Communio – Page 377 – …bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Saint John, Apostle & Evangelist

This is John who reclined on the Lord’s breast at the Supper. O blessed Apostle, to whom were revealed heavenly secrets! (Magnificat antiphon)

The Roman Martyrology speaks of John in this way: “Sixty-eight years after the passion and death of His Lord, he died at a ripe old age. He was buried near Ephesus.” He was the lone of the 12 Apostles to die of natural causes, though he did suffer for Christ.

Perhaps no other of the Twelve than John has anyone been so close, so well-attuned to the Lord’s life, love and mission. To John was given the responsibility to mind Mary, the Mother of Jesus and thus to guide the Church in her in abiding in the Lord. It is not lost on us that the symbol of Saint John the Evangelist is the eagle who scales the heights and keenly aware of all things. In John’s case, he so sharply looks into reality and sees with profound depth the meaning of things.

About Saint John’s self-giving sacrifice we read:

Continue reading Saint John, Apostle & Evangelist

Pope Benedict lunches with Rome’s poor, marks Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday

Earlier today
the Paul VI Audience Hall was the setting for lunch with 250 of Rome’s
economically and socially challenged people with Pope Benedict XVI. For him, it
was an opportunity to meet Christ in brothers and sisters. The world, of
course, is more interested in knowing what the papal guests ate. The newswires
report that lasagna, veal and cake were on the menu. The Pope’s friends for
lunch are people who interface on a daily basis with the Missionaries of
Charity, the group of sisters founded by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Blessed Teresa’s 100th birthday is this year and the Pope wanted to acknowledge
the greatness of the woman who focused our attention to those most loved by God
and despised by the world.

Dear friends,

I’m very happy to be here today with
you, and I extend warm greetings to the Reverend Mother General of the
Missionaries of Charity, to the priests, sisters, contemplative brothers and
all of you here to enjoy this brotherly moment together.

Continue reading Pope Benedict lunches with Rome’s poor, marks Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday

The Holy Family

This mosaic
of the Holy Family is located in the Chapel at the Saint Peter Canisius, the
Jesuit House of Writers located on the Borgo Spirito Santo, Rome. The mosaic is by Father Mark Rupnik,
S.J. and the artisans of the Centro Alleti (Rome) December 23, 2007. Father
Rupnik inspiration were the Contemplations on the Incarnation and the Nativity
from Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises.

In the Exercises we read about
the Nativity. “The first point is [for me] to see the persons, that is, to see our
Lady, and Joseph, and the servant girl (the ancilla, the handmaid), and the
infant Jesus after he is born, making myself a poor little fellow and unworthy
little slave boy, looking at them, contemplating them, and serving them in
their needs as if I were there present, with all possible respect and
reverence.”

A version of Father Rupnik’s Holy Family mosaic is found in the Holy Family Chapel at the Knights of Columbus, Supreme Council, New Haven, Connecticut.

Tom Jones’ Praise & Blame

Sir Tom Jones, 70, the legendary Welsh born musician known for “She’s a Lady” and “Sex Bomb” released a new album that can’t be missed. Jones was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006. His July 2010 album “Praise and Blame”, his 36th album, is strongly influenced by the genres of gospel, rock, country, and the blues and it has received a critical review.

The music reviewer of the LA Times put Jones’ album in the top 5. For me, Jones has a great voice that needs to be savored.

Some say that Sir Jones did his best work in recent decades with “Praise and Blame” and it as the singer’s “rebirth.” You can’t miss the remake of one of Bob Dylan’s songs, “Oh Mercy.”

“Praise and Blame” has gotten the attention of the media in Rome: watch a video clip on Tom Jones’s newest work.

Recognizing the birth of the Savior!

An old Roman custom is reverencing the baby Jesus. One approaches the figure of the Christ child to bestow a kiss, often kissing the foot of the figure. It is a captivating gesture of recognition of the birth of the Savior.

Thanks to JP Sonnen for the picture.

Saint Stephen, the first killed for Christ

In the blood of the holy Levite Stephen “the Church dedicates the first-fruits of martyrdom” to the King of martyrs.

The day following Christmas, December 26, is observed liturgically by the Church as Saint Stephen’s Day. Saint Stephen’s feast is located so close to Christmas because of his very close connection with the Lord. Stephen is the first martyr –the protomartyr– of the New Testament (See Acts 6-7).

Today in 2010, the liturgical observance of Sunday is maintained as the Lord’s Day and is not trumped by a saint’s feast. The overlaying of the Holy Family feast today –observed on the Sunday following Christmas– doesn’t replace the Sunday observance nor the Scripture readings but today is the feast of the Holy Family and it is a rich feast nonetheless. But we don’t forget Saint Stephen!

The Polish children would imitate the stoning of Stephen by throwing walnuts at each other. In agricultural countries horses and horse food (hay and oats, and salt) are blessed. In the UK, Saint Stephen’s day is also known as “boxing day” because priests in medieval times they gave alms collected in Church to the poor. All shared in the Lord’s blessings. This charitable gesture of the priests was adopted by the laity who also gave alms to the poor. What you see here is the beauty of the gospel preached by Jesus and the Apostles realized in concrete ways. Money is counted and given freely, hence the breaking of the alms boxes became known as “boxing day” because it was an invitation to be mindful of the less fortunate. German children had piggy banks made of clay taking on the same sensibility as the British children knew. The Germans sometimes call today the “pig’s feast” because the clay pig bank was broken to gain access to the monetary savings to be given to others in need.

