Mary. These religious parades occur during the day. Entire communities often line up on the edges of the streets to see the processions.
Food―The main event of the Immaculate Conception in Italy is a large feast that honors the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. The dishes in this meal vary greatly, depending on region and the preferences of families, but traditional meals are usually prepared. Various kinds of pasta, bread, and sauces are often enjoyed by families. Prior to beginning of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a seasonally-appropriate prayer is said. In some areas of Italy, people do not prepare and eat a feast. Instead, they eat very modest meals. In areas like Maglie, people honor the Virgin Mary by behaving austerely, solemnly and eating puccia. Puccia comes in many forms, but it always consists of bread, cheese, olives, olive oil, and tomatoes.
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass―A holy day of obligation is not complete until families go to their local church to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Religious Italian families (few and far between these days) also sing hymns and read Holy Scripture in their own homes on the night of the Immaculate Conception, in addition to having already attended Mass.
Wreath-Laying―One of the most popular events for the Immaculate Conception occurs in Rome. Since 1953 the Pope, as Bishop of Rome, has visited the Column of the Immaculate Conception in Piazza di Spagna to offer reparatory prayers and commemorate the solemn event. On December 8th, the Pope leads a procession to the Column of the Immaculate Conception. Once the Pope arrives, he leaves a wreath and says a prayer.
► SPAIN, EUROPE
December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, is a public holiday in Spain. Día de la Inmaculada Concepción (Day of the Immaculate Conception), has been celebrated in Spain since 1854, when Pope Pius IX, through the Papal Bull “God Ineffable” (Ineffabilis Deus) gave the Spanish Crown the privilege of allowing priests in Spain and its territories to wear blue vestments in honor of this important feast day. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception has been the patronress of Guaro in Malaga since 1854 and every year, on the 7th and 8th of December, there are processions through the town and other religious acts. There are also processions in Arroyo de la Miel, where the women of the Rocío brotherhood process through the streets carrying a statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. She is also the patroness of Sierra de Yeguas, Alameda, Teba and Almargen.
► PERU, SOUTH AMERICA
For Peruvian inhabitants, December 8th has been ordained a public holiday known as Día de la Purísima Concepción (Day of the Immaculate Conception). This day marks the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary, which takes place on September 8th to mark Mary’s birth. The public holiday is said to have been celebrated since as far back as the fifth century in the east, but only solemnized as a Holy Day of Obligation in 1708 by Pope Clement XI.
Peruvians celebrate this religious holiday with devotion, to honor the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary. Different type Events take place in few cities; in Cusco, a shrine to the Virgin Mary is carried around the main square. While each region in Peru celebrates in their own special way, during a visit to Inkaterra La Casona in Cusco you can join churchgoers in their local parade, with some members carrying statues of the Virgin Mary ― everyone is welcome! In addition to the religious ceremonies in Cusco, revelers merge the festivities with ancient Andean traditions, with local music and dances being performed throughout the city. The Liberals and Modernists in the Church would call it “inculturation”!
► COLOMBIA, SOUTH AMERICA
The Colombians have a Christmas tradition called la Noche de las Velitas (“Night of the Candles”). Noche de las Velitas is a celebration that takes places every year on the evening of December 7th, leading up to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th―which is a Catholic holy day of obligation and a national holiday in Colombia. Noche de las Velitas is celebrated differently in different regions of Colombia. For instance, on the Caribbean Coast the majority of people wake up at, or stay up until, 3am or 4am to light candles; while in Bogotá and Medellín, people begin lighting candles from 7pm and onward. Also, the location and setting of the candles varies from region to region. In and around Medellín, for example, people place the candles in the streets, often creating unique designs by arranging the candles to form a variety of shapes and designs. In Barranquilla, people place the candles in their windows or in plastic farolitos (luminarias), as it can be too windy for candles to burn on their own outdoors. Even so, all Colombians celebrate the conception of the Blessed Virgin, and, with each candle that is lit, a wish is made to the Blessed Virgin for the upcoming year; and/or thanks is given for the blessings she has bestowed during the year that is ending.
► NICARAGUA, CENTRAL AMERICA
The Purísima or the Gritería is the most popular religious festival in Nicaragua celebrated in honor of Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. It is celebrated on December 7th on the eve of the feast commemorating Mary with the Gritería, where devotees walk the streets and visit different altars erected in honor of the Virgin Mary, in churches and private homes. Participants then perform prayers, religious songs, and chants while shouting, “Quien causa tanta alegría?” (“What is the reason for all this joy?”) and responding, “La Concepción de María!” (“The Conception of Mary!”). In between the prayers, singing, and shouting, the hosts of the purísima hands our fruits, traditional sweets, caramels, traditional drinks, sugar-cane and many other gifts to the guests.
► COSTA RICA, CENTRAL AMERICA
In Costa Rica, the holiday season used to start on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and its introduction was celebrated with fireworks and firecrackers. This custom became part of Christmas and New Year festivities, causing many permanent injuries, and is now prohibited. Over the years new customs have joined the old. The straw deer sold in markets and street bazaars are Costa Rican inventions that are now part of home decorations. They come in all sizes and can be decorated with ribbons and bells. The gritería, or “shouting,” was introduced by Nicaraguan immigrants (see above) who consider December 8th, the Immaculate Conception, as part of the Christmas season. Friends and neighbors greet each other by shouting, “Qué es la causa de tanta alegría?” and are answered by “La concepción de la Virgen María!” (“What is the cause of such joy/happiness?”… “The conception of the Virgin Mary!”) This is followed by refreshments and good feelings. Griterías on Deember 8th are now seen around the country.
► THE PHILIPPINES, SOUTH-EAST ASIA & PACIFIC REGION
In Guam and the Philippines (and other countries as well), the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a public holiday. It is also a public holiday in Panama, where December 8th is also Mother’s Day. In many churches around the world, special Masses and services are held to commemorate the feast. In some places, the feast is celebrated with parades, fireworks, hymns and songs.
The Immaculate Conception is the patroness of many countries including Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Nicaragua, Paraguay, the Philippines, Spain, and Uruguay. She was declared the Patroness of the United States in 1846 by the members of the Sixth Provincial Council of the Congress of Baltimore. A royal decree also pronounced the Immaculate Conception as the Patroness of Portugal.
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH―THE TOUGH GET GOING!
Somehow modern-man has attention-span problems in the mind, and perseverance problems with actions
Somehow modern-man has attention-span problems in the mind, and perseverance problems with actions
Soft Option or Sink or Swim
Even though most people look upon Advent as a “soft option” and an “easy ride”―in today’s climate it is far from being “soft” or “easy” and more a case of “sink or swim”, in the sense of either sink with rest of world into the quagmire of materialism, sensuality, entertainment and fun, or swim as far away as you can from the sinking ship, which could well drag you under as it sinks. The world currently looks upon religion as a joke, a “soft-touch”, as a sentimental state of wishful thinking that is out of touch with reality.
The younger generation is especially susceptible to being submerged in the world and by the world. One has to truly fear for their souls in the current worldly climate that has almost everyone hypnotized or drugged. There can be no argument on the fact that most young Catholics―like Esau of old―have sold their birthright, not for a bowl of soup, but for a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, etc. These―and such like things―are the idols in front of which the younger generation will ‘worship’ for hours on end each and every day. To try and wean them away from their idols seems to be as tough a proposition as you could possibly imagine―that is why most parents (or teachers and priests) do not even try. With many―if not most―parents, the problem is that they, too, are addicted to these modern-day idols. How on earth are they going to tell their children to put their idols away, when the parents themselves are involved in the same idolatry? They would have to plead: “Don’t do as I do, do as I say!”
What Brings About Change?
Even though some parents “say” something―they stop at “saying” something about it, but rarely progress to “doing” something about it. As the saying goes: “Talk is cheap”―but when it comes to having to “do” something , most people find it is “beyond their budget” and they do not want to “spend” the effort required to achieve the goal. Such parents (or teachers and priests) imagine that they have “done their duty” by “saying” something about it―yet they fail to realize (or have forgotten) that is not words that change people, but it is divine grace that changes people―as the famous axiom of St. Thomas Aquinas states: “Grace perfects nature.” Grace is the life of God in the soul―and Our Lord said: “Without Me, you can do nothing!” (John 15:5).
You Are Not the Source of Grace―You Are Not the Communicator of Grace
If someone in your family or life needs changing, then it isn’t going to happen without God and His divine grace―it most certainly isn’t going to happen because of a few hopeful, half-hearted, impotent words that you have uttered. Heck! Never in the history of the world have there been so many words uttered due to the advent of the internet and electronic communications! Yet look at the world! Is it changing? Yes, but changing for the worse, not changing for the better. You can speak till you are “blue in the face”, or type till your fingers cramp-up, or create an internet forum or blog and post night and day, or send out e-mails by the thousands―you will change nothing in this sinking world without the grace of God. You had better believe it―that is what “Without Me, you can do nothing!” really means. We need Christ and His grace for any and all improvement in the spiritual life―we even need Christ and His grace for all things in life. “Without Me, you can do nothing!” is not just confined to spiritual, supernatural, religious, heavenly things―but to everything. “All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was made” (John 1:3).
If You Want Conversions and Improvements―You Have to Pay for Them
Though certain things are given to us by God for free―without any cost to us―other things have to be ‘paid’ for. There are a lot of things that God gives us, which we proudly and stupidly and ungratefully take for granted. God does not ‘charge’ us for the air that we breathe; nor does God send us a bill for the sunlight He sends; neither does He bill us for the water, soil, nutrients, plants, trees, etc. that surround us and keep us alive.
Salvation, however, is not free. Salvation is so expensive and sin is so costly, that no human being could possibly pay for it alone. Christ had to come and pay for our sins and for our salvation― “Christ, by whose grace you are saved” (Ephesians 2:5)―but we also co-pay, even our amount is pitiful in comparison to amount paid by Christ. Salvation is a “gift of God”—a gift that cost Him dearly. “For you are bought with a great price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). It cost Jesus His life on the cross; He purchased it “with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). No one in that banquet hall knew how much it cost Jesus to say to the sinful Mary Magdalen, who was tearfully washing His feet: “Your sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:48). Likewise, neither do you, we or I realize the true cost or debt that we have run up with our own sins―yet, for some strange reason, we half-expect and demand to allowed into Heaven as though it was some kind of public park where admission is free.
