Vatican Radio launched an iPhone app on iTunes. The app is free. It lets you follow the Pope and the work of the Church throughout the world as well as providing you with other pertinent information and cultural engagement.
The attribution to the following is given to Saint John Chrysostom but the citation has not been found, but the Pope quoted the saint in a recent Wednesday Audience. It’s a striking reflection for our spiritual life, it even can be used for our daily examen. The saint said,
Lord our God, as we celebrate Mary, daughter of Zion and figure of the new Jerusalem that descends from heaven, we await the coming of your Son Jesus Christ in glory. Hasten the day of his coming, and all the nations, together with all of Israel, will find salvation in your eternal kingdom. We ask you this through the Holy Spirit, who consoles us and intercedes for us now and forever.
Today’s feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ought to be interpreted on the basis of sacred Scripture (Zeph 3:14-18a; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 1:39-55), sacred Tradition and the Magisterium. This feast is best understood from the point of view of the eschatological context of Advent which focuses our attention essentially on the coming of the Lord at the end of time. Consider what the prayer above notes. Christians, remember, live in the end times now.
Mary’s conception (through her parents Anne and Joachim) celebrated in the liturgical season of Advent is a fitting time in which we long, really desire, the Lord’s coming. Our waiting for the Messiah, now for the second time, is a true hope of all hopes.
The Church in the Eastern Roman Empire, known as Byzantium, has observed this feast with great interest before it reached the Western Empire by the 10th century. In the East today is also called the Conception of Saint Anne. If you recall, the Franciscan and Doctor of the Church Saint Bonaventure has a clear teaching on the Immaculate Conception of Mary, defended and promoted by other Franciscan theologians and made part of Catholic dogma in 1854.
The precise Catholic theological teaching of the Immaculate Conception is not shared by some Protestant ecclesial communities and the Orthodox Churches. “For them, Mary’s conception has the value of a sign: through the divine intervention that was needed to heal Anne of her infertility, all of humanity has been healed of its sterility, brought on by sin, and has become the womb capable of welcoming the Word’s Incarnation. It is the Lord himself who, in his infinite mercy, prepares the way for his decisive intervention in history.” In many ways there is not that much difference in substance but acknowledged nonetheless here.
Under the title of the Immaculate Conception, Mary is the patroness of the United States of America.
O God, who made the Bishop Saint Ambrose a teacher of the Catholic faith and a model of apostolic courage, raise up in your Church men after your own heart to govern her with courage and wisdom.
The prayers for todays Mass that honors the ecclesial memory of one of the famous saints are key to pinpointing what the Church most revers about the man who was concerned about right-thinking and right-praying Christians. Who was Ambrose? The Collects tells us that he was a bishop, saint teacher, model of courage seen in the apostles and capable of good governance, that is, he had courage and wisdom. What moved Ambrose? Again, the collects tell us he was constantly inspired by the light of faith.
The Church recalls Saint Ambrose of Milan (340?-397), bishop and Doctor of the Church. Ambrose was born in Trier to a Roman family: his father was praetorian prefect of Gaul and educated in Rome In about 372 he began his public service as prefect of Liguria and Emilia, whose capital was Milan.
Let’s recall that the ecclesial tradition indicates that the gospel was brought to Milan by Saint Barnabas and that the city’s first bishop was Saint Anathalon. In 374 the bishopric of Milan became vacant. An astute Ambrose tried to work with the conflict between orthodox Catholics and Arians over the appointment of a new bishop. His words were convincing and hopeful that the people demanded –not the pope– that he become the bishop of Milan.
Ambrose’s personal holiness was such that he gave his material belongs to the poor and to the Church. We attentive to the prayerful reading of the Scriptures and praying the Liturgy. He was a very attentive bishop as the Good Shepherd. Works of charity and clear teaching was attractive to many. As bishop he defended the rights of the Church and tried to correct the errors of the Arian heresy with learning, firmness and gentleness.
The Divine Office that we pray today is still peppered with Ambrose’s hymns.
