Christmas 2016

Two questions from the last post were:

Will I be ready to celebrate the arrival of Christ and to join Him on the path of humility through life's vicissitudes?

In every way imaginable, this blogger's answer to both is no, and he does not anticipate that he would ever be ready.

How does  one prepare oneself for the arrival of one's Lord and Savior?  John the Baptist said to repent but how can a sinner repent a lifetime of sins when the life has not yet ended?

And how is it possible to be humble like Christ Whose humility is neither the leading a life of seclusion nor one of passivity?  Christ's humility requires one to kneel before others to wash and dry their feet, and to accept unjust sentencing, physical torture and mental torment without complaint, and then to lay down one life for the sake of others willingly (one could conclude that by not doing anything to avoid or defend against harm is passive; on the other hand, one can also conclude that an exercise of one's Free Will, even if the action taken appears passive, is never passive).

Who on earth today does that?

Ready or not, Christmas 2016 is here, as is the current state of this world that under layers upon layers of denial is neither peaceful nor pleasant, that nobody wants to summarize objectively and take responsibility for; instead, what people do is point fingers at each other, forgetting that it is humility that would resolve many of the world's conflicts, large and small.

It would take the voice of One Who was born one holy night [1] not just to remind everyone the way to Heaven is through humility and  God but to also show how it is done, not that it was ever expected that sinners could do what the Son of God would do [2], to be the sacrificial lamb, foretold by His birth in a manger [3], Whose flesh would become the bread of life. [4], [5]

Amid the glittering lights and sounds of the holiday season, who would stop to think of music that would evoke a silent and holy night in Bethlehem where Christ was born? [6]  On Christmas Eve, in 1818, Franz Xaver Gruber did.  He composed the music to accompany the lyrics written by Joseph Mohr in Austria in 1816 "in Mariapfarr in the Lungau region where he was living at the time." [7]  It was a "melody for 2 solo voices together with choir and for accompaniment by guitar." [8], [9]

While the night was silent on earth, angels in Heaven were rejoicing, possibly, although unlikely, with the song Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, the lyrics to which was written by Charles Wesley in 1739 and subsequently revised by Rev. George Whitefield.  It was not "[u]ntil the mid-19th century, long after Wesley and Whitefield are gone [that] Felix Mendelssohn, the great German composer wrote in 1840 a tune to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Gutenberg printing press.  That's right. . . .music to celebrate technology.  Mendelssohn was adamant that his music NOT be used for religious purposes, but only for secular themes. Little did know that someday, his tune for 'Festgesang an die Kunstler' would be wed to Wesley/Whitefield's poem to celebrate the birth of Christ." [10] [EMPHASIS original], [11]

Christmas is truly wonderful, having Christ at the forefront of one's thoughts, but it ends much too early in the minds of most people, on the 26th of December.  Perhaps Christ is not being deemed an integral part of people's daily lives.  This disconnect can be attributed to the distraction by a cacophony of voices and noises, the weight of self-sufficiency, i.e., pride, and the lack of faith in God and attention to the almost imperceptible angelic message that from time to time clearly notifies the mind (once) which, when heard and heeded, will afford the protection against a future event that one does not wish to happen to oneself.

Angelic whispers may not be heard and heeded by all, but neither are the very specific words of Christ, but that does not mean that such whispers are non-existent and Christ's teachings are to be ignored in favor of self-determination and secularization, putting work, vacations, professional sporting events and all other forms of entertainment, Santa Claus and Christmas presents ahead of Christ.

Without Christ, one is without life.  Without the Blessed Virgin Mary, from Whose womb Christ was born, one is without the  most effective and unceasing Intercessor and Heaven's door would remain shut and there would only be water left for the wedding guests to drink after the wine is gone. [12]  Therefore, remember Christmas not only as an event of significance over two millennia ago, but also as an occurrence relevant to contemporary life, and the life beyond.

It is thus appropriate to continue to celebrate this Christmas 2016 beyond December 25th, ready or not, and join the King's College Cambridge singers in adoring Christ, the Lord with the song O Come, All Ye Faithful. [13]

Wishing all a Blessed
and
a Peaceful Christmas!