A father gave his 2-year-old son a pair of new boots. The child was so happy that he didn’t take them off until it was bedtime. But the next day he forgot all about the boots and put on his old sneakers. The father said: “I wish he knew how much things cost!” The boots were expensive―but a young child doesn’t know about working hours, salaries, and taxes. A child receives the gifts with open arms, but we know that he can’t be expected to fully appreciate the sacrifices his parents make to give him new things. Sometimes we behave like that child. With open arms we receive God’s gifts through His many mercies, but are we thankful? Do we consider the price that was paid? “You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver―but with the Precious Blood of Christ!” (1 Peter 1:18-19). “Or know you not, that you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price!” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Faith and Works
God planted the seed of Faith in your soul at your Baptism and it cost you nothing. Yet to make that seed of Faith grow into a fruitful tree of Faith, which will help you overcome the world and be saved, requires much work on your part. St. John tells us: “This is the victory which overcometh the world―our Faith!” (1 John 5:4), yet St. James warns us: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that Faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20). He continues: “What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath Faith, but hath not works? Shall Faith be able to save him? … Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. But some man will say: ‘Thou hast Faith, and I have works!” Show me thy Faith without works; and I will show thee, by works, my Faith! Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well―but the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that Faith without works is dead? … Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by Faith only? For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also Faith without works is dead!” (James 2:14-26).
St. Paul, elsewhere, tells us to WORK our salvation in fear and trembling―he does not merely say THINK out your salvation, or simply BELIEVE that you will be saved: “With fear and trembling work out your salvation!” (Philippians 2:12). Likewise, St. James says that BELIEVING alone is not enough, we must also DO something: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only―deceiving your own selves!” (James 1:22).
Christ further indicates the necessity for WORKING out our salvation in His parable about the Talents: “For even as a man going into a far country, called his servants, and delivered to them his goods. And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to everyone according to his proper ability: and immediately he took his journey. (1 talent was 750 ounces of silver. At today’s silver prices of around $15 per ounce, that would make 1 talent worth just over $11,000, thus 5 talents would be $55,000; 2 talents would be $22,000, and 1 talent would be $11,000). And he that had received the five talents, went his way, and traded [worked] with the same, and gained other five. And in like manner he that had received the two, gained other two. But he that had received the one, going his way dug into the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
“But after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them. And he that had received the five talents coming, brought other five talents, saying: ‘Lord, thou didst deliver to me five talents, behold I have [worked and] gained other five over and above!’ His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord!’
“And he also that had received the two talents came and said: ‘Lord, thou deliveredst two talents to me: behold I have [worked and] gained other two!’ His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord!’
“But he that had received the one talent, came and said: ‘Lord, I know that thou art a hard man; thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest where thou hast not strewed. And being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the earth: behold here thou hast that which is thine!’ And his lord answering, said to him: ‘Wicked and slothful servant! Thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strewed! Thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received my own with usury! Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents! For to everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away! And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness! There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’” (Matthew 25:14-30).
Not Just Talking the Talk―But Walking the Walk of the Cross
“Talking the talk”, or talking the Faith, is insufficient without “walking the walk” or living the Faith. Our Lord is the sole path or way to salvation: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me!” (John 14:6). “Why call you Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). “Not everyone that saith to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven―but he that doth the will of My Father Who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Mere “talk” without the “walk” is condemned as being hypocritical by Our Lord: “Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me!’” (Mark 7:6-7). Our Lord Himself adds to this by stressing that the “DOING” part of salvation means carrying the cross on a DAILY basis: “And Jesus said to ALL: ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me!” (Luke 9:23)―and for those who are hesitant about DOING so, Jesus says: “And he that taketh not up his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me!” (Matthew 10:38). Then, to dispel any misconceptions or misunderstandings, Our Lord adds: “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away!” (Matthew 11:12). As for materialism and wealth, Our Lord says: “Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:23-24).
Carrying the cross is tough. Carrying the cross on a DAILY basis is even tougher. Yet without that cross there is no Heaven for you. Some would call that “tough love”―perhaps it is tough, but sin is costly and our catechisms tell us that there is nothing more expensive in the whole wide world, sin is the greatest evil in the world, the greatest ‘crime’ in the world, and therefore it has the greatest “price-tag” in the world. “Sin is the only evil upon Earth” … “Mortal sin is a great evil, the greatest evil in the world, a greater evil than disease, poverty, or war, because it separates us from God … [venial sin] is second only in evil consequences to mortal sin” (The Catechism Explained, Spirago-Clarke; My Catholic Faith, Bishop Morrow, STD). Normally, the crosses that Christ imposes us―so that we “co-pay” our way to Heaven―are minor and trivial compared to the many sins we have committed―less than a “penny on each dollar.” If you think carrying the cross is tough―then stop to think about the “tough love” taking place in Purgatory, where the smallest suffering is incalculably and inexpressibly tougher than anything you could imagine here on Earth―and each soul in the fires of Purgatory loves that “tough love”, because they now fully understand the value of Christ’s suffering and the price of each and every sin―even the tiniest.
“As you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity, unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin … what fruit had you in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death! But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:20-23).
The Testing Time of Advent
Usually, it is only after interviews and background checks that a person obtains a job. It is usually after “try-outs” that prospective athletes are picked for a team. It is only after the “Trials of Life” that a soul can hope to get to Heaven. There is no reward without a test or trial. “The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father and then will He render to every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27). “Nothing deceiveth the Keeper of thy soul, and He shall render to a man according to his works” (Proverbs 24:12). “Behold, I come quickly and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his works!” (Apocalypse 22:12). “Be not deceived―God is not mocked! For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8). What is true for the long-term, that is to say our whole life in relation to salvation or damnation at the end of it―is also true for the short-term, our preparations throughout Advent and the degree of reward Christ will give through graces at Christmas. “He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6).
If people would only be honest, then they would have to admit that every Christmas has fallen far short of what it could have potentially been. Most people sow sparingly throughout Advent and thus Christ is sparing with His graces at Christmas: “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly. He that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. He that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.” What are you sowing this Advent season?
It is Tough to Go Against the Grain
Let’s face it and be quite honest―it is easier to “go with the flow” than to “go against the grain.” It is more comfortable to simply sit in the world’s boat and say nothing, than get up and start “rocking the boat” by being non-conformist to the world. Christ likens us to sheep―and sheep are usually “followers” and “herd” animals―they like to “stick together”―this has led to the coining of the modern word “sheeple”―meaning people who act like sheep.
Our Lord spells it out clearly―and toughly―when He says: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth … But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven … For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … You cannot serve God and mammon [the world and its treasures]!” (Matthew 6:19-24). “The prince of this world [the devil] cometh, and in Me he hath not anything!” (John 14:30). “My kingdom is not of this world … My kingdom is not from hence!” (John 18:36). To the worldlings He says: “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world!” (John 8:23). To His followers He says: “If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you!” (John 15:19). “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you!” (John 15:18). “The world hateth Me because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil!” (John 7:7).
To makes things even tougher, Our Lord says: “Do not think that I came to send peace upon Earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for Me, shall find it” (Matthew 10:34-39). “Think ye, that I am come to give peace on Earth? I tell you, no; but separation! For there shall be, from henceforth, five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law!” (Luke 12:51-53).
This Advent―and every Advent―sees families divided, parishes divided, friends divided. There are some who want to fast and pray―while others wish to feast and play. Some desire to practice mortifications ―others desire gratifications. Some will focus on the spiritual―others on the material. Hence Our Lord warns: “A man’s enemies shall be they of his own household―For there shall be, from henceforth, five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.” Tellingly―and painfully―Our Lord adds: “He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me!” ― elsewhere saying: “He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth!” (Matthew 12:30).
Let us not be afraid to stand up and “rock the boat”, to speak out and “go against the grain”, to cause division if necessary by siding with Our Lord―for, after all, what is Christmas all about? Is it about our mother, father, brother, sister, son or daughter? Or is it all about Christ? There will be no Christ in Christmas if there is no serious preparation in Advent!
Even though most people look upon Advent as a “soft option” and an “easy ride”―in today’s climate it is far from being “soft” or “easy” and more a case of “sink or swim”, in the sense of either sink with rest of world into the quagmire of materialism, sensuality, entertainment and fun, or swim as far away as you can from the sinking ship, which could well drag you under as it sinks. The world currently looks upon religion as a joke, a “soft-touch”, as a sentimental state of wishful thinking that is out of touch with reality.
The younger generation is especially susceptible to being submerged in the world and by the world. One has to truly fear for their souls in the current worldly climate that has almost everyone hypnotized or drugged. There can be no argument on the fact that most young Catholics―like Esau of old―have sold their birthright, not for a bowl of soup, but for a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, etc. These―and such like things―are the idols in front of which the younger generation will ‘worship’ for hours on end each and every day. To try and wean them away from their idols seems to be as tough a proposition as you could possibly imagine―that is why most parents (or teachers and priests) do not even try. With many―if not most―parents, the problem is that they, too, are addicted to these modern-day idols. How on earth are they going to tell their children to put their idols away, when the parents themselves are involved in the same idolatry? They would have to plead: “Don’t do as I do, do as I say!”
What Brings About Change?
Even though some parents “say” something―they stop at “saying” something about it, but rarely progress to “doing” something about it. As the saying goes: “Talk is cheap”―but when it comes to having to “do” something , most people find it is “beyond their budget” and they do not want to “spend” the effort required to achieve the goal. Such parents (or teachers and priests) imagine that they have “done their duty” by “saying” something about it―yet they fail to realize (or have forgotten) that is not words that change people, but it is divine grace that changes people―as the famous axiom of St. Thomas Aquinas states: “Grace perfects nature.” Grace is the life of God in the soul―and Our Lord said: “Without Me, you can do nothing!” (John 15:5).
