"God In Man Made Manifest..."

Many newspapers and magazines and television news programs use the first days of a new year to publish a recap of the previous year. At a glance we’re reminded of those things that captured our attention and were the subjects of our conversations. But we should also remember that during those same twelve months there were approximately 130 million babies born in the world, almost every one of them anonymous. Unless they were family or friends, their births meant little to us, whereas the big news events were what kept our attention.

A few thousand years ago the world was filled with political intrigue. The enormous military might of Rome captured the attention of the world. The emperor Caesar Augustus had ordered a census to be taken so he could increase taxes. The greed of one man caused an upheaval in the lives of millions of anonymous people. Everyone was thinking about this oppressive empire, and all the talk was of the hardship it was causing.

While the attention of the whole world was on Rome, few people noticed a young couple making an eighty-mile trip south from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Who cared about a Jewish couple heading for Bethlehem, when Rome was making such an impact on the world? Who cared that the young woman was expecting a child, when there were bigger things to be concerned with? Yet the impact of this anonymous birth upon the world would be beyond anything Caesar Augustus could have imagined. While Rome was busy making history, God had descended into history in the person of Jesus Christ, who had been conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and who was now about to be born in an obscure corner of the greatest empire ever to exist.

Time and time again, man has been caught up in the events of history, but misses what’s really important. And just as those who were living at the time ignored the birth of the God-Man, so men have continued to ignore it since that time, and there are even many today who still overlook the birth of Jesus and its consequences. Times have changed, but Man has not; and the reactions to the birth of Christ at the time have been repeated throughout history.

Look at how Herod the king reacted. Herod was first and foremost a self-absorbed and wicked man. If he showed any mercy or justice, it was only because he would eventually benefit from it himself. He married his wife only because he thought that by marrying a Jewish woman it would soften the hearts of his subjects towards him. He was a jealous man, suspicious, and constantly afraid that someone would take his position and power from him. And because of his jealousies and suspicions, he had his brother-in-law drowned, he had his wife and her mother killed, and finally he killed three of his own sons. In fact, shortly before his own death, he had the most distinguished citizens of Jerusalem imprisoned and ordered them executed the moment he died. Why? Because he wanted to make sure there was mourning when he died, and if people didn’t mourn his death, they’d at least be mourning something! And that barbaric act was surpassed only by his slaughter of all the male children two years and younger who were in Bethlehem and in the surrounding area, in an attempt to kill the one of them whom the wise men had said was born king of the Jews.

The hostility shown by Herod towards Christ has been a thread throughout history ever since. The leaders of the Roman Empire did their best to stamp out the Church, murdering countless of Christ’s followers, because they perceived the Gospel to be a threat to their own position and power. Whole political systems have been founded upon a hatred of God, with an institutional hostility to the birth of Jesus and all that it means. And we don’t need to look as far away as systems such as communism to find that hostility; we have it increasingly in our own country, where freedom of religion has been twisted into freedom from religion, attempting to go so far as to outlaw the public mention of God, and the banishment of any public display of Christian symbols. Even innocent human life is wantonly destroyed because of the greed and selfishness that so often accompanies godlessness.

But it wasn’t just Herod’s hostility that greeted the birth of Christ. There was that equally damaging attitude called indifference – and we see this attitude in the chief priests and scribes. The Gospel tells us that when Herod heard that a king had been born, he gathered these Jewish leaders to find out where prophecy foretold that the Christ would be born. They gave him the information he asked: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet.” And that’s all we hear from them. Now understand who these people were. They were the religious leaders in the Temple. They were the expert scholars of Judaism. But when Herod called them together to find out where the Messiah was to be born, did they show any interest, or any curiosity about what the wise men had reported? Not at all. They were able to tell Herod what he wanted to know, but they showed no excitement whatsoever when the wise men said that they had seen a star indicating the birth of the Messiah. And these were the people who had been waiting for the Messiah for generations!

How is it today that people can hear the Gospel and they can see what Christ does in people’s lives, and yet be indifferent towards Him? How is it that the greatest mystery of all time can be celebrated at every Catholic altar, and yet people find excuses to stay away? How is it that Christ can hold out the promise of healing and wholeness and eternal life, and yet people feel no need to respond to him? The indifference of the chief priests and scribes later turned into animosity towards Christ, until they became His enemies. And that can happen to anyone who ignores Him. We cannot stay indifferent forever; men will either love Christ, or eventually they’ll come to hate Him.

But Epiphany tells us of one more attitude at the birth of Christ. Herod had his hostility; the Jewish leaders had their indifference; but the wise men gave their worship. When they left Herod, they went to Bethlehem. The star stood over the place where the child King was, and when they found the One for whom they had searched, they fell down and worshipped Him. And not only did they worship Him, but they presented gifts to him. Their giving was part of their worship. They gave because of the love and adoration they had for the Incarnate God.

