Mary Mother of God - 2023

The Mother of God (often referred to as "Theotokos"), in the Council of Ephesus, was a title given to Mary, of course, only after St. Matthew did so on the 1st page of the New Testament in his Gospel. Often this title is misunderstood as somehow intimating that Mary is somehow greater or co-eternal with God.  This is not what is being affirmed in this title, however.  In fact, this title exists to secure the identity of Jesus as God and to illuminate a truth about his identity.   Dr. Brant Pitre has an excellent video reflection on the meaning of this important teaching about Mary. Click here to view    >>> VIDEO <<<

.

Christmas Voices - 2022

Perhaps one of the more difficult things about Christmas is hearing the True Voices of Christmas. Christmas is full of sounds of all kinds, coming at us from every side, so much so that the authentic Christmas voice can easily be blurred out. To hear the Voices of Christmas will take some effort on our part, but if we make the effort, what a beautiful and joy-filled sound will fill our hearts. The effort I speak of may be called - 

Praying Christmas.

We begin by bringing something we hear, i.e. texts from scripture, prayers of the Advent/Christmas liturgies, words from the hymns of Christmas etc. to a time of prayer. As we pray, we read and reread these words over again. If they are in a story, we try to create the scene in our imagination. If they are words addressed to God, we listen for the sentiment they express. But all the while, we listen to our own hearts by identifying the various feelings that emerge while we listen. To hear the Voices of Christmas, one must listen with the heart.

What This Effort Will Require:

• A time and place set aside for listening.
• The words we have chosen out of all the words around us.
• Patience to listen, not analyse, over think, and study.
• Humility to ask and ask again - all the while listening for sounds in the heart.
• Recording what you hear, returning again and again to listen.
• "Speak Lord, I am listening".

Some suggestions to add to the Christmas Voices

From second reading for Fourth Sunday of Advent. Communion Antiphon, December 23 Opening Prayer, morning Mass, Dec. 24 Gospel Acclamation, morning Mass, Dec. 24 Prayer after Communion, morning Mass, Dec. 24 First Preface of Christmas Prayer for Christmas Mass of Dawn Second Preface of Christmas

Through Christ we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. ****** Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me. (Rev 3) ****** Come quickly, we pray, Lord Jesus, and do not delay, that those who trust in your compassion may find solace and relief in your coming. ****** Radiant Dawn, splendour of eternal light, sun of justice: shine on those lost in the darkness of death. ****** Grant to us who find new vigor, O Lord, in these your wondrous gifts, that, as we prepare to celebrate in adoration the festivities of your Son’s Nativity, so we may possess in gladness his everlasting rewards. ****** For in the mystery of the Word made flesh a new light of your glory has shone upon the eyes of our mind, so that, as we recognize in him God made visible, we may be caught up through him in love of things invisible. ****** Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, as we are bathed in the new radiance of your incarnate Word, the light of faith, which illumines our minds, may also shine through in our deeds. ****** …… when our frailty is assumed by your Word not only does human mortality receive unending honor but by this wondrous union we, too, are made eternal.

.

Fourth Sunday of Advent - 2022

We begin this Fourth and final week of Advent in Matthew's gospel as he begins to tell the story of "...how the birth of Jesus Christ came about." In those days, the period of engagement of marriage was to last up to one year. The marriage covenant was official, they are married, but before the couple lived together, this one year waiting period would prove that the betrothed was indeed a virgin and that any child conceived would be that of the husband. Should a conception occur it prove infidelity and adultery on the part of the woman. The engagement/marriage would be broken off and the woman publicly disgraced. Matthew does not give us many details as to how all this unfolded with Joseph and Mary. This provides us with a wonderful opportunity to explore these questions in meditation and prayer. Matthew tells us, "... she was found with child." Here we are led to wonder when did Mary explain her pregnancy to Joseph, that it was the work of God? Did Joseph believe her? We can only speculate. We have a clue in the text that follows. “Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly." “… since he was a righteous man” Joseph was a man of holy integrity and that he followed the Law of Moses in all its detail. Now, in the Book of Deuteronomy 22:23 we read: “If there is a virgin pledged in marriage to a man, and another man encounters her in the city and sleeps with her, you must take both of them out to the gate of that city and stone them to death—the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. You must purge the evil from among you.…” What deep conflict must have been tearing at the heart of Joseph. Mary is pregnant! What to do – the law is clear as to what must be done. What if what Mary has told him about how she became pregnant is true? But the Law is clear, Joseph knows he must divorce Mary. Surely God will permit him to spare her such humiliation and disgrace, even death. Now the hand of God is revealed through the angel Gabriel: "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” Joseph too must see the important role God is giving him to fulfill in this plan - "She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." Dear friends, these stories are not fairy tales we bring out at Christmas to dress up in colourful scenes. They are real events that happened in the lives of real people. Recognizing this can we not identify with these humble people of God? Do we not have to face conflicts and challenges in our lives, struggling to understand, struggling to make sense of it – to find solutions just as they did? Our faith is not disconnected from our real life. On the contrary, they are both intimately connected just as it was for Mary and Joseph. And when we make this connection our faith becomes a living, life saving dynamic reality guiding and supporting us throughout our life. Once we make this connection the stories of the lives of the people in the scriptures become learning centres where we begin to learn how to recognize God’s hand in our lives. Do not let Christmas just be a fairy tale.