You Are Not the Source of Grace―You Are Not the Communicator of Grace
If someone in your family or life needs changing, then it isn’t going to happen without God and His divine grace―it most certainly isn’t going to happen because of a few hopeful, half-hearted, impotent words that you have uttered. Heck! Never in the history of the world have there been so many words uttered due to the advent of the internet and electronic communications! Yet look at the world! Is it changing? Yes, but changing for the worse, not changing for the better. You can speak till you are “blue in the face”, or type till your fingers cramp-up, or create an internet forum or blog and post night and day, or send out e-mails by the thousands―you will change nothing in this sinking world without the grace of God. You had better believe it―that is what “Without Me, you can do nothing!” really means. We need Christ and His grace for any and all improvement in the spiritual life―we even need Christ and His grace for all things in life. “Without Me, you can do nothing!” is not just confined to spiritual, supernatural, religious, heavenly things―but to everything. “All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was made” (John 1:3).
If You Want Conversions and Improvements―You Have to Pay for Them
Though certain things are given to us by God for free―without any cost to us―other things have to be ‘paid’ for. There are a lot of things that God gives us, which we proudly and stupidly and ungratefully take for granted. God does not ‘charge’ us for the air that we breathe; nor does God send us a bill for the sunlight He sends; neither does He bill us for the water, soil, nutrients, plants, trees, etc. that surround us and keep us alive.
Salvation, however, is not free. Salvation is so expensive and sin is so costly, that no human being could possibly pay for it alone. Christ had to come and pay for our sins and for our salvation― “Christ, by whose grace you are saved” (Ephesians 2:5)―but we also co-pay, even our amount is pitiful in comparison to amount paid by Christ. Salvation is a “gift of God”—a gift that cost Him dearly. “For you are bought with a great price” (1 Corinthians 6:20). It cost Jesus His life on the cross; He purchased it “with His own blood” (Acts 20:28). No one in that banquet hall knew how much it cost Jesus to say to the sinful Mary Magdalen, who was tearfully washing His feet: “Your sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:48). Likewise, neither do you, we or I realize the true cost or debt that we have run up with our own sins―yet, for some strange reason, we half-expect and demand to allowed into Heaven as though it was some kind of public park where admission is free.
A father gave his 2-year-old son a pair of new boots. The child was so happy that he didn’t take them off until it was bedtime. But the next day he forgot all about the boots and put on his old sneakers. The father said: “I wish he knew how much things cost!” The boots were expensive―but a young child doesn’t know about working hours, salaries, and taxes. A child receives the gifts with open arms, but we know that he can’t be expected to fully appreciate the sacrifices his parents make to give him new things. Sometimes we behave like that child. With open arms we receive God’s gifts through His many mercies, but are we thankful? Do we consider the price that was paid? “You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver―but with the Precious Blood of Christ!” (1 Peter 1:18-19). “Or know you not, that you are not your own? For you are bought with a great price!” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Faith and Works
God planted the seed of Faith in your soul at your Baptism and it cost you nothing. Yet to make that seed of Faith grow into a fruitful tree of Faith, which will help you overcome the world and be saved, requires much work on your part. St. John tells us: “This is the victory which overcometh the world―our Faith!” (1 John 5:4), yet St. James warns us: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that Faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20). He continues: “What shall it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath Faith, but hath not works? Shall Faith be able to save him? … Faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself. But some man will say: ‘Thou hast Faith, and I have works!” Show me thy Faith without works; and I will show thee, by works, my Faith! Thou believest that there is one God. Thou dost well―but the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that Faith without works is dead? … Do you see that by works a man is justified; and not by Faith only? For even as the body without the spirit is dead; so also Faith without works is dead!” (James 2:14-26).
St. Paul, elsewhere, tells us to WORK our salvation in fear and trembling―he does not merely say THINK out your salvation, or simply BELIEVE that you will be saved: “With fear and trembling work out your salvation!” (Philippians 2:12). Likewise, St. James says that BELIEVING alone is not enough, we must also DO something: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only―deceiving your own selves!” (James 1:22).
Christ further indicates the necessity for WORKING out our salvation in His parable about the Talents: “For even as a man going into a far country, called his servants, and delivered to them his goods. And to one he gave five talents, and to another two, and to another one, to everyone according to his proper ability: and immediately he took his journey. (1 talent was 750 ounces of silver. At today’s silver prices of around $15 per ounce, that would make 1 talent worth just over $11,000, thus 5 talents would be $55,000; 2 talents would be $22,000, and 1 talent would be $11,000). And he that had received the five talents, went his way, and traded [worked] with the same, and gained other five. And in like manner he that had received the two, gained other two. But he that had received the one, going his way dug into the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
“But after a long time the lord of those servants came, and reckoned with them. And he that had received the five talents coming, brought other five talents, saying: ‘Lord, thou didst deliver to me five talents, behold I have [worked and] gained other five over and above!’ His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord!’
“And he also that had received the two talents came and said: ‘Lord, thou deliveredst two talents to me: behold I have [worked and] gained other two!’ His lord said to him: ‘Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord!’
“But he that had received the one talent, came and said: ‘Lord, I know that thou art a hard man; thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest where thou hast not strewed. And being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the earth: behold here thou hast that which is thine!’ And his lord answering, said to him: ‘Wicked and slothful servant! Thou knewest that I reap where I sow not, and gather where I have not strewed! Thou oughtest therefore to have committed my money to the bankers, and at my coming I should have received my own with usury! Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents! For to everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away! And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness! There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’” (Matthew 25:14-30).
Not Just Talking the Talk―But Walking the Walk of the Cross
“Talking the talk”, or talking the Faith, is insufficient without “walking the walk” or living the Faith. Our Lord is the sole path or way to salvation: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me!” (John 14:6). “Why call you Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). “Not everyone that saith to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven―but he that doth the will of My Father Who is in Heaven, he shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Mere “talk” without the “walk” is condemned as being hypocritical by Our Lord: “Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honoureth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain do they worship Me!’” (Mark 7:6-7). Our Lord Himself adds to this by stressing that the “DOING” part of salvation means carrying the cross on a DAILY basis: “And Jesus said to ALL: ‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me!” (Luke 9:23)―and for those who are hesitant about DOING so, Jesus says: “And he that taketh not up his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me!” (Matthew 10:38). Then, to dispel any misconceptions or misunderstandings, Our Lord adds: “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away!” (Matthew 11:12). As for materialism and wealth, Our Lord says: “Amen, I say to you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. And again I say to you: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 19:23-24).
Carrying the cross is tough. Carrying the cross on a DAILY basis is even tougher. Yet without that cross there is no Heaven for you. Some would call that “tough love”―perhaps it is tough, but sin is costly and our catechisms tell us that there is nothing more expensive in the whole wide world, sin is the greatest evil in the world, the greatest ‘crime’ in the world, and therefore it has the greatest “price-tag” in the world. “Sin is the only evil upon Earth” … “Mortal sin is a great evil, the greatest evil in the world, a greater evil than disease, poverty, or war, because it separates us from God … [venial sin] is second only in evil consequences to mortal sin” (The Catechism Explained, Spirago-Clarke; My Catholic Faith, Bishop Morrow, STD). Normally, the crosses that Christ imposes us―so that we “co-pay” our way to Heaven―are minor and trivial compared to the many sins we have committed―less than a “penny on each dollar.” If you think carrying the cross is tough―then stop to think about the “tough love” taking place in Purgatory, where the smallest suffering is incalculably and inexpressibly tougher than anything you could imagine here on Earth―and each soul in the fires of Purgatory loves that “tough love”, because they now fully understand the value of Christ’s suffering and the price of each and every sin―even the tiniest.
“As you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity, unto iniquity; so now yield your members to serve justice, unto sanctification. For when you were the servants of sin … what fruit had you in those things, of which you are now ashamed? For the end of them is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end life everlasting. For the wages of sin is death! But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:20-23).
The Testing Time of Advent
Usually, it is only after interviews and background checks that a person obtains a job. It is usually after “try-outs” that prospective athletes are picked for a team. It is only after the “Trials of Life” that a soul can hope to get to Heaven. There is no reward without a test or trial. “The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father and then will He render to every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27). “Nothing deceiveth the Keeper of thy soul, and He shall render to a man according to his works” (Proverbs 24:12). “Behold, I come quickly and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his works!” (Apocalypse 22:12). “Be not deceived―God is not mocked! For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8). What is true for the long-term, that is to say our whole life in relation to salvation or damnation at the end of it―is also true for the short-term, our preparations throughout Advent and the degree of reward Christ will give through graces at Christmas. “He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6).
If people would only be honest, then they would have to admit that every Christmas has fallen far short of what it could have potentially been. Most people sow sparingly throughout Advent and thus Christ is sparing with His graces at Christmas: “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly. He that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. He that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting.” What are you sowing this Advent season?
It is Tough to Go Against the Grain
Let’s face it and be quite honest―it is easier to “go with the flow” than to “go against the grain.” It is more comfortable to simply sit in the world’s boat and say nothing, than get up and start “rocking the boat” by being non-conformist to the world. Christ likens us to sheep―and sheep are usually “followers” and “herd” animals―they like to “stick together”―this has led to the coining of the modern word “sheeple”―meaning people who act like sheep.
Our Lord spells it out clearly―and toughly―when He says: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth … But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven … For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … You cannot serve God and mammon [the world and its treasures]!” (Matthew 6:19-24). “The prince of this world [the devil] cometh, and in Me he hath not anything!” (John 14:30). “My kingdom is not of this world … My kingdom is not from hence!” (John 18:36). To the worldlings He says: “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world!” (John 8:23). To His followers He says: “If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you!” (John 15:19). “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you!” (John 15:18). “The world hateth Me because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil!” (John 7:7).
To makes things even tougher, Our Lord says: “Do not think that I came to send peace upon Earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not up his cross, and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for Me, shall find it” (Matthew 10:34-39). “Think ye, that I am come to give peace on Earth? I tell you, no; but separation! For there shall be, from henceforth, five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against his father, the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law!” (Luke 12:51-53).
This Advent―and every Advent―sees families divided, parishes divided, friends divided. There are some who want to fast and pray―while others wish to feast and play. Some desire to practice mortifications ―others desire gratifications. Some will focus on the spiritual―others on the material. Hence Our Lord warns: “A man’s enemies shall be they of his own household―For there shall be, from henceforth, five in one house divided: three against two, and two against three.” Tellingly―and painfully―Our Lord adds: “He that loveth father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me, is not worthy of Me!” ― elsewhere saying: “He that is not with Me, is against Me: and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth!” (Matthew 12:30).