Now, having looked at these three attitudes, the obvious question is, “What about us?” No doubt, every one of us wants to be counted in with the wise men. But every one of us would also have to admit that there are times when we’re hostile to Christ – when we feel as though what He asks of us cramps our style, or isn’t convenient for us. When we know what Christ requires of us, but we willfully ignore it, we’re putting ourselves right there with Herod. Christ demands our obedience, not just when we agree with Him, but also when He asks something difficult of us.

And every one of us would have to admit to moments of indifference – those times when we convince ourselves that something else is more important than prayer, or missing Mass once in while isn’t going to hurt, or someone else can take care of that person in need. Unfortunately, every one of us can find all sorts of ways to ignore Christ.

No, we should want to be like the wise men, who sought the Promised One, and when they found Him, they could do nothing but fall down before Him, and present Him with the best they had. The Gospel tells us that they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, so they went back to their own country “by another way.”

It wasn’t just a different route they took. Everything was changed for them. They were transformed. They had met God face to face, and they weren’t the same when they returned home. This is what happens when we come to Christ; when we worship Him with our whole being, with all that we are and all that we have. God changes us. His epiphany becomes our own. He manifests Himself – and He wants to show Himself to the world through our own transformed lives.

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Painting: "The Adoration of the Magi"

by Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia (c. 1403–1482)

St. John Neumann, Bishop

This American saint was born in Bohemia, which today is within the Czech Republic, in 1811. He completed his seminary formation, and was looking forward to being ordained in 1835, when his bishop decided there would be no more ordinations. It is difficult for us to imagine now, but Bohemia had more priests than they needed. John wrote to bishops all over Europe but the story was the same everywhere: no one wanted any more priests. He was sure he was called to be a priest but all the doors to follow that vocation seemed to close in his face.

But John didn't give up. He had learned English by working in a factory with English-speaking workers, so he wrote to the bishops in America. Finally, the bishop in New York agreed to ordain him. So John left his homeland, and sailed to America, knowing he would probably never return to his home again.

In New York, Fr John Neumann was one of 36 priests for 200,000 Catholics. His parish in western New York stretched from Lake Ontario to Pennsylvania. He spent most of his time traveling from village to village, climbing mountains to visit the sick, staying with different families, or in taverns and inns along the way, finding places to teach the Faith, and celebrating the Mass at kitchen tables.

Because of the work and the isolation of his parish, the young priest felt the need to be part of a community, and so he joined the Redemptorists, a congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to helping the poor and most abandoned.

Fr John Neumann was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. As bishop, he was the first to organize a diocesan Catholic school system. Sharing same vision as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. John Neumann was a founder of Catholic education in this country, and he increased the number of Catholic schools in his diocese from two to 100.

He had a great ability to learn languages, and he was able to learn Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch, so that he could hear confessions in at least six languages. When Irish immigration started, he learned Gaelic so well that one Irish woman remarked, "Isn't it grand that we have an Irish bishop!"

He spent all his energy on being a great bishop to his people, and he lived very simply. He was only forty-eight years old when he died. He is buried in Philadelphia, in St. Peter’s Church, where pilgrims venerate his tomb and ask for his prayers.

O God, who didst call the Bishop Saint John Neumann, renowned for his charity and pastoral service, to shepherd thy people in America: grant, by his intercession; that, as we foster the Christian education of youth and are strengthened by the witness of brotherly love, we may constantly increase the family of thy Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Pope St. Paul VI, when he preached at the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, spoke these words: "She is a saint!... Rejoice for your glorious daughter." Born in 1774, just as our nation was stirring in preparation for its own birth, little would indicate that some two hundred years later this delicate infant, born in wealth and raised in the society of the established elite, would be raised to the honor of the altar by the Vicar of Christ on the site of the martyrdom of St. Peter.

"Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a Saint! She is the first daughter of the United States of America to be glorified with this incomparable attribute!" The Pope spoke with unexpected emotion and excitement, so remarkable was the revelation that a woman who should have remained anonymous and safe within the fold of her respectable family, had embarked upon the spiritual journey for truth which she knew could lead only to one unfashionable destination: the Catholic Church.

The Holy Father took care to remind the world that the religious sensibility, the spiritual goodness of the saint, was planted and nurtured in Anglicanism. "We willingly recognize this merit, and, knowing well how much it cost Elizabeth to pass over to the Catholic Church, we admire her courage for adhering to the religious truth and divine reality which were manifested to her therein," the Pope said.

The young widow could have remained in her Trinity Church pew, gazing out the window toward St. Peter's Church on Barclay Street. Everything and everyone around her should have caused hesitation, but her heart had gone before, because the Divine Heart was waiting for her there. As another great convert would later say, "Cor ad cor loquitur."

O God, who didst crown with the gift of true faith Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s burning zeal to find thee: grant by her intercession and example; that we may always seek thee with diligent love and find thee in daily service with sincere faith; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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A brief biography, from various sources:

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, known as Mother Seton, is one of the great saints of our nation. Her accomplishments were amazing. Although she was a widow with five young children, she founded the first American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity, and she opened the first American parish school and established the first American Catholic orphanage. She accomplished all this, even though she lived to be only 46 years old.

