Light

All this week, the Octave of Christmas, at Mass, we have been hearing one word over and over again, in the 1st Letter of John (which we have been reading from every day this week), in the Alleluia, and in the Gospel of the day.  Let's recap.

 

Monday 

"God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all."

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another."

Tuesday

"For the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining."

"Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness."

"Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall."

"A light of revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."

Wednesday

"Today a great light has come upon the Earth."

Thursday

"And this life was the light of the whole human race."

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

"(John) came for testimony, to testify to the light."

"(John) was not the light, but came to testify to the light."

"The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world."

 

"Light" is indeed one of many words used in Scripture and Tradition in reference to Our Lord.  Why is it proper to call Him "light"?

1) Light makes things knowable.   We can know Jesus   He knows us.  In Him, can we find and come to know ourselves. Without Jesus, we have no way to know the fullness of Truth about life in general, or ourselves.

2) Light makes something radiant.  When we see something radiant, we think of it as heavenly. Jesus is heavenly, the Second Person the Blessed Trinity. By uniting to Him, we become sharers in His Divine Life, just as by the Incarnation, He became a sharer in our humanity.

3) Light comes from above.  The sun is in the sky and radiates its rays down on us. The Son of God came down like a ray from the sun, spread the light of His Truth while among us, died and rose for us, ascended into heaven, and now shines on us from His Father's side.

4) Light is not matter; it is more spiritual than physical.  Jesus was all about the spirit, more so than the flesh, and we are called to be the same.

5) Light helps us see.   Jesus helps us see things as God sees them.  Without this light, as the Scripture says, we are in darkness, because we only see things from our limited human perspective, which is wounded by sin.

6) Light illuminates the inside of something.  Without light, we cannot see inside anything. We need a match to go in a cave, a surgeon needs a light to see inside a body.  Jesus illuminates our soul.  He also illuminates the soul of the world, allowing us to assess its true condition.

7) Light is of the day.   In Jesus' coming, a new day has dawned.  This day will have no end, because this light cannot be extinguished.  Death found that out the hard way on Easter Sunday.  If death cannot extinguish it, nothing can.

 

This time of year, when the days are shortest, we depend seemingly more than ever on light, and are grateful perhaps more than we are during other times of the year, for it.  This is the time of year when we treasure lights of all types; Christmas lights, candles, fireworks (especially tonight on New Year's Eve), fireplace fires.  This is a sign of the deeper, ultimate yearning we all have for Christ, the Light of the World.

 

As we ring in the New Year tonight, let us look at the lights all around us wherever we may be, and think of Christ our Light.  May He light our path forward as we begin 2016.  Let us resolve to never allow the light to be extinguished in us.   Let us keep it burning with prayer, sacrifice, and good works.   May Our Lord shine His face upon all of us in 2016.

 

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

 

 

 

 

 

Pictures of Christmas at Saint Joseph the Worker Shrine

The Shrine at Christmas is very beautiful.  Here are some pictures from this year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Holy Innocents

Yesterday was the Feast of the Holy Innocents.  I alluded to this feast day in my post a few days ago.  The Gospel reading for yesterday (Matthew 2: 13-18)  involved our holy patron Joseph.  Here it is:

When the magi had departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,
“Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt,
and stay there until I tell you.
Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night
and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod,
that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled,
Out of Egypt I called my son.

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi,
he became furious.
He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity
two years old and under,
in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:
A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.

Here are a few reflections.

1) This is the second time in the Scripture where Joseph receives instruction in a dream.  I did a post devoted to the subject of dreams back on August 1.  If interested, you can just click on the "Saint Joseph the Worker Blog"  banner at the top and it should allow you to see all posts, and you can then choose that one, or any other ones from this blog's early days that you may have missed.
2) It was interesting reading some of the commentary in the Catholic blogosphere yesterday.   What would be termed the more "progressive" or "liberal" commentators highlighted how Mary and Joseph were refugees, and that we need to be compassionate towards refugees today.  The more "conservative" or "traditional" highlighted the slaughter of the infants, and how we are still today killing infants via abortion.   The priest at the Shrine yesterday fell into the latter camp.  I felt a certain release in my soul yesterday as I heard his words.  It was so surprising and refreshing to hear a priest speak on the topic.  The topic of abortion seems to be rarely discussed at all from the pulpit.  I am not sure if it because we are trying to be sensitive and do not wish to alienate anyone, or what it is.   I do understand our Holy Father has said we should not be talking about this topic all the time, but we have to sometimes, for several reasons.  We need to try to be saving lives.  We need to make sure we understand that the Church teaches that the taking of innocent life is always a sin.   Finally, we need to try, especially in this Year of Mercy, to make people aware that God's mercy is available for those who have been involved with an abortion(s) in any way.

