My new year's resolution is to CHOOSE GRATITUDE for everything, every single thing in my life: not just the joys and the wonderful moments, but for the pain and sorrow, the grief and the laughter. The generosity and kindness of others, the insults and accusations. I CHOOSE it all!
I'm still working my way through the book of Isaiah in these early days of Christmas. I love the faithful prophets who suffered so much to bring the truth to Israel. They suffered abuse, persecution, and murder; but they never flinched.
Do parents live in dread of the big question? "Mommy...Daddy...Is there really a Santa Claus?"
The day after Christmas the Church gives us a graphic reminder that embracing and living the faith isn't just cuddling a baby, but requires walking in darkness and suffering. St. Stephen, the first martyr, was a deacon chosen to help with the distribution of food to widows and the poor. While exercising that duty he performed signs and wonders that amazed the community.
His actions inflamed the Jewish people who dragged him before the Sanhedrin accusing him falsely of blasphemy. How did he respond? He delivered a passionate review of God's covenant with His chosen people from the time of Abraham.
Out of the mouths of the young to touch our hearts with the true meaning of Christmas.
May you and your family be blessed on this holy day.
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| Weary of fighting: Historic group photo of German and British soldiers standing together Image: Hulton Archive/Getty Images |
At any rate, the elephant was little in the beginning, like a lap dog. The young son kept telling his parents there was an elephant in the house, but they wouldn't believe it. So the elephant kept growing, trying to get their attention. Finally, he was so big he could walk off with the house. At that point, the parents acknowledged the existence of the elephant and he began to shrink back to his initial little doggy size. Obviously, the story was about problems being ignored that just get bigger unless they are acknowledged.
Now the word jargon has a couple of different meanings:
The specialized language of a trade, profession, or similar group, especially when viewed as difficult to understand by outsiders.
That definition is rather reasonable and not pejorative. A computer geek may use language about his work that is Greek to me. But then Greek is Greek to me as well, though it's perfectly comprehensible to someone raised in Greece. I don't understand Russian or Gaelic either. In fact, the only language I speak fluently is English. I have a smattering of French and Spanish, but not enough to converse, and that's about it.
The Bible has fascinated authors throughout history and many have adopted its themes pretty explicitly in their fiction. Rosemary's Baby has an inverted birth of Christ episode near the end when the devil's baby is born and three men come to visit. The inversion is pretty obvious in the film as well as the book.
A number of authors have used bible phrases as their book titles. It's interesting to me that every now and then when I'm reading the Bible I come across a phrase and think, "That would make a great title for a novel." The one I saw yesterday was in the book of Isaiah which I'm reading for Advent. The phrase was "abode of jackals." Now wouldn't that make a great title for a story about a dysfunctional family that are consuming one another through greed, jealousy, and hate. What a challenge to figure out how to redeem one or all of the characters. Sigrid Undset could have done it. She was a master of the human dilemma and the impact of sin and grace. Or how about a spy novel with a hero trying to prevent a terrorist attack by a cell of foreign agents working for an enemy country. And then again couldn't Agatha Christie turn that title into a fascinating murder mystery!
Every family has traditions associated with special days: Christmas, birthdays, Easter, etc. One tradition of our family when our children were growing up was celebrating a birthday party for Jesus on Christmas Eve. We generally went to the vigil Mass and then came home to a big dinner: roast beef, mashed potatoes, an assortment of sides, and a big birthday cake. After dinner we would have a procession around the house singing Christmas carols and ending at the nativity scene. The youngest carried Baby Jesus to place in the manger. The other children carried candles. I think we may even have carried the cake. Did we sing Happy Birthday when we reached the stable? I can't remember, but we always sang Away in the Manger as the youngest placed the baby in the crib. What a happy evening that was with candlelight and song, and a big slice of birthday cake.
