advent is waiting

Words from Pope Benedict

"Our whole personal, familial and social existence passes through this dimension of waiting. Waiting is something that is present in a 1,000 situations, from the smallest and most banal to the most important, which draw us in completely and in the deepest way. Among these, we think of a husband and wife waiting for a child; of waiting for a relative or friend who is coming from far away to visit us; we think of a young person waiting to know his grade on a major exam or the outcome of a job interview; in romantic relationships, of waiting to meet the beloved person, of waiting for a letter, or of receiving forgiveness... One could say that man is alive so long as he waits, so long as hope is alive in his heart. And man is able to recognize that what he waits for and what he hopes for discloses something about his moral and spiritual "stature."

Everyone of us, therefore, especially in this season in which we prepare for Christmas, can ask himself: What am I waiting for? For what, in this moment of my life, does my heart long? And this same question can be posed at the level of the family, of the community, of the nation. What are we waiting for, together?..."

Then Pope Benedict goes on to suggest that we look to Mary, for it is in her that we discover how to wait and how to live...especially as we anticipate the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

"There is a mysterious correspondence between the waiting for God and the waiting for Mary, the creature "full of grace," totally transparent to the plan of love of the Most High. Let us learn from her, the woman of Advent, to live with a new spirit in our daily gestures, with the sentiment of a profound expectation that only the coming of God can fulfill.

st andrew

Today is the feast of the apostle St. Andrew, brother of Peter, and the first apostle to follow after Jesus according to the gospel of john.

It is believed that Andrew died crucified on an x shaped cross on the gulf of Patras.

Ancient tradition tells the following about St. Andrew's proclamation before the cross which was to take his earthly life:

"Hail, O Cross, inaugurated by the Body of Christ and adorned with his limbs as though they were precious pearls. Before the Lord mounted you, you inspired an earthly fear. Now, instead, endowed with heavenly love, you are accepted as a gift.

Believers know of the great joy you possess, and of the multitude of gifts you have prepared. I come to you, therefore, confident and joyful, so that you too may recieve me exultant as a disciple of the One who wa shung upon you...

O blessed cross, clothed in the majesty and beauty of the Lord's limbs! Take me, carry me far from men, and restore me to my Teacher, so that, through you, the one who redeemed me by you, may recieve me. Hail! O Cross; yes, hail, indeed!"

In the words of Pope Benedict, here we encounter true Christian spirituality that does not view the Cross as an instrument of torture but rather as the incomparable means for perfect configuration to the Redeemer, to the grain of wheat that fell to the earth. thus we learn our own crosses acquire value if we consider them and accept them as a part of the Cross of Christ, if a reflection of his light illuminates them. It is by the cross our sufferings are enobled and acquire their true meaning.

In deed we all must learn to walk where the apsotles walked, filling up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, as St. Paul relates in the epistles.

C.S. Lewis

todayis the birthday of C.S. Lewis, the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and many other books on Christianity, such as MereChristinaity, The Great Divorce, Miracles, The Screwtape Letters and the list goes on.

Any of these would be great reads for Advent.

I certainly recommend The Screwtape Letters or The Great Divorce.

Here is a quote from C. S Lewis I find appropriate for Advent: "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."


Someday we will be old enough to read fairy tales again. Someday we will have the wisdom to recognize the truth that is right before us.

Advent is time for us to become like children, to recapture the wonder of it all, the beauty the majesty the simplicity of Christmas, the beauty, the majesty, the simplicity of life.

We have become too grown up. It is time to shake free from our grown upness and become little children once again, redisocvering the twinkle in our eye for life.

Perhaps this is the cure Jesus comes to bring. He tells the centurion in today;s gospel, "I will come to cure him," in response to a request to heal his servant who is paralyzed.

Are we all not a little paralyzed, a little stiff, unable to move freely in life. Have we not bound our selves up by being all grown up and lost sight of the adventure of love.

YEs JEsus please, come and cure us all and reawaken in us the wonder of it all. Help us to be surprised by the little things that are often over looked.

Advent is a time to get nimble and limber learning to bend low and stretch forth.

A few words from G.K. Chesterton

"The power of hoping through everything, the knowledge that the souls survives its adventures, tht great inspiration comes to the middle-aged; God has kept that good wine until now. It is from the backs of the elderly gentlemen and women that the wings of the butterfly should burst."

Fairy tales are about hope. Fairy tales are a place where the word never is replaced by forever after. Fairy tales help us believe that indeed there is someone out there who comes for us.