Since the saints always and unreservedly point to Christ, theologically we’d say that the Christ Child, the Divine Child, gave His blessings. Latin Americans would call the infant Jesus as “el Niño Jesús” or the Germanic peoples would call Him the “Christkind” or the diminutive “Christkindel” (and you see the origins of the word Kris Kringle and Santa Claus).

Whether the customs of the UK or Germanic countries prevail, the connection to Saint Stephen is maintained: as a deacon of the nascent Church, Stephen cared for the widow, the orphan, the outcast –the needy. Indeed, deacons looked after the temporal needs of all people, and he preached Jesus’ Good News of Salvation. The gesture of giving is form of witness to the abundant blessings of God, it is also a sermon not in words, but in concrete actions. The diakonia of Saint Stephen is recognized in the medium of giving away what one has received for the well-being of another. So, today is traditional days to honor those ordained to the Order of Deacon.

Pope’s Christmas message to the City of Rome & and to the World 2010

Verbum
caro factum est – The Word became flesh (Jn 1:14).

Dear
brothers and sisters listening to me here in Rome and throughout the world, I
joyfully proclaim the message of Christmas: God became man; he came to dwell
among us. God is not distant: he is “Emmanuel”, God-with-us. He is no
stranger: he has a face, the face of Jesus.

This message is ever new, ever
surprising, for it surpasses even our most daring hope. First of all, because
it is not merely a proclamation: it is an event, a happening, which credible
witnesses saw, heard and touched in the person of Jesus of Nazareth! Being in
his presence, observing his works and hearing his words, they recognized in
Jesus the Messiah; and seeing him risen, after his crucifixion, they were
certain that he was true man and true God, the only-begotten Son come from the
Father, full of grace and truth (cf. Jn 1:14).

Continue reading Pope’s Christmas message to the City of Rome & and to the World 2010

Christmas at Our Lady of Salvation Cathedral, Baghdad 2010

The commemoration of the Nativity of the Lord in all places of the world moves my heart as it does for all people of good will. More than ever the Christmas observance in Baghdad at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation, the place of the brutal killings of Christians –laity and clergy alike– on October 31, 2010.

May the newborn Savior, Jesus –Emmanuel– lead us more deeply into our humanity

and to perfect union with God the Father.

Pope Benedict’s homily for Christmas Eve Mass 2010

Christ draws us to Himself through beauty. Beauty in the sacred Liturgy, in music, words, human gesture, the human body, indeed, through His own birth. Here the Pope tells us again that the birth of the Savior, the Incarnation of the Word, i.e., God, really happened in history; it is a fact, not a legend or a pious myth. The birth of Jesus is not “a just nice” story and it is normative for all of humanity, all of history. The following is Pope Benedict XVI’s homily given tonight at Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City State, Rome.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

“You are my son, this
day I have begotten you” with this passage from Psalm 2 the Church begins
the liturgy of this holy night. She knows that this passage originally formed
part of the coronation rite of the kings of Israel.

The king, who in himself is
a man like others, becomes the “Son of God” through being called and
installed in his office. It is a kind of adoption by God, a decisive act by
which he grants a new existence to this man, drawing him into his own being.

The
reading from the prophet Isaiah that we have just heard presents the same
process even more clearly in a situation of hardship and danger for Israel:
“To us a child is born, to us a son is given. The government will be upon
his shoulder” (Is 9:6).

Installation in the office of king is like a
second birth. As one newly born through God’s personal choice, as a child born
of God, the king embodies hope. On his shoulders the future rests. He is the
bearer of the promise of peace.

On that night in Bethlehem this prophetic
saying came true in a way that would still have been unimaginable at the time
of Isaiah. Yes indeed, now it really is a child on whose shoulders government
is laid. In him the new kingship appears that God establishes in the world. This
child is truly born of God.

Continue reading Pope Benedict’s homily for Christmas Eve Mass 2010

The miracle we all await, Jesus, Father Julián Carrón says

Father Julián
Carrón, the head of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, gave this message for Christmas. He writes from Milan, Italy.

In the mystery of the Incarnation, man and history

“That Christianity
gives joy and breadth is also a thread that runs through my whole life.
Ultimately someone who is always only in opposition could probably not endure
life at all” (Light of the World, part 1). These words of Benedict XVI
challenge us to ask ourselves what it means to be Christians today. Continuing
to believe simply out of devotion, habit, or tradition, withdrawing into one’s
shell, does not meet the challenge. Similarly, reacting strongly and going on
the offensive in order to recover lost territory is insufficient; the Pope even
says that it would be unendurable.
Neither path -withdrawing from the world or opposing it- are capable of
arousing interest in Christianity, because neither respects what will always be
the canon of the Christian announcement: the Gospel. Jesus entered the world
with a capacity to attract that fascinated the people of His time. As Péguy
said, “He did not waste His years groaning and demanding explanations of the
wickedness of the times. He cut through … making Christianity.” Christ
introduced into history a human presence so fascinating that anyone who ran
into it had to take it into consideration, had to reject it or accept it. No
one was left indifferent.

Continue reading The miracle we all await, Jesus, Father Julián Carrón says