November 21, 1999 |
The Ninth Month - November 25 to December 25
Bolstered by provisions and buoyed upon a cushion of carpets, Mary perches upon their patient donkey as she and Joseph start their journey. The trip to Bethlehem should take four days, but Mary's pregnancy forces them to travel slowly. Do they perhaps fall behind their fellow travelers? Soon they will be entrusted with the life of God made man. How must they reflect on this awesome responsibility as they journey toward their destiny? At nine months, the baby is poised head down for its descent into the world. At birth, approximately 280 days from conception, a baby normally weighs from six to nine pounds; it may be 19 to 21 inches long. Its tiny heart pumps 300 gallons of blood per day. How can this not be a child?
Give prayerful thanks to God for his most precious gift to humanity - Jesus Christ, his only son.
TODAY IS THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
Today is the day when we renew our allegiance to Jesus Christ our Lord and King. We want Jesus to be the Lord of our lives. Jesus has gained our allegiance by giving his life to ransom us from sin. We owed Christ for paying off our debt of sin. As the only one who was able, Jesus paid our debt to God our Father. We owe him everything. It is so important for us to remain faithful to Christ as the Lord of our lives by offering Mass faithfully, every week on the Lord's Day. If we miss Mass through our own fault, we offend our Lord to whom we owe everything.
NEXT SUNDAY BEGINS THE HOLY SEASON OF ADVENT
Advent is, as you know, a time of preparation for the Feast of Christmas. Christmas is such an important feast that we have a period of four weeks to prepare for it. We must try to avoid letting the commercial Christmas ruin the true spirit of Christmas. The Advent Wreath will remind us of the passing weeks of Advent and the near approach of Christmas. Do something during Advent to keep you right minded about Christmas.
Dear Parishioners,
The month of November, as Sister JoAn mentioned in her column several weeks ago, is a month dedicated to remembering the Faithful departed. It is a time in the Church's year when we celebrate the glory of the Saints in heaven, and in which we remember the journey that all of us must go through in some way or another, the journey of purification and preparation for Eternal life, which is referred to in our Catholic teaching as purgatory. The Book of Macabees reminds us that it is a "good and holy thing" to pray for the dead. That is why we particularly remember all of the departed in this special month of November.
The month of November started out for us here in Rome with a glorious sunny day on All Saints Day. The bells of St. Peter's and the other Churches were pealing all of the day. Then on November 2, All Souls Day, myself and a number of other priests made a trip across town to the Mausoleum of the North American College in the Roman Cemetery which is called "Campo Verano". It is actually quite near the ancient site of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence. Since the North American College was founded in 1859, anyone passed away in those times was actually buried in this above ground structure. There are about 25 seminarians, priests and college personnel buried there. A group of us concelebrated an early morning Mass in the mausoleum (in purple, as is the Italian custom), and prayed for the repose of the souls of those buried there, and the deceased alumni of the College. I celebrated two more Masses later on that day with other groups of priests, as a priest can celebrate three Masses on All Souls Day. Some of our course work in these past weeks have been given by the "O Antiphons," as one of our priests was joking: Fr. Gerald O'Collins (On Christology), Fr. Robert O'Toole (on St. Paul..his text was the original Greek version which he read directly as if he were reading English, and Sr. Mary O'Driscoll (an Irish Dominican Sister from the Angelicum who gave us two days on Mariology..that is the Church's belief and teaching of the Blessed Virgin Mother). All three were excellent. I had known Fr. O'Toole from St. Louis, Fr. O'Collins and Sr. Mary from my graduate study days here. This was followed by Donna Orsuto and staff from the Vincent Pallotti Institute for Lay Spirituality who staff the Foyer Unitas center on the Piazza Navoca for the promotion of Christian unity. This past week we had an excellent series each day on Jesus central message of the Kingdom of God by Fr. John Fuellenbach and SVD (Society of the Divine Word). As you might guess by his name, he is not Irish! On Monday of this coming week (November 15) our group will go to Assissi for five days of retreat. We finish officially on November 23, and I will be home on the 29th!
The next weeks and months will be an extremely important time for our Diocese. These are days of Faith and Hope as we prepare for the installation and ordination of Bishop George Lucas. As we remember the words of St. Paul who says that "All things work to the good for those who love God", let us prepare our hearts and minds not only for the beautiful season of Advent and the coming of the Lord, but prepare ourselves to give a very warm welcome to Bishop Lucas. Since the ordination and installation on December 14 will have limited seating, the Bishop will be visiting each Deanery the following weeks in an "Octave of Welcome". He will be at St. Patrick's here in Decatur on Sunday, December 19 at the 10:00 AM Mass, with a reception afterwards. I would certainly encourage anyone who would be interested, to plan on attending this Mass.