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was a true daughter of the American Revolution. She was born in 1774, just two years before the Declaration of Independence. By birth and through her marriage, she was part the most prominent and wealthy families of New York. She was raised as an Episcopalian by her mother and stepmother, and through her religion, she learned the value of prayer, Scripture and a nightly examination of conscience.

Her mother died in when St. Elizabeth was not quite four years old, and her baby sister died that next year. Losing these people who were so important to her gave Elizabeth an understanding that life in this world is temporary, and she knew that it was important to accomplish as much as possible every day. She developed a sense of hope, and she made the effort to face everything with cheerfulness.

When she was 19, Elizabeth was the one of the most beautiful and wealthiest young women in all of New York. She married a handsome, successful businessman, William Seton. They had five children and were very happy. However, their fortunes changed -- his business failed, and eventually he died of tuberculosis. At the young age of 30, Elizabeth was widowed, she had no money left, and she had five small children to support.

She and her husband had traveled to Italy when he was very sick, hoping that he would get better in that warmer climate. That wasn’t to be, and as her husband was dying, Elizabeth witnessed the Catholic faith in action through family friends. Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence, devotion to the Blessed Mother and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ. She herself decided to enter the Catholic Church in 1805, and when she did that, most of her family and friends never spoke to her again.

In order to support her children, Elizabeth opened a school in Baltimore. From the beginning, she and her teachers followed the pattern of a religious community, and it was formally founded as the Sisters of Charity in 1809.

We have more than a thousand letters written by Mother Seton, and they reveal the development of her spiritual life from ordinary goodness to heroic sanctity. She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son. She died January 4, 1821, and became the first American-born citizen to be beatified (1963) and then canonized (1975). She is buried in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's gifts were not extraordinary, in that she was not a mystic or stigmatic. nor did she prophesy or speak in tongues. She had two great devotions: abandonment to the will of God and an ardent love for the Blessed Sacrament.

The Most Holy Name of Jesus

A worthy custom to be maintained is that of bowing one's head at the name of our Lord as a sign of respect at the sound of the Name of our salvation. There are so many acts of courtesy and respect which have been lost in our everyday living, but there are things such as this that we should refuse to put aside. It may seem a little thing, but it is important that we pause and acknowledge the wonder of what God in Christ has done, and is doing. The very idea that the Creator of all things has such love for us that He has put on human flesh in the womb of the chosen maiden, and has taken for Himself the particular name of Jesus, and gives Himself to us daily in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - that should make us want to bow our heads in wonder and praise. "For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved."

Almighty God, who by thy blessed Apostle hast taught us that there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved, but only the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ: grant, we beseech thee; that we may ever glory in this Name, and strive to make thy salvation known unto all mankind; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus

V. Lord, have mercy on us.
R. Christ, have mercy on us.
V. Lord, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear us.
R. Jesus, graciously hear us.
V. God the Father of Heaven
R. Have mercy on us.
V. God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
R. Have mercy on us.
V. God the Holy Spirit,
R. Have mercy on us.
V. Holy Trinity, one God,
R. Have mercy on us.
V. Jesus, Son of the living God, R. Have mercy on us.
Jesus, splendor of the Father, [etc.]
Jesus, brightness of eternal light.
Jesus, King of glory.
Jesus, sun of justice.
Jesus, Son of the Virgin Mary.
Jesus, most amiable.
Jesus, most admirable.
Jesus, the mighty God.
Jesus, Father of the world to come.
Jesus, angel of great counsel.
Jesus, most powerful.
Jesus, most patient.
Jesus, most obedient.
Jesus, meek and humble of heart.
Jesus, lover of chastity.
Jesus, lover of us.
Jesus, God of peace.
Jesus, author of life.
Jesus, example of virtues.
Jesus, zealous lover of souls.
Jesus, our God.
Jesus, our refuge.
Jesus, father of the poor.
Jesus, treasure of the faithful.
Jesus, good Shepherd.
Jesus, true light.
Jesus, eternal wisdom.
Jesus, infinite goodness.
Jesus, our way and our life.
Jesus, joy of Angels.
Jesus, King of the Patriarchs.
Jesus, Master of the Apostles.
Jesus, teacher of the Evangelists.
Jesus, strength of Martyrs.
Jesus, light of Confessors.
Jesus, purity of Virgins.
Jesus, crown of Saints.

V. Be merciful, R. spare us, O Jesus.
V. Be merciful, R. graciously hear us, O Jesus.
V. From all evil, R. deliver us, O Jesus.
From all sin, deliver us, O Jesus.
From Your wrath, [etc.]
From the snares of the devil.
From the spirit of fornication.
From everlasting death.
From the neglect of Your inspirations.
By the mystery of Your holy Incarnation.
By Your Nativity.
By Your Infancy.
By Your most divine Life.
By Your labors.
By Your agony and passion.
By Your cross and dereliction.
By Your sufferings.
By Your death and burial.
By Your Resurrection.
By Your Ascension.
By Your institution of the most Holy Eucharist.
By Your joys.
By Your glory.