Jesus will come as we read yesterday. This is no fairy tale but a promise that moves us forth into life.

Day after the day of thanks

How quickly Thanksgiving had passed. In a blink of an eye all that remains is leftovers. We watched football, ate turkey and ham, we demolished the dressing, and were stuffed with pie.

And here we are, and here we remain.

Are we changed? Are we different? Did this day of thanks and praise fill us with renewed strength, a renewed sense of direction, a deeper sense of purpose ?

Did we really give thanks?

What now!

Well, for starters it is time to give thanks again. Thanksgiving isn't for a day, rather it must be a life long action in our life. This is how we change.

This is how we, as St Cyprian tells us, we turn "our earthly patrimony into heavenly treasure."

Thanksgiving is meant to lead us to obedience otherwise who are we really thanking.

thanks, praise, penitence

Today around the US families gather together as they wish and as they can to share a meal, to share some time, to just be with one another. The business of life gives way to a softer, slower pace of relaxation of just being with one another.

This is the true gift of thanksgivng, we learn once again to be with and be for one another rather than constantly doing this or doing that.

The art of just being has slipped through our calloused hands and scarred hearts and worped minds.

Today we rediscovery what makes life so grand, learning again to say "thank you" but not just with words but with our very presence, with our very life. For isn't the attempt to gather togther an action of thanksgiving!

As we enter into this moment on this time space continuum we call life, another look at the proclamation from President Abraham Lincoln is in order:

"It has seemed to me fit and proper that they (blessings bestowed) should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledge as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and those who are in foreing lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens..."

but He continues and this is also an important part

"And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings thay do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the ALmighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union."

Today we offer thanksgiving and praise while offering humble pentinece for our perverseness...Quite a mixture this day makes...Thanks and praise and penitence...

Such is life, such is necessary in this fallen world where sin and grace vie for our human heart: grace demands thanks and praise and sinfulness beckons for penitence and only togther do we move forward and seek to make changes in our life so that God may truly be all in all.

One eye on grace and the other on our sinfilness and thus we shall truly behold the Hand of God that holds us firm and give us reason to "stand erect and rais eour heads, for our redemption is at hand."

If we lose sight of grace then we despair for our sins; if we lose sight of our sins than we live a life no longer in need of God's healing touch, only with both can we truly make progress on the journey of life: thanks, praise, and penitence.

getting ready to give thanks

In order to get ready for tomorrow, I have today just a few quotes I have found beneficial in penetrating the depth of thanksgiving day....

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow."


"Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude."


"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel."

"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven." 

Here is a quote from St. Paul to round it off
"Rejoice always, never cease praying, in all circumstances give thanks, such is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 thess 5:16-18

Viva Cristo Rey

Rev 14:14-19; Psalm 96 The Lord comes to judge the earth; Luke 21:5-11

Today in the Church we celebrate several feast.

Today is the feast of Pope Clement 1, the 3rd successor of Peter and also the feast of Blessed Miguel Pro, a priest during time of persecution in Mexico in the 1920's and the years that follow, as well as, the feast of St. Columban, abbot during the 6th and 7th century.

So here are few words from each of these beloved men of the church.

Pope Clement I

"What then brothers ought we do? Should we grow slack in doing good and give up love? May the Lord never permit this to happen at any rate! rather should we be energetic in doing "every good deed" with earnestness and eagerness."

St. Columban

"Loving God renews his image in us...So we must turn back our image undefiled and holy to our God and Father, for he is holy; in the words of scripture:be holy, for I am holy. We must restore his image with love, for he is love...We must restore it with loyalty and truth, for he is loyal and truthful. The image we depict must not be that of one who is unlike God; for one who is harsh and irascible and proud would display the image of a despot."

What image do we display?


Blessed Miguel Pro

"Viva Cristo Rey!" these are the last words spoken by Fr. Miguel Pro as he stared down the firing squad. He was arrested for being a catholic priest. What a way to die, totally self-possessed and faithful until the end. What beautifully fitting last words pressed upon his lips that have never ceased to give glory to God, "Viva Cristo Rey...long live Christ the King." "Viva Cristo Rey...enough said!

What a more beautiful way to live!

the above pictures are the last taken of Blessed Miguel Pro's execution. One while he kneels and prays, his final request before the firing squad, one while with outstretched arms, as he awaits the bullets, the last is the final shot that took his earthly life.