God Bless You Always and I look forward to being home and seeing all of you soon.
Father Vann
Blessed and holy are You, great God;
blessed are You on this day of Thanksgiving!
We thank You with all our hearts for Your many graces and blessings;
for family and friends,
for hearth and home,
for food and drink,
for jobs and co-workers,
for all the gifts of nature,
and for all the many small comforts
that make our lives a joy.
Thank you, above all,
for walking among us,
for keeping Your loving hand upon us,
for giving us Jesus to guide and comfort us.
Blessed and holy are You, great God;
blessed are You on this Thanksgiving Day.
Amen.
While most parishes in the United States hold a special votive Mass on Thanksgiving Day, it has never been part of the official calendar of celebrations in the universal Church. Most countries of the world do hold some kind of annual celebration in connection with the end of the harvest season but do not have a set date for this to happen. We can claim this one as our very own. It originated in our country over a period of years but did not appear on our national calendar as a national holiday until 1941! It was established as a national day of celebration by a presidential proclamation of Abraham Lincoln as the last Thursday of November. This proclamation was renewed annually by U.S. Presidents until Congress passed legislation that declared it a national holiday. At that time the date was set as the last Thursday in November. Now in our time, many Catholics of the United States attend this votive Mass. Some of them bring food items that will be served at their Thanksgiving table to be blessed and taken home to share.
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The readings for this week, especially the gospel, describe the final judgment. It is familiar in that it describes those who have responded to the gospel of Jesus as the sheep or "the righteous" and those who have failed to live the message as the goats or the wicked. The measure of this judgment of us by God will be the deeds of mercy that we have done for the "least" of Jesus' brothers. Who are these "least" brothers? Or might they be a particular group of such sufferers?
Scholars are divided in their response to this question as arguments can be made for either side. But consider this, momentarily putting aside former ideas. Could the sufferers be Christian missionaries of the time who suffering was endured because of their proclamation of the Good News and their association with Jesus? The criterion of judgment for everyone then and now would be whether or not we ourselves are earnestly attempting to know and bring the message of Jesus Christ to the world. This means that we must be prepared and willing to bring the gospel into our midst wherever we are or we risk not being among the righteous. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 10:40 tells us, "Whoever receives you, receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me."
Today, Catholics who forthrightly stand up for their Christian identity by proclaiming the values attitudes and actions of Jesus are presenting the very person of Jesus to the world and are not always welcomed, received or popular...discipleship does have a price! Are you prepared to be among the righteous?? Consider some adult education. Signup for Father Ron's class, "Whatever Happened to Sin?," Monday nights beginning November 22 from 6:30 to 8 pm and "be prepared."
Linda Chagnon, Formation Director
Periodically in a Priests' Bulletin, which comes to all priests from our Chancery Office, there is a notice about priests' having a will and funeral arrangements on file at the Chancery Office.
Not matter what your age or condition it is a good idea to be prepared - everyone. Perhaps, periodically we ought to publish some thoughts about funerals. And so here it goes!
Traditionally a Catholic funeral has been celebrated in two parts: a Wake Service and a Funeral Mass. The Wake Service many times is a recitation of the Rosary. But, in liturgical books The Wake Service is a prayer and scripture ceremony. And this seems best suited to our catholic/non-catholic participants. This time too is best suited for a family's comments or short eulogy.
Catholics, almost always, but not necessarily so, have a Funeral Mass rather than just a ceremony. This Mass can be celebrated in the Chapel, but the Chapel has limitations, or in the Church. The Wake Service can also be held in the chapel or church rather than the funeral home.
Today more and more people are making some untraditional choices. Some families choose to have an evening Funeral Mass with private burial the next day. Others are choosing to combine the Wake Service and the Funeral Mass by having a viewing an hour or so before the Mass. In this combined form the Wake Service is abbreviated.
Evening funerals and combined services serve the needs of the community in many instances in that it does not require missing work or a double visitation: church and funeral home.