V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. spare us, O Jesus.
V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. graciously hear us, O Jesus.
V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,
R. have mercy on us, O Jesus.

V. Jesus, hear us.
R. Jesus, graciously hear us.

Let us pray.

O Lord Jesus Christ, You have said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek, and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened to you." Grant, we beg of You, to us who ask it, the gift of Your most divine love, that we may ever love You with our whole heart, in word and deed, and never cease praising You. Give us, O Lord, as much a lasting fear as a lasting love of Your Holy Name, for You, who live and are King for ever and ever, never fail to govern those whom You have solidly established in Your love. R. Amen.

The Epiphany of Our Lord

Epiphany speaks of light. "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you." It is about the coming of the true Light into the darkness of this world. "Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, the Light no darkness can overcome." "In Him was life, and that life was the light of men."

An important image of Epiphany is the star in the East whose light guided the Magi to the Child-King enthroned on His mother's lap. The Light of God's love had come to shine on the Gentiles, too. "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined." The Gentiles worship Him with gifts fit for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Magi rejoice in the light, and bow down and worship Him.

Light was the first word spoken by God into the chaotic darkness of creation. "Let there be light." And there was light. “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness."

Our lives are given to reflect the light of God's glory, and this is the noblest and most blessed purpose of all. We are, in a mystical way, to be an “epiphany” of Christ, so that every man can see His glory, and so welcome His Light into the dark world.

O God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy Only Begotten Son to the Gentiles: mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may be led onward through this earthly life, until we see the vision of thy heavenly glory; through the same Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Jesus Christ, our Saviour King,

unto thee thy people sing;

hear the prayers we humbly make,

hear them for thy mercy’s sake.

Lord Jesus Christ, O Lamb Divine,

fill our souls, and make us thine.

Give us eyes that we may see;

give us hearts to worship thee;

give us ears that we may hear;

in thy love, Lord, draw us near.

Lord Jesus Christ, O Lamb Divine,

fill our souls and make us thine.

In our darkness, shed thy light;

lift us to thy heav’nly height;

may we be thy dwelling-place,

tabernacles of thy grace.

Lord Jesus Christ, O Lamb Divine,

fill our souls and make us thine.

In thy Kingdom grant us rest,

in Jerusalem the blest;

with the saints our lips shall sing,

with the angels echoing:

Lord Jesus Christ, O Lamb Divine,

thou dost reign, and we are thine!

Text: Fr. Christopher G. Phillips (1990)

Music: “Lucerna Laudoniae”

David Evans (1874-1948)

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[Pictured: "The Star of Bethlehem" by Edward Burne-Jones, 1833–1898]

The Virgin Mary, Mother of God

On the Octave Day of Christmas our thoughts go to the one whose “yes” allowed it all to happen. How well we know the story, which tells us of how the Archangel Gabriel was sent to Nazareth to a young virgin named Mary, addressing her as “full of grace,” and assuring her that there was nothing to fear, that she had been chosen by God to conceive and bear a Son. And when Mary questioned how such a thing should take place, the Archangel outlined for her the great plan of God, how she would be overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit, and would give birth to the Son who would be holy, the Son of the Most High God.

To all of that, Mary said “yes.” And it is in her “yes” to God that we find a treasury of truth – truths around which we form our devotion – because these truths about Mary speak impressively about her divine Son. So what are they?

First, the Church teaches us that Mary was immaculately conceived. At the instant of Mary’s conception in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, she was, by the special grace of God, protected from the stain of original sin. Why would God do that? He did it because of the great destiny which was hers – that of being the Mother of God. It was her flesh which would give flesh to Jesus; it was her body which would be His tabernacle for nine months; therefore, it would be beyond possibility that the Mother of God should be stained with the sin of Adam, since God can endure no sin. This was taught implicitly and explicitly from the earliest days of the Church, and was confirmed and solemnly proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854, when he stated infallibly, “The most holy Virgin Mary was, in the first moment of her conception, by a unique gift of grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Redeemer of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin.”

Second, the Church teaches us that Mary was impeccable. In other words, she committed no personal sin, and she was free from every moral imperfection. Certainly, she lived a human life. She was wife and mother, so had work to do and was subject to pain and tiredness; but she, like her son Jesus Christ, had nothing in her which led her to act against the perfect moral law of God. This formal teaching of the Church is deduced from the words of the archangel Gabriel, when he addressed her as being “full of grace,” since moral guilt could not be reconciled with being filled completely with God’s grace. Once again, this teaching is defined because of Mary’s relationship with her Son, and not through simple merit of her own. She did not sin because of a special grace and privilege given to her by God, because He had chosen her to bear the Incarnate Word.

