"Should old acquaintance be forget,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?"
The great churches at Rome by (the emperor) Constantine, e.g. the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Old St. Peter's Basilica, & several cemeterial churches, were build over the graves of martyrs during his pontificate.This is the same information presented last year in the bulletin, though the sentence has been rearranged, that is, the word order has been changed slightly. Fascinating!
"Noël, Noël, Noël, Noël,
Born is the King of Israel!…"
He engaged in conflict with Henry II of England over the rights & privileges of the Church & was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. Soon after this death, he was canonized by Pope Alexander III.Scripture of the Day
"Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!…"
"Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight;
Glories stream from Heaven afar;
Heavenly hosts sing, 'Alleluia!'
Christ the Savior is born!
Christ the Savior is born!…
"O Silent, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light,
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth!
Jesus, Lord at Thy birth!
Sleep in heavenly peace."
Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; & he (had) killed all the [male] children that were in Bethlehem, & in all the borders, who were two tears-old & younger.Scripture of the Day
The most dominant emotion in our modern society is fear. We are afraid—afraid of losing the things we have worked hard to buy, afraid of rejection & failure, afraid of certain parts of town, afraid of certain types of people, afraid of criticism, of suffering & heartache, of change, afraid to tell [persons] how we really feel. We are afraid of so many things. We are even afraid to be ourselves. Some of these fears we are consciously aware of, whole other exist subconsciously. But all these fears play a large role in directing the actions & activities of our lives. Fear has a tendency to imprison us. Fear stops more [persons] from doing something incredible with their lives than lack of ability, contacts, resources, or any other single variable. Fear paralyzes the human spirit.
"I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky,
And stay by my side 'til morning is nigh.
"Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay,
Close by me forever & love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care
And take us to Heaven to live with Thee there…"
He was a deacon in the early Church at Jerusalem who aroused the enmity of members of various synagogues by his teachings. Accused of blasphemy, at his trial he made a long speech denouncing the Jewish authorities who were sitting in judgment on him & was then stoned to death.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
The feast of St. Stephen has been celebrated in the West since the fifth century. St. Stephen was a deacon in the early Church & had been assigned to distribute food to the poor. When certain Jews would engage him in argument, he would always confound them with his wisdom. Ultimately, they made false charges against him, brought in false witnesses, & stoned him to death. The account of his martyrdom is described in chapters six & seven of the Acts of the Apostles. St. Stephen prayed for & forgave his persecutors. He teaches us to do the same. He is also the patron of all deacons.Scripture of the Day
"Good king Wenceslas looked outAlas, there is no snow, much less snow deep & crisp & even.
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even…"
"Joy to the world! The Lord has come;
Let Earth receive her king;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
"Joy to the world! The Savior reigns;
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
"He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glorious of His righteousness,
And wonders of the His love,
And wonders of the His love,
And wonders of the His love,
And wonders of the His love,
And wonders, wonders of the His love."
"Long lay the world in sin & error pining,
'Til He appeared & the soul felt it's worth!
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new & glorious morn.
"Fall on your knees!
O, hear the angel voices,
O night divine,
O night when Christ was born!…
Immediately following his ordination, he accepted a position as rector at the prestigious school of the Canons regular of the Host Holy Sepulcher in Miechow. That such a school would offer him a position at his relatively young age was evidence of John's exceptional intellect & talents. It was there in onducting formation classes for the young novices that he became firmly grounded in the writings & spirituality of St. Augustine(28 August).Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
St. John of Kanty was bornin a small village near Kanty in Poland. He became a doctor of philosophy at the University of Cracow (Kraków) in 1418. He engaged in pastoral ministry for some time but gave it up & returned to teaching. He transcribed more than eighteen thousand pages of theological treatises. St. John of Kanty distinguished himself by his fidelity to orthodox doctrine & his kindness in his dealings with adversaries. He is buried in the Church of St. Ann in Cracow & from the moment of his death he enjoyed the reputation of a saint & a miracle worker. St. John preached the truth & practiced it. His preaching was reinforced by by his example of humility, chastity, compassion, & penance. He always set aside a portion of his income, & sometimes part of his food, for the poor, whom he welcomed as Christ.'Tis also the feast of Saint John Stone, Martyr (died 1539), martyred under King Henry VIII, one of the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link; Wikipedia-link XL.
"He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake,
He knows if you've been bad or good,
You better be good, for goodness sake!…"
"Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon,
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen,
Carter, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton.
"Reindeer sleigh; come our way;
Ho, ho, ho; cherry nose;
Cap on head; suit that's red;
Special night; beard that's white:
Must be Santa, must be Santa,
Must be Santa, Santa Claus!"
Staunch defender of the Church [against] reformist Protestants in Europe. He was an educator & opened colleges for the Jesuits. He spread the findings of the Council of Trent to the European archbishops.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
St. Peter Canisius was canonized & declared a Doctor of the Church in 1925. Pope Leo XIII called him the second apostle of Germany, after St. Boniface (5 June). At the age of twenty-three, Peter entered the Society of Jesus & published treatises on the Fathers of the Church. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1546 & became the theologian to the cardinal of Augsburg at the Council of Trent. Called to Rome by St. Ignatius of Loyola (31 July), he was sent to Messina, Sicily, to teach rhetoric. He spent thirty years in Germany working for the renewal of Catholic life. He wrote a Catechism which was written in a persuasive & logical way. St. Peter had a mystical experience of the Sacred Heart. He is an excellent example of how to dialogue with persons outside the Catholic Church.'Tis also the feast of Saint Anastasius II of Antioch, Bishop & Martyr (died 609, A.K.A. the Younger), martyred by Syrian Jews: Martyr-link & Wikipedia-link.