So, the Gospel for yesterday's Mass can teach us about dreaming, about respect for refugees, and about respect for the little ones.

I want to close this post by addressing those reading who may have had an abortion, or encouraged someone to have one.  

1) Abortion is a sin, and it does need to be repented of before you can have divine life in you in this life and eternal life in the Kingdom of heaven.  Please do not let anyone inside or outside the Church tell you, or try to convince yourself, that it was "OK" with what you did.  It is a sin.
2) I am a sinner as great as you are, and I need to repent myself of the sins I have committed.  I am no better or holier a person than you. 
3) God's Mercy is greater than any of our sins.  He loves you, as He does me, and wants you to share in His Divine Life.   Whether you have had one abortion, or one hundred, His Mercy knows no bounds, no limits, and He is ready and willing to forgive you in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  As I said before, the Shrine offers Confession six days a week.  I am sure a priest nearby would be happy to hear your confession, as well.
4) If you have already confessed the sin of abortion, God can use what happened for a greater good.  God permits evil and suffering to allow for a greater good.  Christ's awful death opened the pathway to eternal life for everyone who accepts it.  Your suffering, likewise, can open the floodgates of mercy and grace to many others.  You can speak of your experiences, and help spread and build up a Culture of Life, instead of the Culture of Death we see today on the nightly news.  Do not dwell on your sin, God has forgiven it.  In fact, you could say, He has forgotten about it.   Focus on His message of mercy, love, and life that you especially are now called to preach by words and deeds.

Back on August 19, I did a post about Joseph as patron of the unborn.   Again, click on the banner above and you can access that post.   I will re-post here in closing a prayer of healing that can be said by those who have been involved with an abortion. 

O St. Joseph, after your most holy spouse, our Blessed Mother, you were the first to take into your arms and heart the baby Jesus. From the first time you gazed upon him and helped him, your heart and soul were forever bonded to him. You caressed the Holy Child with fatherly love and affection, and you committed yourself always to love, protect, and care for this Son.

Look now with similar love and affection upon this child of mine, who has gone from this world. I place my child, as well as my grief and guilt, into the eternal embrace of your arms. Hold and caress my child for me with the love of my arms and sweetly kiss my child with all the tender affection of my heart.

As God the Father entrusted the care of His most precious Son into your most loving and confident hands, so too do I entrust into your fatherly care this child of mine. Please present him to the merciful hands of Our Lord, so that one day, when I too leave this world, my child may greet me into eternal life. Amen

 

Joseph, patron of the unborn, pray for us.

 

The Holy Family

Yesterday was the Feast of the Holy Family.  Each year, on this feast day (almost always the first Sunday after Christmas), the Church widens our gaze from the infant Jesus to His entire family.  Next weekend, in the Feast of the Epiphany, the Church widens our gaze even further to make the point that Christ is the light for all nations, and how all people can now enter "the family of God". 

 

Family life is not easy and I doubt it ever has been. We have also spoken in this blog before on some of the events in the life of Joseph and Mary and Jesus, and how they involved faith and sacrifice.  One event we have not really discussed was one that was mentioned in yesterday's Gospel (Luke 2:41-52)  and that was an event from Our Lord's adolescent years, the only time Scripture unveils an event from that stage of His life.  Mary and Joseph become separated from Jesus in a caravan on their way home from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and they returned to Jerusalem to find him teaching in the Temple.

 

Check out this selection from yesterday's Gospel.

 

After they had completed its days, as they were returning,
the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem,
but his parents did not know it.
Thinking that he was in the caravan,
they journeyed for a day
and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances,
but not finding him,
they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.
After three days they found him in the temple,
sitting in the midst of the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions,
and all who heard him were astounded
at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him,
they were astonished,
and his mother said to him,
“Son, why have you done this to us?
Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
And he said to them,
“Why were you looking for me?
Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

 

 

Some of this may make modern parents incredulous! Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, and Mary and Joseph did not know it?  They "thought" he was in the caravan and journeyed for a day before deciding to return to Jerusalem?  Then, after returning to Jerusalem, it took them three days to find Him?  For our modern eyes, at first glance, all this sounds ridiculous,  like Joseph and Mary were bad parents.   To me, however, this story gives us several important lessons.