[1] As an aside, the song O Holy Night ("Cantique de Noel "), music by Adolphe Charles Adam, sung by Leontyne Price with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in a 1961 recording is in this blogger's opinion the best version of the song after listening to many, many who have tried to sing it.  It is on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEi9IDV3BzA; the vinyl LP version is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MXlm47iCzU
[2] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+10%3A17-27&version=NIV
[3] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-20
[4] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+6%3A56-59&version=NIV
[5] Panis Angelicus  by César Franck can be heard on Youtube.  This blogger's choice is the recording sung by Kiri Te Kanawa at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNk81Y6Sbk8
[6] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-20&version=NIV
[7] http://www.stillenacht.at/en/origin_song.asp
[8] Ibid.
[9] Stille Nacht, an original version performance by the Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sängerknaben) can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqUw4PgvytU
[10] http://www.aproundtable.org/history-blog/blog.cfm?ID=873&AUTHOR_ID=9
[11] This version of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing  on Youtube was sung by a lot of people in St. Paul's Cathedral in London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDPwNPAV6tA, but that was not enough for this blogger because this song ought to be sung in unison and in euphony by the entire world population, to let the angels in Heaven hear the people on earth taking part in "the triumph of the skies [w]ith the angelic host proclaim: 'Christ is born in Bethlehem.'"
[12] https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+2%3A1-11&version=NIV
[13] O Come, All Ye Faithful (King's College Cambridge singers, in English): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5rMQ6P12WY (2009); https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRq8eywc57I (2013); Adeste Fideles (Andrea Bocelli, in Latin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7qQ8hl_X7s

Third And Fourth Week Of Advent 2016

John the Baptist was the one who prepared for the way of the Lord.  The gospel reading on December 4, 2016, the second Sunday of Advent, was Matthew 3:1-12 [1] in which John the Baptist said, "'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'"  Continuing with John the Baptist, on December 11, 2016, the third Sunday of Advent, the gospel reading was Matthew 11:2-11 [2] in which Jesus spoke of John:

This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you,
among those born of women
there has been none greater than John the Baptist;
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [Emphasis orginal.] [3]

Looking ahead to December 18, 2016, the fourth Sunday of Advent, the gospel reading turns to Joseph who was asked by an angel to take Mary into his home and they were to name the Son Who would be born Emmanuel (Matthew 1:18-24) [4].  In another seven days, it would be Christmas Day.  The questions to ask oneself are: will I be ready to celebrate the arrival of Christ and to join Him on the path of humility through life's vicissitudes?



[1] http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120416.cfm
[2] http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121116.cfm
[3] This blogger does not understand what Jesus meant when He said that among those born of women that none had been greater than John the Baptist.  Did He mean that John the Baptist was greater than the Blessed Virgin Mary and Himself Who were both born of women, or did He mean that John the Baptist was indeed the greatest among the sinners born of women?  The latter has to be true since John the Baptist could not be greater than the Blessed Virgin Mary Who was preserved from the stain of Original Sin or Jesus Who is the God-Son.  Alternatively, perhaps the answer could be found in the very next sentence of Jesus Who said that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven would be greater than John the Baptist.  Who exactly is the "least" in the Kingdom of Heaven?  Two people come to mind.  The first is the Blessed Virgin Mary because She was the one person Who was born of a sinner, Who humbled Herself before God with Her willingness to do whatever God willed and Who entered the Kingdom of Heaven by means of a preordained and God-willed Assumption as compared to Jesus Who returned to Heaven by His Self-willed Ascension, but the Blessed Virgin Mary is not likely the "least" in the Kingdom of Heaven.  This blogger thinks that Jesus was referring to Himself when He spoke of the "least" in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Even though Jesus was born not of a sinner but of the Immaculate Conception (the Blessed Virgin Mary told Bernadette Soubirous on Thursday, March 25, 1858: "'I am the Immaculate Conception.'" See http://www.catholicpilgrims.com/lourdes/bg_lourdes_conception.htm), Jesus' life from birth to death was a life of humility, and it was Jesus' steadfast humility that Jesus became the "least" in the Kingdom of Heaven.  By being the "least" Christ able to triumph over Sin and Satan.  Therefore, as great as John the Baptist was among sinners born of women, he was neither greater than the Mother of God nor the Son of God.
[4] http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121816.cfm

Feast Of The Immaculate Conception - December 8, 2016

"The Immaculate Conception refers to the condition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. We celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary—her birth—on September 8; nine months before that is December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception." [1] [Hyperlinks omitted.]