Today begins the last prep for Christmas, the seven O Antiphons. They bring the holy day into focus in a big way. O Come Emmanuel is the hymn of the O Antiphons. Today is also the first of the December ember days. So we have abundant opportunities to make this last week before Christmas a time of magnifying our preparation. Even if we've had an Advent with too much emphasis on the secular preparations with decorating and baking, we can spend this last week decorating our hearts and turning up the heat of love for the little King.
When I was on the parish council at St. Louis in Alexandria, the pastor wanted us all to take the test. I think I came out as an ENFJ, although, if I remember correctly the N and S and the T and F were pretty close. But I'm definitely an extrovert and I like closure, so the J was accurate as well. That put me at odds with the pastor who came out with the same letters except he was a P. He was also a liberal so clashes between us were inevitable. But one of the most frustrating things was that he seemed never to care whether the council decided anything or not. We talked a lot at the meetings (yadda yadda), but rarely decided anything.
Year ago a friend sent me a Christmas ornament of Juan Diego. Today I put him and a small metal image of Our Lady on the Christmas tree. I love to reflect on the tender words of Mary to her little son:
“Listen, put it into your heart, my youngest and dearest son, that the thing that frightens you, the thing that afflicts you, is nothing: do not let it disturb you…Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.”
Today my husband and I will travel over the mountain to visit friends in Luray for lunch. Our friendship grew out of our connection through the Chesterton book club. Over the years it has deepened and we always laugh a lot and commiserate a little when we get together.
Do you pray to a God who is in heaven and distant from you? When you receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist or go and worship Him in the tabernacle or monstrance, do you see Him as out there and over there?
Mary, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces, is the Scourge of the Demons and Destroyer of all heresies. She is our twelve-star general and God has given her immense power against evil.
St. John the Baptist is a major Advent voice preparing the way for the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. Today, we heard in the Gospel (TLM) the moment, when in prison, John sent his disciples to ask Christ a question. "Shall we look for another?" I have no doubt that John already knew the answer to that question. So why did he ask it? I think he wanted to wean his disciples from himself and turn them to Christ. His "voice in the wilderness" was about to go silent and he wanted his little band of brothers to follow the One whose sandal he was not fit to unloose.
This post examines the final lecture by Henry Edward Cardinal Manning about the Crisis in the Holy See. Remember, he was writing near the end of the 19th century during the nationalistic upheavals in Europe, but history tends to repeat itself. Much in these four lectures can easily apply to our own time although the threats are coming from within the Church these days as much as outside. Check out my previous posts and read the entire document. The cardinal's prose is easy to understand and he turns often to the doctors of the Church and to well known theologians.
Lecture 1 - Introduction to the Crisis: the Revolt
I received this email yesterday from former General Assembly delegate Bob Marshall. Remember when the Richmond FBI sent agents out to see if those evil traditional Catholic terrorists were planning anything? Well, now the head spook is in charge. It looks like a tough four years coming. I haven't read the report yet, but plan to. Expect persecution; it's biblical! It's 1984 on Animal Farm and Big Sister will be the boss sow in the pigpen. Nevertheless, Pray, hope, and don't worry. With struggle comes strength.
Did you ever hire someone to do a job and found out later that it was slipshod or cut corners? Unfortunately that's happened to us more than once, sometimes, sadly, with a person we knew personally and thought was a friend. A rotting window sash was "replaced" by just covering up the rot. A paint job was so embarrassing I still look at it and shake my head.
I try to remember every morning -- when I sit up in bed and plant my feet on the floor -- to begin the day with a litany of gratitude. It was easy today. I thanked God for central heating (It's really cold this morning.) and for giving gifts to the inventors who've make our modern life so comfortable.
Every vaccinated individual participating in the study had amyloid microclots circulating in their bloodstream. "94% of all participants were vaccinated. 100% of these vaccinated individuals had amyloid microclots — including every 'healthy control.'”
No tests were done to determine whether subjects ever had the actual COVID disease according to an article about the study by NICOLAS HULSCHER, MPH. The authors simply presumed it. But the data is inconclusive on that score because:
