And finally, if we haven't already made one to three New Year's resolutions, today - now - is the time to do it! I love waking up on the first day of the year and knowing exactly what I'm going to do.

Here are some recommendations for good resolutions from Fr. Joseph F. Hogan, SJ, in his 1961 book, A Do-it-Yourself Retreat:

"1. I decide upon a few efficacious means that will remove disorder from my life.

"2. I choose something that will improve my daily habits: prayer, family life, work, social contacts.

"3. I keep before my eyes motives strong enough to make me carry out my resolution. For example: I will be happier, closer to God, surer of salvation. I will be using my God-given talents.

"4. I begin at once to put my resolutions into practice, having written them down for daily, weekly, and monthly review....I will keep the paper upon which I have written my resolution in my missal where I can review it periodically...I promise you, Lord, that on each Sunday at Mass I will glance over this decision, and if I have not carried it out I will begin again."

Most exciting of all, tomorrow morning, the first day of 2017, gives us a chance to "begin again". Picture a spotless field of snow, with no footprints in it yet. As Anne of Green Gables said about any day, "Tomorrow is fresh, with no mistakes in it." :) 

2017 is fresh, with no mistakes (or footprints) in it. Let's make it a great one!

Let us also remember that this can apply anytime. If it's 3:58 pm now where you are, know that the 4 o'clock hour is fresh, with no mistakes in it yet! We can always start over...while we're still alive, we can start over. Start fresh. Start anew, with courage.

Yesterday, we talked about "deciding on the means to take the disorder out of our lives and advancing in perfection" in 2017. Great idea! But how? Father Hogan, in his 1961 book, A Do-it-Yourself Retreat, continues:

"Method:

1. The desire to choose and use the necessary means to order my life and free myself from sin must come from God. So I should pray to the Holy Ghost for light and the desire to follow God's will.

2. Using a projective technique, I place myself in the position of a man who is giving advice to a person whom he does not know but who is asking for help to serve God more perfectly. I then follow the advice I would sincerely give this person.

3. Another way of obtaining objectivity and detachment is to look at the matter from the point of view I shall have at the moment of death. Let me do now what I shall then wish to have done. This should not be a grim, ghoulish affair. The viewpoint of eternity helps to sift out the nonessential and, as St. Thomas More shrewdly observed, 'We can live for the next life and be merry withal.'

4. I offer my resolutions to God. I ask Him to accept them and to give me the courage and strength to keep them."

Anyone who has made an Ignatian retreat will recognize the wisdom of St. Ignatius of Loyola in these ideas. As Father Hogan says, the thought, "What will I wish to have done on my deathbed?" is not meant to be frightening. Motivational speaker Tony Robbins calls it the rocking-chair test - "What will I wish to have done when I'm too old to do anything but sit on a front porch in a rocking chair?"

Instead of drowning in all that we have to do, we must take a little time and think, "What do I really want to accomplish this year?" Some of our goals will be material or physical, but most importantly, we should have a spiritual goal/resolution. A specific one. Not just a vague, "I want to be kinder this year." Break it down into something very specific and doable. 

Ruth Soukup, another motivational speaker, quotes Charles Duhigg in saying that our goals must be - SMART: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, Time-Bound. Maybe in the example of kindness, we could resolve, "I won't go to bed at night until I've performed one act of kindness to someone else - my spouse, my child, my relatives, my friends, a stranger. Each week I will choose one person that I can help, and do something to lighten their load." The Big Picture is still: I will be kinder this year, but it's broken down into something specific and doable.

(One more entry from this book will be posted tomorrow, to help us with our New Year's resolutions...)

Today is the feast of St. Thomas Beckett. As you can see above, the city of Canterbury, UK, has not changed much since his day...(well, except for that crane in the background LOL).

Thomas Beckett knew what he stood for: God and the Rights of the Church. He made his choices based on that stand, and he died for that stand. Decide what you stand for, what you believe in, and what you want your life to MEAN. Then live and die for that cause.

Here is his cathedral, where he was attacked by murderous knights who were doing what King Henry II wished...


(As I state in my profile, all pics on this blog are mine; I hold the copyright, unless otherwise stated.)

So once we've decided what our life goal is, and our life's purpose, then we can break it down into a suitable New Year's resolution....