Third, the Church teaches us that Mary was perpetually a virgin. Three states of virginity are professed in this teaching: Mary conceived her Son without a human Father; she gave birth to Jesus without violating her virginity; and she remained a virgin after our Lord was born, for the rest of her life. The virginal conception is contained in all the ancient creeds, which speak of “Jesus Christ… who was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary...” The biblical basis of this, of course, is the prophecy of Isaiah (“A virgin shall conceive and bear a son...”), and it is confirmed in St. Matthew’s Gospel, which quotes this directly from the prophecy of Isaiah. All the early Church Fathers confirm this teaching, and it was verified by the fifth general council of the Church, held at Constantinople in the year 553, where Mary was confirmed as being “perpetually virgin.” Certainly, the ancient theologians did not go into the physical details, but they speak in modest analogies, such as the “emergence of Christ from the sealed tomb,” his “going through closed doors,” the “penetration of light through glass,” the “going out of human thought from the mind.” The Church also teaches us that she remained a virgin after Christ was born. Her marriage to Joseph was not consummated physically, and so she bore no other children. From the fourth century on, such sayings as that of St. Augustine became common: “A virgin conceived, a virgin gave birth, and a virgin remained.”

All these truths about Mary go beyond her, to her Son Jesus Christ. All of them are true because of the one great truth of history: that Almighty God took human flesh upon Himself, and was born of this special woman, a virgin, chosen by God Himself, a virgin prepared for this task through her immaculate conception, a virgin preserved for this task through her impeccability, a virgin honoured for this task through her perpetual virginity, as a constant witness to the fact that it was her pure flesh which was given to the Incarnate Word. These truths are not simply esoteric theological statements. They are truths which impact history. They are truths which prepared for that ultimate moment of history when God entered personally into time and space.

It was at that time that Caesar Augustus, the master of the world, determined to issue an order for a census of the world which was ruled by Rome. To every outpost, to every corner, the order went out: every Roman subject must be enrolled in his own city. It certainly was not in the mind of Caesar Augustus that his imperial order was a part of God’s great plan that the Saviour of the world should be born of the chosen Virgin Mary in a little-known place called Bethlehem. But this order of Caesar Augustus – perhaps thought of by him only incidentally, and then ordered casually – meant that countless lives were interrupted as people gathered the necessary supplies for their various journeys. So it was that Joseph and Mary, visited by angels and touched by God, were traveling in eternity at the order of an earthly ruler. And because of that, how things were to change! In a dirty stable, Pure Love was born. The “Living Bread come down from heaven” was laid where animals had eaten. The ancestors of Joseph and Mary, the Jews, had worshipped the golden calf, and now the ox and the ass were bowing down before their God.

As Mary fulfilled the plan of God by conceiving and giving birth to Jesus Christ, so His passion began. He was born in a borrowed stable; He was buried in a borrowed tomb. The swaddling clothes which Mary wrapped around him when he was born looked forward to the grave-clothes which she would help to wrap around His lifeless body some thirty-three years later. The wooden manger in which His mother had laid him foreshadowed the wooden Cross from which she would receive His body into her arms.

And so in Christ, heaven came to earth, and it came through the Blessed Virgin Mother. God’s glory was announced to shepherds and to kings. And they came, as men and women have been coming ever since, to worship the Word Made Flesh.

Pope St. Sylvester I

St. Sylvester was born in Rome and was ordained to the priesthood by Pope St. Marcellinus. This took place during a brief time of peace for the Church, immediately preceding the persecutions of Diocletian. Sylvester was one of the clergy who survived the cruelties during the reign of terror which ensued, and eventually saw the triumph of Constantine in the year 312. Two years later he succeeded St. Melchiades as Bishop of Rome.

 
The Council of Nicaea was assembled during Pope St. Sylvester's pontificate, in the year 325. By that time he was advanced in years, and so was not able to attend personally. He sent legates to the Council, and because they were the Pope's personal representatives, their names appear first among the signatories of the Decrees, preceding the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch. St. Sylvester was Pope for twenty-four years and eleven months, and he died in the year 335.

Be merciful to the people of thy flock, O Lord, eternal Shepherd of our souls: and keep us in thy continual protection at the intercession of Saint Sylvester, whom thou didst raise up to be shepherd of the whole Church; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: Mosaic in St. Mark's Basilica, Venice. 

Into our midst He came...

Into our human condition Christ came. Into our tragedies and our sicknesses and our confusions, into our every need, He came. He chose to become, really and entirely, very Man. He took our flesh and blood. He breathed our breath of life. He was, while He was here, a man with men. And so that we might not feel Him in His situation and condition to be above any of us, He actually chose to be below most of us, on a level with the most humble and helpless. He asked for no privilege as the Son of God. He went through all that man must endure. He had no desire to be spared any burden of our mortal state. As each thing came in the course of years, He accepted it. He hurried nothing. He waited until the years changed the baby into the child, and the child into the boy, and the boy into the man. He came to be among us, not as a passing vision, not as something strange, but to be “bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh.”