 

1) This story speaks to the power of extended families and friends.  Mary and Joseph thought Our Lord was simply among their family and friends in the caravan with them.   Larger families are not in existent as much as they have been.  Our circles of not just families, but friends in general, is much smaller than it perhaps has ever been.  In those days, one could trust one's child to roam around because it was safer, we had a bigger safety net.  Parents could trust people to not do harm to their children.  Sadly, that is not the case anymore.

2) It also speaks to the power of trusting our children.  Mary and Joseph could trust Jesus to roam around.  Sometimes parents today wish to obsesses over every detail of their child's life and not give him or her the space and independence to grow into the person they are called by God to be.   There are situations where not giving our children the benefit of the doubt is the right thing to do, but maybe sometimes more often than we think, we should.  This leads to the final point next.
3) It also speaks to the primacy of God's call to everyone.  Our Lord understood that while he loved His earthly mother and father,  He had to do His Father's will first.  Family ties are important. but not absolute.  Each of us has a unique vocation from God, that while indeed nurtured in the family, is given and decided by God, and thus, our priority must be Him first, and our loved ones second.

 

At the Shrine yesterday, I saw a large family.   There was a mother, and father, and five children.  The family stayed after Mass for several moments to give thanks and spend time with Our Lord while He was still sacramentally present to them in the Body they had just received in Communion.  Large families are so rare these days that when one does so see them, we often cannot help but often stare at them for a few seconds.   How would our world be better, be safer, if we had more large families.  More large families lead to more support structures, more children alive and feeling safe, and thus, a more stable, safe society, one in which our children could more freely roam and explore like Our Lord did.

 

I eagerly await the Holy Father's Post-Synodal exhortation on the Family due out sometime in 2016.  Family life is tough these days, and sadly as a result, some are not even attempting to start down that road.  We need to encourage people to start families.  To be quite frank, we need more people in the world.  We have spoken before about how we have contracepted and aborted our populations and birthrates down to alarmingly low numbers, and this is part of the reason the world is in the shape it is in.   Strong family life is an antidote to the isolation, loneliness, and fear so prevalent in the modern world.  We need a renewal of family life today.  Let's pray to Our Lord, His Mother, and Saint Joseph, to help us begin that renewal.

 

Joseph, Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.

 

 

 

Blood and wood

 

 

The attached picture is one of the decorations at the Shrine during the Christmas season.  It is the baby Jesus lying in a manger and underneath it, is a cross.   I feel it is very appropriate that both these images were placed together under the lectern.  The lectern is where we proclaim the Word of God.   The message the Church is announcing this season from the Word is the message I have been speaking about in my recent posts.  The message is this; Christ incarnated Himself for us, so that He could be sacrificed for us.  Both elements of that message are symbolized here.

 

Christmas is indeed a joyous season because of this message, but it should not be a sappy one.  There is blood, sweat, and sacrifice involved every step of the way.  We have spoken of this already.  The Church is aware of this.  Almost as if to prevent Christmas from becoming too sentimentalized, the Church has the Feast of Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, today, the day immediately after Christmas.  Two days later, which for us will be Monday, She has the Feast of the Holy Innocents.   Stephen and the Holy Innocents both spilled blood for Our Lord.   What is the color of Christmas?  Red.  What is the color of blood?  Red.  As we see the decorations around us this week, when we see the red, let us remind ourselves that Christmas must be in our blood. 

However, as Archbishop Sheen once said, sin is in the blood, too, and that is why Christ had to bleed for our salvation, and why we have to fight a battle, as well.   There is a war inside us between sin and Christmas, in our blood, and we have no choice but to wage it.   To "reign with Christ", to live in His Kingdom, we have to die to ourselves, and some of us maybe even have to die physically as a martyr.   (We know there are plenty of people dying for the faith throughout the world today, so we should never think it is a remote possibility.)  To accept Christ as King, we have to accept His teachings, His values, and above all, His Holiness, which forces to us to choose things the world may not think highly of, things like loving the sinner, but hating the sin, simplicity, control of our appetites, and so forth.   None of this is easy for anyone to accept or live out.  Therefore, for most of us, it will be an ongoing battle in our blood until the day we die, and some of us may have to spill some blood to achieve final victory.