"It is useful to make a plan for the year ahead -- to give our spiritual lives a definite direction. A general resolution: 'I'll be good,' is a little too vague. Our aim is to find God and lead a fuller, happier life in union with Him. That is, I want either to decide my vocation, or decide upon the means I should adopt to take disorder out of my life and to advance in the perfection of my present state of life...." (more on this tomorrow!)                                        ~ Rev. Joseph F. Hogan, SJ, A Do-it-Yourself Retreat, imprimatur 1961.

Today the Church commemorates the death of the Holy Innocents, the baby boys that were martyred by Herod in his efforts to kill the Christ Child. Once again, God takes the evil and regrettable actions of men and brings good things from them...

"Let us chant the hymn of the martyred Innocents, whom earth lost and wept, but Heaven gained and was glad....Around His throne now stand, glittering in their fair bright robes, these Innocents that washed their garments red in the Blood of the Lamb. They had sighed and wept for the kingdom of the everlasting world: now they stand joyfully before God, and bright in their robes of glory are ever singing His praise."

~ Venerable Bede, as quoted in The Liturgical Year

(A cranium believed to belong to one of the Holy Innocents, Church of St. Trophime, Arles, France)

Happy St. John's Day!

(from a painting in St. John Lateran's in Rome)

He recorded these timeless words of the Master, Our Lord Jesus Christ:

"As the Father hath loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love: as I also have kept My Father's commandments, and do abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be filled..."

Our Lord tells us these things, through the pen of His beloved disciple, Saint John, that our joy may be filled! I hope and pray that your joy may be filled during this glorious season.

"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if you do the things that I command you."

~ Gospel of St. John, 15:9-11,13-14.

We are His friends, if we obey the Commandments...what more can we ask? What greater friend could we have, than the Lord and Master of all?

Happy St. Stephen's Day!

(Large painting of the martyrdom of St. Stephen in the church of St. Trophime, Arles, France)

"And Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did great wonders and signs among the people..." 

(Acts 6:8)

The young deacon Stephen made such a difference in the lives of the new converts that the Apostles made. God bless all our young men on the way to the priesthood!

(Bones of Saint Stephen venerated in the same church: St. Trophime, Arles, France)

"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly to Heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And he said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." 

(Acts 7:55)

What a comfort it must have been to the young cleric when he had a vision of Jesus in Heaven right before they stoned him to death! He died with forgiveness in his heart and on his lips. Let us forgive our enemies for Christ's sake too....

 "We should all be like so many simple shepherds watching over the flocks of our affections, ready to adore this our Infant Savior, as soon as the Angels call us. We should offer Him, as a pledge of our eternal service, the finest lamb we possess; that is, all our love, without any reserve or exception. Oh, how happy shall we be, and what great consolation shall we receive, if we thus visit the Savior of our souls! As the manna had the taste of every kind of food, so this Divine Infant contains in Himself every kind of consolation. Each one can find in Him what he desires, and proportionate to his capacity, provided that he possess the requisite dispositions.....Let us often visit this Child, lying in a manger; and let us learn from Him how to act in all things according to His Most Holy Will."

~ Don Gaspar Gilli, The Month of Mary, According to the Spirit of St. Francis of Sales, imprimatur 1890.

What a wonderful thought, that the Infant Jesus is the source of all consolation (as we say in the litany) and that He consoles each of us in the way that we, personally, most need. He may have been a poor helpless Baby in the manger on the first Christmas, but now we approach Him, ourselves poor and needy and helpless, knowing that He can make our every dream come true....

Nollaig Shona Dhuit! (Merry Christmas in Irish)

"O Jesus, Jesus:
to enter that stable into which Thy divine mother has gone for refuge I must await the holy hour when the Church will call me there. Today I may only kneel at its threshold and think of the love which it contains. While kneeling there I feel my heart filled with compassion, for it was under a roof of straw, in a cave, and on the straw of a stable Thou, the God of Heaven and earth, the Desired of nations, the immortal King of ages, wast born...

"And yet, O my Savior, it is not over Thy mother's poverty and anguish on that night at Bethlehem, nor is it over Thine own destitution and sufferings that I must weep. Much more must I weep over myself. For on this night of mystery Thou wilt descend again to us, and our hearts will be like those inns of Bethlehem in which there was no room for Thee. O Jesus, I have received Thee badly so often in the past, perhaps even repulsed Thee. Preserve me today from a like misfortune. Prepare for Thyself the place which Thou wilt fill within my soul. And as, formerly, Mary defended Thee against the coldness of the night and the winter's frost by pressing Thee to her heart, I would make Thee forget the ingratitude of men by the strength of my adoration and my love. Amen."