Saints beget saints. Ambrose was central to the conversion of St Augustine to Catholicism.
Pope Benedict gave his own catechesis on this great saint today. Ambrose is the “Icon of Christ.”
We humbly implore your mercy, Lord: protect us in all dangers through the prayers of the Bishop Saint Nicholas, that the way of salvation may lie open before us.
Today’s saint restores the human dignity to his people and brings supernatural light to them, that is, he carries Jesus Christ to others.
Most people today have lost sight of who the real Nicholas is: he moves from being a bishop, one who offers the Divine Liturgy, wonder-worker, and a man of great charity in his teaching truth and helping the poor. We recognize in Saint Nicholas today not a man love and adherence to Christ but someone who represents insipidity. Nicholas is far from the commercial mindset. Hopefully we can target the reality and sweep away silliness.
Two Benedictines who blog give a little more insight into Saint Nicholas: Dom David and Dom Mark Daniel.
The Most Reverend Daniel A. Cronin, Archbishop Emeritus of Hartford, is coming to East Haven on Thursday, December 6, 2012 to preside and preach during an Advent Evening of Reflection, with a focus upon the “Year of Faith.”
The presentation begins at 7:00 PM and takes place at Our Lady of Pompeii Church, 355 Foxon Road, in East Haven.
The reflection will be offered in the context of a Holy Hour, to also include prayers, readings from Scripture, and the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Join us for prayer and let friends know.
Can I say this? I want every priest to be like Michel-Marie Zanotti-Sorkine: a sign of unlimited availability to Christ and to humanity.
In Marina Corradi’s Avvenire article “The Pope is Right: Everything Must Start Afresh from Christ,” (thanks to Sandro Magister for bringing this article to our consideration) she portrays a French priest in way that is attractive and full of great humanity.
Two paragraphs strike me as important for us to reflect upon:
• “…he affirms that a priest who has an empty church must examine himself and say: ‘It is we who lack fire.’ He explains: ‘The priest is ‘alter Christus,’ he is called to reflect Christ in himself. This does not mean asking perfection of ourselves; but being conscious of our sins, of our misery, in order to be able to understand and pardon anyone who comes to the confessional.’”
• “In church, he welcomes everyone with joy: ‘Even the prostitutes. I give them communion. What should I say? Become honest, before you enter here? Christ came for sinners, and I have the anxiety, in withholding a sacrament, that he could bring me to account for it one day. But do we still know the power of the sacraments? I have the misgiving that we have excessively bureaucratized the admission to
• baptism. I think of the baptism of my Jewish mother, which in terms of the request of my grandfather was merely a formal act: and yet, even from this baptism there came a priest.’”
His pastoral plan for those who ask the question about returning to the practice of the faith: “the Marian embrace, and impassioned apologetics, which touches the heart.”
A man with Russian-Jewish-Corisican-Italian blood, a singer-song writer, author (his latest is Au diable la tiédeur, {To the devil with lukewarmness}), and now an ordained Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Marseille.
Father Michel-Marie Zanotti-Sorkine is pastor at Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Marseille.
According to UNHCR data, Lebanon is currently hosting over
135,000 Syrians, not including many lucky enough to find work who haven’t
sought to be registered.
With AVSI, you can help by visiting this link.
Part of your Advent charitable giving, please consider making a donation to AVSI for this good work, others in the USA and internationally.
AVSI-USA
is a non-profit of the international AVSI network, supporting human development
in 38 countries, with special attention to each human person, according to
Catholic social teaching.
The Mission of AVSI is “To support the AVSI network
by leveraging resources and contacts in the U.S. in order to enhance and
broaden the achievements of member organizations in promoting human dignity in
developing countries. The Association of Volunteers in International Service is
an international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in
Italy in 1972. AVSI’s mission is to support human development in developing
countries with special attention to education and the promotion of the dignity
of every human person, according to Catholic social teaching. The AVSI-USA
office was established in 2001.”
Greek Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim, 91, died today, Wednesday, at a Beirut hospital after suffering a stroke a day earlier.