He accepted what was most universal in human experience, including pain and suffering. He was willing to be man. A simple, plain man was He, unknown, unhonoured in the world, “made like in all things unto his brethren.” He came because mankind is so precious in God’s sight. He died as we do, and in dying, so He died for each of us. 

And as He came for the good and the blessing of each of us, so He came for all those around us. He came for our friends and neighbours. He came for those whom we love, and for those whom we don’t especially like. He came for those from whom we are estranged and for those against whom we might have done some wrong. He was incarnate and He died, not only for those who hope that they are in His grace, and who live in His peace, but He came, too, for those who are misguided and blinded by the things of this world. He came for the outcast and the forsaken and foolish and for those who are in ignorance. He came for all sinners, for criminals, for those who seem to have no hope. He came for them all. He was “for a little while made lower than the angels.” He came to heal all of the unspeakable agonies that the multitudes have suffered from war and from disease and from every torture; He came to alleviate all that has been endured throughout the ages by those faithful departed whom we remember by name at the altar. For all of us He came.

It is a pretty season, this time of birth and guiding stars, this time of gifts and good feelings. But He came not to make it pretty. He came to make us whole.

Healing the Rift

"When all things were in quiet silence and night was in the midst of her swift course, thine Almighty Word, O Lord, leaped down from heaven out of thy royal throne…" and that Word took flesh untainted by sin from the Virgin chosen from the beginning of time. It was done for the healing of that tragic rift between God and Man.

God created all things to be in perfect unity. He made the universe as a reflection of His own divine order. He created Man in His own image, to be in perfect communion with Him. But through the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve, disorder entered into the world, and perfect communion was broken. And ever since that time, there has been a tendency in the natural order of things for there to be disintegration, the breakdown of things, a crumbling. Sadly, what should be unnatural has become all too normal in the world around us, and within us, and even within the Church.

Christ founded the Church to be One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic – and so she is. But our sin has caused division, and that’s a clear contradiction to the Divine Will of our Lord. While there may well be an invisible spiritual communion deeper than we know, especially through the bonds of baptism, nonetheless there is to be a visible communion, too, because that is the Will of Christ, and the constant invitation from God is that we work and pray to build up both the spiritual and visible unity of Christ’s Body. It is this purpose – the building up of unity – which is outlined at the very beginning of the Apostolic Constitution, Anglicanorum coetibus. In fact, this stated purpose is sometimes glossed over in the search for the particulars of the Personal Ordinariates. People tend to look at the details of how they’re established, and of who can belong, of the liturgical use, and of who can be ordained – indeed, any number of other details.

But all that neglects the reason for Pope Benedict XVI’s great generosity, and that is to help bring about the prayer of Christ “that they all may be one.” It’s not accidental that the first three paragraphs of the Apostolic Constitution speak of the Church as “a people gathered into the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,” and that the Church was instituted by Christ as “a sacrament…of communion with God and of unity among all people,” and that this Church is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him. Then, recognizing that there are “many elements of sanctification and of truth [which] are found outside her visible confines,” he says that these “are forces impelling towards Catholic unity.”

What had been broken, the Personal Ordinariates invite us to repair. The communion that has been impaired, we are asked to restore. The fellowship which has been strained, we are bidden to strengthen.

God’s Incarnate Love came into this world by Our Lady’s “yes,” and it would gladden her heart for her children to be one again. She, who stood beside the Cross and saw her Son in agony, would be comforted by us taking away this pain of separation. There are few things that touch a mother’s heart more, than to see her whole family together at one table. This is why we have been given the Apostolic Constitution: so that we can put division behind us, and join together with one voice and one heart in “that most holy cause, the preaching of the Gospel” to the whole world.

“Lord Jesus, make us one, as you and the Father are one.” Amen.

The Holy Innocents

In the midst of celebrating the incarnation of holy innocence, our joy is tempered by the remembrance of the deaths of the Holy Innocents. A wicked ruler ordering death much as he might order the destruction of an unwanted animal; terrified parents seeing their children's blood on the same streets where their families had walked for generations; brutalized children having their lives stolen scarcely after they had begun; a whole town maimed beyond recognition, all because the sin of Adam and Eve necessitated the birth of a Saviour.

We relate the slaughter of the Holy Innocents to the millions of children murdered through abortion -- and quite rightly so. But the horror of abortion is something that goes even beyond what happened on the streets of Bethlehem. The deaths of those little boys in Bethlehem afforded some safety to the Christ Child, because the sly Herod thought he had accomplished his purpose, and so the Holy Family was able to continue unmolested on its journey to the safety of Egypt. Those little boys, even in their suffering, had parents who did all they could to protect them from the violence descending upon them. Those little boys were named, and they were loved, and they were incorporated into God's family through the religious rites attended to by their mothers and fathers. The little boys of Bethlehem are remembered even today, and their deaths are able to be seen as being directly related to the mystery of the Holy Incarnation.

But the little victims of abortion... theirs is a holocaust that defies description. Not a single action of a single wicked ruler are their deaths; rather, their deaths are "a matter of choice" -- choices made by the very ones who should be protecting their innocent lives. These are not deaths being endured for any noble cause. These are deaths born of ignorance, of selfishness, of greed, of any number of the spoiled fruits of sin.

As we remember the deaths of the Holy Innocents, pray also for those who are being murdered in their holy innocence. And pray, too, that the twisted hearts which allow and encourage such unspeakable things might be changed.

O Almighty God, who out of the mouths of babes and nurslings hast ordained strength, and madest infants to glorify thee by their deaths: mortify and kill all vices in us; and so strengthen us by thy grace, that by the innocency of our lives, and constancy of our faith, even unto death, we may glorify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Pictured: "The Massacre of the Innocents"

by Giotto di Bondone, 1320

St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

The cave of St. John on Patmos.

Our spiritual journey continues during this Octave of Christmas, as we travel from the Feast of young St. Stephen to the Feast of the aged St. John. And what a journey he made, being taken from tending his fishing nets by the Galilean sea to a cave of exile on the island of Patmos. In both places he was called by the Lord Jesus; first, to listen to the Divine Word so he could follow, and second, to record the Divine Word so those of us who have come later can also follow.

On one of our parish pilgrimages we went to Greece and Turkey, where we visited the cave in which St. John received the apocalyptic vision. As many holy places as I have visited, rarely have I been as affected as I was while standing in that place. There it was that the Risen Lord spoke to John with a power so overwhelming that a fissure was left overhead, dividing the rock into three pieces as a reminder that the Trinity had revealed the truth on that spot. Every place one looked, there was a reminder of John: the hollow in the rock where he rested his head when he grew so tired he could no longer stand upright; the sloping shelf on which the Revelation was recorded. It was all I could do to keep my shoes on my feet, so clearly was this "holy ground." It seemed as though the breath of history was held in that place, and that the apostle would at any moment appear once again to take up his pen to continue recording the living and awe-full word of the Lord. But of course, that could not be. It was there, in that cave, that the final word was spoken. What St. John heard there was the last word of truth. There is no more to be revealed; all we can pray for now is for our increased understanding of what Christ has spoken once for all. Here are the last words the Lord spoke to the last living apostle, written down with trembling hand:

"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let him who hears say, "Come." And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price. I warn every one who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if any one adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if any one takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with the saints. Amen.

Shed upon thy Church, we beseech thee, O Lord, the brightness of thy light; that we, being illumined by the teaching of thine apostle and evangelist St. John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that we may at length attain to the fullness of life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Feast of the Holy Family

The Feast of the Holy Family gives honour to Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and it is an occasion when we remember the importance of every family. In fact, it is so essential in the Church’s understanding of herself that the family is known as the “domestic Church.” Parents have the great privilege and responsibility of raising up yet another generation of Catholics who will walk in the great “stream of faith” which has come from others, and they are given the grace to do this through the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. 

While parents have this as their primary obligation, every one of us – whether parents or grandparents, aunts, uncles, godparents, clergy, teachers, friends – has the responsibility of assisting in the solid Catholic upbringing of children. Christ Himself has given us this responsibility as members of His Body. 

Children need to be developed in virtue; they need to be formed in character. And as our children learn the virtues, so our families – and the Church – will be strengthened and will be that leaven which will help our society come to know God as He has revealed Himself to us. 

How do children learn these things? 

First, through the examples they see around them. What children witness in the lives of parents and grandparents, and in the other adults whom they admire, they will tend to imitate. 

Second, by repeated practice. We need to remind our children constantly to do the right thing, to the point that they know they can do the right thing because they have become accustomed to doing it. 

And finally, by word; that is, by what they hear coming from our own lips, and having those words match the actions they see in our lives. 

We do our children no favour when we allow them to control us; rather, we have an obligation to assert a godly control over them, guiding them and correcting them and forming them in the image of Christ. 

Let this Feast of the Holy Family be a reminder to us of our responsibility to exhibit a solid, holy Catholic life. We must impart good habits of mind, will, and heart to our children, and to do it through hard work and sacrifice each day, setting an example for them of what a Catholic life can be, when it is well lived. 

With God's assistance and with our own dedicated and sacrificial work, we can help our children to grow into great men and women, and that will lay the foundation for every family to become more like the Holy Family.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the prayers of the Blessed Mother and of St. Joseph, help us to do this. 