~ L'Abbe Max Caron, The Expectation of Jesus: Meditations for Every Day in Advent, 1900.

Our Lord chooses the poor and simple for His greatest works: how comforting!

(St. Joseph and the Child Jesus represented in the Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalen in 

Saint-Maximin, France)

"When we are blinded by pride or beset by ambition, when human greatness draws us after it, can we do better than turn our thoughts and gaze to the high road leading from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and learn a lesson of humility. St. Joseph...this simple carpenter, is he whom God, refusing the protection of the powerful and great ones of this world, has chosen to be the guardian of His childhood, the guide of His youth and the companion of His mortal life for about thirty years....By such lessons we recognize our God incarnate, Who came to overthrow our pride by treading underfoot our human greatness."

~ L'Abbe Max Caron, "The Expectation of Jesus: Meditations for Every Day in Advent", 1900.

Imagine the lowly carpenter leading a donkey, on which is seated his beautiful but poor wife, who is with Child. 

The Child. 

The Child the world has awaited since the fall of Adam. He cometh!

Ninety-nine years ago today, on December 22, 1917, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron saint of immigrants, went to Heaven. It was her last and greatest journey.

Her sense of humor comes out in some of her letters during her earthly travels. After an arduous trip from Europe to the United States in September, 1894, she wrote: "I wanted to go to Heaven, but with one thing and another we have entered the New York Bay."

Her joy was not even lost when she became badly sunburned/windburned on the deck of a ship, and in May 1895, she wrote: "Yesterday, at mid-day, my eyes were almost closed by the swelling, and I had to stop writing. Today the swelling has greatly diminished, but there are white blisters on my forehead which give me the appearance of a leper. How strange and wonderful! No one here can tell me what it is, but it is consoling to abandon oneself to the most Adorable and most Loving Heart of Jesus..."

When things happen to us, do we abandon ourselves to the Heart of Jesus? 

Today is the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. In this photo, the third reliquary from the left contains the finger of St. Thomas, the one that he poked into the Wounds of Our Lord. It is venerated in Rome at the "Church of the Holy Cross at Jerusalem".

Our Lord always brings good from apparent evil...in the case of Thomas, He proved His "aliveness" by showing Himself to Thomas. His words ring down through the ages in an encouragement to us: "Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed."

Rev. Hilary Maurice Vigo, in his 1878 book, The Immaculate Conception: The History, Trials, and Triumphs of the Work of God at Lourdes, writes of Thomas:

"He had said he would not believe the Resurrection of his Divine Master unless he was assured of it by his sight and touch. And Jesus appears to him after the resurrection, and invites him to put his finger into the holes the nails had made in His Hands and Feet, and his hand into the spear-gash in His sacred Side. What condescension! He, therefore, does not wish us to believe blindly the truths of faith; and, far from prohibiting, He, in fact, counsels study and examination, in order that we may become convinced of their dogmatic certainty....Look at St. Thomas: by his apparent incredulity he gave an occasion to the Divine Redeemer to illuminate him, and at the same time to enlighten and convince all Christians regarding the truth of His resurrection."

"The rose grows amidst thorns; 

and the most beautiful and most solid virtues grow amidst the severest contradictions."

~ St. Francis de Sales

When our lives are filled with stresses and tribulations, we can grow the strongest virtues if we handle them with love and strength! Love - of God and neighbor, and Strength - firmness when needed and patience toward all.

This photo shows a patisserie in Annecy, the hometown of St. Francis de Sales. This saint made the spiritual life sweet, attractive, and accessible, like these treats. Have you read any works by St. Francis de Sales lately?

Instead of condemning poor everyday sinners like you and me, he showed us how to take our weaknesses and turn them into strengths, how to profit from our faults, how to pick ourselves up and keep going on the road to Heaven.

"It is, perhaps, because the halo surrounding St. Francis de Sales was the illumination of human frailties purified, that the heart of erring humanity clings so lovingly to his memory. No fault was too petty, no sin too heinous for his gentle consideration. A skillful spiritual chemist, he carefully analyzed every act, trivial or serious, with reference to its influence upon the human soul. With great tenderness, he made the sinner conscious of the exact condition of his soul, and then like a loving brother, he firmly grasped that sinner's hand, and with sweet words of encouragement and loving persuasion, he led the poor weary soul to the feet of God, and taught it how to stay there."