Let us not be afraid to stand up and “rock the boat”, to speak out and “go against the grain”, to cause division if necessary by siding with Our Lord―for, after all, what is Christmas all about? Is it about our mother, father, brother, sister, son or daughter? Or is it all about Christ? There will be no Christ in Christmas if there is no serious preparation in Advent!
THAT FIRST CHRISTMAS WAS NO PARTY!
Today we celebrate Christmas lavishly. The first Christmas was spent in poverty!
Today we celebrate Christmas lavishly. The first Christmas was spent in poverty!
What Are You Doing? Don’t Play, But Pray!
Over this period of the so-called “Ember Days”―Ember Wednesday, Ember Friday and Ember Saturday―the Church presents to us, in the readings of the Masses, the Annunciation and the Visitation―both of which have in common the apparition of the Angel Gabriel with a message for both Mary (at the Annunciation) and Zachary, the father of St. John the Baptist (which led to the Visitation by Mary).
We ourselves―modern man―could do with an apparition of angel with a message for us, as to what we are doing wrong! Yet such an apparition did, in a certain sense, take place at Fatima―prior to the six apparitions of Our Lady that followed. The message or words that the angel delivered to the three Fatima seers―Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta―is equally applicable to us today. What were those words? What was that message?
The second apparition of the Angel took place during the summer of 1916. While the children were playing near their favorite well, at Lucia’s house, the Angel suddenly appeared and chided them for playing, saying: “What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal! The Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer unceasingly prayers and sacrifice yourselves to the Most High. Make everything you do a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and as a petition for the conversion of sinners. Above all, accept and bear with submission all the sufferings the Lord will send you. In this way, you will draw peace upon your country” (The Angel of Portugal).
Now that seems a little harsh, doesn’t it? Chiding children for playing! And little children at that! At the time of the apparition of the angel, their ages were only tender nine, eight and six! Yet the angel chides them for playing and tells them to pray a great deal and to suffer for sinners! If the angel said that to mere children, then WHAT WOULD HE SAY TO ADULTS?
Holy Scripture Echoes the Same Message
The Israelites were God’s Chosen People―yet, as St. Paul reminds us: “With most of them, He was not well pleased!” (1 Corinthians 10:5). Notice that St. Paul does not say “With MANY of them” but “With MOST of them”! Why was God not pleased with MOST of them? St. Paul explains: “I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud, and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the desert. Now these things were done in a figure of us, that we should not covet evil things as they also coveted. Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ―as some of them tempted―and perished by the serpents. Neither do you murmur―as some of them murmured―and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them in figure and they are written for our correction―upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:1-12).
Those damning words ― “Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play!’” ― are even more applicable to our day and age than back then! Anyone and everyone can see that today we have gone overboard in this idolatrous eating, drinking and playing! If those Israelites of old―God’s Chosen People―were called idolatrous for sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play, then what about God’s Chosen People of today―Catholics? How much more guilty are they?
Modern Day Idolatry
One researcher organization ― e-Marketer ― states: “While growth in consumers’ total time spent with media has nearly stalled, time with digital is still increasing … We estimate that time spent with media this year by US adults (ages 18+) will average 12 hours, 9 minutes per day. That’s up just 1 minute from 2018. But time spent with digital keeps rising significantly as time with traditional media declines. What are the main winners and losers in time spent? Digital video is a big winner. Digital audio is also gaining. TV is the big loser, as penetration declines and time spent falls, even among those who remain as viewers. (And TV penetration among adults falls below internet user penetration for the first time.) Within digital, desktop/laptop is a loser as more and more time spent goes to mobile. Is time spent with smartphones still rising? It is, though less so than earlier in the decade when penetration rose steeply. The slower gains in penetration still boost smartphone time across the total adult population. So do increases in time spent among users as people get more mileage out of their phones. Are US adults cutting back on time with social networks? Not yet. But growth in time spent has nearly stalled, partly as Facebook users reduce time spent there.”
Over this period of the so-called “Ember Days”―Ember Wednesday, Ember Friday and Ember Saturday―the Church presents to us, in the readings of the Masses, the Annunciation and the Visitation―both of which have in common the apparition of the Angel Gabriel with a message for both Mary (at the Annunciation) and Zachary, the father of St. John the Baptist (which led to the Visitation by Mary).
We ourselves―modern man―could do with an apparition of angel with a message for us, as to what we are doing wrong! Yet such an apparition did, in a certain sense, take place at Fatima―prior to the six apparitions of Our Lady that followed. The message or words that the angel delivered to the three Fatima seers―Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta―is equally applicable to us today. What were those words? What was that message?
The second apparition of the Angel took place during the summer of 1916. While the children were playing near their favorite well, at Lucia’s house, the Angel suddenly appeared and chided them for playing, saying: “What are you doing? Pray! Pray a great deal! The Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer unceasingly prayers and sacrifice yourselves to the Most High. Make everything you do a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which God is offended, and as a petition for the conversion of sinners. Above all, accept and bear with submission all the sufferings the Lord will send you. In this way, you will draw peace upon your country” (The Angel of Portugal).
Now that seems a little harsh, doesn’t it? Chiding children for playing! And little children at that! At the time of the apparition of the angel, their ages were only tender nine, eight and six! Yet the angel chides them for playing and tells them to pray a great deal and to suffer for sinners! If the angel said that to mere children, then WHAT WOULD HE SAY TO ADULTS?
Holy Scripture Echoes the Same Message
The Israelites were God’s Chosen People―yet, as St. Paul reminds us: “With most of them, He was not well pleased!” (1 Corinthians 10:5). Notice that St. Paul does not say “With MANY of them” but “With MOST of them”! Why was God not pleased with MOST of them? St. Paul explains: “I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud, and in the sea. And did all eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the desert. Now these things were done in a figure of us, that we should not covet evil things as they also coveted. Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ―as some of them tempted―and perished by the serpents. Neither do you murmur―as some of them murmured―and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them in figure and they are written for our correction―upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall!” (1 Corinthians 10:1-12).
Those damning words ― “Neither become ye idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play!’” ― are even more applicable to our day and age than back then! Anyone and everyone can see that today we have gone overboard in this idolatrous eating, drinking and playing! If those Israelites of old―God’s Chosen People―were called idolatrous for sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play, then what about God’s Chosen People of today―Catholics? How much more guilty are they?
Modern Day Idolatry
One researcher organization ― e-Marketer ― states: “While growth in consumers’ total time spent with media has nearly stalled, time with digital is still increasing … We estimate that time spent with media this year by US adults (ages 18+) will average 12 hours, 9 minutes per day. That’s up just 1 minute from 2018. But time spent with digital keeps rising significantly as time with traditional media declines. What are the main winners and losers in time spent? Digital video is a big winner. Digital audio is also gaining. TV is the big loser, as penetration declines and time spent falls, even among those who remain as viewers. (And TV penetration among adults falls below internet user penetration for the first time.) Within digital, desktop/laptop is a loser as more and more time spent goes to mobile. Is time spent with smartphones still rising? It is, though less so than earlier in the decade when penetration rose steeply. The slower gains in penetration still boost smartphone time across the total adult population. So do increases in time spent among users as people get more mileage out of their phones. Are US adults cutting back on time with social networks? Not yet. But growth in time spent has nearly stalled, partly as Facebook users reduce time spent there.”
Swipe. Click. Binge. Repeat.
Already back in August of 2018, another article stated the following: “Americans spend more time than ever watching videos, browsing social media and swiping their lives away on their tablets and smartphones. American adults spend more than 11 hours per day watching, reading, listening to or simply interacting with media, according to a new study by market-research group Nielsen. That’s up from nine hours, 32 minutes just four years ago. In the first quarter of the year, U.S. adults spent three hours and 48 minutes a day on computers, tablets and smartphones. This is a 13-minute increase from the previous quarter, and 62% of that time is attributed to app/web browsing on smartphones. Television still accounts for most media usage, with four hours and 46 minutes spent watching TV every day in the first quarter of this year. [2018]”
Already back in August of 2018, another article stated the following: “Americans spend more time than ever watching videos, browsing social media and swiping their lives away on their tablets and smartphones. American adults spend more than 11 hours per day watching, reading, listening to or simply interacting with media, according to a new study by market-research group Nielsen. That’s up from nine hours, 32 minutes just four years ago. In the first quarter of the year, U.S. adults spent three hours and 48 minutes a day on computers, tablets and smartphones. This is a 13-minute increase from the previous quarter, and 62% of that time is attributed to app/web browsing on smartphones. Television still accounts for most media usage, with four hours and 46 minutes spent watching TV every day in the first quarter of this year. [2018]”
“Media use is reaching new levels of intensity. Parents with children aged eight to 18 years of age spend over nine hours with screen media each day, according to a 2016 survey of 1,700 such parents by Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based organization that examines the impact of technology and media on families. That compares to the more than 4.5 hours “tweens” [generally defined as ages 8 to 12] spend on screen media on average every day and 6.5 hours spent by teenagers every day, according to a separate 2015 survey of more than 2,650 children by the same organization. Based on Nielsen’s latest report, however, the time people spend online has increased significantly, even over the last four years.”
God Looked Down From Heaven
Perhaps God and Heaven have “missed the boat” by not having a website, or Facebook account, etc. It seems that this would be the only way to grab the attention of the media-maniacs and smartphone slaves! If people have time to spend as much as 12 hours on all kinds of media each day―then they will have no excuse on Judgment Day. The first and greatest commandment is not “Thou shalt love thy smartphone above all else!” Nor is it “Thou shalt keep always the Smartphone with you!” It is―as we all know, but rarely do― “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength … This is the greatest and the first commandment!” (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37-38). You could probably say that this commandment is almost universally ignored, or watered-down, or even rejected―even by Catholics, sadly. Thus, these following words of Holy Scripture ring very true for our age: “God looked down from heaven on the children of men: to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God. All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good, no not one! They are corrupted, and become abominable in iniquities: there is none that doth good!” (Psalm 52:2-4).