The Feast of Christ the King celebrates the end of the Church year and points us to be ready for a new Church year with the beginning of the Advent season next weekend. Though the Church year does not coincide with the calendar year, it is clear enough to signal readiness for the end of the millennium and the beginning of the Jubilee year. The tradition of the Jubilee year from Leviticus 25:10 "This fiftieth year you shall make sacred by proclaiming liberty in the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you when everyone of you shall return to his own property, everyone to his own estate," calling us for freeing all debts. As our Church is attempting to persuade governments and financial institutions to relieve the debts of poor countries so we are also encouraged to review personal debts due from habits of sin through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. According to the St. Louis Review, the Archdiocesan sponsored Reconciliation Weekend was a success beyond expectations. Over 800 priests were overwhelmed both by numbers and the depth and quality of those seeking the grace of Reconciliation. The Archbishop's column states "In his apostolic letter Tertio millennio adveinte the Holy Father wrote that in this third year of preparation for the Jubilee the sense of being on a journey to the Father should encourage everyone to undertake, by holding fast to Christ the Redeemer of man, a journey of authentic conversion... This is the proper context for a renewed appreciation and more intense celebration of the Sacrament of Penance in its most profound meaning."
There is the tradition of consecrating the whole human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the feast of Christ the King with the following prayer:
Loving Jesus, Redeemer of the world,
we are yours, and yours we wish to be.
To bind ourselves to you even more closely
we come before you today
and offer ourselves
to your most Sacred Heart.
Have mercy on all who have never known you
and on all who reject you
and refuse to obey you:
gentle Lord, draw them to yourself.
Reign over the faithful
who have never left you;
reign over those
who have squandered their inheritance,
the prodigal children who are now starving:
bring them back to their Father's house.
Reign over those who are misled by error
or divided by discord.
Hasten the day when one in faith and truth
we shall be one flock with you,
the one Shepherd.
Give to your Church freedom and peace,
and to all nations justice and order.
Make the earth resound from pole to pole
with a single cry:
Praise to the Divine Heart
that gained our salvation;
glory and honor be his forever and ever.
Amen.
I use this same prayer today to consecrate the parishioners, benefactors, alumni, and friends of St. Anthony's to the Lord Jesus. Every day I become more aware of your response to the grace of God. I thank God for your cooperation. I commend you for your initiatives and your involvements. Yet -- as I have said many times before -- because I see the good in you, I am also very sensitive to what needs to be healed and changed. So I would add the following words to the above consecration:
Jesus Christ, King of the Universe,
Help us to know you more intimately
especially through Word and worship.
Heal us of our discord caused by gossip and
"turf wars."
Hasten among us an acceptance of people to
overcome the "isms" of race, color,
culture, gender, and preference.
Hurry the day when serenity, hope, and
courtesy in our hearts and homes take
the place of fear, cynicism, and narrow-
mindedness. Amen. So be it!
-- Father Benet OFM
Likewise, "in celebrating this annual cycle of the mysteries of Christ, the holy Church venerates with special love the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, united forever with the saving work of her Son." In a similar way, by inserting into the annual cycle the commemoration of the martyrs and other saints on the occasion of their anniversaries, "the Church proclaims the Easter mystery of the saints who suffered with Christ and with him are now glorified." When celebrated in the true spirit of the liturgy, the commemoration of the saints does not obscure the centrality of Christ, but on the contrary extols it, demonstrating as it does the power of the redemption wrought by him. As Saint Paulinus of Nola sings, "all things pass, but the glory of the saints endures in Christ, who renews all things, while he himself remains unchanged." The intrinsic relationship between the glory of the saints and that of Christ is built into the very arrangement of the liturgical year; and is expressed most eloquently in the fundamental and sovereign character of Sunday as the Lord's Day. Following the seasons of the liturgical year in the Sunday observance which structures it from beginning to end, the ecclesial and spiritual commitment of Christians comes to be profoundly anchored in Christ, in whom believers find their reason for living and from whom they draw sustenance and inspiration.
-- Pope John Paul II
Lord, Thanksgiving is a special day for me.
For it gives me time to stop and look and see
The gracious blessings of living in a land so free
And from time to time, it's ok to pause and simply
be.
It's amazing that a land so attentive to the
bottom line
Will close its markets, banks, and even lose a
dime,
To give thanks to a power beyond the count of
time,
While remembering we are creatures formed of
earthly slime.
So yes, dear God, we do our blessings count,
and celebrate with food in great amount,
the generosity of You, Our God beyond all doubt,
and to whom this day a rousing THANKS does
shout.
Adults with stuffed bellies and remember when
stories,
Lingering at table recounting and reliving past
glories.
Children listening and begging more of paternal
follies,
From grandparents who tell of gray hairs and
worries.
It's long walks of men in air that's crisp,
With talk of football at a pace that's brisk.
It's memories of those not at table whom we miss,
And prayer that tomorrow will be filled with
bliss.
Indeed, it is to Church I want to go,
To say thanks to the God I've come to know,
From whom I see many blessings flow,
And whose presence gives my life a special inner
glow!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Father Michael Doyle, OSM