~Martha Murray, from "Immortelles of Catholic Columbian Literature compiled from the Works of American Catholic Women Writers by the Ursulines of New York," 1896.

Painting of the Expectant Mary greeting the Expectant Elizabeth, 

photographed in Saint-Saveur Church in Aix-en-Provence, France.

Today, December 18th, is "the feast of Our Lady's Expectation, which the Church has established and sanctioned as a new means of exciting the attention of the faithful during these last days of Advent. Most just indeed it is, O holy Mother of God, that we should unite in that ardent desire thou hadst to see Him, who had been concealed for nine months in thy chaste womb; to know the features of this Son of the heavenly Father, who is also thine; to come to that blissful hour of His birth, which will give glory to God in the highest, and, on earth, peace to men of good will...Make us redouble our attention to the great mystery; complete our preparation by thy powerful prayers for us, that when the solemn hour has come, our Jesus may find no obstacle to His entrance into our hearts."

~ Abbot Gueranger, OSB, "The Liturgical Year, vol. 1 Advent", originally published in 1867.

The world would have our anxiety level increase this week: Have I done all my shopping for everyone on my list? Have I sent all my cards? Have I chosen a tie/dress/outfit for the office party? Have I planned my Christmas entertaining? Are all the bulbs working on the Christmas lights on my house? Have I baked a dozen different kinds of holiday treats?

But internally, deep in our souls, let us "excite the attention" in recalling this great mystery, that 2016 years ago (or so :), a young woman in Palestine was almost nine months pregnant, and she was awaiting with great eagerness and joy the Son who would redeem the world...

"If we are sometimes afraid of the majesty and eternity of God, let us go to that little Child in a stable, who holds out His Arms to us so lovingly. He is our God. Let us go to Nazareth and there contemplate the boyhood of the Eternal: His kind and beautiful Face, His tender and compassionate glance. He is our God. Let us go to the plains of Palestine and make our way through the crowd who press round Jesus of Nazareth; we shall see the sick stretch out their hands in supplication to Him; sinful women find pardon and salvation at His Feet; children play in His Arms and only leave Him after having received His blessing and caresses. That merciful Jesus is our God."

~ L'Abbe Max Caron, "The Expectation of Jesus: Meditations for Every Day in Advent", 1900.

(Borrowed from WikiArt)

When St. Joseph saw that Mary was with Child, imagine what a shock it was for him! Now what should he do? The Jewish law was clear. St. Bonaventure writes:

"He sought not how to avenge himself, but, overcome with pity, and wishing to forgive, he was minded to put her away privately. But herein also had Our Lady her share of tribulation, for she took notice of Joseph's trouble, and it sorely grieved her. Yet did she humbly hold her peace, and hide the gift of God. Better did it seem unto her that evil should be thought of her than that she should reveal the divine mystery, and say aught of herself which would come nigh to boasting. Therefore did she beseech Our Lord that [He] Himself would right this matter, and make pass this grief from Joseph and herself. Here thou mayst learn what great tribulation and anxiety was theirs. But God came unto their assistance. He therefore sent His angel, who spake unto Joseph in his sleep, and told him that his spouse had conceived of the Holy Ghost, and that he was to abide with her in all surety and joy. Whereupon, the tribulation ceased, and they were both exceedingly comforted. So likewise would it befall us if we would suffer patiently, for after a storm God brings a calm. Neither oughtest thou to doubt this, for God suffereth not His servants to be afflicted save for their good."

Oooh....good food for thought here! If we were to suffer our tribulations patiently and prayerfully, God would bring a calm to our lives too, for we never are afflicted except for our good! Thanks be to God!

(Simple painting found in the home of St. John Vianney at Ars)

Maybe the quote below won't seem like the usual "Words of Encouragement", but I take this excerpt as being an encouragement toward the beauty of humility. St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars, said that humility is like the chain that holds the beads of our virtues together. If you pull out the chain, the beads scatter.

"Pride is the most dangerous of all vices, for, as St. Gregory teaches, while others destroy only their opposite virtues - as, for example, anger destroys patience, this annihilates every virtue, because by refusing to God the glory that is His due, it impels a man to the practice of virtue merely through self-love. On the contrary, humility is the most useful of all virtues, because it refers them all to God, and guards and protects them."