"Many people, including many Catholics, think that the Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of Christ through the action of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That event, though, is celebrated at the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25, nine months before Christmas)." [2] [Hyperlinks omitted.]

In the words of Blessed John Duns Scotus "who presented a systematic theology of the Marian privilege of the Immaculate Conception, which the Catholic Church officially proclaimed as a Dogma of Faith in the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of Pope Pius IX (8th December 1854)" [3]:

"Christ was the most perfect mediator.  Therefore he exercised the highest degree of mediation in favour of another person.  Now he could not be a most perfect mediator and could not repair the effects of sin to the highest degree if he did not preserve his Mother from original sin (as we shall prove).  Therefore, since he was the most perfect mediator regarding the person of his Mother, from this it follows that he preserved her from original sin." [4]

That was John Duns Scotus' first argument, asserting that Christ was the most perfect mediator. [5]  This opening salvo left those who opposed Scotus without any chance to recover.  Noel Muscat, OFM, speaking of Scotus, stated that "in all his arguments in this question on the Immaculate Conception, is the verb 'to preserve'." [6]  More than to preserve, this blogger believes that Christ, the perfect mediator, not only found it essential that His Mother be "preserved" from the stain of Original Sin, but to love His Mother perfectly, as only Christ, the God-Son can, and as any son of his mother would want to.

Because of the perfect love the Mother of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, had received, She is in turn continuously giving this love to all, as the perfect intercessor for all sinners.  It is on the day of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception that one ought to remember especially Christ's perfect love for His Mother that She would be preserved from Original Sin, Her absolute obedience to God and Her unconditional love She has for each and every sinner.


+ In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti +



[1] http://catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings/f/Imm_Concept_FAQ.htm
[2] Ibid.
[3] http://www.christendom-awake.org/pages/marian/scotus&immac.htm
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.

Second Week Of Advent 2016

Food for the soul was not served at Mass today and this blogger remained unnourished until he found online a homily that filled his hunger this second week of Advent.  It was written by Fr. Robert J. Carr [1] in 2004.  It is quoted below in its entirety with this blogger's subjective (and probably annoying) additions in brackets (readers who are not in the mood to be annoyed ought to click on the link below at [2]:

Homily for 2nd Sunday of Advent

By Fr. Robert J. Carr
©Catholic Online 2004

HOMILY FOR 2ND SUNDAY IN ADVENT YEAR A

If I were to sum up this gospel reading in one word, it would be passion. We need to look at the scene of John the Baptist confronting the Pharisees. Notice how angry he gets at their arrival. It is not just he disagrees with them, their presence is virtually sickening to him. The reason why is not stated, but, we can assume some reasons.

John, a man passionate about his love for God and passionate about his desire that others know Him, is most likely sickened by the way the Pharisees and the leaders of the Church cheapen and water down the powerful grace of God. They end up keeping for their own glorification that power and grace God has given to them in the form of status and ecclesial power. Meanwhile, the people they were called to serve are left hungry.

The Jewish community [applicable also to today's Catholic community] becomes like sheep without a shepherd and the great power of the work of God becomes a lesson in Ho Hum Mediocrity. When the people John deems responsible for this mess arrive for his baptism, it is then that he lets out all his fury against him [except that today, many of those people (so-called "progressives") responsible for this mess are already baptized and are men of cloth]. "Show me that you intend to repent."  [The progressives are too proud to repent.]

He believes in a sense they are again using God's grace for their own glorfication [sic]. 

PROVE TO THE WORLD THAT YOU BELIEVE

His demand must be made to us as well. Prove to the world that you believe, not only by repenting but also by believing in the gospel. Be passionate about your faith and in so doing you will your faith in a way that not only changes your life, but your world around you.

Sometime ago, I told one of the leaders of one of those groups that want to "Change the Church" that I intended to be their worst enemy. [Therefore, do not expect that this pope will be appointing Fr. Robert J. Carr as bishop any time soon, at least not the Fr. Robert J. Carr in 2004.] Believe it or not, I did not say that as one who seeks their total destruction. I said that as a Drill Instructor would say to his recruit. The drill instructor makes himself the worst enemy to the recruit because through this process the recruit is molded into a powerful machine for security and change. It has been this way for millenia [sic].