 

There is internal struggle, yes.  However, there may be external struggle, as well, like it was for Stephen and the Holy Innocents, whose stories show us that there may be a price to pay for believing in Our Lord.  There are Christians being martyred still today, too, and Our Holy Father prayed for them today.  Many in the word today, including unfortunately some rulers of nations, are like Herod and want to be their own kings and queens, instead of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and King.  They are making life difficult for people to practice their Faith to various degrees.  We need to pray for them daily, especially on a today such as today, devoted to the first Christian martyr, and during the Christmas season.

 

Finally, going back to our original picture, there is something else in common between the two components of the scene.  What was the manger made of?  Wood.  What was the Cross made of?  Wood.  The manger scene, the infant Jesus laying in a manger,  is a foreshadowing of Christ giving His life for us, laying on a Cross.   Yes, the manger scene cannot ever be all tender and sappy.  It involves sacrifice, and foretells sacrifice, sacrifice that involves the shedding of blood.  There is nothing sappy about that.

 

Saint Joseph, Diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.

 

 

Saint Joseph, the Eucharist, and Christmas

In the last several posts, we have been reflecting on Christmas and its deep connection to the Mass, because Christmas is "Christ's Mass".   We have reflected on the Eucharistic elements of Jesus and Mary.  Now we will do the same for the patron of this blog, Saint Joseph.  Again, here, as I did last time, I will post a selection from a previous post I did back in August on the Eucharist.  At that time, one of things I spoke of was how Joseph shares Mary's qualities of faith and sacrifice, two vital dispositions that we need, with God's help, to bring to and develop in our celebrations of the Eucharist.

Where is our friend Saint Joseph in all this?  Well, Joseph had his own moment of faith when an angel appeared to him and told him to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20), as we have discussed.   Later on in his life, an angel appeared to him again and told him to take his family and flee to Egypt (Matthew 2:13).  This involved both faith and sacrifice.   He was with Mary at the Presentation when she made her offering of Jesus (Luke 2:22) .  Joseph, we can say, shared in the same sacrificial and faith dispositions as the Blessed Mother.    Therefore, he can be a role model and an intercessor to help us have a greater love and devotion for the Eucharist, the Bread of Life.

Saints, the ones who live closest to the Lord, sometimes come up with the most profound of sayings that can only come from a life deep in reflection and prayer, and close union with Him. Here is a great quote from a Saint that speaks of Joseph and his relationship with the Eucharist. 

"At Nazareth Joseph's days were filled with work which necessarily took him away at times from his Infant God. During these hours Mary replaced him, but when evening brought him home again, he would pass the entire night in adoration, never tiring, only too happy for the chance to contemplate the hidden riches of Jesus' divinity. For he pierced the rough garments the Child wore, until his faith touched the Sacred Heart. In profound adoration he united himself to the special grace of each one of the events in the life of Jesus. He adored our Lord in His hidden life and in His Passion and Death; he adored in advance the Eucharistic Christ in His tabernacles: there was nothing that our Lord could hide from Saint Joseph. Among the graces which Jesus gave to His foster-father -- and He flooded him with the graces attached to every one of His mysteries -- is that special to an adorer of the Blessed Sacrament. That is the one we must ask of St. Joseph. Have confidence, strong confidence in him. Take him as the patron and the model of your life of adoration."

- St. Peter Julian Eymard

As with Mary and Jesus, loving Joseph will necessarily lead one to a greater love of the Eucharist, and vice versa.   Through their example, we not only learn to contemplate the Eucharistic Christ at Mass, but also in His Real Presence in the tabernacles throughout the world where He sits and waits for us to visit.  I pray this Christmas season, everyone finds time to do just that.   It is good to spend time with family and friends, but please spend some time visiting Our Lord, as well.  Please go to Mass, and also try to spend some quiet time with him in the Blessed Sacrament.   Remember, He incarnated Himself to offer Himself as a sacrifice, so we could be saved.  That is what this season is all about!  And He remains incarnate in His Real Presence, both at Mass, and outside of Mass in the tabernacle.  Let's show our gratitude for all that by giving Him a little bit of our time this Christmas.

I wish all the readers of this blog, and all of your friends and families, a very Merry Christmas!

Joseph, diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.

Mary, the Eucharist, and Christmas

Yesterday, I spoke of how central the Mass is to a proper understanding of what Christmas is all about because Christmas is "Christ's Mass" . One must go to Mass to experience Christmas in its fullness.