~ Rev. Hilary Maurice Vigo, The Immaculate Conception:

The History, Trials and Triumphs of the Work of God at Lourdes, 1878.

Last year in Golden, Colorado

I'm going to share another quote today from Fr. Delp's book. It's a very cold day where I live, and the last part of this quote struck me...the idea of the world "freezing to death because it deadens itself deep down inside."

Although at this time of year everyone is talking about good cheer and peace on earth and "JOY", the world at large is shutting out the love, peace and joy of Our Lord and deadening itself to His message. When the world hardens its heart against the cries of the needy, the elderly, the infants, the suffering, and instead only hears its own selfish greed for more money and power, then the world is truly freezing to death, in a more real sense than by the thermometer.

Let us warm the world by "building a bridge to the other shore and experience that grace" as Fr. Delp recommends:

"The Blessed Mother is the most comforting figure of Advent. That the angel's message found her heart ready, and the Word became Flesh, and in the holy room of her motherly heart the earth grew far beyond its limitations into the human-divine sphere -- these are the holiest comforts of Advent. What use to us are the thought and lived experience of our affliction, if no bridge is built to the other shore? How can the terror of chaos and confusion help us, if no light flares up to equal and overcome the darkness? What use to us is this shivering from cold and hardship, in which the world is freezing to death the more it loses and deadens itself deep down inside, if we do not at the same time experience that grace which is mightier than the danger and the lostness?"

~ Fr. Alfred Delp, SJ, writing from his prison in Nazi Germany.

 An Angel by Fra Angelico

"To believe in the golden seeds of God that the angels have scattered and continue to offer an open heart are the first things we must do with our lives. And the next is to go through these gray days as announcing messengers ourselves. So much courage needs strengthening; so much despair needs comforting; so much hardship needs a gentle hand and an illuminating interpretation; so much loneliness cries out for a liberating word; so much loss and pain seek a spiritual meaning. God's messengers know about the blessing that the Lord God has planted, even within these historic times."

~ Fr. Alfred Delp, SJ, writing from Nazi-held Tegel Prison, December, 1944.

"The comfort of Advent shines forth in so many various ways from this hidden figure of the blessed and waiting Mary. Oh, that this was granted to the earth, to bring forth such fruit! That the world was permitted to enter into the presence of God through the sheltering warmth, as well as the helpful and reliable patronage of her motherly heart!"

~ Fr. Alfred Delp, SJ, written from Nazi Tegel Prison, December, 1944.

God could have come into the world any way He wished. He could have appeared, fully grown, with no one knowing where He came from. He could have arrived in a chariot from the clouds. But instead, He chose to come as a tiny baby nestled under His mother's heart in her womb. Who could be intimidated by a tiny Baby born in a stable?

This quote reminds me, too, of what the Blessed Mother said when she appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 A.D., an event we celebrate today, on this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She was dressed as a woman who is expecting a child, fittingly for Advent. She said: 

"Do not be troubled or weighed down with grief. Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?...Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else you need?"

I'm sorry, I can't resist just one more quote:

"We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor His Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor Him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son."

~ St. Louis de Montfort

I'm sorry that I don't know the artist of this picture, or I would happily give him/her the credit. It always reminds me of Dr. Leonard of Arizona, who calls his medical practice "Morning Star" after the Blessed Virgin, and who gave out this picture as a memento when he married.

We reflect on the spiritual beauty that must have been present in the Virgin Mary, especially as she bore God Himself in her womb for nine months. We, of course, do not worship her as we do God, but we ask her to intercede with Her Divine Son to make us more like Him every day. Think of the holiness ("the sanctity so amiable" noted below) that must have radiated from her when God Himself was living within her.

"Reflect, therefore, dear reader, upon her sanctity so amiable, and so much esteemed, even by the angels -- upon the graces she had in this life, and the glory with which God has crowned her in Heaven. Keep before your mind's eye this great prodigy, as the Apostle and Evangelist, St. John, calls her -- that is to say, this peerless woman, clothed with the sun, having the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars around her head, and then say if it is not worth your while in order to merit her love, to renounce the riches, honors and pleasures of this world by becoming truly devoted to her. Make a compact with yourself never more to think of persons or things that may cause you to fall into sin."

~ Rev. Hilary Maurice Vigo, "The Immaculate Conception: the History, Trials, and Triumphs of the Work of God at Lourdes," 1878.

