MEANING OF MERRY CHRISTMAS

May you have a Merry Christmas!

What does Merry Christmas may mean? Certainly it may signify many things – for you and for me. Let me share a few notes on what it means for me.

Christmas means Christ. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us… Of his fullness we have all received” (Jn 1:1-5, 9-14). Christ is the center of Christmas: the Child Jesus in a manger; the Child Jesus as the light of our Christmas – of our hearts. There cannot be a true Christmas without Christ: without Christ Christmas is merely three meaningless letters – m, a, s. There can be no true Christmas if Christ is forgotten or sidelined. The incarnation of Christ is part of the mystery of our faith: He became man, one like us, but without sin. Merry Christmas means a happy encounter with Christ! With the Child Jesus in the crib! If you wish a see the most beautiful thing in the world, ask the Lord to give you the eyes to see a young maiden with her child in her arms in the town of Bethlehem (St. John of Avila).

Christmas is love of God. : “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.”  “The Son of God is born in eternity without mother, in time without father, and become our brother” (John Tauler). It is God’s incredible love for us and our humble response to this love. We respond by adoring the Child Jesus. Adoration encompasses our attitude through the Christmas season. It was the attitude of Mary and Joseph, the attitude of the shepherds, and the attitude of the Three Kings. Mary and Joseph kept everything in their hearts in an attitude of contemplative prayer; the shepherds knelt before the Child in the crib, and the Three Kings offered their gifts as a sign of worship. “O come, let us adore him.” Christ is born for us. Let us adore him!

Christmas is love of neighbor. “In this they will know that you are my disciples that you love one another.”  Love of Christ in the manger entails love of all, neighbors – all children of God. True Christian love is not selective but unconditionally universal – like Jesus’. Rabindranath Tagore writes: “The birthday of Jesus is not only a historical day, but a spiritual day… When we will be able to sacrifice in truth, when we are able to call man brother, then the Son of the Father is really born, whenever it may come, that is Christmas, the Birthday of Christ.”

Christmas is joyful love. A birth in the family is always a great joy. How much more the birth of the Son of God, our brother and Savior? “This is the day our Savior was born: what a joy for us! This is no season for sadness, this, the birthday of Life, the Life which annihilates the fear of death, and engenders joy, promising as it does, immortality” (St. Leo the Great). The new-born Child is the cause of great joy: the Virgin-Mother rejoices, John the Baptist moves for joy in the womb of her mother Elizabeth, the shepherds rejoice…” Yes, Christmas is joy, the joy of Life, the joy of the Gospel of Christ (Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis). Indeed, “Joy to the world, joy to you and me.”

Christmas is compassionate love. “I feel compassion of the crowd. “Jesus says. Charity is universal love, love for all, in particular the poor and needy, the “little ones.” Love is mercy and sympathy and compassion. Thus, Christmas is not merely feeling sorry for the suffering and needy, but also doing something with and for them. It necessarily imply sharing something with the poor around us, accompanying our sick brothers and sisters. “What you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do it to me”; “I was in the hospital and you visited me.”

Christmas is peace.  The angels sung: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to men whom God loves.”  Peace, like joy is a consequence of love and means living together in justice and love. As believers in Christ, the Prince of Peace, we are asked to be peacemakers in our families, in our communities, in the world. To be peacemakers, we have to be at peace within ourselves and with God: the body under the spirit and the spirit under God (St. Augustine). We need to have interior peace to be able to work for external peace, for nobody can give what he or she does not have: “Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will find liberation.”  Peace with God and within us implies necessarily peace with all others, who are our brothers and sisters. Pope Francis tells us in his first Message for the World Day of Peace (January 1, 2014) that “Fraternity is the foundation of peace and a pathway to peace.”

Christmas is gratitude. Zechariah is grateful to the Lord for giving him his son John the Baptist: “Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel” (Lk 1:68). Mary, the Virgin-Mother is grateful for the marvelous things God has done to her: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (Lk 1:46). We are grateful to God for everything, above all for giving us Jesus, his only Son and the Son of Mary. We give thanks too to many people around us! To wish “Merry Christmas” to our family, friends, and companions is a lovely way of giving thanks to them for their help, for being there when we needed them, for travelling with us on the journey of life. Indeed, “for all that have been thanks!”

 My dear co-pilgrims, may we all have a Blessed Christmas,, that is,  may your Christmas and mine be permeated by love and joy and mercy and peace! Above all, may it be permeated by love!

St. John the Evangelist tells us in the Prologue of his Gospel that we are God’s children if we accept Christ as our brother and savior. And if we are children of God, then we are also brothers and sisters in Christ of one another. As followers of Christ, we believe in the total Christ: the Christ who is born and grows; the child who later suffers and dies on the Cross, and rises from the dead. We believe in one Lord whom we may adore as the Santo Niño and as the Good Shepherd and as the Nazarene and as the Crucified and Risen Lord.

