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St John the Baptist in Prison ,  Juan Fernandéz de Navarrete, 1565-70 [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Matthew 11:2-11  ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition : Canada) When John heard in prison what the Messiah   was doing, he sent word by his   disciples   and said to Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”   Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see:   the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers   are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.   And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed s

Advent Repentance Examination of Conscience Sacrament of Confession     Yes, I am of the old school.  I still call the Sacrament of Reconciliation the Sacrament of Confession.  Like a rose, by any other name, this Sacrament is a Sacrament of great graces and peace no matter the name.  Read the entire article at "His Unending Love."  Click HERE.

Since it's too soon for the Twelve Days of Christmas, here are twelve tips for celebrating Advent instead. These tips include what you should do, what you shouldn't do, and what you can get away with (I'll promise never to tell). **What to Do this Advent** 1. Explore other cultural traditions:  Learn how the custom of Christmas stockings evolved from the German tradition of slipping treats into shoes or slippers that kids leave near the chimney in the days leading up to St. Nicholas' Day (December 6). Celebrate the Feast Day of the Patroness of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe, on December 12 at the nearest parish with a large Hispanic community. On Christmas Eve, you can serve twelve fish dishes the way the Italians do. Experiment by adding shrimp cocktail or baked clams to the menu. Dilled salmon steaks garnished with lemon always taste great. Sushi platters or bouillabaisse combine many types of fish in one dish. See how many you can add to your Christmas E

The Savior is coming!  The Savior is coming! You Also Must Be Prepared [Mt 24] While sitting in my car recently, waiting for my son, a song (from earlier this year) came on the radio that I never heard of before… A song that very unexpectedly led me into thinking about THE coming.  It was just a few days before Advent at the time, when Catholics are especially reminded of the “last things”, nearing the threshold of our season of hope & preparation. The song, however, is actually about the ruin of Pompeii , the ancient Roman city near modern-day Naples , as it was suddenly buried under the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.  Apparently, the songwriter was inspired by the people of Pompeii ; that is, in how their remains were forever preserved in their positions, at that exact moment in time... “caught up and lost in… vices.”  It made me wonder… Will I (we), too, be caught, off-guard & unprepared for last things; for judgment?  …Which led me to also consider how

Advent is here! It's time to prepare our hearts for Jesus. Here are a few things we are implementing into our Advent season....  Each year when we set up our Nativity we leave Jesus out until Christmas morning. We also leave the wise men out of the scene until the Epiphany. I really don't like seeing Mary and Joseph adoring and empty manger so I am on a hunt for a wooden figurine of the expectant Mary on the donkey, on their way to Bethlehem. My plan is to have this figure outside the stable until Christmas and then move The Holy Family into the stable on Christmas morning. I am loving this idea of the changing scene throughout the month. Another idea I just recently heard about is to place a piece of straw in the manger each time someone sacrifices something or does something kind for another. This is in an effort to build a soft bed for Jesus through acts of love.  I can't wait to see the stable fill with straw over the next few weeks! T

“When we are secretly cynical, we will not receive a thing, not a crumb of Light and we will cement our cynicism in place for another year.” Advent is a time of waiting, waiting in the dark.  In Canada, it is cold and it is also the darkest time of the year, so the image of lighting one candle each week is powerful. The flames are hot and bright, the exact opposite to the weather, to the physical reality that we see around us in our daily lives. If we are open and humble, the flames of the Advent candles shine as a beacon of hope in the darkness, symbols of the Light of   the world who will come on Christmas morning.  But how do we wait?   Do we wait stoically or with joy? Do we wait like a child, a child who trusts that his daddy will keep His promises or have life’s disappointments left us jaded and closed off to any spiritual surprises? Come to think of it, how many of us actually expect anything to happen to us on Christmas morning? When we are secretly cynical, we will

Sorry to keep you waiting on pins & pine-needles for more Holiday-Time Tips!  After all, it won’t be too long before we find ourselves entering our Super Bowl season here instead... But, thankfully, it’s still only the first week of Advent: our Season of Hope & Preparation. How Wonderful! Yet it can also be a season of many challenges—to body, mind, & spirit... A time of year that's well known for setting us back (if not completely derailing us) on the way of wellness & weight management. So is it hopeless, then, to believe our year should be ending [and our liturgical year beginning] in a better, more healthful way??    Of course, it’s not hopeless!!  ...And hope (& triumph) can certainly be found through the very thing that the Season itself proclaims to us with joy … Be Prepared ! :)  It is in being prepared that we will best meet the extra challenges of this extra busy time of year! And in recalling the initial “Tis a New Season” post

Advent activities for your family December 3, 2013 By Connie Rossini Leave a Comment (Edit) D lights the first Advent candle a few years ago. Advent is here and with it our six-week break from homeschooling. Instead of doing school work, we do an activity each day preparing for Christmas. Some are distinctly religious. Others are not. Here are some ideas for activities you can do with your family. Learn and sing Advent hymns   Sunday at Mass, D was amazed that I knew many of the verses of O Come, O Come, Emanuel by heart. Well, that was the only Advent hymn I learned in Catholic school, and I don’t recall singing any other one at Mass in the 70s and 80s. It wasn’t until I started praying the Divine Office as an adult that I learned some of the beautiful hymns I had been missing. Here are some you will want to learn along with your kids, if you don’t know them already: People, Look East . This song by poet Eleanor Farjeon helps you to see all the prepar