(This image of Fra Angelico's Annunciation was found on Wikimedia)

Today we commemorate the Translation of the House of Loreto - the small humble dwelling where the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ took place in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

St. Bonaventure wrote:

"Now, when the fullness of that time had come, wherein the Most High Trinity, in exceeding love, had decreed to save mankind by the Incarnation of the Word; the Divine mercy, and the instant prayers of the blessed spirits, pressed for the accomplishment of this redemption. The Blessed Virgin Mary having returned to Nazareth, the Almighty called unto Him the Archangel Gabriel, and thus spake unto him: 'Go thou unto our well-beloved daughter Mary, that is espoused unto Joseph, and that is dear unto us above all our creatures; and say unto her, that the Son of God hath been taken with her beauty, and chosen her that she be His Mother. Pray for her that she accept Him joyously, for that through her have I decreed to save all mankind, and no longer remember the injuries done unto Me.'"

Let us pray for each other that we "accept Him joyously" when He comes to us spiritually this Christmas.

Father Alfred Delp, SJ, was martyred by the Nazis in 1945. In his sermons and writings, he often referred to the spiritual significance of Advent, preparing for Our Lord's coming into our hearts.

"First in wartime Munich and later, from his Berlin prison cell, he preached the timeless spiritual message that we are truly human only when our lives are centered on God....He described the season of Advent as a journey into the holy place of encounter with the living God."

These words are taken from the introduction to Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons and Prison Writings of Fr. Alfred Delp, SJ. 

Let us contemplate these simple thoughts today:

We are truly human only when our lives are centered on God.

Advent is a journey into the holy place of encounter with the living God.

(The grotto at Lourdes, where this happened)

"A beautiful lady" had appeared repeatedly to 14-year-old St. Bernadette, when finally, on March 25th, 1858, when the girl saw the Lady in the Grotto again at Lourdes, she begged her to tell her who she was. After she had asked three times, "The Apparition seemed to become still brighter with beatific splendor, and to be wrapped up, as it were, in its own felicity," writes Fr. Hilary Maurice Vigo in his 1878 book, The Immaculate Conception: The History, Trials and Triumphs of the Work of God at Lourdes. And after the teenager had asked a fourth time, "The Lady had her hands fervently joined, while her face shone with the splendor of infinite beatitude. There was humility in that brightness....Next she extended her arms and inclined them towards the ground, as if to show to the world her virginal hands full of benedictions; and then elevating them towards the eternal mansions whence, on that day, the Divine messenger of the Annunciation had descended, she joined them again with fervor, and looking on Heaven with sentiments of unspeakable gratitude pronounced these words: 'I am the Immaculate Conception.' Having spoken thus, she disappeared."

What strikes me most about this passage is not Our Lady's beauty and gracefulness, although that is evident. It's not Bernadette's persistence, though that is interesting too. 

It is the bliss that the blessed in Heaven, especially Our Lady, enjoy. She becomes bright with the glory and joy of Heaven, wrapped up in her own happiness. Sometimes we get a little flash of spiritual joy, a tiny taste of Heaven, but it soon is swept away by all that is going on around us, especially the struggles and sorrows of this life. Imagine experiencing "infinite beatitude" - unlimited joy that beams from every part of your being in visible brilliant rays. 

If we follow Our Lord in this life, and keep His Commandments, we will experience "infinite beatitude" too. So I hope, so may it be. Amen.

I know I've mentioned this concept before, but I need to hear it again. :) St. John of the Cross says that most of our sufferings stem from our attachment to the goods of this earth. Stop and think about it: on what occasion were you most recently upset? Angry? Frustrated? Furious even? Desperately sad? Think about whether it can be traced to being too attached to something or someone - even if that something was just "my own way." (*guilty)

Now, if we are detached from earthly things, and leave all in God's Hands, trusting Him to dispose everything the way He sees fit, then we are like the one described below:

"Wherefore, not having his heart placed on the things of this earth, he participates not of their instability. Poverty, humiliations, mortifications and sufferings, while they spare him not, do not conquer, debase, or deject him. Dear reader, have you seriously reflected on this? Would you not, by devoutly meditating on these truths, have been spared the greater part of your tribulations?"

~ Rev. Hilary Maurice Vigo, The Immaculate Conception: The History, Trials and Triumphs of the Work of God at Lourdes, 1878.