God Looked Down From Heaven
Perhaps God and Heaven have “missed the boat” by not having a website, or Facebook account, etc. It seems that this would be the only way to grab the attention of the media-maniacs and smartphone slaves! If people have time to spend as much as 12 hours on all kinds of media each day―then they will have no excuse on Judgment Day. The first and greatest commandment is not “Thou shalt love thy smartphone above all else!” Nor is it “Thou shalt keep always the Smartphone with you!” It is―as we all know, but rarely do― “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole strength … This is the greatest and the first commandment!” (Mark 12:30; Matthew 22:37-38). You could probably say that this commandment is almost universally ignored, or watered-down, or even rejected―even by Catholics, sadly. Thus, these following words of Holy Scripture ring very true for our age: “God looked down from heaven on the children of men: to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God. All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good, no not one! They are corrupted, and become abominable in iniquities: there is none that doth good!” (Psalm 52:2-4).
BETTER LATE, THAN NEVER!
Human nature being what it is, there are bound to be many Catholics who have not even really started Advent!
Human nature being what it is, there are bound to be many Catholics who have not even really started Advent!
Missed the Boat? Still Stuck in the Garage?
You may have “missed the boat” but there is no need to miss your destination. If your Advent journey finds your car still in the garage with its engine “idling”, there is, nevertheless, time to “get on the road.” Sometimes we leave things late. This brings to mind Our Lord’s parable about the workers in the vineyard:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And, having agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just!’ And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But, about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: ‘Why stand you here all the day idle?’ They say to him: ‘Because no man hath hired us!’ He saith to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard!’
“And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: ‘Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first!’ When, therefore, they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny. And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, saying: ‘These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heat!’ But he answering said to one of them: ‘Friend, I do thee no wrong! Didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine and go thy way! I will also give to this last, even as to thee! Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am good?’ So shall the last be first, and the first last! For many are called, but few chosen!” (Matthew 20:1-16).
Better Late Than Never!
This also reminds us of the “eleventh hour conversion” of St. Dismas―the Good Thief on the cross on Calvary―who left his salvation very, very late! This “eleventh-hour conversion” is a reminder to us all that God is still knocking at the door of our lives―even at the very end of our lives. It is, however, also a solemn warning that “too late” can also be a possibility. As someone has said, “Don’t wait to be saved until the eleventh hour—you might die at 10:30!”
Nevertheless, the saying “Better late than never!” is true―as shown by Our Lord’s parable above and also by Dismas on Calvary. However, the latecomer may not always get quite as much as the “early-bird”―for, as we sow, so shall we reap: “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Galatians 6:8) and “He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6). So, by starting late, we often get much less done―and the less we put into something the less we get out of it. Nevertheless, it is also true that “half-a-loaf is better than none”! To do little or nothing at all by way of extra preparations, prayers and penances during Advent, risks getting little or no extra grace at Christmas―for “for the Son of man shall come and will render to every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27).
So while “it’s better late than never”, it is also “better safe than sorry” and thus “it’s better to be on the safe side” and “it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”―especially if it’s your Advent Candles, or at least the ‘candles’ of you mind and heart.
Materialistic Tsunami Swamps Spirituality
The problem for most people is that they have allowed themselves and accustomed themselves to be swamped by mindless materialism, which leaves most spiritual enterprises bogged-down or sunk amidst a fevered and frenetic fetish for what is mainly trivial and inconsequential. It is not the soul or soul’s relationship to Christ that preoccupies the mind throughout Advent. Instead the mind and heart are distracted and enslaved to materialistic planning and preparation for what will be mainly be a materialistic Christmas―as usual―which, when it all ends, will leave feeling somewhat empty and dissatisfied―as usual―while they try to “cut-their-losses” by exaggerating and inflating the material ‘joys’ that they will have experienced during the ‘festive season’, so as to avoid falling into the traditional “post-Christmas depression”―as usual.
A Hunger and Itch that is Never Satisfied
Sometimes, shortly after finishing a big meal, we find ourselves still feeling hungry and wanting more! The same can be said of Christmas―we stuff and stuff all kinds of things and activities into the Christmas season, yet are still hungry for more. There are a wide variety of possible explanations for this, including excessive stress; lack of sleep; dehydration; a diet that lacks protein, fat, or fiber―refined carbs have been processed and stripped of their fiber, vitamins, and minerals. One of the most popular sources of refined carbs is white flour, which is found in foods like bread and pasta. Foods like soda, candy, and baked goods, which are made with processed sugars, are also considered to be refined carbs. Whereas protein has hunger-reducing properties that may help you automatically consume fewer calories during the day. You may feel hungry often if you don’t eat enough fat, which plays a role in slowing digestion and increasing the production of fullness-promoting hormones. The bottom line is―junk food does not satisfy as much as good food. Material good do not satisfy as much as spiritual goods. Someone who is a millionaire (material goods) can find life very unhappy because nobody really loves them (a spiritual good). A mother who has lost her child suffers more in her mind and heart (spiritual suffering) than she would suffer with a sprained ankle, toothache or wound (physical suffering). The spiritual trumps the physical and material every time.
Your muscles, joints, and organs can hurt. But your skin is the only part of your body that can feel both pain and itch. An itch can be triggered by something outside your body, such as poison ivy, or by something happening on the inside, such as psoriasis or allergies. When you’ve got an itch, you probably want to scratch it. Though it feels good, scratching actually triggers mild pain in your skin. Whether it’s from a mosquito bite, chickenpox, or chronic skin issue like eczema, any relief from scratching will be short-lived. And too much scratching can make the problem much worse. Why? It turns out that a brain-signaling chemical, that is released in response to our scratching, has some unintended effects. Scratching an itch provides a bit of relief at first. It works because a mild amount of pain in the skin that is caused by scratching, temporarily interferes with the itching sensation. Nerve cells tell your brain something hurts, and that distracts it from the itch. The neurons in the spinal cord transfer pain signals instead of itch signals up to the brain―and so it “seems” like the itch has gone away. But then the brain releases a neurotransmitter called serotonin to dampen the pain, and this serotonin release also activates certain neurons in the spinal cord, which creates more itching sensations because it has the effect of intensifying the itch sensation. A vicious circle―or “itchous circle”―that we have all experienced. In chronic (constant) itch condition, a person does not get much reward or pleasure out of scratching, because the goal of scratching is to create pain to inhibit itching. So, in other words, you are forced to choose the lesser of two evils―perpetual pain or perpetual itch―because pain and itch are antagonistic to each other. The more itching you feel, the more pain you would like to create to counteract it. The result of increased distracting pain is more intensified itching. Scratching make you feel better in that moment, but 1 in 5 people say scratching makes them itch somewhere else on their body.
This reminds one of the humorous story of the man who was dissatisfied with the cross that Jesus had given him. So he takes his cross back to the Supermarket of Crosses and complains to Jesus at “Customer Service” that this cross that he was given is just not good enough―it is too heavy, it rubs against the skin too much, leaves splinters behind, is too long, does not sit and fit correctly, etc. So Jesus tells him to go and throw his cross on the big pile of crosses in the supermarket and dig through the pile to find a cross that was more according to his likes and tastes. The man happily tosses his cross on the pile and starts sifting through the other crosses on the pile―but cannot seem to find one that will sit well with him and satisfy him. Eventually Our Lord shouts out that the Supermarket of Crosses is closing in 5 minutes and that he had better choose one before closing time. Eventually, the man finds one that seems acceptable to him and carries it past Jesus on his way out of the supermarket. Jesus asks if he is happy with it. The man replies that it is the lightest one that he could find after almost a whole day of looking and searching. Jesus then remarks: “I hate to tell you this―but that is the cross that you came in with this morning!”
The Christmas Itch and Hunger
Transforming this to Advent and Christmas―we all know (if we still have a few remaining spiritual embers still burning in our souls) that cramming and cramming more and more varied and different Christmas experiences, flavors, activities and entertainment into the Holy Season, leaves us feeling still hungry for something else, itching for something else, that perhaps we cannot even identify!
Our Lord clearly tells us: ”I am the Bread of Life―he that cometh to Me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst!” (John 6:35). “For He hath satisfied the empty soul, and hath filled the hungry soul with good things” (Psalm 106:9). “Delight in the Lord, and He will give thee the requests of thy heart” (Psalm 36:4). “The poor shall eat and shall be filled” (Psalm 21:27). “Thou shalt fill me with joy with Thy countenance! At Thy right hand are delights forevermore” (Psalm 15:11). “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless His Holy Name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee! Who forgiveth all thy iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion; Who satisfieth thy desire with good things!” (Psalm 102:1-5).
The following passage from Our Lord’s “Sermon on the Mount” can be taken as a perfect counsel for our Advent preparations and our Christmas plans and activities: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth―where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven―where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal! For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon! Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life―what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on! Is not the life more than the meat; and the body more than the clothing? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And for clothing, why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow―they labor not, neither do they spin! But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these! And if the grass of the field―which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven―God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little Faith? Be not solicitous therefore, saying: ‘What shall we eat?” or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we be clothed?’ For after all these things do the heathens seek! For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God, and His justice―and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:19-34).
The following words of Our Lord are equally applicable for this season of materialism and plenteousness: “And He spoke a similitude to them, saying: ‘The land of a certain rich man brought forth plenty of fruits. And he thought within himself, saying: “What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?” And he said: “This will I do! I will pull down my barns, and will build greater ones! And into them will I gather all things that are grown to me, and my goods! And I will say to my soul: ‘Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thy rest; eat, drink, make good cheer!’” But God said to him: “Thou fool! This night do they require thy soul of thee! And whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?” So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God!’” (Luke 12:16-21).
Nine Days to Go! Nine Holy Hours to God?
If you have left your Advent spiritual preparations behind, or failed in them, or perhaps you have not even really started them―then the nine days that are still left before Christmas, still give you a chance to amend and remedy your neglect. What better way to make up for your neglect than to spend a hour each day in spiritual reflection as a preparation for the feast? That would make it a Novena of Holy Hours. You can spend them in any way you like―though here are a few suggestions that could help you.
First of all, do the Nativity Novena which you will find elsewhere on the website [click here for the Nativity Novena]. This gives you a platform for your Holy Hour.
Secondly, reflect upon the events of the final days before the birth of Christ, which you will find partially explained in the “Journey to Bethlehem” page [click here].
Thirdly, reflect upon what changes in your life [gifts for Jesus] might be pleasing to Our Lord―and then make a plan to bring about those changes successfully. Pray on those points on a daily basis―telling Our Lord that to you it seems impossible, but that with the help of His grace, you are confident of succeeding.