O Lord Jesus Christ, who by thy wondrous holiness didst adorn a human home, and by thy subjection to Mary and Joseph didst consecrate the order of earthly families: grant that we, being enlightened by the example of their life with thee in thy Holy Family, and assisted by their prayers, may at last be joined with them in thine eternal fellowship; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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Away in a manger, no crib for his bed,
the little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay,
the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

Dear Mary, his Mother, sang sweet lullabies,
as Jesus, awaking, gazed into her eyes.
The most holy Virgin, with loving caress
embraced the world’s Saviour with Love’s tenderness.

Good Joseph stood guarding the Mother and Child,
his soul filled with awe and his heart undefiled.
The birth of young Jesus made angels to sing,
but Joseph in silence kept watch o’er his King.

What once was a stable may our hearts become;
may God’s holy fam’ly in us find a home.
With Mary and Joseph and angels above
we worship the Infant, the gift of God’s Love.

Text: V.1, Traditional

Vv. 2-4, Fr. Christopher G. Phillips, 1995

Music: Cradle Song, William James Kirkpatrick, (1838-1921)

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Illustration: "The Nativity"

by Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973)

God With Us

God came when He was not expected. He was born where there was no room for Him. Before He was invited, He came in the most humble of ways. Before we called on Him, He called on us. Before we let Him into our hearts, God took us into His own heart, and gave us His Child.

This little One, whose birth we celebrate at this time, is the Saviour born for us, to save us from our sins, to deliver us from eternal death, to redeem us from the Law and the wrath of God. We deserve hell, yet God brings down heaven. We deserve fire and brimstone, yet God sends a baby.

“Do not be afraid,” says the angel. We look on this Child's face and see the face of God come down to save us. This Child would grow up. He would open the eyes of the blind man. He would open the ears of the deaf. He would cast out devils. He would still the storm and raise the dead. He would hang on a cross and die. See the lengths to which God will go to rescue us! He divests Himself of His glory. He removes His royal robes and exchanges them for diapers. He hides His power and His majesty under the weakness of an Infant in the manger, the Man on the cross.

But we should not be deceived by such weakness. This is the Christ, God's anointed One, His Messiah, the hand of God reaching down to us. He is the Lord, God wearing our flesh, come to be with us as God had never been with us before.

The shepherds heard the preaching of the angel. They heard the words of the angel's birth announcement and left their work and ran to Bethlehem worship at the manger.

We cannot turn back the years and go to Bethlehem as it was that night. But Bethlehem can, and does, come to us. The Church is our Lord's grotto, the place where He makes His dwelling in a world that has no place for Him. The Altar is His manger. The One who once slept in a manger, who hung on a cross, who rose from the dead, and sits at the Father's right hand from whence He came and will come again, comes to us under the outward forms of bread and wine. In Holy Communion we find Him, wrapped in the swaddling cloths of humility. And so every Mass where Jesus is proclaimed Saviour, Christ, and Lord, is Christmas - Christ's Mass.

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Painting: "The Nativity"

by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898)

Salvation is born!

Lest the fact of the Incarnation and the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ become something relegated to cards expressing the greetings of the season with stars and angels hovering over nothing, our Holy Mother the Church marks each day of of the year, including Christmas, with the offering of the Mass, making the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ a present reality.

The Child was born for that purpose. The wood of the cradle makes way for the wood of the cross. The infant in the arms of Mary is the Saviour reposed in her arms. The beginning of the Passion of our Lord was at the moment of His conception in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. Shepherds came to adore the Lamb of God, and the Magi brought gifts in preparation for the death and resurrection of the King of the universe.

Here is mysterium tremendum: salvation is born in the stable, salvation is born on the cross, salvation is born on our altars.

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Painting: "The Nativity"

by Arthur Hughes (1832-1915)

A Pure Reflection

The prophet Malachi spoke of “a refiner and a purifier of silver.” It was the Messiah to whom he was referring. “He shall sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver.” [Malachi 3:3]

The refiner of silver worked like this: he would sit before the furnace and hold a crucible above the fire, containing the impure mixture of silver and lead. Then, as the crucible was heated, the lead would crumble away, until the pure silver would begin to shine. And when the refiner could see his own reflection shining clearly in the silver, then he would know that the metal was pure, and needed no further refining.

When our Lord Jesus was born and when He looked at His mother’s face, the first recollection of His earthly life would have been His own face, shining, reflected in His Mother’s eyes, as the refiner of silver could see himself in the purity of the metal before him.

That’s what Jesus saw in Mary. He saw His own image, the image of God, shining and reflecting in her soul. He saw the reflection of His own love and holiness in her.

That’s what He looks for in us. Our sins are to be purged away. Our selfishness and our worldliness are to be refined away, as the lead is from silver, in the furnace of our contrition, until Christ sees His own face reflected in our hearts. He has promised that He will purify us, if we come to Him.

What Jesus saw in Mary, He looks for mystically in us, and He has made it possible through His saving work of redemption. As Mary bore the Incarnate Word within her, so we are afforded the privilege of bearing Christ within us. He was planted within us at baptism, and each time we receive Holy Communion, we bear Him within us in a marvelous way as we become living tabernacles for His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.