It is Advent.  Time to slow down, settle in for hours of prayer, and wait in hushed anticipation.  What?  It isn't that way in your world?  It isn't that way in mine, either.   Which makes it an ideal time for aspirations:  those brief prayers that we can lift to God inwardly, wherever we are and whatever we may be doing.  They are an ancient monastic practice, but they can be particularly practical for those of us striving to keep our hearts fixed on God in the midst of a bustling world.  Even as we join crowds of shoppers in the mall, wrap gifts, gather with friends and family, we can lift our hearts to God.  I find the doing of this hard to remember, but it seems the more I practice, the more it becomes habitual. We are entering the busiest time of the year.  If we can remember to offer little prayers even in this kind of hubbub, maybe doing so while we fold laundry on a quiet February morning won't turn out to be so tough.  Aspiration practice.  I

The Great Flood ,  Bonaventura I. Peeters [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel   Matthew 24:37-44  (Canadian Lectionary,  New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition )  Jesus spoke to his disciples: “As the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. “Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this

"Like a secret told by angels, getting known upon the earth, is the Mother's expectation of Messiah's speedy birth."    F. Faber, "Our Lady's Expectations" 

As a public school teacher in the United States, I am accustomed to lock-down drills. In fact, as it happened, we had one Friday. We have one once a month, as the state of New Jersey requires. We have "non fire evacuations" and "lockdowns" and "active shooter" drills. The teens in my care know what to do; we turn off the lights, we lower the shades, we huddle in a corner and we stay quiet and we wait until the all clear. I can see from the news coverage that those kindergartners and their teachers were trained too, on how to deal with a shooter in the building.... Read more here...

reposted from: Costing Not Less Than Everything . The Last Communion of Saint Lucy – Tiepolo A Nocturnal Upon Saint Lucy’s Day, Being the Shortest Day –  John Donne ‘TIS the year’s midnight, and it is the day’s, Lucy’s, who scarce seven hours herself unmasks;     The sun is spent, and now his flasks     Send forth light squibs, no constant rays;             The world’s whole sap is sunk; The general balm th’ hydroptic earth hath drunk, Whither, as to the bed’s-feet, life is shrunk, Dead and interr’d; yet all these seem to laugh, Compared with me, who am their epitaph. Study me then, you who shall lovers be At the next world, that is, at the next spring;     For I am every dead thing,     In whom Love wrought new alchemy.             For his art did express A quintessence even from nothingness, From dull privations, and lean emptiness; He ruin’d me, and I am re-begot Of absence, darkness, death—things which are not. All others, from all things,

It's taken me until midlife to really understand the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception and to appreciate why it is one of the concepts that keeps me connected to my Catholic faith. I am not aware of any other Christian community that gives so much honor and praise to the role of women in the Christian event. The Advent season is a time of particular focus and honor of the Mother of us all. When I was a child, Mary felt remote and inaccessible. Keep Reading...

St John the Baptist Preaching , Rembrandt, c. 1634 ( Web Gallery of Art ) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Luke 3:1-6  (Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition) In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, in the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every vall

Advent is its own season; a time to prepare for Christmas day. This year, I realized I need to prepare for the preparation; otherwise it is far too easy to let the season pass in a blur of Christmas shopping and Christmas baking and Christmas decorating. I want to give this season four weeks all its own for our family and for our home. What about you? What plans do you have to mark this holy season of waiting? read  more here...

Fr Alfred Delp SJ, 5 September 1907 - 2 February 1945 Stamp issued in West Germany 1964 I used to own a copy of The Prison Meditations of Alfred Delp SJ but lost it somewhere along the way while being transferred from one place to another. Jenny Howell, of the Center for Christian Ethics, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, writes her reflections on these writings here . She uses the title under which Father Delp's writings have been more recently published by Ignatius Press, Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons and Prison Writings .  I was born in Ireland on Hitler's birthday in 1943, just two years before World War II ended. Though independent Ireland wasn't involved directly in that conflict I have often wondered how the profoundly anti-Christian and anti-human Nazism took hold in a country that produced so many great saints and creators of beauty such as Beethoven, led by a man from the country that gave birth to Haydn and Mozart. (I once met a man in rural Kentucky wh

Annunciation , El Greco, painted 1596-1600 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel Luke 1:26-38 (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. He went in and said to her, 'Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.' She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, 'Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.' Mary said to the angel, 'But how can

We are already half way through Advent, our time of preparation for Christmas. Feeling rather as though time were getting away from me, I have been taking stock and pondering the importance of Advent - not just at this time of year, but in my spiritual life at all times. Advent has been my favourite liturgical season since first becoming Catholic. It is well placed between autumn, naturally a time for assessment and preparation - and winter - the season of hibernation, resting, going inot the deep within. Advent has shades of both: it is a season of silence and growth. It is the time of Christ growing in us - as He did in Our Lady - in secret. Silence Nature has gone quiet, and we are inclined to do likewise, if we listen to the promptings of the Spirit. We enter into the stillness to hear the Voice of God, to be attentive to His Presence, to become aware that "Christ is being formed in our lives from what we are." (62) It can be very difficult to find that silence wh