Fourthly, add an extra Rosary to you day, and ask Our Lady to make you more worthy, more spiritual, more God-centered, more prayerful, more abandoned to God’s providence. Take to heart the words that Holy Mother Church apply to Our Lady, by selecting them for the reading in the Mass of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Now therefore, ye children, hear me! Blessed are they that keep my ways! Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not! Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors! He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord!” (Proverbs 8:32-25).
You may have “missed the boat” but there is no need to miss your destination. If your Advent journey finds your car still in the garage with its engine “idling”, there is, nevertheless, time to “get on the road.” Sometimes we leave things late. This brings to mind Our Lord’s parable about the workers in the vineyard:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard. And, having agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he saw others standing in the market place idle. And he said to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just!’ And they went their way. And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did in like manner. But, about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing, and he saith to them: ‘Why stand you here all the day idle?’ They say to him: ‘Because no man hath hired us!’ He saith to them: ‘Go you also into my vineyard!’
“And when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard saith to his steward: ‘Call the laborers and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first!’ When, therefore, they were come, that came about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more: and they also received every man a penny. And receiving it they murmured against the master of the house, saying: ‘These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us, that have borne the burden of the day and the heat!’ But he answering said to one of them: ‘Friend, I do thee no wrong! Didst thou not agree with me for a penny? Take what is thine and go thy way! I will also give to this last, even as to thee! Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is thy eye evil, because I am good?’ So shall the last be first, and the first last! For many are called, but few chosen!” (Matthew 20:1-16).
Better Late Than Never!
This also reminds us of the “eleventh hour conversion” of St. Dismas―the Good Thief on the cross on Calvary―who left his salvation very, very late! This “eleventh-hour conversion” is a reminder to us all that God is still knocking at the door of our lives―even at the very end of our lives. It is, however, also a solemn warning that “too late” can also be a possibility. As someone has said, “Don’t wait to be saved until the eleventh hour—you might die at 10:30!”
Nevertheless, the saying “Better late than never!” is true―as shown by Our Lord’s parable above and also by Dismas on Calvary. However, the latecomer may not always get quite as much as the “early-bird”―for, as we sow, so shall we reap: “For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap” (Galatians 6:8) and “He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly” (2 Corinthians 9:6). So, by starting late, we often get much less done―and the less we put into something the less we get out of it. Nevertheless, it is also true that “half-a-loaf is better than none”! To do little or nothing at all by way of extra preparations, prayers and penances during Advent, risks getting little or no extra grace at Christmas―for “for the Son of man shall come and will render to every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27).
So while “it’s better late than never”, it is also “better safe than sorry” and thus “it’s better to be on the safe side” and “it’s better to light a candle than to curse the darkness”―especially if it’s your Advent Candles, or at least the ‘candles’ of you mind and heart.
Materialistic Tsunami Swamps Spirituality
The problem for most people is that they have allowed themselves and accustomed themselves to be swamped by mindless materialism, which leaves most spiritual enterprises bogged-down or sunk amidst a fevered and frenetic fetish for what is mainly trivial and inconsequential. It is not the soul or soul’s relationship to Christ that preoccupies the mind throughout Advent. Instead the mind and heart are distracted and enslaved to materialistic planning and preparation for what will be mainly be a materialistic Christmas―as usual―which, when it all ends, will leave feeling somewhat empty and dissatisfied―as usual―while they try to “cut-their-losses” by exaggerating and inflating the material ‘joys’ that they will have experienced during the ‘festive season’, so as to avoid falling into the traditional “post-Christmas depression”―as usual.
A Hunger and Itch that is Never Satisfied
Sometimes, shortly after finishing a big meal, we find ourselves still feeling hungry and wanting more! The same can be said of Christmas―we stuff and stuff all kinds of things and activities into the Christmas season, yet are still hungry for more. There are a wide variety of possible explanations for this, including excessive stress; lack of sleep; dehydration; a diet that lacks protein, fat, or fiber―refined carbs have been processed and stripped of their fiber, vitamins, and minerals. One of the most popular sources of refined carbs is white flour, which is found in foods like bread and pasta. Foods like soda, candy, and baked goods, which are made with processed sugars, are also considered to be refined carbs. Whereas protein has hunger-reducing properties that may help you automatically consume fewer calories during the day. You may feel hungry often if you don’t eat enough fat, which plays a role in slowing digestion and increasing the production of fullness-promoting hormones. The bottom line is―junk food does not satisfy as much as good food. Material good do not satisfy as much as spiritual goods. Someone who is a millionaire (material goods) can find life very unhappy because nobody really loves them (a spiritual good). A mother who has lost her child suffers more in her mind and heart (spiritual suffering) than she would suffer with a sprained ankle, toothache or wound (physical suffering). The spiritual trumps the physical and material every time.
Your muscles, joints, and organs can hurt. But your skin is the only part of your body that can feel both pain and itch. An itch can be triggered by something outside your body, such as poison ivy, or by something happening on the inside, such as psoriasis or allergies. When you’ve got an itch, you probably want to scratch it. Though it feels good, scratching actually triggers mild pain in your skin. Whether it’s from a mosquito bite, chickenpox, or chronic skin issue like eczema, any relief from scratching will be short-lived. And too much scratching can make the problem much worse. Why? It turns out that a brain-signaling chemical, that is released in response to our scratching, has some unintended effects. Scratching an itch provides a bit of relief at first. It works because a mild amount of pain in the skin that is caused by scratching, temporarily interferes with the itching sensation. Nerve cells tell your brain something hurts, and that distracts it from the itch. The neurons in the spinal cord transfer pain signals instead of itch signals up to the brain―and so it “seems” like the itch has gone away. But then the brain releases a neurotransmitter called serotonin to dampen the pain, and this serotonin release also activates certain neurons in the spinal cord, which creates more itching sensations because it has the effect of intensifying the itch sensation. A vicious circle―or “itchous circle”―that we have all experienced. In chronic (constant) itch condition, a person does not get much reward or pleasure out of scratching, because the goal of scratching is to create pain to inhibit itching. So, in other words, you are forced to choose the lesser of two evils―perpetual pain or perpetual itch―because pain and itch are antagonistic to each other. The more itching you feel, the more pain you would like to create to counteract it. The result of increased distracting pain is more intensified itching. Scratching make you feel better in that moment, but 1 in 5 people say scratching makes them itch somewhere else on their body.
This reminds one of the humorous story of the man who was dissatisfied with the cross that Jesus had given him. So he takes his cross back to the Supermarket of Crosses and complains to Jesus at “Customer Service” that this cross that he was given is just not good enough―it is too heavy, it rubs against the skin too much, leaves splinters behind, is too long, does not sit and fit correctly, etc. So Jesus tells him to go and throw his cross on the big pile of crosses in the supermarket and dig through the pile to find a cross that was more according to his likes and tastes. The man happily tosses his cross on the pile and starts sifting through the other crosses on the pile―but cannot seem to find one that will sit well with him and satisfy him. Eventually Our Lord shouts out that the Supermarket of Crosses is closing in 5 minutes and that he had better choose one before closing time. Eventually, the man finds one that seems acceptable to him and carries it past Jesus on his way out of the supermarket. Jesus asks if he is happy with it. The man replies that it is the lightest one that he could find after almost a whole day of looking and searching. Jesus then remarks: “I hate to tell you this―but that is the cross that you came in with this morning!”
The Christmas Itch and Hunger
Transforming this to Advent and Christmas―we all know (if we still have a few remaining spiritual embers still burning in our souls) that cramming and cramming more and more varied and different Christmas experiences, flavors, activities and entertainment into the Holy Season, leaves us feeling still hungry for something else, itching for something else, that perhaps we cannot even identify!
Our Lord clearly tells us: ”I am the Bread of Life―he that cometh to Me shall not hunger: and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst!” (John 6:35). “For He hath satisfied the empty soul, and hath filled the hungry soul with good things” (Psalm 106:9). “Delight in the Lord, and He will give thee the requests of thy heart” (Psalm 36:4). “The poor shall eat and shall be filled” (Psalm 21:27). “Thou shalt fill me with joy with Thy countenance! At Thy right hand are delights forevermore” (Psalm 15:11). “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless His Holy Name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee! Who forgiveth all thy iniquities; Who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion; Who satisfieth thy desire with good things!” (Psalm 102:1-5).
The following passage from Our Lord’s “Sermon on the Mount” can be taken as a perfect counsel for our Advent preparations and our Christmas plans and activities: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth―where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven―where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal! For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also! … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon! Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life―what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on! Is not the life more than the meat; and the body more than the clothing? Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And for clothing, why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow―they labor not, neither do they spin! But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these! And if the grass of the field―which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven―God doth so clothe: how much more you, O ye of little Faith? Be not solicitous therefore, saying: ‘What shall we eat?” or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘With what shall we be clothed?’ For after all these things do the heathens seek! For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God, and His justice―and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore solicitous for tomorrow; for the morrow will be solicitous for itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.” (Matthew 6:19-34).
The following words of Our Lord are equally applicable for this season of materialism and plenteousness: “And He spoke a similitude to them, saying: ‘The land of a certain rich man brought forth plenty of fruits. And he thought within himself, saying: “What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?” And he said: “This will I do! I will pull down my barns, and will build greater ones! And into them will I gather all things that are grown to me, and my goods! And I will say to my soul: ‘Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thy rest; eat, drink, make good cheer!’” But God said to him: “Thou fool! This night do they require thy soul of thee! And whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?” So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God!’” (Luke 12:16-21).
Nine Days to Go! Nine Holy Hours to God?
If you have left your Advent spiritual preparations behind, or failed in them, or perhaps you have not even really started them―then the nine days that are still left before Christmas, still give you a chance to amend and remedy your neglect. What better way to make up for your neglect than to spend a hour each day in spiritual reflection as a preparation for the feast? That would make it a Novena of Holy Hours. You can spend them in any way you like―though here are a few suggestions that could help you.
First of all, do the Nativity Novena which you will find elsewhere on the website [click here for the Nativity Novena]. This gives you a platform for your Holy Hour.
Secondly, reflect upon the events of the final days before the birth of Christ, which you will find partially explained in the “Journey to Bethlehem” page [click here].
Thirdly, reflect upon what changes in your life [gifts for Jesus] might be pleasing to Our Lord―and then make a plan to bring about those changes successfully. Pray on those points on a daily basis―telling Our Lord that to you it seems impossible, but that with the help of His grace, you are confident of succeeding.