"Mass" is just one of several terms that are used to refer to the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  The Eucharist is so full of inexhaustible meaning that there are many terms used to refer to it ( "Lord's Supper", "Holy Sacrifice"," Memorial", just to name a few).  "Mass" is just one of those terms.   A list of all those terms and their meanings can be found in paragraphs 1328-1332 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  

Eucharist means "thanksgiving" and Mass means "sent forth" (missio).  At Mass, we give thanks by participating in the one sacrifice of Christ for our salvation and because we unite ourselves to Him in that Sacrifice, we also rise with Him into heavenly glory.  We are then sent forth (missio)  from this Sacrifice to live the Paschal Mystery by our dying to self and rising to Him in our daily life, and to announce this Mystery to others, and invite them to experience the realness of it in the Eucharist, where it is experienced in a way it is not anywhere else.

 

As I said yesterday, all this wonderful stuff would not be a reality if Christ did not incarnate Himself among us so He could be sacrificed.   We cannot exclude the reality of the sacrifice on the Cross from our celebration of Christmas, (which Catholics do not because they go to Mass on Christmas). We are not just throwing a birthday party for His birthday.  We are celebrating the reality that He incarnated Himself for us, so He could sacrifice Himself for us.     Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said that Christ was the only person ever born to die.  The rest of us were born for life, but Jesus was born to die.  This is what Christmas is all about, Christ coming down to be sacrificed, His Mass!

 

The Blessed Mother, whose Magnificat (Luke  1:46-55) ,we heard at Mass today (and which I have rendered in its fullness at the end of this post) , is another figure we all know is tied intimately with Christmas.  However, just like I said yesterday regarding Christmas and its Eucharistic symbolism and connection,  I also do not think the Eucharistic character of Mary is fully understood and appreciated.  Back in August, I wrote a post that discussed a little bit the connection between Mary and the Eucharist.  I feel it fitting to repost a portion of it here.

 

There is a tremendous connection between Mary and the Eucharist.   Saint John Paul II in 2003 in his Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia (Church from the Eucharist)  wrote:

"Mary is present, with the Church and as the Mother of the Church, at each of our celebrations of the Eucharist. If the Church and the Eucharist are inseparably united, the same ought to be said of Mary and the Eucharist" (n. 57).

The Holy Father pointed out three specific ways there is a connection between the two.

1) The Eucharist in an invitation to obedience in faith, and there is no one better than Mary to help us acquire this disposition.   Mary had to take a leap of faith when the angel told her of her pending giving of birth (Luke 1:30).  She also told the people at the wedding at Cana  "Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)  (They were doubting that Our Blessed Lord could provide wine, but she told them to have faith.)   It takes a measure of faith to believe in the Real Presence and Mary can help us with that better than anyone.

2) The Eucharist is a sacrifice, a re-presentation of the Passion, and Mary was more intimately tied to the Passion than anyone.   From the beginning of Our Lord's life, when Mary offered him at the Temple (Luke 2:22) , to being at the foot of the Cross (John 19:19), to being a recipient of Our Lord in Communion at the first Eucharistic celebrations of the apostles, Mary lived a life of sacrificial desire and offering, and she can help us more than anyone to unite ourselves with the Sacrifice of the Mass.  On Calvary, Our Lord told John "Behold, your mother!" (John 19:27) .  Since the Mass is a representation of Calvary, you can say He says the same thing to us at every Mass.

3) The Eucharist means "thanksgiving" and the perfect prayer of thanksgiving is Mary's Magnificat; she can help us with this disposition better than anyone.   The Magnificat refers to that hymn of praise Mary proclaimed at the Visitation (Luke 1:46-55).  It is said every evening by the Church. The most relevant line from that beautiful hymn, in my eyes at least, is "He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."   What better thing could He fill us with than His Own Body and Blood?

Devotion to Mary, then, will naturally lead one to the Eucharist.   Going to Mass, and participating in the sacrificial offering that is the Eucharist, can only lead one to appreciate Mary more and more.  If anyone says that he or she has a love for one, but not the other, I ask that you be open to the Lord to develop your faith more deeply, or perhaps the faith you have is not authentic and you need to start over down a better path.

 

So, if you really want to love Christmas, you must learn to love the Mass.  If you really want to love Mary, you must learn to love the Mass.   Love the Mass, and watch the many other "loves" of your life grow and blossom like they never have before.

 

I will conclude this post with a full rendering of the beautiful Magnificat.  

 

Saint Joseph, Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.

 

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.

for he has looked upon his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

and has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel

for he remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children for ever.”