ARE WE LIKE SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD?

These "Change the Church" groups are people like sheep without a shepherd. They think they know where they are going, and that only deepens their confusion. Yet, they are more symptomatic of a Church filled with people who are equally lost. We hear of "Catholic" Colleges that remove crucifixes so that they can gain government funding. We hear of families that dismiss the idea of going to mass forgetting that it is at mass we encounter God himself. We even hear of priests who waste their vocation by enjoying this life and not preparing for the one to come [--a sad truth, one that possibly applies to the pope as well as his appointees]. Finally, too often we hear the complaint that mass is boring.

All of this together water downs the community. It leaves the entire community self focused and makes the divine to be an amorphous God who loves us and is the definition of permissiveness. [Prophetic words written 12 years earlier by Fr. Robert J. Carr.]

DIVINE WISDOM VERSUS HUMAN WISDOM

The foundation of our call to repentance is drawn from the Psalmist who teaches that faith is the wisdom of the simple. We get our wisdom from God. Those who reject us get their wisdom from themselves. [They are the secularists.  Quite possibly this pope is one of them.] Our wisdom is from God. Theirs is human. I will listen to God. Our situation is kind of like one that happened 500 years ago. People claimed that there was nothing beyond the horizon. The world was flat. Others argued that the human perception was wrong, that in fact the world was round. We, who use Divine Wisdom, are the modern equivalent of the people screaming to people to understand that the world is round, while others basing their ideas only on human perception are the one's showing us the horizon and saying, "Don't you see, the world is flat."

We need to understand that Divine Wisdom opens our minds to truths beyond the comprehension of human wisdom. ["God's Truths" as this blogger calls them.] This is why John angrily protested those who, given the gift of Divine wisdom, compromised themselves and instead embraced just the human.

WHAT WOULD JOHN SAY?

Imagine what John would say if he came to this situation here today in our US Catholic community. Would he not say the same thing from east coast to west coast [and from the Vatican to every corner of the world]? He would call us to repent of our mediocrity, to get down on our knees and ask God to set our hearts on fire. He would lead us to the sacraments and call us to build great devotions in our churches. He would also call us to convert the lukewarm, and hand over to the Just God the hidden cold members, the ones working actually to undermine the gospel of Christ. He would say to us in his passionate voice "Be on fire for Christ." He may even call us to radicalize our schools. Be alive in Christ, turn from your mediocrity and never return to it again." Notice something else, he would be calling all of us to do that, from top to bottom. However, his focus would not be on the upper levels, but on the lower levels of the Church. [John the Baptist's focus today would probably include those at the very top.] Catholicism is as much a bottom up organization as much as it is hierarchical.

DON'T CHANGE THE DECKCHAIRS ON TOP BUILD UP THE VESSEL AT THE BOTTOM

This brings me back to "Change the Church" groups. The "Change the Church" groups are a reaction of people saying that do not want to pay, pray and obey, which again has never been church teaching in the first place. These groups make that response administratively. There is nothing accomplished in changing the administration. Change the adminstration [sic] and forget the devotional life of the Church as has been handed down for centuries and you are literally doing an ecclesial form of moving around the deckchairs on the Titanic. The real life of the Church comes from its inspired devotional life and that is the role of every Catholic. We are all called to be alive in Christ and bring that life to our family, our community and to our world. Then, we are converted to the living God, when we experience the Joy of the Holy Spirit, then change the administration because at that point, like John, you will have the passion and the correct vision to do it. Ghandi [sic] said "If Christians lived their religion there would not be a hindu [sic] in India." Americanize that and realize "If Christians lived their religion there would not be a gang member in the United States." [Emphasis added.] 

John would point out our idolatries, including our greatest idolatry, the worship of the educated over the wise [i.e., the proud and the loud over the humble and the voiceless]. You know I am amazed at how many parents work three jobs to send a child to a Catholic school and then complain to me after graduation that the child has no interest in Church.

As we hear John's words to us today. We need to ask the question what would he say personally to each one of us? "Come receive the baptism of repentance." or "Show me you truly have come here to repent and to hear the good news."

[1] Fr. Robert J. Carr is serving as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Quincy, MA.  See http://holytrinityquincy.com/people/fr-robert-j-carr

[2] http://www.catholic.org/featured/headline.php?ID=1575