Fourthly, add an extra Rosary to you day, and ask Our Lady to make you more worthy, more spiritual, more God-centered, more prayerful, more abandoned to God’s providence. Take to heart the words that Holy Mother Church apply to Our Lady, by selecting them for the reading in the Mass of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: “Now therefore, ye children, hear me! Blessed are they that keep my ways! Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not! Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors! He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord!” (Proverbs 8:32-25).
WALKING IN THE SANDALS OF MARY AND JOSEPH
We are obliviously ignorant about most of the "First Christmas" circumstances that Mary and Joseph had to endure
We are obliviously ignorant about most of the "First Christmas" circumstances that Mary and Joseph had to endure
Walking in the Shoes of Others
The admonition “to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” means: before judging someone, you must understand his experiences, challenges, thought processes, etc. The full idiom is: “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.” In effect, it is a reminder to practice empathy, sympathy and fair judgment. There are many variations on the phrase such as walk a mile in his, her or my shoes: “Put yourself in my shoes” as well as “Put yourself in his or her shoes.” Many have heard of the idiom, long credited as a Native American aphorism: “Never criticize a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins”―but few are aware of its origins. The Walk a Mile in His Moccasins quote is often contributed to various Indian tribes, but the saying almost certainly is derived from a Mary T. Lathrap poem, published in 1895, entitled: Judge Softly, which was later re-titled Walk a Mile in His Moccasins. Here is the complete poem.
Pray, don’t find fault with the man that limps,
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the moccasins he wears,
Or stumbled beneath the same load.
There may be tears in his soles that hurt
Though hidden away from view.
The burden he bears placed on your back
May cause you to stumble and fall, too.
Don’t sneer at the man who is down today
Unless you have felt the same blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows
That were his, unknown to you,
In the same way, may cause you
To stagger and fall, too.
Don’t be too harsh with the man that sins.
Or pelt him with words, or stone, or disdain.
Unless you are sure you have no sins of your own,
And it’s only wisdom and love that your heart contains.
For you know if the tempter’s voice
Should whisper as soft to you,
As it did to him when he went astray,
It might cause you to falter, too.
Just walk a mile in his moccasins
Before you abuse, criticize and accuse.
If just for one hour, you could find a way
To see through his eyes, instead of your own muse.
I believe you’d be surprised to see
That you’ve been blind and narrow minded, even unkind.
There are people on reservations and in the ghettos
Who have so little hope, and too much worry on their minds.
Brother, there but for the grace of God go you and I.
Just for a moment, slip into his mind and traditions
And see the world through his spirit and eyes
Before you cast a stone or falsely judge his conditions.
Remember to walk a mile in his moccasins
And remember the lessons of humanity taught to you by your elders.
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave
In other people’s lives, our kindnesses and generosity.
Take the time to walk a mile in his moccasins.
(Mary T. Lathrap, the poem Judge Softly, composed in 1895).
Our Lord and Holy Scripture Say Something Similar
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged! Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned! Forgive, and you shall be forgiven!” (Luke 6:37). “Judge not, that you may not be judged! For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again!” (Matthew 7:2). “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:31). “Wherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou dost the same things which thou judgest. For we know that the judgment of God is, according to truth, against them that do such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them who do such things but doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1-3).
Our Lord, Whose coming at Christmas is a coming of Mercy, says: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47). That does not mean that He will not judge the world―but only that He first offers mercy before He judges in justice. “For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him” (John 3:16-17).
The admonition “to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes” means: before judging someone, you must understand his experiences, challenges, thought processes, etc. The full idiom is: “Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes.” In effect, it is a reminder to practice empathy, sympathy and fair judgment. There are many variations on the phrase such as walk a mile in his, her or my shoes: “Put yourself in my shoes” as well as “Put yourself in his or her shoes.” Many have heard of the idiom, long credited as a Native American aphorism: “Never criticize a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins”―but few are aware of its origins. The Walk a Mile in His Moccasins quote is often contributed to various Indian tribes, but the saying almost certainly is derived from a Mary T. Lathrap poem, published in 1895, entitled: Judge Softly, which was later re-titled Walk a Mile in His Moccasins. Here is the complete poem.
Pray, don’t find fault with the man that limps,
Or stumbles along the road.
Unless you have worn the moccasins he wears,
Or stumbled beneath the same load.
There may be tears in his soles that hurt
Though hidden away from view.
The burden he bears placed on your back
May cause you to stumble and fall, too.
Don’t sneer at the man who is down today
Unless you have felt the same blow
That caused his fall or felt the shame
That only the fallen know.
You may be strong, but still the blows
That were his, unknown to you,
In the same way, may cause you
To stagger and fall, too.
Don’t be too harsh with the man that sins.
Or pelt him with words, or stone, or disdain.
Unless you are sure you have no sins of your own,
And it’s only wisdom and love that your heart contains.
For you know if the tempter’s voice
Should whisper as soft to you,
As it did to him when he went astray,
It might cause you to falter, too.
Just walk a mile in his moccasins
Before you abuse, criticize and accuse.
If just for one hour, you could find a way
To see through his eyes, instead of your own muse.
I believe you’d be surprised to see
That you’ve been blind and narrow minded, even unkind.
There are people on reservations and in the ghettos
Who have so little hope, and too much worry on their minds.
Brother, there but for the grace of God go you and I.
Just for a moment, slip into his mind and traditions
And see the world through his spirit and eyes
Before you cast a stone or falsely judge his conditions.
Remember to walk a mile in his moccasins
And remember the lessons of humanity taught to you by your elders.
We will be known forever by the tracks we leave
In other people’s lives, our kindnesses and generosity.
Take the time to walk a mile in his moccasins.
(Mary T. Lathrap, the poem Judge Softly, composed in 1895).
Our Lord and Holy Scripture Say Something Similar
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged! Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned! Forgive, and you shall be forgiven!” (Luke 6:37). “Judge not, that you may not be judged! For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again!” (Matthew 7:2). “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:31). “Wherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself. For thou dost the same things which thou judgest. For we know that the judgment of God is, according to truth, against them that do such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them who do such things but doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:1-3).
Our Lord, Whose coming at Christmas is a coming of Mercy, says: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47). That does not mean that He will not judge the world―but only that He first offers mercy before He judges in justice. “For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him” (John 3:16-17).
YOU MUST CAST THE WORLD OUT BEFORE CHRIST WILL COME IN!
Very few really understand and believe the incompatibility of Christ with the World
Very few really understand and believe the incompatibility of Christ with the World
Like Chalk and Cheese
There is no doubt about it. There is no arguing against it. Christ and the World, like the well known puts it, are “as different as chalk and cheese”―meaning that they are superficially alike in some things, but very different in substance. Christ speaks of charity―the world speaks of charity. Christ makes laws―the world makes laws. Christ says He loves us―the world says it loves us. Christ wants to make us happy―the world wants to make us happy. Yet though, on the surface, it sounds as though they are talking about the same thing―the reality is quite different. They are opposed to each other. Synonyms for the expression “as different as chalk and cheese” are “as different as apples and oranges”, or “as different as night and day, day and night.”
Most Catholics like being a part of the world, enjoy being a part of the world, and could not imagine living without being a part of the world. Not so with Christ! He is the exact opposite. He has explicitly made this abundantly clear to us: “And He said to them: ‘You are from beneath, I am from above! You are of this world, I am not of this world!” (John 8:23). “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My kingdom is not from hence!” (John 18:36). To the worldlings He says: “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world!” (John 8:23). To His followers He says: “If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you!” (John 15:19). “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you!” (John 15:18). “The world hateth Me because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil!” (John 7:7).
Your Soul Ain’t Big Enough For Christ and the World
Just as the proverbial cowboy-movie has the confrontational phrase or threat: “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us!”―likewise we could have Christ saying to you: “Your soul ain’t big enough to hold both Me and the World!” One of the two has to leave “town”, so to speak, either Christ or the World. Which one will it be? It is this context that we take Our Lord’s words, when He warns: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth―where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven―where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also ... No man can serve two masters! For either he will hate the one, and love the other―or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24).
Something similar could be said of Christmas―even though it is not a Sacrament as is Confession. There are many who think that they have celebrated Christmas well―but, in reality, they have celebrated Christmas badly. Christ was not there. It is not that Christ did not want to be there―but that the people did not really want Christ as a part of their Christmas. They best they gave Christ was some “lip-service” that came from a half-hearted, distracted, indifferent heart. This echoes Our Lord’s words―as the Sacred Heart―which are equally appropriate and true with regard to Christ and Christmas: “My Divine Heart is so passionately inflamed with love for men, that, not being able any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its ardent charity, It must needs spread them abroad and manifest Itself to men … to hold them back from the abyss of ruin ... If they would only give Me some return of love, I should not reckon all that I have done for them, and I would do yet more if possible. But they have only coldness and contempt for all My endeavours to do them good ... Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It spared nothing, even going so far as to exhaust and consume Itself, to prove to them Its love. And in return I receive from the greater part of men nothing but ingratitude, by the contempt, irreverence, sacrileges and coldness with which they treat Me!”
As an addendum to those words of the Sacred Heart, we have the haunting and extremely uncomfortable words from two different Psalms in Holy Scripture, which the Church has made part of the Divine Office (Breviary or Liturgical Hours) which the clergy and religious inescapably have to recite each week as they pray the Psalms and which can equally and fittingly be applied to the attitude and actions of most people at Christmas: “The Lord hath looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, no not one. They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways―there is none that doth good, no not one! Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips! Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known! There is no fear of God before their eyes!” (Psalm 13:1-3). The other Psalm is almost identical, and says: “God looked down from Heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God. All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good―no, not one! They have not called upon God. There have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men! They have been confounded, because God hath despised them!” (Psalm 52:3-6). There is more effort put into “pleasing men” or “pleasing people” during Christmas, than there is in pleasing God.
Stubborn Human Refusal to Listen to Christ
Our Lord can talk till He is blue in the face―the sad thing is that most of the human race will not listen to Him, or, if they listen, they will put aside all or most of what He says, and will proceed to live life like they want to live and not how God wants them to live it. We hear the Word of God, but the World chokes it out of us: “He that received the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word [of God], and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word [of God], and he becometh fruitless!” (Matthew 13:22). Somehow, we cannot get our heads around the fact that Our Lord wants us to DETACH ourselves more and more from this world―whereas we have a tendency to ATTACH ourselves more and more to it. Our Lord explicitly condemned that: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24). “He that loveth his life [in this world] shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal!” (John 12:25).
Furthermore, He adds: “The prince of this world [the devil] cometh, and in Me he hath not anything!” (John 14:30).
“If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you … If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). “Jesus spoke to them, saying: ‘I am the light of the world! He that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness!’” (John 8:12). “This is the judgment―because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil” (John 3:19). “The world hateth Me because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil” (John 7:7).
St. John, at the start of his Gospel, clearly describes the antagonism between Christ and the world, saying: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:1-11).
The Apostles Follow Christ in Hammering the World
There is an abundance of support for Christ’s words against the world that is shown by the Apostles who wrote in Holy Scripture―notably in the Epistles of Saints James, John and Paul. Here are some key statements that we just cannot ignore and sweep under the rug.
“Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places!” (Ephesians 6:12). “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers, that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should not shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). “Adulterers! Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God!” (James 4:4). “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him!” (1 John 2:15). “We have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God; that we may know the things that are given us from God! … Use this world, as if [you] used it not: for the fashion of this world passeth away!” (1 Corinthians 2:12; 7:31). “Keep yourself unspotted from this world!” (James 1:27). “Be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2) … “That we be not condemned with this world!” (1 Corinthians 11:32). “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world!” (1 John 2:16).
“If then you be dead with Christ from the elements of this world, why do you still act as though living in the world?” (Colossians 2:20). “Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. For what participation hath justice with injustice? Or what fellowship hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; as God saith: ‘I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people!’ Wherefore, ‘Go out from among them, and be ye separate!’ saith the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
Sure―Christ came into the world to save the world from the world. Sure―He has compassion on the world: “For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him” (John 3:16-17). “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47), so that “all the world may be made subject to God” (Romans 3:19). “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present wicked world” (Galatians 1:4).
Yet, even though Christ had compassion for the world, He did not have compassion for the spirit of worldliness. He came to extract us from the world, not to cement us in the world. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not … He came unto His own, and His own received Him not … the light shone in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5-11). God loved the world, but the world hated God and preferred evil pleasures: “The spirit of truth, the world cannot receive” (John 14:17). “I have manifested Thy Name, Father, to the men whom Thou hast given Me out of the world ... Thine they were, and to Me Thou gavest them … I am not of the world, and these are in the world … I pray for them … I pray not for the world, but for them whom Thou hast given Me … I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; as I also am not of the world” (John 17:6-14).
There is no doubt about it. There is no arguing against it. Christ and the World, like the well known puts it, are “as different as chalk and cheese”―meaning that they are superficially alike in some things, but very different in substance. Christ speaks of charity―the world speaks of charity. Christ makes laws―the world makes laws. Christ says He loves us―the world says it loves us. Christ wants to make us happy―the world wants to make us happy. Yet though, on the surface, it sounds as though they are talking about the same thing―the reality is quite different. They are opposed to each other. Synonyms for the expression “as different as chalk and cheese” are “as different as apples and oranges”, or “as different as night and day, day and night.”
Most Catholics like being a part of the world, enjoy being a part of the world, and could not imagine living without being a part of the world. Not so with Christ! He is the exact opposite. He has explicitly made this abundantly clear to us: “And He said to them: ‘You are from beneath, I am from above! You are of this world, I am not of this world!” (John 8:23). “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My kingdom is not from hence!” (John 18:36). To the worldlings He says: “You are from beneath, I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world!” (John 8:23). To His followers He says: “If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you!” (John 15:19). “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you!” (John 15:18). “The world hateth Me because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil!” (John 7:7).
Your Soul Ain’t Big Enough For Christ and the World
Just as the proverbial cowboy-movie has the confrontational phrase or threat: “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us!”―likewise we could have Christ saying to you: “Your soul ain’t big enough to hold both Me and the World!” One of the two has to leave “town”, so to speak, either Christ or the World. Which one will it be? It is this context that we take Our Lord’s words, when He warns: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth―where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven―where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also ... No man can serve two masters! For either he will hate the one, and love the other―or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24).
Something similar could be said of Christmas―even though it is not a Sacrament as is Confession. There are many who think that they have celebrated Christmas well―but, in reality, they have celebrated Christmas badly. Christ was not there. It is not that Christ did not want to be there―but that the people did not really want Christ as a part of their Christmas. They best they gave Christ was some “lip-service” that came from a half-hearted, distracted, indifferent heart. This echoes Our Lord’s words―as the Sacred Heart―which are equally appropriate and true with regard to Christ and Christmas: “My Divine Heart is so passionately inflamed with love for men, that, not being able any longer to contain within Itself the flames of Its ardent charity, It must needs spread them abroad and manifest Itself to men … to hold them back from the abyss of ruin ... If they would only give Me some return of love, I should not reckon all that I have done for them, and I would do yet more if possible. But they have only coldness and contempt for all My endeavours to do them good ... Behold this Heart which has so loved men that It spared nothing, even going so far as to exhaust and consume Itself, to prove to them Its love. And in return I receive from the greater part of men nothing but ingratitude, by the contempt, irreverence, sacrileges and coldness with which they treat Me!”
As an addendum to those words of the Sacred Heart, we have the haunting and extremely uncomfortable words from two different Psalms in Holy Scripture, which the Church has made part of the Divine Office (Breviary or Liturgical Hours) which the clergy and religious inescapably have to recite each week as they pray the Psalms and which can equally and fittingly be applied to the attitude and actions of most people at Christmas: “The Lord hath looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good, no not one. They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways―there is none that doth good, no not one! Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of asps is under their lips! Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways: and the way of peace they have not known! There is no fear of God before their eyes!” (Psalm 13:1-3). The other Psalm is almost identical, and says: “God looked down from Heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God. All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good―no, not one! They have not called upon God. There have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men! They have been confounded, because God hath despised them!” (Psalm 52:3-6). There is more effort put into “pleasing men” or “pleasing people” during Christmas, than there is in pleasing God.
Stubborn Human Refusal to Listen to Christ
Our Lord can talk till He is blue in the face―the sad thing is that most of the human race will not listen to Him, or, if they listen, they will put aside all or most of what He says, and will proceed to live life like they want to live and not how God wants them to live it. We hear the Word of God, but the World chokes it out of us: “He that received the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word [of God], and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word [of God], and he becometh fruitless!” (Matthew 13:22). Somehow, we cannot get our heads around the fact that Our Lord wants us to DETACH ourselves more and more from this world―whereas we have a tendency to ATTACH ourselves more and more to it. Our Lord explicitly condemned that: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on Earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in Heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also … No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one, and love the other: or he will sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon!” (Matthew 6:19-24). “He that loveth his life [in this world] shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal!” (John 12:25).
Furthermore, He adds: “The prince of this world [the devil] cometh, and in Me he hath not anything!” (John 14:30).
“If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated Me before you … If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). “Jesus spoke to them, saying: ‘I am the light of the world! He that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness!’” (John 8:12). “This is the judgment―because the light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light: for their works were evil” (John 3:19). “The world hateth Me because I give testimony of it, that the works thereof are evil” (John 7:7).
St. John, at the start of his Gospel, clearly describes the antagonism between Christ and the world, saying: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without Him was made nothing that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:1-11).
The Apostles Follow Christ in Hammering the World
There is an abundance of support for Christ’s words against the world that is shown by the Apostles who wrote in Holy Scripture―notably in the Epistles of Saints James, John and Paul. Here are some key statements that we just cannot ignore and sweep under the rug.
“Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places!” (Ephesians 6:12). “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers, that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should not shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4). “Adulterers! Know you not that the friendship of this world is the enemy of God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God!” (James 4:4). “Love not the world, nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the Father is not in him!” (1 John 2:15). “We have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God; that we may know the things that are given us from God! … Use this world, as if [you] used it not: for the fashion of this world passeth away!” (1 Corinthians 2:12; 7:31). “Keep yourself unspotted from this world!” (James 1:27). “Be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2) … “That we be not condemned with this world!” (1 Corinthians 11:32). “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world!” (1 John 2:16).
“If then you be dead with Christ from the elements of this world, why do you still act as though living in the world?” (Colossians 2:20). “Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. For what participation hath justice with injustice? Or what fellowship hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God; as God saith: ‘I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people!’ Wherefore, ‘Go out from among them, and be ye separate!’ saith the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:14-17).
Sure―Christ came into the world to save the world from the world. Sure―He has compassion on the world: “For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the world may be saved by Him” (John 3:16-17). “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world” (John 12:47), so that “all the world may be made subject to God” (Romans 3:19). “Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present wicked world” (Galatians 1:4).
Yet, even though Christ had compassion for the world, He did not have compassion for the spirit of worldliness. He came to extract us from the world, not to cement us in the world. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not … He came unto His own, and His own received Him not … the light shone in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:5-11). God loved the world, but the world hated God and preferred evil pleasures: “The spirit of truth, the world cannot receive” (John 14:17). “I have manifested Thy Name, Father, to the men whom Thou hast given Me out of the world ... Thine they were, and to Me Thou gavest them … I am not of the world, and these are in the world … I pray for them … I pray not for the world, but for them whom Thou hast given Me … I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world; as I also am not of the world” (John 17:6-14).
THE ADVENT RITUAL
ADVENT'S A TIME OF STRAW PENANCES AND CARDS FOR CHRIST
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. THE PURPOSE AND MEANING OF ADVENT 2. The MAIN CHARACTERS OF THE ADVENT SEASON 3. DAILY ADVENT Examination of Conscience 4. GENERAL PRAYERS FOR THE ADVENT SEASON 5. MORNING PRAYERS FOR ADVENT 6. NIGHT PRAYERS FOR ADVENT 7. THE ANGELUS 8. THE HOLY ROSARY FOR ADVENT 9. ADVENT CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES 10. ADVENT WREATH PRAYERS AND READINGS 11 PENANCES IN THE ADVENT SEASON 12 ADVENT HYMNS 13 PRAYERS, READINGS AND RITUAL FOR MEALTIMES DURING ADVENT 14 A LIST OF RECOMMENDED ADVENT READING |
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