The birth of Jesus is an open event that reminds us of our Baptism, of our birth as Christians: One day Christ was born for you, and it was Christmas. / Another day, you were born for Christ, and it was your Baptism. / When you remember the joy of Christmas / do not forget the joy of your Baptism” (Text, Christmas Card).

Baptism inclines to baptismal repentance fort sins after Baptism: “To forgive and be forgiven make the world new every day” (Text of a Christmas Card). The Birth of Jesus links closely with the Eucharist: “Mary was the first tabernacle who carried Christ within her and gave birth to the One who would say, ‘I am the living bread come down from heaven’” (Fulton Sheen). “With the Eucharist, it is always Christmas for me” (Andrés Manjón)

The Birth of Jesus leads to his death on the Cross. A story tells us that once a woman went to the supermarket to buy gifts for Christmas. When she finished shopping she proceeded to the elevator which soon was completely crowded. Almost without breath, she shouted: “He who invented Christmas should be arrested and hanged.” A voice at the back answered her: “We did that already. We crucified him.”

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, may the Child Jesus bless you and your loved ones! May the Child Jesus be born in our hearts in a deeper way! May we all have a Blessed Christmas and Season filled with the gifts of love, mercy, joy and peace,  and may those around us notice it by the way we treat them with kindness, with compassion, with love.

Mother Mary, St. Joseph, help us have a Merry Christmas!

 FR. FAUSTO GOMEZ, O.P.

St. Dominic’s Priory

 

 

A ROOM FOR JESUS IN OUR HEARTS!

We Christians are celebrating Advent, the season of hope. A few more days and we shall be rejoicing at Christ’s Birth! Are we ready to receive him in our hearts?

Advent means “coming,” “arriving.” Who is coming? Our Lord Jesus Christ! Historically, He came the first time when He was born at Bethlehem. Hopefully, we long for his Coming at the end of time – and of our individual time. And prayerfully, we hope in his daily coming to our lives. Through the season of Advent, we prepare for a very special coming: for the Birth of Jesus at Christmas, for his birth in our hearts and in our communities.

Indeed, the Lord is coming to each one of us this Christmas. Do we really, really believe it? Let us remember that when Jesus came the first time, when he was born of the Virgin Mary at Bethlehem, there was no room for him in the inn. Is there a room for him in our hearts? “If there is no room for him in our hearts, there is no possibility of celebrating Christmas” (Schillebeeckx). This Christmas too, “there will be no room for Jesus in the hearts of the selfish and proud persons” (Fulton Sheen).

There is a lovely story of a children’s Nativity play (from Margaret Silf). After many rehearsals the great day of presenting the play before the proud parents of the children and parishioners came. On stage: angels, shepherds, and Mary, Joseph and the innkeeper. Mary and Joseph knock at the door of the inn and ask: “Please, can we have a room for the night?” The innkeeper answers: “Sorry, there is no room in the inn.” After saying that, however, the little innkeeper had second thoughts of his own and added something else: “Don’t go away, you can have my room.”

My dear friends, I ask myself: “Can Jesus have my room? Can He have yours? Can he have our rooms?” Perhaps our rooms are a bit messy; He will not mind, but let us clean them and prepare to be innkeepers who give his or her room to Jesus. I just received a Christmas card through the email of a friend with this message: “Each one of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus” (Max A. Maxwell). “Only when Jesus is formed in us will the Mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us” (CCC 526).

May the Lord continue growing in our hearts, in our families, in our communities!

And may those around us notice that we believe in Christmas by the way we treat them with kindness and compassion.

Mother Mary, Our Lady, and St. Joseph bless for us.

 (FG, OP)

POPE DEDICATES 2015 ” YEAR OF CONSECRATED LIFE”

VATICAN CITY, November 29, 2013 (Zenit.org) – Emphasizing the importance of the religious vocation, Pope Francis announced today that the year 2015 will be dedicated to Consecrated Life.

The Holy Father made the announcement during the 82nd General Assembly of the Union of Superior Generals, which concluded today in Rome.

Although a brief meeting with the union was planned, the Holy Father spent an estimated three hours in a question and answer discussion with participants.

According to the Holy See Press Office, the first questions to the Pope dealt with the mission and identity of consecrated life. “A radical approach is required of all Christians, but religious persons are called upon to follow the Lord in a special way: They are men and woman who can awaken the world,” the Pope said.

“Consecrated life is prophecy. God asks us to fly the nest and to be sent to the frontiers of the world, avoiding the temptation to ‘domesticate’ them. This is the most concrete way of imitating the Lord.”

While acknowledging that vocations in young Churches are “bearing fruit”, the Holy Father also stated that the Church itself must re-evaluate its “inculturation of charism.”

