The secret of a true Christmas

Mother Teresa has reminded us today about the secret source of her service to the poor and of the whole of her life: the love of Jesus. And this is also the secret to celebrate a true Christmas. In the Christmas carol "Adeste Fideles" there is a verse that says: "Sic nos amantem quis non redamaret?" How can one not return the love of one who has loved so much?" A loving heart is the only crib Jesus loves to come to at Christmas.

But where can this love be found? Mother Teresa knew of whom she should request it: of Mary! One of her prayers says:

"Mary, my dearest Mother, give me your heart so beautiful, so pure, so immaculate, so full of Love and Humility, that I may receive Jesus as You did -- and go in haste to give Him to others."

Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap., Preacher of the Pontifical Household, Third Meditation for Advent, 2003.

St Alberto Hurtado: the Call of Christ

Christ came to this world not to do his great work alone but with us, with all of us, to be the head of a great body whose living, active cells we are. We are all called to incorporation in him, this is the fundamental level of Christian life… But for some there are higher calls; a call to surrender oneself to him, to live only for him, to make him the norm of one’s intelligence; to consider him in each of one’s actions, to follow him in his endeavors, even more, to make one’s life Christ’s project, Christ’s venture. For the seaman, his life is the sea; for the soldier, the army; for the nurse, the hospital; for the farmer, his land; for the generous soul, his life is Christ’s venture!

This is the essential part of the call of Christ: Do you wish to consecrate your life to me? The problem is not sin; it is a problem of consecration! Consecration to what? To personal holiness and to the apostolate. Personal holiness or sanctity that is a faithful imitation of the sanctity of Christ.

St Alberto Hurtado, Meditation on the Kingdom

Look to the Child

You must look at the Child in the manger. He is our Love. Look at him, realizing that the whole thing is a mystery. We need to accept this mystery on faith and use our faith to explore it very deeply. To do this, we must have the humble attitude of a christian soul. Let us not try to reduce the greatness of God to our own poor ideas and human explanations. Let us try to understand that this mystery, for all its darkness, is a light to guide men’s lives.

Whenever I preach beside the crib, I try to see Christ our Lord as a child wrapped in swaddling clothes lying on straw in a manger. Even though he is only a child, unable to speak, I see him as a master and a teacher. I need to look at him in this way, because I must learn from him. And to learn from him, you must try to know his life — reading the Gospel and meditating on the scenes of the new testament — in order to understand the divine meaning of his life on earth.

In our own life we must reproduce Christ’s life. We need to come to know him by reading and meditating on Scripture, and by praying, as we are doing now in front of the crib. We must learn the lessons which Jesus teaches us, even when he is just a newly born child, from the very moment he opens his eyes on this blessed land of men. The fact that Jesus grew up and lived just like us shows us that human existence and all the ordinary activity of men have a divine meaning.

 
St Josemaria Escriva, Christ is passing by, 13-14

UPDATE: Advent Morning of Recollection

The Advent Morning of Recollection for Women scheduled for tomorrow is still on. Please exercise prudence in deciding whether or not you can safely attend. 

Pope to lunch at Rome soup kitchen

Pope Benedict will spend part of the Feast of the Holy Family next week lunching at one of the soup kitchens run by the Community of Sant'Egidio, a lay ecclesial movement founded in Rome in the 1960's by a group of students. They serve 10,000 people in their annual Christmas lunches all over Rome.

Catholic News Service blogged the story here.

Homily

I came across a wonderful homily given on the Feast of St Josemaria Escriva by Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City-St Joseph. This homily takes up many themes of interest, particularly for this Year of the Priest. Please take the time to read this, and in it to recognize your own priestly dignity and the responsibility you have to pray for priests.

Pope: In Conflict Look to Rome

More from Zenit here.

mystery & expectation

Here is a lovely homily preached this week  by my friend and former professor, Fr Thomas Joseph White, OP, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

For more on the Dominican House of Studies please visit their website.

Papal Prayer Intentions for December

From today's Vatican Information Service bulletin:

VATICAN CITY, 1 DEC 2009 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for December is: "That children may be respected and loved and never be the victims of exploitation in its various forms".

His mission intention is: "That at Christmas the peoples of the earth may recognise in the Word Incarnate the light which illuminates every man, and that the nations may open their doors to Christ, the Saviour of the world".