.

"O Antiphons" This coming Saturday, one week from Christmas Eve, begins the traditional "O Antiphons" The O Antiphons refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They also are used as the Gospel Acclimation of the daily Masses. They cover the special period of Advent preparation known as the Octave before Christmas Dec.17-24 LINK TO THE ANTIPHONS

.

Third Sunday of Advent - 2022

.

The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally referred to as “Gaudete Sunday”. The name comes from the first word spoken in the liturgy for this day, in the Entrance Antiphon: (Gaudete in Latin): Rejoice in the Lord always: again, I say rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. There is a similar theme that recurs in Lent, in the fourth Sunday of Lent, traditionally called “Laetare Sunday” again taken from the first word of the entrance antiphon: (Laetare in Latin) Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. The first words of the Third Sunday of Advent are the words of St. Paul found in the fourth chapter of the Letter to the Philippians, vs. 4-5. So why Gaudete, why Rejoice? The answer begins in the First Reading, with the words of the prophet Isaiah. The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will REJOICE and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and REJOICE with joyful song. The glory of Lebanon will be given to them, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened:  Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Isaiah 35: Israel has been conquered and its people have been living in exile for many years. But now the prophets are telling the people that soon their exile will come to an end, and they will be returning to their homeland. They believed that God was punishing them for their sins by letting their enemies conquer and enslave them. But now, what is this they hear? Believers of every generation, at various times, have found their hearts and hope shattered; believing they have been abandoned by God, left alone with no hope. So, the Church returns each year in Advent, to address this ancient problem, the Problem of Evil, to gather all who are wounded, to hear once again these words of truth and healing and restoration: “Rejoice, the Lord is near”!  You will notice that all the serious Christmas stories that we read all have this same theme running through them. In the darkest night, when all seems lost, hope is restored. Now the true spirit of Advent has a penitential character to it, where we examine our lives to root out our own causes for our downfalls and miseries. Then, the candle of the Advent Wreath, lighted on this day, the Third Sunday of Advent, rose colored, with the name “Joy”, raises up our spirits at the prospect of the new coming of mercy into our lives. In many ways, our popular culture, with its commercializing of Christmas has interfered with the real spirit of Advent with its rich and beautiful spirituality. So where does this Gaudete Sunday find you? Are you one who is carrying heavy burdens – be they burdens brought on by your own faults and failures, or has human frailty and the faults of others beset you? If so, the grace offered on this Sunday is meant for you.  The Grace of Gaudete Sunday is the grace of a clear sense of Presence. I am not alone, the Lord is here, with me now. The Lord comes bearing gifts, the gift is the Gift of Hope. What ever the details of my deliverance are to be, will be revealed in the days to come. But first, a broken heart must be healed and given the eyes of hopefulness with which to see - to begin to see how the Lord's plan is to unfold. For me, now, it is to turn my face eastward, to look forward in hope for His coming. Hear again these words of the prophet: "Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication;  with divine recompense he comes to save you."

.

"O Antiphons" This coming Saturday, one week from Christmas Eve, begins the traditional "O Antiphons" The O Antiphons refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They also are used as the Gospel Acclimation of the daily Masses. They cover the special period of Advent preparation known as the Octave before Christmas Dec.17-24 LINK TO THE ANTIPHONS

.

Second Week of Advent - 2022

“It comes around each year.” Those special times of the year have a cyclical character to them, they come around each year. We may think of Advent in this way. While we do celebrate Advent annually in a similar way, each new Advent has something uniquely different than the previous one. It has progressed forward, upward in both time and urgency. We are ascending the spiral staircase of salvation. All around us people are starting to get ready to celebrate the “holiday season” once again. Unfortunately, what is lost in all of this is the voice of urgency that Advent is announcing. “This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.” Ro. 13:11 Advent begins a new liturgical cycle. Once again, we will be guided through the mysteries of our faith, hearing again the call of Christ, “come follow me.” Follow him where – up the staircase of holiness, ever higher, ever closer to sainthood. The scriptures for the first sixteen days of Advent instructs us on the necessity to embrace with new urgency the work of attaining  an ever deeper union with Christ, and how important it is NOW to get serious about the priority of our religious life. Then on the seventeenth day of Advent the scriptures open for us a new door  into the mystery of Christ with us, why this new coming is so important, not to be missed. This is the season when we find ourselves with all those to-do lists we have to deal with, gift lists, card lists, invitation lists. What about my spiritual life list, my definite plans to go deeper into my religious life?

.