Does it not strike you as a great poverty of leadership that here in America we cannot put one person on the evening news who can be acknowledged by Americans from coast to coast as a Catholic leader? Where is the "someone" who speaks for us? It is true that occasionally a cardinal or bishop effectively harnesses that media in his diocese & establishes a vibrant identity as a Catholic leader in his geographic area. It is also true that some lay Catholics who occupy positions of prominence in the business world, the entertainment world, or the political realm has successfully established a Catholic identity in different ways. But we have no national figures, not within the clergy & not among the laity. Does that not strike you as a massive poverty of leadership? Where is the Catholic leader who can speak to the people of our time in ways that are bold, brilliant, logical, articulate, & inspiring?One cannot help but think of the late Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979), Bishop of Rochester, who hosted the radio program The Catholic Hour from 1930-1951 & the television programs Life Is Worth Living from 1950-1957 & The Fulton Sheen Program from 1961-1968: Wikipedia-link. We have no Bishop Sheen today. The closest analog one can recall would be the Most Reverend Robert Barron, newly-installed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who works through "new media" via his Word on Fire Catholic Ministries: Bishop Barron-link & wordonfire.org-link.
"The hopes & fears of all the yearsUrbi et Orbi
Are met in thee tonight…"
"It's Christmas ground zero,
There's panic in the crowd,
We can dodge debris while we trim the tree
Underneath a mushroom cloud!
"You might hear some reindeer on your rooftop,
Or Jack Frost on your window sill,
But if someone's climbing down your chimney,
You'd better load your gun and shoot to kill!…
"It's Christmas at ground zero,
Just seconds left to go!
I'll duck-and-cover with my Yuletide lover
Underneath the mistletoe!
"It's Christmas at ground zero,
Now the missiles are on their way,
What a crazy fluke, we're gonna get nuked
On this jolly holiday!
What a crazy fluke, we're gonna get nuked
On this jolly holiday!"
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know…
"May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white…"
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know…
"May all your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white…"
"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know…
"May your days be merry and bright,
And may all your Christmases be white…"
"The boys in the N.Y.P.D. Choir were singing 'Glory Be,'
And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day…"
He was a major figure in the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic, a… saint, a Carmelite friar, & a priest. John of the Cross was a reformer of the Carmelite Order & is considered, along with Saint Tereas of Ávila (15 October), as a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. He is also known for his writings. Both his poetry & his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature & one of the peaks of all Spanish literature.Quoth the Holy Family bulletin:
Born in Fontiveros, Spain in 1542, St. John of the Cross became a great mystic & Doctor of the Church. He entered the Carmelite Order in 1563. When he met St. Teresa of Ávila, she convinced him to help her in the reform of the Carmelites. He suffered much persecution including imprisonment from his fellow Carmelite friars who were opposed to the stricter reforms. He had many mystical experiences which he… expressed in beautiful poems & treatises:The Ascent of Mount Carmel, The Dark Night of the Soul, The Spiritual Canticle, & The Living Flame of Love. [His writings teach] detachment from earthly things because they are darkness in comparison to sweet union with God. The way to union with God is through the Cross. One of his admonitions was that in the evening of life we shall be judged by love. He died at Ubeda in 1591.
"Let us have faith that right makes might, & in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it."
St. Lucy was martyred in Syracuse, Sicily. As Lucy was on her way to the visit the tomb of St. Agatha (5 February), the saint appeared to her & said that the Lord would bless the city of Syracuse because of Lucy's virginal love. St. Lucy then convinced her mother to give her dowry to the poor. In anger, Lucy's fiancé brought her before the judges to be violated & tortured. Her body became immovable & even though she was wounded, she continued to pray & give witness to Christ.We would also remember Saint Callixtus II, Pope, O.S.B. (circa 1064-1124, A.K.A. Callistus II): Saint-link & Wikipedia-link.
The early Church was unstoppable, & as far as I can tell, it was because they followed this simple strategy: They believed that the values & principles of the Gospel were the best way to live. They nurtured friendships. They were deeply committed to a life of prayer. They were courageous in telling their story. They were generous & welcoming. Friendship is the original model of evangelization, & it is the model that will triumph in the modern context. Friendship establishes trust & mutual respect, which together bring about the openness & acceptance that give birth to vulnerable dialogue. Only then can we begin addressing the questions that every human heart longs to answer: Who am I? Where did I come from? What am I here for? How do I do it? Where am I going? Friendship is the key to evangelization.
"Once in royal David's city,
Stood a lonely cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for His bed.
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.
"He came down to earth from Heaven
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable,
And his cradle was a stall,
With the poor, oppressed, and lowly
Lived on earth our Savior holy.
"And our eyes at last shall see Him
Through His own redeeming love,
For that Child, so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in Heaven above,
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone."
Juan (9 December) came before the bishop & several of his advisors a second time. He told the bishop his story & opened the tilma, letting the flowers fall out. But it wasn't the beautiful roses that caused the bishop & his advisors to fall to their knees; for there, on the tilma, was a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary precisely as Juan had described her.Our Lady first appeared to St. Juan Diego on 9 December 1531, which is why his feast is celebrated annually on that date (Wayback Machine Juliett Delta). The miraculous image properly titled Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared on St. Juan Diego's tilma before His Excellency Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, O.F.M. three days later, on 12 December, & thus the date of today's feast.
Encouraged his personal Secretary Saint Jerome (30 September) in his Vulgate translation of the Bible; presided over the Council of Rome in 382, which may have set down the canon of Scripture; encouraged veneration of the Christian martyrs, restoring & creating access to their tombs in the Catacombs of Rome & elsewhere.Scripture of the Day