Citing the example of the Servant of God Matteo Ricci, Pope Francis told participants that the Church must ask “forgiveness for, and looking with shame upon, apostolic failures caused by misunderstandings in this field.” Ricci, a 17th century Jesuit priest, was one of the founders of the Jesuit Mission in China.

“Intercultural dialogue must press for the introduction persons of various cultures, expressing different ways of living charism, in the governance of religious institutes,” the Pope stressed.

Regarding the formation of religious, the Holy Father called on the Union of Superior Generals to avoid all forms of hypocrisy and clericalism. Formation, he said, is not a watch dog but rather, “an artisanal craft.”

“It’s aim is to form religious persons with a tender heart, not acid, not like vinegar. We are all sinners, but not corrupt. Sinners are to be accepted, but not the corrupt,” he said.

Other questions asked by the Holy Father were on the subject of brotherhood and the relationships between those in consecrated life and their particular Churches. The Pope also emphasized the importance of the educational mission of schools and universities.

“The pillars of education are transmitting knowledge, transmitting methods, transmitting values. By these means, faith is communicated. The educator must measure up to those he educates, and must give careful thought to how to proclaim Jesus Christ to a changing generation,” he said.

Before concluding the meeting, the Holy Father thanked participants for their years of service to the Church and announced 2015 as a Year dedicated to Consecrated Life.

“Thank you for what you do and for your spirit of faith and your service,” he said. “Thank you for your witness and also for the humiliations through which you have had to pass.”

THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL

 Pope Francis just released today his first apostolic exhortation, titled Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel).

The Pope has written Evangelii Gaudium in response to the October 2012 Synod on the New Evangelization for the Transmission of the Christian Faith, in which he encourages and challenges Catholics to action rather than to simply define Church doctrine.

Interestingly, the very first apostolic exhortation was published in 1975 by Pope Paul VI after the 1974 synod on evangelization. Titled Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern World), the document aimed to define evangelization and explore how to carry it out in today’s increasingly secular world. Although the document bore Pope Paul VI’s signature, large chunks were written by a young Polish bishop, Karol Wojtyla, who would later become Pope John Paul II.

As we all know, that same Pope John Paul would instigate the New Evangelization, a springtime of faith and the topic of the 2012 synod to which Pope Francis devotes his exhortation. It’s beautiful to see this harmony among popes and how this new exhortation fits neatly into the teaching history of the Church.

Peter Thoai, O.P.

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“The Church is a mother… a good mother can recognize everything that God is bringing about in her children, she listens to their concerns and learns from them.”

Pope Francis

CHRIST BEFORE RULES

Pope Francis raised some eyebrows in his recent interview published in America magazinewhen he expressed concern that many see the Church’s teaching and proclamation primarily in terms of moral prohibitions. The mainstream media suggested that the Holy Father might finally be changing what it regards as antiquated and heartless rules. Some conservative Catholics, on the other hand, worry that the pope is not proclaiming the “hard truths” often enough, as indeed he mentions in the interview. In examining whether these two reactions flow from a true understanding of what Pope Francis is saying, it’s helpful to turn to one of the most important contemporary treatments of morality: After Virtue, by Alasdair MacIntyre.

MacIntyre explains that calm and objective moral discourse is impossible in this day and age because of the effect of emotivism on our culture. Emotivism is a system of philosophical ethics that developed in early twentieth-century England. It promoted a subjective basis for ethics by positing the idea that moral utterances are expressions of one’s preferences rather than anything objective. The culture, then, chafes at rules because they become a burden and an unnecessary hampering of one’s freedom, an imposition of someone else’s preferences over its own.

For this reason, the point that Pope Francis is making—that Jesus Christ is at the heart of the Gospel—is all the more important to keep in mind. If someone is going to interpret every “Do this” or “Don’t do that” that you throw at them as merely your personal preference, then you’re likely wasting your breath in your attempt to set them on the “straight and narrow.” In an emotivist culture that has largely forgotten its Christian foundations, starting with moral prohibitions is not only ineffective in spreading the Gospel, it’s positively damaging. Pope Francis reminds us that “the proposal of the Gospel must be more simple, profound, radiant. It is from this proposition that the moral consequences then flow.”

John Senior, a Catholic professor from the University of Kansas known for the conversions that he and two colleagues inspired in the course of their teaching careers, once said: “If you want to be good, be happy.” Friendship with God is the greatest source of happiness there is. If we find our true happiness in God, we will be moved to do what is good out of love for Him. We will want to hold on to “the fruit of the Spirit,” which St. Paul says “is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal 5:22–23).

It is this right ordering of the proclamation of the Gospel that Pope Francis was emphasizing in his interview. He is not afraid to teach what others find unpleasant, but he wants to remind us that “the most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you.”

– See more at: http://www.op.org/en/content/christ-rules-0#sthash.xDvK7j6v.dpuf