(The Basilica at Lourdes, France)

Imagine what the world would be like today if Jesus Christ had never come and walked among us. When He came 2000+ years ago, the world was bad enough...filled with the seven deadly sins, cruel people conquering and preying on other people...everyone out for himself, for what he could get. Slavery, little respect for women, tyrannical governments squeezing the people...And worst of all, there was no forgiveness for those who made mistakes.

If you were like Mary Magdalen and fell from grace, perhaps through weakness of temperament, poor upbringing, or any other excuse, there was no going back. You were not welcomed among religious people ever again. They more or less pushed you along the road to Hell because you were shunned and banned. But then St. John the Baptist came and preached repentance and penance. Tell God you're sorry, and do penance for your sins. What a novel idea! We haven't heard that since - oh, well, I don't know, perhaps Ninive! the people thought.

But then Our Lord came, of whom the Baptist was the precursor, and He said to those who truly repented and came to Him for help, "Go in peace, thy sins are forgiven thee." What?! Forgiveness of sin??!! This was unheard of among the Pharisees. How could anyone forgive SIN?

Ah, but only God can forgive sin. And Jesus is God. How thankful we should be that He came and brought us this wonderful message...imagine what the world would have been like without it.

"'Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen; the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, to the poor the Gospel is preached.' Above all His miracles and cures, the Christ considers as His greatest achievement the preaching of the Glad Tidings to the poor. And indeed this does surpass His benefits to mankind as the sun eclipses all the planets in brilliancy. What would this world be without the gentle, refining influence of Christianity? It is impossible to overestimate the benefits of the preaching of Jesus Christ...By it He changed, as it were, overnight, a drab, hopeless world, filled with gloom and despair, to a bright, cheerful, lovable abode."

~ Fr. David P. McAstocker, SJ, "A Friend of Mine," imprimatur 1930.

For those of you who don't know my mother, let me tell you that I grew up in a house full of books, and that Mom shared her love of books with me. One book which we often took out to read excerpts from, was a beautiful green one with gold decorations published in the late 19th century. It was called Immortelles of Catholic Columbian Literature compiled from the works of American Catholic Women Writers by the Ursulines of New York. We just called it colloquially, "Immortelles." :) I now have my own copy of "Immortelles", and I was moved to open it today.

I found a lovely excerpt from the writings of one Martha Murray, an Irish-American, that I'd like to share with you this evening:

"How honestly St. Francis de Sales says, 'I love these three little virtues: gentleness of heart, firmness of mind, and simplicity of life.' And the more we meditate upon these three virtues, the more we too love them and grow to realize that they represent the germ of sanctification in every child of earth. In cultivating them we are simply living a pure, upright life, whose end will be eternal happiness, for, 'How can a child perish who remains in the Arms of a Father who is Almighty?'"

 In today's Gospel, John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Our Lord some questions. We know that it's not because John doesn't know Who Our Lord is...but rather because he is humbly sending his followers to be converted to follow Jesus. Do we always use our gifts to guide people to God, or do we try to get people to follow and admire us instead? Do we guide our children to love God, or just to love us, and go to church to please us? Do we guide our friends and acquaintances to turn to God in their troubles, or merely to lean on us because we have all the answers? Let us be like John the Baptist and always lead others to the one true God...to always say, "Behold the Lamb of God."

"Bestow upon my soul, sweet Jesus, the faith which John the Baptist sent his disciples to find near Thee, and augment it each day more and more. I shall soon have the happiness of approaching Thy crib and of hearing and seeing Thee on that blessed night of Christmas which is so near. Grant, by Thy grace, that I may kneel before Thee with a faith dimmed by no shadow of doubt, and proclaim that Thou art He that is to come. Amen."

~ taken from a meditation for the 2nd Sunday of Advent in

"The Expectation of Jesus" by L'Abbe Max Caron.

(Shrine of Mother Cabrini in Golden, Colorado)

"December 3rd. Feast of St. Xavier! What a great day!...Let us imagine we are like Saint Francis Xavier, and always keep Our Divine Lord before us, beholding His mild gravity, His quiet amiability, His unalterable evenness of temper. In thus copying His Divine Model, we shall see how he [St. Francis Xavier] worked, walked, spoke and taught. Let us think of the perfection that accompanied every act, and let us force ourselves to imitate Him [Our Lord] at all times and in every moment with the fidelity which is possible to us."

~ Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, "Travels of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini."