Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
      While this is no one's favorite topic, it is a reality in which we live.  And when we look for good news, we do not look here.
 
      On January 22, 1973, seven Supreme Court Justices declared that it was legal to be able to kill children in the womb during all nine months of pregnancy.  When no previous institution or group ever acted when the presence of a human being was in question, the Supreme Court also said, we do not know when human life begins, but whatever is in the womb, it can be killed.
 
      Even science states that human life begins at conception as there is not other discernable moment before and after which one can point to and say there was not human life before, and now there is human life.  Even pro-abortion advocates do not deny this.  They focus on a woman's 'right to choose' abortion.  Some people say, 'I am against abortion, but I can't keep a woman from choosing abortion.'
 
     However, a woman does not have the right to choose to end the life a child.  In this, there is a conflict of rights: a child's right to life and the woman's right to choose things for herself.  Life is always the prior, or first right.  All other choices are dependent upon it.  A child's right to life is above a woman's right to choose for herself only after a child is present.  So do not be confused by this 'right to choose.'
    Over 62 million human lives slaughtered in the womb in the last 52 years LEGALLY!  Where are the others of my generation?  By God's Mercy this decision has been reversed and now goes to the state level.  Let us pray for the healing and converting of our land.  Let us work and vote for an end to our modern day slaughter of the human innocents.  And let us give true help and assistance to women and children in need, giving life options instead of enshrining in law that which kills the baby and wounds the mother. 
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert
 
P.S.  This Sunday is the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time .  The readings can be found at:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011925.cfm
​

256. In what does the essential rite of Baptism consist? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 1229-1245, 1278) 
a) water 
b) invoking the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit 
c) anointing with oil 
d) only (a) and (b) 
 
257. Who can receive Baptism? (CCC 1246-1252) 
a) only the perfect 
b) only babies 
c) every person who does something big for God 
d) every person not yet baptized 
 
258. Why does the Church baptize infants? (CCC 1250) 
a) it is what they did in the Old Testament 
b) because Jesus said to do so 
c) because they are born with original sin 
d) because parents in the early Church begged them to do so 
 
259. What is required of one who is to be baptized? (CCC 1253-1255) 
a) to make a profession of faith 
b) that one be clothed in white 
c) that one pass a faith test 
d) to make up for past sins first 
 (Answers at end) 

​

Catholic Term
 
personhood
- the distinctive qualities of each human being as a unique individual
[The human individual, made in the image of God; not some thing but some one, a unity of spirit and matter, soul and body, capable of knowledge, self-possession, and freedom, who can enter into communion with other persons and with God.  The human person needs to live in society, which is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond each one of them.]

 
Vote Pro-Life
 
Some will claim that a person should not be a single issue voter as if voting for someone who protect human life in law is just one issue among many.   Some things are so critical and essential simply by their nature that they set themselves apart or become the non-negotiable that must be present in a decision.
 
For example suppose someone running for a political office said, I believe and will promote a terrorist's right to crash planes into buildings.  Not too many voters, if any, are going to say, 'well I disagree with that politician on terrorists, but I really like his economic plan and ideas on other matters and will vote for him based on that.  Some truths must always be present.
 
The next time we are called to vote and act, let us make sure we are focused on the critical and the essential.
 
 "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion.  This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law:
You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish. (Didache 2,2:SCh 248,148; cf. Ep. Barnabae 19,5:PG 2 777; Ad Diognetum 5,6:PG 2,1173; Tertullian, Apol. 9:PL 1,319-320.)

God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes." 
  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2271

​Michele Chabin World
January 13, 2025

JERUSALEM — Hope, the theme chosen by Pope Francis for Jubilee 2025, is in short supply in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza right now, but is needed more than ever, local Catholic leaders say. 

While few Holy Land Christians will be able to travel to Rome for the special yearlong celebration, they will celebrate the jubilee where the Church began.  

The Diocese of Jerusalem launched the Jubilee Year in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth, at the Basilica of the Annunciation, the site where the Virgin Mary learned that she would be carrying the Son of God in her womb. It opened with a celebratory but solemn Mass, on Dec. 29, 2024, in keeping with the mood in Israel, which has been at war with Hamas and other Iranian proxies for much of the past 15 months. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and president of the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land (AOCHL), was the principal celebrant. 

In a message to the faithful, the members of the assembly urged local Christians to “live this Jubilee intensely, to take part in the pastoral and spiritual initiatives which will be proposed in their respective communities,” in particular by making pilgrimages to the holy places on their doorstep. 

“For us, Catholics of the Holy Land, hope, precisely in these times, is especially necessary,” assembly members said in a message to Holy Land Catholics. 

“If we look at this time of trial and tribulation from a purely human point of view, this inevitably leads us to discouragement, to a cynical view of the present and the future, to the very loss of faith and the consequent abandonment of the Church,” the message state. But “it is precisely in this context that God’s word and the Jubilee year itself invite us to rediscover hope.”

The assembly’s statement noted that while traveling to Rome is one important aspect of this year, it is possible to experience the Jubilee “in its fullness, as an experience of reconciliation and mercy” that results in the forgiveness of sins and punishments by making a pilgrimage to three of the most important Holy Land churches: the Basilica of the Annunciation in the northern Israeli city of Nazareth, the Basilica of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, and the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher-Anastasis in Jerusalem. 
​
“They are the places from which the hope of Christians around the world originates and is nourished: Throughout the year, let us try to be ourselves pilgrims to these places, as a community, as families and also in a personal way,” the assembly said. 

​“The Pope perceived a crisis of hope in the world,” Bishop Nahra told the Register. “There are so many problems, so many crises and wars, both here and elsewhere.” The challenge, he said, is finding ways to restore hope. 

“Hope is not a feeling that goes up and down, optimistic or pessimistic. It is based on the history of salvation between God and human beings. It is the affirmation that God is present and that we are not alone in this world. This is the foundation of hope,” Bishop Nahra said. 

The bishop said he views Jubilee 2025 as “a means to open a new page” in one’s life. “God gives us the possibility to restart. Perhaps you made many mistakes, your situation is very bad, but you can restart.”

Bishop Nahra said Christians around the world can help their brethren in the Holy Land celebrate the Jubilee Year by coming on pilgrimages. The Holy Land tourism industry was decimated first by COVID-19 and again on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, igniting a war between Hamas and Israel.  

Although fighting continues between Hamas combatants and Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Gaza, the security situation has improved dramatically. Tour groups from Africa, Asia and South America are starting to return, but few pilgrims are coming from North America, travel officials say. 
​
“Many people lost their jobs in hotels, restaurants,” Bishop Nahra noted. “They need the presence of pilgrims in order to live. Please tell people they are most welcome and that they can play a role in helping the local population to live and restart. They would give Jubilee to others.” 

​In mid-January, Israel’s Ministry of Tourism hosted the first official Catholic delegation to Israel in at least a decade, in the hope that Catholic tour operators will encourage pilgrims to celebrate the Jubilee in Israel. The Italian delegation — one bishop and 11 parish priests — were scheduled to visit several Christian holy sites and to meet with senior officials from the Catholic Church in the Holy Land and from the tourism ministry, as well. 

The pilgrims cannot come soon enough for Christians and others who rely on Holy Land pilgrimages for their livelihoods. 
When Nabil Razouk, a Catholic tour guide who lives in Jerusalem, heard that Pope Francis was about to launch the special year, he hoped that the number of pilgrims visiting the Holy Land would increase dramatically as a result. In addition to security concerns, the reluctance of many international airlines to fly to Israel, and the high fares charged by the airlines that are flying, has contributed to the downtrend.  

“I thought this Jubilee Year can be the turnaround we need, something to bring people here,” said Razouk, who has guided only one tourist, a U.S. priest, since March 2024. Now, he is unable to pay his daughter’s tuition at San Pablo University in Madrid, a Catholic university, and is scrambling for funding. 
​
While Razouk tries to be optimistic, he is also realistic, knowing that it will take time for tourism to reach pre-COVID levels.  
He said, “I am a patient person, but I am close to 50 years old. If I were younger, I would probably choose another profession.”

Pope Francis: The Christian Life Requires Fighting Against Satan

By Hannah Brockhaus
Vatican City, Jan 19 (EWTN News/CNA) - Pope Francis spoke Thursday about the struggles inherent to the Christian life, and how temptation, while a normal part of trying to live virtuously, must be fought adamantly.

“That’s why St. Paul speaks of Christian life as a struggle: a daily struggle. A fight!” he said Jan. 19. “That’s why Jesus came: ‘to destroy Satan's empire, the empire of evil.’”

In his homily at Santa Marta, Pope Francis reflected on how the day's Gospel from St. Mark talks about crowds of people following Jesus.

“Why were the crowds attracted?” the Pope asked.

In the Gospels it tells us that some are sick and want to be healed, he said. There were also some who liked to listen to Jesus’ preaching. But another answer is that they followed the Lord because the Father always leads us to his Son.

Jesus was moved by these people he saw as sheep without a shepherd, Francis said, these people who are being led to him by the Holy Spirit.

“May the Lord give us the grace to know how to discern what is going on in our hearts and to choose the right path upon which the Father draws us to Jesus.”

Commenting on the end of the Gospel, the Pope quoted the passage that says, “Whenever unclean spirits saw him they would fall down before him and shout, 'you are the Son of God.’”

Frequently, when we try to approach God, “unclean spirits” try to stop us, he said, and “wage a war against us” through the temptation to sin.

But this temptation is an ordinary part of living a Christian life, he said. “A Christian life without temptations is not Christian. It is ideological, it is Gnostic, but it is not Christian.”


 
How to join the US bishops in 9 Days for Life
Washington D.C., Jan 16 / 01:49 pm (EWTN News/CNA) - The U.S. bishops hope a new pro-life prayer campaign will unite Catholics against not only abortion, but other threats to human fulfilment and life as well.

“Pope Francis reminds us constantly of the loving concern Christians have for all people at any stage of life who’ve been cast aside or forgotten by society,” stated Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

“The 9 Days for Life novena offers a chance to join in prayer and solidarity with the unborn, victims of violence, those suffering from addiction, and those whose hearts ache to be part of a family.”

The novena bookends the 41st annual March for Life, and runs from Saturday, Jan. 21 through Sunday, Jan. 29. Through “prayer, penance, and pilgrimage,” Catholics can join in solidarity with all victims of abortion, domestic abuse, addiction, and other evils.

The message is about being pro-life for all ages, including the unborn.

There are multiple ways Catholics can take part in the novena. Daily prayers and meditations can be sent through e-mail and text message updates, a downloadable app, or distributed print materials. In addition, parishes and local groups can meet to pray for reparation for abortion and for all those affected by it.

The novena is sorely needed with the prevalence of violence in the U.S., said Anne McGuire, the assistant director for education and outreach for the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in an interview with EWTN News.

“An increasing number of states are considering doctor-assisted suicide,” McGuire noted. “75 percent of Americans are reported to know a victim of domestic violence. There have been over 56 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, and massive numbers of mothers and fathers suffer the aftermath of those abortions, along with siblings, grandparents, those who work in the abortion industry and others.”

McGuire hopes that the novena will ignite year-round prayer and awareness for these problems.

“We do hope that this novena increases the awareness of each person to be recognized as someone made in the image and likeness of God,” she said, pointing to the theme “each person is a masterpiece of God’s creation.”

“We know that God hears our prayers and we hope that many graces are given in response to our petitions,” she continued.

The website 9daysforlife.com presents a myriad of resources to participants, as does the program’s app. Leaders of prayer groups can access pro-life prayer intentions and print promotional material for their parish. Daily meditations can be shared through social media. Pro-life articles can be printed for distribution.

The whole novena is a “digital pilgrimage,” the Bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities insists. Even though “we can't trek 30 miles per day, we can still undertake a pilgrimage,” stated a message from the secretariat, “a prayerful and sacrificial journey for a special intention.”

“One important aspect of pilgrimages is that the participant grows spiritually and perhaps even develops some resolutions by the pilgrimage's completion,” the message added. 


"9 Days for Life" will take place January 17-25 (the nine days surrounding the anniversary of Roe v. Wade). To participate, visit www.9daysforlife.com and sign up for daily alerts (accessible via email, text message, or an app) or download and print the novena.  

 

"From its conception, the child has the right to life. Direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, is a "criminal" practice (GS 27 § 3), gravely contrary to the moral law. The Church imposes the canonical penalty of excommunication for this crime against human life."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #2274
 
 ​

Family Restaurant
The night we took our three young sons to an upscale restaurant for the first time, my husband ordered a bottle of wine. The server brought it over, began the ritual uncorking, and poured a small amount for me to taste.
My six-year-old piped up, "Mom usually drinks a lot more than that."

 Always Questioning
My mother is always trying to understand what motivates people, especially those in her family. One day she and my sister were talking about one relative’s bad luck. "Why do you suppose she changed jobs?" Mother asked my sister. "Maybe she has a subconscious desire not to succeed."
"Or maybe it just happened," said my sister, exasperated. "Do you know you analyze everything to death?"
Mother was silent for a moment. "That’s true," she said. "Why do you think I do that?"========

'Somebody has said there are only two kinds of people in the world.

There are those who wake up in the morning and say, 'Good morning, Lord,' and there
are those who wake up in the morning and say,' Good Lord, it's morning.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time and
couldn't find a space with a meter. Then he puts a note under the windshield wiper that read:
'I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses.'

When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note '
I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket I'll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation.'

Prayer to End Abortion

 Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life,
And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters.
 
I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion,
Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death
by the Resurrection of Your Son.
 
I am ready to do my part in ending abortion.
Today I commit myself
Never to be silent,
Never to be passive,
Never to be forgetful of the unborn.
 
I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement,
And never to stop defending life
Until all my brothers and sisters are protected,
And our nation once again becomes
A nation with liberty and justice
Not just for some, but for all.
 
Through Christ our Lord. Amen!
 

"Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.
​
Prenatal diagnosis is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an individual. . . . It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence."
  –Catechism of the Catholic Church #2274 

+JMJ+

SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion

2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Sunday, January 19th, 2025


The First Reading- Isaiah 62: 1-5

For Zion's sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch.  Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD.  You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem held by your God.  No more shall people call you "Forsaken," or your land "Desolate," but you shall be called "My Delight," and your land "Espoused."  For the LORD delights in you and makes your land his spouse.  As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.
Reflection
There is a marriage theme running throughout the readings this week. In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah proclaims God’s message to Israel, speaking as a husband to her. The image of God as a husband to God’s people is very common in the Hebrew Scriptures and carries over to the Christian Scriptures, as well.  God speaks gently to the bride that had turned away from him to worship idols and not care for the poor.
Adults - This reading is a beautiful example of God’s mercy. Is there someone in your life that you need to show mercy to?
Teens - God freely forgives us when we truly repent. Where in your life do you need to ask for or give forgiveness?
Kids - Have you ever needed someone to forgive you? Was it hard to ask them to?

Responsorial- Psalm 96: 1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10
R.Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Give to the LORD, you families of nations,
give to the LORD glory and praise;
give to the LORD the glory due his name!
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Worship the LORD in holy attire.
Tremble before him, all the earth;
Say among the nations: The LORD is king.
He governs the peoples with equity.
R. Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Reflection
-Try to pray the Holy Name of Jesus at least once a day this week, in thanksgiving for your blessings.

The Second Reading- 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11
Brothers and sisters: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another, the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another, mighty deeds; to another, prophecy; to another, discernment of spirits; to another, varieties of tongues; to another, interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.
Reflection
The second reading speaks of the different gifts that everyone is given, but that come from the same Spirit. As members of families and communities—people in relationship—it’s important to remember that we are all different and all have something to offer. That’s what makes a family, a church, a community strong, using our different gifts together as one family, one Body of Christ.
God made everyone with special gifts and talents.  What gifts do you have?  How can you use them to build the Body of Christ?

The Holy Gospel according to John 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told them, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from — although the servers who had drawn the water knew —, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now." Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.
Reflection
In the Gospel, we hear the story of the Wedding at Cana. It is at a wedding that Jesus chooses to do his first miracle—at his mother’s request! We see a model of how to be a disciple in Mary here, and a good look at how she still intercedes for us from Heaven today.  She sees a concern and takes it right to Jesus. She doesn’t tell Him how she thinks the problem should be solved, or demand to know what He is going to do about it. She simply states the issue, and tells the servants exactly what she still tells us today - “Do whatever He tells you.”
Adults - How is your relationship with Mary? Can you think of something in your life you can ask her to intercede for?
Teens  - Jesus was a devout Jew, and therefore followed the commandments, including honoring His parents. His address of His mother as “Woman” is not meant as disrespect but is an indication of her role in salvation history, a reference to “the woman” in Genesis 3:15. Ask Jesus’ mother to pray for you in a special way this week.
Kids - Jesus cares about everything that is happening in our lives, no matter how big or small.  What do you need His help with this week?

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! – But, someone may object: how often have I asked God for temporal favors I needed so badly, and my prayer was unanswered? Was it unanswered really? Perhaps you did not get the exact thing you asked for but you got something more useful, more necessary, something you never thought of asking for, but the good God saw your need of it. We have a father in heaven who really loves us, and cares for us, let us make our temporal, as well as our spiritual needs, known to him in confident prayer. Our requests will not go unanswered.  --Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.
​

256. In what does the essential rite of Baptism consist? d) only (a) and (b) 
The essential rite of this sacrament consists in immersing the candidate in water or pouring water over his or her head while invoking the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 
 
257. Who can receive Baptism?d) every person not yet baptized 
Every person not yet baptized is able to receive Baptism. 
 
258. Why does the Church baptize infants?c) because they are born with original sin 
The Church baptizes infants because they are born with original sin. They need to be freed from the power of the Evil One and brought into that realm of freedom which belongs to the children of God. 
 
259. What is required of one who is to be baptized?a) to make a profession of faith 
Everyone who is to be baptized is required to make a profession of faith. This is done personally in the case of an adult or by the parents and by the Church in the case of infants. Also the godfather or the godmother and the whole ecclesial community share the responsibility for baptismal preparation (catechumenate) as well as for the development and safeguarding of the faith and grace given at baptism. 

​

Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
      After the Epiphany, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.  This festive day liturgically concludes the season of Christmas.  The Church recalls this, our Lord's second manifestation or 'epiphany,' which occurred on the occasion of His baptism in the Jordan.  Jesus descended into the River to sanctify its waters and to give them the power to beget sons and daughters of God in all time and places.  The event takes on the importance of a second creation in which the entire Trinity intervenes.
 
After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him.   And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."  -Matthew 3:16-17
 
          Many of the incidents which accompanied Christ's baptism are symbolical of what happened at our Baptism.  At Christ's baptism the Holy Spirit descended upon Him; at our Baptism the Holy Trinity took its abode in our soul.  At His baptism Christ was proclaimed the "Beloved Son" of the Father; at our Baptism we become the loved, adopted sons and daughters of God.  At Christ's baptism the heavens were opened; at our Baptism heaven was opened to us.  At His baptism Jesus prayed; after our Baptism we must pray to avoid actual sin.

      Christ has sanctified the waters that set us free from sin and makes us children of the Father.   He does this because He loves us.  Will you and I now sanctify the world through our Mother, the Church, so that we will be the one family of humanity?
 
Peace and prayers in Jesus through Mary, loved by Saint Joseph,
Father Robert

P.S.  This Sunday is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  The readings can be found at:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/011225.cfm

252. What names are given to the first sacrament of initiation? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 1213-1216, 1276-1277) 
a) Baptism 
b) Confirmation 
c) Holy Eucharist 
d) none of the above 
 
253. How is Baptism prefigured (foreshadowed, pointed to) in the Old Covenant? (CCC 1217-1222) 
a) anointing of King David 
b) coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost 
c) in the passing of Israel through the Red Sea 
d) when Joseph fed the world with grain from Egypt 
 
254. Who brought to fulfillment those prefigurations (foreshadowings)? (CCC 1223-1224) 
a) John the Baptist 
b) Jesus Christ 
c) the Holy Spirit 
d) Blessed Virgin Mary 
 
255. Starting when and to whom has the Church administered Baptism? (CCC 1226-1228) 
a) Pentecost, to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ 
b) river Jordan, to anyone who came 
c) First Council of Jerusalem, whoever attended 
d) after the Crucifixion, to whoever did not deny Jesus Christ     (Answers below at end)

​

Blessed Are The Sorrowing, They Shall Be Consoled
​

Pope Francis' Vatican Webpage
 
http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en.html

The Vatican's website on Pope Francis includes pictures, upcoming events, and all his writings.  

 Our Lord voluntarily submitted Himself to the baptism of Saint John, intended for sinners, in order to "fulfill all righteousness". Jesus' gesture is a manifestation of His self-emptying. The Spirit who had hovered over the waters of the first creation descended then on the Christ as a prelude of the new creation, and the Father revealed Jesus as His "beloved Son." 
​-Catechism of the Catholic Church 1224

Queen of Queens: The Pietà’s Epic Journey from Rome to America
The iconic sculpture’s journey from the Vatican to the 1964 World’s Fair in New York was a monumental feat of faith and logistics.

​The book cover of ‘Our Lady of the World’s Fair’ by Ruth D. Nelson, with a detail of Michelangelo’s 1499 Pietà at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (photo: Cornell University Press / Shutterstock)
Aaron Lambert Features

January 1, 2025
The Pietà, Michelangelo’s masterful marble sculpture that so mournfully depicts the Virgin Mary cradling Christ’s lifeless body after his crucifixion, is one of history’s most revered and recognizable works of Christian art. It dwells behind a glass encasement in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where it has been for as long as most can remember.

Since its astonishing creation, it has never left the Eternal City — except for once, that is.
The amazing story of when, why and how is chronicled in Our Lady of the World’s Fair, a new book written by Ruth Nelson, which recounts the time Michelangelo’s Pietà made the transatlantic journey from St. Peter’s Basilica to Queens, New York, for the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. The likelihood of such a feat occurring in today’s internet age is next to impossible, making this tale from history all the more charming.

Through the book’s 12 chapters, Nelson goes into incredibly well-researched and painstaking detail about all of the logistical, financial and practical hurdles that had to be overcome to bring the Pietà to American shores.

While the cast of players is broad, two figures, in particular, can be credited with pulling it off: the highly influential public official and urban planner Robert Moses, whose ambitious vision the 1964-65 World’s Fair owes its success to, and Cardinal Francis Spellman, who served as Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. Cardinal Spellman’s esteemed reputation with ecclesial hierarchy played a crucial role in convincing the Vatican to loan their most precious sculpture to New York.

The experiences of these two men and their integral involvement in bringing the Pietà to the World’s Fair are described at length throughout the book. More than just a cursory glimpse into a particularly important period of Church history — after all, 1964 and 1965 were the final years of the Second Vatican Council, in which Cardinal Spellman was a participant — these chapters also provide a nostalgic and candid look at American culture in the 1960s and the Herculean efforts on the part of Moses, Cardinal Spellman and countless others to plan and execute a truly global event like the World’s Fair.
As Nelson writes in her preface for the book, “The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair introduced us to the World of Tomorrow, the world we live in today. There never was nor ever could be a better fair, and that is the memory I have carried since that family vacation brought us to the Queens fairgrounds in 1964.”

Indeed, those fairgrounds must have been something to behold. The World’s Fair was much more than a few tents with mediocre attractions; as the book describes, a virtual small city was constructed from the ground up to accommodate the larger-than-life attractions that drew visitors from all over the world.

Even among an impressive array of attractions that included the famed Unisphere and exhibits from Disney, General Motors and Coca-Cola, it’s hard to compete with a masterpiece like the Pietà. The Vatican Pavilion, which housed the Pietà and many other Catholic works of art, was one of the most popular attractions for the tens of millions of visitors to the fair over its two seasons. The lines were always long, but eager pilgrims had no problem waiting to experience the lasting spiritual balm of the Pietà.

In those days, because hopping on a plane to Rome wasn’t as easy as it is today, seeing the Pietà in the flesh was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most. It would be the first time, and the last time, the Pietà would ever leave Rome, for the Vatican banned the loan of any of its art in 1965.

The book is replete with anecdotes and details about the World’s Fair, which makes it worth reading from a purely historical perspective alone. However, the chapter titled “Moving Marble,” which gives a play-by-play of how the Pietà was transported across the ocean, is an astounding read in and of itself.

Prepping, packing and shipping a priceless marble sculpture without damage was a daunting task. But through rigorous planning and careful preparation, they managed to do it, and how they did it has all the makings of a great Hollywood film. It may not be readily apparent what X-rays, tracking devices, buoyant containers, explosive bolts and foam beads have to do with transporting a precious sculpture halfway across the world, but all of the above were involved in a feat that simply must be read to be believed.

The bringing of the Pietà to America — and indeed, the entire New York World’s Fair — was such a remarkable feat that it also served as the impetus for another monumental first for the Church. On Oct. 4, 1965, Pope Paul VI visited New York City, which marked “the first-ever visit of any pope to the Western Hemisphere, or, for that matter, the New World.” The inaugural papal visit to the U.S. is described in great detail by Nelson, and again, serves as a nostalgic and fascinating window into both Church and American history.

The 1960s were a volatile time in American history. The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War hovered over America and the rest of the world like a dark cloud, and President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. It is against this backdrop that the World’s Fair took place, which was a welcome respite to counter all the darkness and anxiety that seemed to envelop the globe. It served as a moment of unity for America and the world, coming together as one common human family to showcase the true, the good and the beautiful.

It was also, as Our Lady of the World’s Fair shows, a testament to the unitive and healing power of the Catholic faith, the presence of which, represented by the Pietà, transformed the fair into a truly transcendent occasion.

Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

​Later, Pope Francis greeted Morra. He took her hand and said: “Signora, forza! The impossible does not exist for you. I will be close to you in prayer. Keep going. You have done so much for your son. You are a super mom.”

Vatican City, Jan 10 (EWTN News/CNA) - 
Pope Francis said Wednesday that moments of silence in the Mass should be intentional times of prayer, recollection and communion with God, rather than being viewed as times to just be quiet or not speak.
“Silence is not reduced to the absence of words, but (is) the availability to listen to other voices: that of our heart and, above all, the voice of the Holy Spirit,” the Pope said Jan. 10.

In silence, then, we discover “the importance of listening to our soul and then opening it to the Lord.”

Continuing his general audience catechesis on the topic of the Mass, Pope Francis reflected on the nature of the different moments of silence found within the celebration, especially in the recitation of the collect.

The collect, which is prayed after the Gloria, or if the Gloria is omitted, following the Penitential Act, is a short prayer which goes from praise to supplication, and is generally inspired from the day’s Scripture passages, the Pope said.

This prayer, which varies according to the day and time in which the Mass is being said, begins with the priest saying to the people, “Let us pray,” followed by a brief silence.

“I strongly recommend priests observe this moment of silence, which without wanting to, we risk neglecting,” Francis noted.

In this moment the congregation is exhorted to come together in silence, to become aware of the presence of God, and to bring out, “each one in his own heart, the personal intentions with which he participates in Mass.”

“Perhaps we come from days of toil, of joy, of sorrow, and we want to tell the Lord, to invoke his help, to ask that he be near us; we have family members and friends who are ill or who are going through difficult trials; we wish to entrust to God the fate of the Church and the world.”

“For this we need the brief silence beforehand, that the priest, gathering the intentions of each one, expresses in a loud voice to God, in the name of all, the common prayer that concludes the rites of introduction, making, indeed, a ‘collection’ of individual intentions.”

These silences are written right into the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, the Pope pointed out. There it says that in the Penitential Act and again after the invitation to pray, everyone is supposed to spend a moment in recollection.

And in the silences following a reading or the homily, everyone is called to meditate briefly on what they have heard. After Communion they should praise and pray to God in their hearts.

The Gloria, another kind of prayer, is either recited or sung before the collect on Sundays - except during Lent and Advent - and on feasts and solemnities.

Here, “the feelings of praise that run through the hymn are intertwined with the confident pleading of divine benevolence, to end with the Trinitarian doxology, which characterizes the whole liturgical celebration,” he said.

The recitation or singing of the Gloria, the Pope emphasized, “constitutes an opening of the earth to heaven.”

By meditating on the prayers of the Mass, the liturgy can become for us, the Pope concluded, a “true school of prayer.”
​

Washington D.C., Jan 16 (EWTN News/CNA) - Martin Luther King Day is a time to promote racial harmony in America and honor the slain civil rights leader who was “inspired by the teachings of Christ,” said the head of the Knights of Peter Claver.

“Considering that so many 'church-going folks' were supporting segregation and Jim Crow laws during the civil rights movement, it is wonderful that King dedicated his life to employing Christ's teachings to resist and counter the very social sins of prejudice, racial discrimination and segregation,” Supreme Knight F. DeKarlos Blackmon told EWTN News.


He said Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. a Baptist minister, was “a man of faith and deep conviction” who studied Catholic theology and was “particularly impressed” with St. Augustine.


King’s famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” cited St. Augustine's saying “An unjust law is no law at all.”


From 2010-2016 Blackmon headed the Knights of Peter Claver, a New Orleans-based Catholic fraternal order present in about 39 states and in South America. It takes as its model the Spanish Jesuit priest St. Peter Claver, who ministered to slaves in Colombia in the 1600s. Its membership is significantly African-American but the order is open to all practicing Catholics without regard to race or ethnicity.


The organization was founded in Mobile, Ala. in 1909 by four priests of the Josephite Fathers and three Catholic laymen to serve African-Americans and other racial minorities. Its founders were concerned the Catholic Church would lose black individuals to fraternal and secular organizations, at a time when local racism kept many out of the Knights of Columbus.


The order has six divisions: the Ladies of Peter Claver, two separate junior divisions for young men and young women, the Fourth Degree Knights and the Fourth Degree Ladies of Grace.


The Knights of Peter Claver and the Ladies Auxiliary opposed segregation and worked to transform how communities and cities thought about race, equality and justice, Blackmon said. They worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League.
 
The order's leadership and members were “intimately involved” in the civil rights movement. Civil rights attorney A.P. Tureaud, a national secretary and national advocate of the order, worked with future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to help overturn legal segregation.


The now demolished Claver Building in New Orleans, which was the Knights’ headquarters from 1951 to 1974, hosted early meetings “that ultimately launched the civil rights movement,” Blackmon added.


Today, members of the order organize Martin Luther King Day activities like Masses of Unity, prayer services, days of unity, and programs commemorating King's vision in addition to their other charitable works.


Blackmon said King challenged America “to live out its creed that all men are created equal.” He said the observance is an opportunity for American Catholics to remember King's life and work and to realize the challenge to work towards Jesus’ prayer that the Catholic Church “may all be as one.”


He said African-American Catholics should use the day to remember those who have accomplished “something for the larger community and the greater good.” He mentioned African-American Catholic bishops like the late New Orleans auxiliary Bishop Harold Perry and Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, former president of the U.S. bishops’ conference.


Blackmon praised the rise of African-Americans in professions like law, medicine, higher education and politics.


“We have realized numerous African-American and Hispanic cabinet officials, legislators, and federal judges. We have realized a black president in the White House,” he said.


However, he added, “there is still yet more to be effected.”


“By the grace of almighty God, by the arduous work of our hands, by the standing up to be a witness to the saving power of God, we will overcome prejudice, racism, intolerance, bias, narrow-mindedness, and chauvinism,” he said.


He said Christians must be “ever mindful of our role in not only welcoming, but also embracing and helping ‘the stranger’ among us.”


The Knights of Peter Claver aim to serve God and the Catholic Church. They assist the needy, the sick, and disabled, while developing their members through fellowship, recreational activities, scholarships, and charitable work.
 
 
POPE FRANCIS HAILS MOTHERHOOD AS THE 'ANTIDOTE TO INVIDIVIDUALISM'Vatican City, Jan 7 (EWTN News/CNA) - During his general audience Pope Francis lamented how mothers are often under-appreciated in their family role, and said they are key players in fighting against an individualistic, self-centered society.

“To be a mother is a great treasure. Mothers, in their unconditional and sacrificial love for their children, are the antidote to individualism; they are the greatest enemies against war,” the pontiff told pilgrims during his Jan. 7 general audience address.

Mothers, he said, “are often exploited because of their availability. Not even the Christian community values them properly, despite the eminent example of the Mother of Jesus.”

The Roman Pontiff offered his words to those gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for his first general audience after the Christmas holiday vacation.

He continued his catechesis on the family, which he initiated in December, by turning his gaze to the image of the Mother of Jesus at Christmas, who presents her son to the world.

Mary’s example provides an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the role of all mothers in society and the Church, the Pope explained, noting how despite all of the “symbolic glorification” we give to motherhood, it is still under-valued.

“All of us give credit to our mothers for life and many other things, but not always are they listened to or helped in everyday life…Their important contribution to the life of society, their daily sacrifices and their aspirations are not always properly appreciated,” he observed.

To be a mother is a gift, the Pope said, and explained that through their sacrifices, mothers assist in helping society to overcome its self-centered tendencies, as well as its lack of openness, generosity and concern for others.

“In this sense motherhood is more than childbearing; it is a life choice entailing sacrifice, respect for life, and commitment to passing on those human and religious values which are essential for a healthy society,” he said.

Pope Francis then drew attention to the phrase “martyrdom of mothers” coined by Archbishop Oscar Romero, who served as the archbishop of El Salvador and was shot and killed while saying Mass in 1980 for speaking out against social injustices committed by the government.

This maternal martyrdom, the pontiff noted, consists of a mother’s ability to offer herself in silence, prayer and total surrender, “without any fanfare,” to her motherly duties.

A mother’s sensitivity “to all that threatens human life and welfare is a source of enrichment for society and the Church,” he said, observing how it is common in moments of difficulty to encounter the tenderness, dedication and moral strength of our mothers.

“It is they, mothers, who often give the first roots of the faith, the ones that permeate deepest; without them not only would the faithful be lost, but also a good part of the deepest fire of our faith,” he explained.

Pope Francis then greeted pilgrims present from various countries around the world, including Ireland, Finland, Indonesia, Australia, the United States, Spain, Mexico and Argentina.

He concluded by asking those present to join him in thanking all mothers “for what they are and for all that they give to the Church and to our world,” and gave his blessing.
​
In His Passover Christ opened to all men the fountain of Baptism. He had already spoken of His Passion, which He was about to suffer in Jerusalem, as a "Baptism" with which He had to be baptized. The blood and water that flowed from the pierced side of the crucified Jesus are types of Baptism and the Eucharist, the sacraments of new life. From then on, it is possible "to be born of water and the Spirit" in order to enter the Kingdom of God. See where you are baptized, see where Baptism comes from, if not from the cross of Christ, from His death. There is the whole mystery: He died for you. In Him you are redeemed, in Him you are saved.  -Catechism of the Catholic Church 1225

A bit of humor…

​Some Thoughts:
- Failure is not falling down, it is not getting up again.
-Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed.
-I have to exercise early in the morning before my brain figures out what I’m doing.
-The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a flat tire.
-You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.
Family Matters“Why doesn’t your mother like me?” a woman asks her boyfriend.
“Don’t take it personally,” he assures her. “She’s never liked anyone I’ve dated. I once dated someone exactly like her, and that didn’t work out at all.”
“What happened?”
“My father couldn’t stand her.” 
Mom's CallI was sound asleep when the telephone jarred me awake.
"Hi!" It was my peppy mother-in-law. She proceeded to rattle on about the busy day she had ahead and all the things that awaited her the rest of the week.
"Mom," I interrupted. "It’s five in the morning."
"Really? What are you doing up so early?"

63 and pregnant..................
A woman went to the emergency room, where she was seen by a young new doctor. After about 3 minutes in the examination room, the doctor told her she was pregnant. 
 
She burst out of the room and ran down the corridor screaming.  An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was; after listening to her story, he calmed her down and sat her in another room. 
 
Then the doctor marched down the hallway to the first doctor's room. 'What on earth is wrong with you?' he demanded. 'This woman is 63 years old, she has two grown children and several grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?!! 
 
The new doctor continued to write on his clipboard and without looking up said: 
'Does she still have the hiccups?'
 
 
FROM THE MOUTHS OF CHILDREN:
Ms. Terri asked her Sunday School class to draw pictures of their favorite Bible stories.
She was puzzled by Kyle's picture, which showed four people on an airplane, so she asked him which story it was meant to represent.
"The Flight to Egypt ," was his reply.
Pointing at each figure, Ms. Terri said,
"That must be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. But who's the fourth person?"
"Oh, that's Pontius - the pilot!"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A boy was watching his father, a pastor, write a sermon.
"How do you know what to say?" he asked.
"Why, God tells me."
"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"

Collect for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Almighty ever-living God, who, when Christ had been baptized in the River Jordan and as the Holy Spirit descended upon him, solemnly declared him your beloved Son, grant that your children by adoption, reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, may always be well pleasing to you. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.  Amen.
A Prayer for Our Government by Bishop John Carroll (1791)

We pray, O almighty and eternal God, who through Jesus Christ has revealed thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of your name.
 We pray Thee, who alone are good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, the pope, the vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, all other bishops, prelates and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct your people into the ways of salvation.
We pray O God of might, wisdom and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with your Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the president of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.
 Let the light of your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.
 We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by your powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.
 We recommend likewise, to your unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of your most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.
Finally, we pray to you, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of your servants departed, who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech you, a place of refreshment, light and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. 
 Amen.




+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord – Sunday, January 12, 2025

The First Reading - Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7
Thus says the LORD: Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the  street, a bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching. I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
Reflection
The section of Isaiah from which our reading for today comes is the beginning of the conclusion to what has been called the Book of Consolation. The Bible often uses the symbol of a banquet to describe God’s love. The Passover out of Egypt is celebrated with a family banquet (Exodus 12) as well as the Sinai covenant (Exodus 24:5, 11). The abundance of heaven in the end times is often described as a heavenly banquet (Isaiah 25:6; 65:11-15; Psalm 22:5). All are invited to this eschatological banquet described here, all that is needed is a thirst for God and obedience to His call (Heed me and you shall eat well).
Adults - How do you envision the heavenly banquet?
Teens - What feelings/thoughts does the imagery of a banquet evoke in you?
Kids - Why do you think heaven is sometimes described as a heavenly banquet?

Responsorial- Psalm 29:1-2, 3-4, 3, 9-10
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Give to the LORD, you sons of God,
   give to the LORD glory and praise,
Give to the LORD the glory due his name;
   adore the LORD in holy attire.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters,
   the LORD, over vast waters.
The voice of the LORD is mighty;
   the voice of the LORD is majestic.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
The God of glory thunders,
   and in his temple all say, “Glory!”
The LORD is enthroned above the flood;
   the LORD is enthroned as king forever.
R. The Lord will bless his people with peace.
Reflection
The Lord gives us all peace - not the peace of the world, but His own peace which is rooted in faith and hope.  Ask God to bless you with his peace this week.

The Second Reading- Acts 10:34-38
Peter proceeded to speak to those gathered in the house of Cornelius, saying: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him. You know the word that he sent to the Israelites as he proclaimed peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all, what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
Reflection -  The essence of the 1st letter of John is that of the love of God and the love of the brethren which is the hallmark of the Christian. For “If anyone says ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God should love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21). As we see in many places, the commandment of fraternal love is an old commandment: God always wanted us to love others and he made this a basic commandment for the people of the Old Covenant (Leviticus 19:18). It is also a “new” commandment because it finds its fullest meaning in Christ’s life and teaching. Saint Jerome tells us that when John was a very old man his only message was “little children, love one another.” When his disciples asked him why he was always saying the same thing he always replied, “My children, this is what the Lord commands; if we do this, nothing else is necessary.” Our reading for today is a reaffirmation of love in action.
-Practice seeing the image of Christ in everyone you encounter this week, and see how it changes your interactions.

The Holy Gospel according to Mark 1:7-11
This is what John the Baptist proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me.I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” It happened in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. On coming up out of the water he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit, like a dove, descending upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  
Reflection  The fact of Jesus’ baptism has been a christological and theological issue to be reckoned with almost since it happened. After all, why would Jesus, who was sinless, participate in a rite for sinners? Also, why would Jesus, the Messiah and clearly superior to John the Baptist, submit to the authority of John? Jesus identifies Himself with sinful humanity by undergoing John’s purificatory rite. He cleanses the waters so that they will be fit to baptize all of His followers throughout history. The heavens open and the heavenly voice speaks. Jesus is being called to fulfill His vocation as Son by being the well-beloved Son after the pattern of Isaac who was prepared to sacrifice his life to ensure the blessings of God for mankind (Genesis 22:2, 12,16).  
Adults - How does the Baptism of Jesus speak to His humility?
Teens - Why is Baptism the doorway to all other Sacraments?
Kids - What do you know about your own Baptism?

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! – “The Baptism in the Jordan returns to the great Christmas theme of ‘Christification,’ Jesus of Nazareth's spiritual anointing, His presentation as the Anointed One par excellence, the Messiah or the One sent by the Father for the salvation of mankind. The Spirit that descended on Jesus shows and seals in an incontrovertible way the ‘Christification’ of Jesus’ humanity that the Word had already fulfilled from the first moment of His miraculous conception by Mary. Jesus, from the very beginning, was always the Lord’s Christ, He was always God. Yet, His one, true humanity, that which is perfect in every way, as the Gospel records, constantly grew in natural and supernatural perfection. ‘And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and with men’ (Lk2:52). In Israel at 30 years of age, one reached full maturity and therefore could become a master. Jesus came of age and the Spirit, descending and remaining on Him, definitively consecrated His whole being as the Christ.
The same Spirit, that descended on the water of the River Jordan wafted over the waters during the first creation (Gen 1:2). Therefore, the Baptism in the Jordan presents yet another truth: that Jesus has started a new creation. He is the second man (1 Cor 15:47) or the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45), that comes to repair the first Adam’s guilt. He does this as the Lamb of God that takes away our sins. ‘Looking at the events in light of the Cross and Resurrection, the Christian people realised what happened: Jesus loaded the burden of all mankind’s guilt upon His shoulders; he bore it down into the depths of the Jordan. He inaugurated his public activity by stepping into the place of sinners’ (Joseph Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth, Bloomsbury 2007, p 18).”  --Excerpted from the Congregation for the Clergy



252. What names are given to the first sacrament of initiation? a) Baptism 
This sacrament is primarily called Baptism because of the central rite with which it is celebrated. To baptize means to “immerse” in water. The one who is baptized is immersed into the death of Christ and rises with him as a “new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This sacrament is also called the “bath of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5); and it is called “enlightenment” because the baptized becomes “a son of light” (Ephesians 5:8). 
 
253. How is Baptism prefigured in the Old Covenant?c) in the passing of Israel through the Red Sea 
In the Old Covenant Baptism was pre-figured in various ways: water, seen as source of life and of death; in the Ark of Noah, which saved by means of water; in the passing through the Red Sea, which liberated Israel from Egyptian slavery; in the crossing of the Jordan River, that brought Israel into the promised land which is the image of eternal life. 
 
254. Who brought to fulfillment those prefigurations? b) Jesus Christ 
All the Old Covenant prefigurations find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. At the beginning of his public life Jesus had himself baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan. On the cross, blood and water, signs of Baptism and the Eucharist, flowed from his pierced side. After his Resurrection he gave to his apostles this mission: “Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). 
 
255. Starting when and to whom has the Church administered Baptism? a) Pentecost, to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ 
From the day of Pentecost, the Church has administered Baptism to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. 

​

Catholic Good News
​
Receiving the Gospel, Serving God and Neighbor
 
The New Year and The Epiphany of our Lord
They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house
they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage.  
Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 
-Matthew 2:10-11

Sacred Scripture 
21. What is the importance of the Old Testament for Christians? (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 121-123) 
a) it is fulfilled in the New Testament 
b) it was written to prepare us for Jesus Christ 
c) all of the books of the Old Testament are divinely inspired 
d) all of the above 
 
22. What importance does the New Testament have for Christians? (CCC 124-127, 139) 
a) it is more important than the Old Testament 
b) it conveys to us the ultimate truth of divine Revelation 
c) it is the only part of the Bible that tells us about Jesus 
d) it conveys to us the most important things to remember 
 
23. What is the unity that exists between the Old and the New Testaments? (CCC 128-130, 140) 
a) there is no clear unity between the Old and the New 
b) they are two options and hopefully people will believe at least one 
c) the Old prepares for the New and New fulfills the Old 
d) they are one because some of the same people are found in both 
 
24. What role does Sacred Scripture play in the life of the Church? (CCC 131-133, 141-142) 
a) “ignorance of Scripture, is ignorance of Christ” 
b) it is the most important 
c) it is meant to give the big picture of God 
d) it gives much support, but is not that necessary  (Answers below at end)
​
The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world. The great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee. In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. The magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations. Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. The Epiphany shows that "the full number of the nations" now takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs", and acquires Israelitica dignitas (is made "worthy of the heritage of Israel").  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #528

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Most Nativity scenes include the Magi right at Christmas, but we know from Scripture that they did not arrive until later, which is why their Feast Day takes place after some time has passed from Christmas Day.  
Further Reading:  Matthew 2:1-12 ​

‘Madonna in the Church’ by Jan Van Eyck; (1428) Gemäldegalerie, State Museum, Berlin (photo: Public domain)
Christopher Carstens and Alexis Kutarna and Denis McNamaraBooksJanuary 1Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from Solemnities: Celebrating a Tapestry of Divine Beauty.


Catholics see the world as a marriage of the spiritual and material, not a divorce of these two realties. The very title of Mary as “Mother of God” shows the intrinsic connection between the material and spiritual realms. Let’s consider what this means. First, notice that the Second Person of the Trinity — eternal, infinite, omnipotent — becomes incarnate through a human mother! Second, “Mother of God” means that humanity and divinity, the material and the spiritual, earth and heaven, exist inseparably from the point of the incarnation of Jesus in the womb of Mary, his human mother.
This solemnity has had other names in the Church’s history, all of which likewise emphasize the earthiness of this fundamental tenet of the faith. The Roman Missal still refers to this day as “The Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord.” Aside from Easter, Christmas is the foremost mystery of our faith. Since the celebration of the Resurrection on Easter cannot be contained within a twenty-four-hour period (which is why we celebrate it for eight days during the Octave of Easter, as well as every Sunday), the celebration of Christmas lasts eight days. The meaning of this solemnity, then, is the same as that of Christmas: “The Word became flesh, and we have seen his glory.” In Jesus, our faith in God is tangible; it is no longer abstract. 

Another of this day’s traditional titles, “The Circumcision of Our Lord,” similarly expresses the human dimension of our faith. The Gospel reading on this day recounts the visit of the shepherds to the Holy Family after the birth of Jesus, the same story that the Church recounts at Christmas Mass at Dawn. But today, the Church concludes the reading with this extra detail: “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb” (Luke 2:21). From the time of Abraham, every male child was circumcised on the eighth day as a sign of being a part of the covenant with God (see Genesis 17:9-14). The Lord now has a mother, a body, a human name, and — as signaled by his circumcision — physical pain. This first day of the civic calendar announces through the circumcision of Jesus that he is among us, one of us, suffering with us, and beginning the year with us.

Still another connection between our eternal, supernatural religion and our temporal, mundane life is that this solemnity coincides with the first day of the secular year. This first day of the year had been celebrated in Rome prior to Christ’s coming. Janus, the two-faced Roman god of beginnings and endings, is where the name “January” for the first month of the year is derived. With the coming of Jesus — the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of all time — Janus finds his true bearings. Though the texts and prayers of this day’s liturgies do not acknowledge the start of the civil year (the Church, after all, has already begun its new liturgical year with the start of Advent some weeks before), marking its first day helps the Church on earth to thank God for blessings received over the past year and ask for his ongoing care in the year ahead.

But none of these human dimensions of our faith that this day expresses — its connection to Christmas, to Jesus’ human body, to his entering into time itself — would have been possible without Mary agreeing to become the Mother of God. It is thus this dimension of the day that rises to the top. 

After all, the very face of Jesus comes from his mother Mary. Indeed, he would have physically resembled her to some extent — he may have had her eyes, her expressions, her smile. Through this face, God now speaks: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he has spoken to us through the Son” (verse for the Gospel acclamation). We read in the Old Testament about how God’s people, when they heard the thunderous voice of the Lord, were afraid and sent Moses to hear God in their stead (see Exodus 20:18-19; and Deuteronomy 5:22-28; 18:16–18). At the Incarnation, the same God speaks in a different way, a human way, through Jesus’ voice and face, given him by the holy Mother of God, Mary. 

And it is with this body — one like yours and mine — that this same voice can praise and adore the Father in our name and can offer his body and soul to him. As St. Athanasius explains in the Office of Readings for this day, the Word “had to be like his brothers in all things. He had then to take a body like ours. This explains the fact of Mary’s presence: She is to provide him with a body of his own, to be offered for our sake. … What was born of Mary was therefore human by nature … and the body of the Lord was a true body: It was a true body because it was the same as ours.”
​
Jan. 1, the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, proclaims the accessibility of our Catholic faith — it is human, incarnate, tangible — even as it calls us to the higher things — divinity, heaven, and glory — in the new year. ​

​host christmas (1) EWTN Poland / Wikimedia Commons

In his homily, the pope said that the Virgin Mary teaches us how to “keep and to ponder,” to reflect upon and accept life as it comes, in times of both joy and suffering.

“Mary’s pensiveness … is the expression of a mature, adult faith, not a faith of beginners. Not a newborn faith, it is rather a faith that now gives birth,” he said.

“For spiritual fruitfulness is born of trials and testing. From the quiet of Nazareth and from the triumphant promises received by the Angel – the beginnings – Mary now finds herself in the dark stable of Bethlehem. Yet that is where she gives God to the world.”

The pope asked people to reflect on how Mary had to endure “the scandal of the manger.”

“How can she hold together the throne of a king and the lowly manger? How can she reconcile the glory of the Most High and the bitter poverty of a stable? Let us think of the distress of the Mother of God. What can be more painful for a mother than to see her child suffering poverty? It is troubling indeed,” he said.

“We would not blame Mary, were she to complain of those unexpected troubles. Yet she does not lose heart. She does not complain, but keeps silent. Rather than complain, she chooses a different part: For her part, the Gospel tells us, Mary ‘kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.’”

Pope Francis encouraged people to have the same attitude of Mary when faced with unexpected problems or troubling situations.

“She shows us that it is necessary: it is the narrow path to achieve the goal, the cross, without which there can be no resurrection. Like the pangs of childbirth, it begets a more mature faith,” he said.

After offering Mass, Pope Francis prayed the Angelus at noon from the window of the Apostolic Palace with a crowd gathered below in St. Peter’s Square.

“Happy New Year! Let us begin the new year by entrusting it to Mary, the Mother of God,” he said.

“The new year begins with God who, in the arms of his mother and lying in a manger, gives us courage with tenderness. We need this encouragement. We are still living in uncertain and difficult times due to the pandemic,” the pope said.

“Many are frightened about the future and burdened by social problems, personal problems, dangers stemming from the ecological crisis, injustices and by global economic imbalances. Looking at Mary with her Son in her arms, I think of young mothers and their children fleeing wars and famine, or waiting in refugee camps. There are so many of them.”
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Pope Francis said that the thought of Mary holding Jesus in the stable is a reminder that “the world can change and everyone’s life can improve only if we make ourselves available to others.”

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“Especially in times of need, when we are entangled in life’s knots, we rightly lift our eyes to Our Lady,” the pope said Jan. 1. “Yet first, we should let ourselves be gazed upon by Our Lady.”

“The eyes of Our Lady are able to bring light to every dark corner; everywhere they rekindle hope. As she gazes upon us, she says: ‘Take heart, dear children; here I am, your Mother!’”

“This maternal gaze, which instils confidence and trust, helps us to grow in faith,” he continued. “Her maternal gaze helps us see ourselves as beloved children in God’s faithful people, and to love one another regardless of our individual limitations and approaches.”

In a homily for Mass for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope reflected on the maternal role of the Blessed Virgin of Mary, who, he said, gazing on God’s people, sees children, not sinners.

“Our Lady keeps us rooted in the Church, where unity counts more than diversity; she encourages us to care for one another,” he stated, noting that her tender gaze can people from falling into tepidity.

“When faith makes a place for the Mother of God, we never lose sight of the center: The Lord, for Mary never points to herself but to Jesus; and our brothers and sisters, for Mary is mother,” he said.

He explained that not only is “the Mother” important, but also all of the mothers in the world, because “the human family is built upon mothers” and a world without their maternal tenderness may be rich materially, “but poor where the future is concerned. Mother of God, teach us to see life as you do.”

“We need to learn from mothers that heroism is shown in self-giving, strength in compassion, wisdom in meekness,” he urged. “God himself needed a Mother: how much more so do we!”

As mothers hold the hands of their little children to show them the way and to keep them from harm, “let us allow ourselves to be taken by the hand,” he said. “Mary, take us by the hand.”

Pope Francis said that “God-with-us, Emmanuel, loves us despite our mistakes, our sins, and the way we treat our world. God believes in mankind, because its first and preeminent member is his own Mother.”

Today, he continued, is a day “to be amazed by the Mother of God. God appears as a little child, held in the arms of a woman who feeds her Creator… That is the mystery we celebrate today, which gives rise to boundless amazement: God has become one with humanity forever.”

Following Mass, Pope Francis led around 40,000 people in praying the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square. In his message, he explained that “it is God’s blessing that gives substance to all the good wishes that are exchanged” during the days of Christmas and New Year’s.

And today, as the Church celebrates Mary, Mother of God, “Our Lady blesses us all, everyone,” he continued. “She blesses the path of every man and every woman in this year that begins, and that will be good just as everyone has received the goodness of God that Jesus came to bring into the world.”

Francis also recalled the day’s celebration of the 52nd World Day of Peace, with the theme: Good politics is at the service of peace.

“We do not think that politics is reserved only for rulers: we are all responsible for the life of the ‘city,’ of the common good,” he noted, “and politics too is good to the extent that each one plays his part in the service of peace.”
​
Concluding, the pope prayed that “through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the Lord will allow us to be artisans of peace – this begins at home, in the family: artisans of peace – every day of the new year.”

Pope on New Year’s Day: Devotion to Mary is a mustBy Hannah BrockhausVatican City, Jan 1 (EWTN News/CNA) - At the start of the new year, Pope Francis said that having a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary isn’t just something that is nice or good to do, but is an obligation in the life of a Christian.

“Devotion to Mary is not spiritual etiquette; it is a requirement of the Christian life,” the Pope said Jan. 1. “The gift of the Mother, the gift of every mother and every woman, is most precious for the Church, for she too is mother and woman.”

“If our faith is not to be reduced merely to an idea or a doctrine, all of us need a mother’s heart, one which knows how to keep the tender love of God and to feel the heartbeat of all around us.”

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, reflecting on the line in Luke’s Gospel that says, “And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”

He pointed out that in the Gospel account of Christmas, Mary does not speak a single word, simply keeping everything in her heart, pondering it.

What we learn from her silence, he said, is that in quiet is how we “keep” ourselves, how we “keep” our soul free from being corroded by consumerism, “the blare of commercials, the stream of empty words and the overpowering waves of empty chatter and loud shouting.”

“We need to remain silent as we gaze upon the crib. Pondering the crib, we discover anew that we are loved; we savor the real meaning of life,” he continued.

“As we look on in silence, we let Jesus speak to our heart. His lowliness lays low our pride; his poverty challenges our outward display; his tender love touches our hardened hearts.”

This is Mary’s “secret,” he said, and we should seek to imitate her in this way. Not closing our hearts out of fear or distress, but handing everything over to God, dwelling on it with Him.

Francis noted that as we start a new year, it is a good time for Christians to also start anew, leaving behind past burdens and baggage and starting over from what really matters. And “today,” the Pope said, “we have before us the point of departure: the Mother of God.”

“For Mary is exactly what God wants us to be, what he wants his Church to be: A Mother who is tender and lowly, poor in material goods and rich in love, free of sin and united to Jesus, keeping God in our hearts and our neighbor in our lives.”

“Today’s feast tells us that if we want to go forward, we need to turn back: to begin anew from the crib, from the Mother who holds God in her arms,” he stated.

Following the Mass, Pope Francis led the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square. In his message before the prayer, he explained how Mary performs a very special function, as intercessor between her Son Jesus and anyone who is suffering.

“She intercedes, aware that as a mother she can, indeed, must, make present to the Son the needs of men, especially the weakest and most disadvantaged.”

Today we also celebrate the World Day of Peace, the Pope said, explaining that this year’s theme of “Migrants and refugees: Men and women seeking peace,” refers precisely to the weakest and most disadvantaged among us.

“We do not extinguish hope in their hearts; we do not stifle their expectations of peace!” he said, and “may the Lord grant us to work in this new year with generosity to create a more supportive and welcoming world.”

Vatican City, Dec 27 (EWTN News/CNA) - Pope Francis on the Feast of the Holy Family reflected on the power of forgiveness in families and compared everyday family life to an ongoing pilgrimage of prayer and love.

“How important it is for our families to journey together towards a single goal! We know that we have a road to travel together; a road along which we encounter difficulties but also enjoy moments of joy and consolation,” the Pope said Dec. 27 in his morning homily at St. Peter’s Basilica.

“A pilgrimage does not end when we arrive at our destination, but when we return home and resume our everyday lives, putting into practice the spiritual fruits of our experience.”

“Let us not lose confidence in the family!” he said. “It is beautiful when we can always open our hearts to one another, and hide nothing. Where there is love, there is also understanding and forgiveness.”

The Pope connected the Feast of the Holy Family to the Catholic Church’s Year of Mercy.

“In the Year of Mercy, every Christian family can become a privileged place on this pilgrimage for experiencing the joy of forgiveness,” he said. “Forgiveness is the essence of the love which can understand mistakes and mend them. How miserable we would be if God did not forgive us! Within the family we learn how to forgive, because we are certain that we are understood and supported, whatever the mistakes we make.”

Pope Francis encouraged the congregation in St. Peter’s Square to share moments of family prayer.

“What can be more beautiful than for a father and mother to bless their children at the beginning and end of each day, to trace on their forehead the sign of the cross, as they did on the day of their baptism?” he said. “Is this not the simplest prayer which parents can offer for their children?”

It is also important for families to join in a brief prayer before meals “in order to thank the Lord for these gifts and to learn how to share what we have received with those in greater need.”

“These are all little gestures, yet they point to the great formative role played by the family in the pilgrimage of everyday life,” he said.

Pope Francis said it is comforting to think of Mary and Joseph teaching Jesus how to pray.

“And it is comforting also to know that throughout the day they would pray together, and then go each Sabbath to the synagogue to listen to readings from the Law and the Prophets, and to praise the Lord with the assembly.”

He described family life as “a series of pilgrimages, both small and big.”

The Pope reflected on the Sunday reading from the Gospel of Luke in which a young Jesus stayed in Jerusalem in the Temple, causing great distress to Mary and Joseph when they could not find him.

“For this little ‘escapade,’ Jesus probably had to beg forgiveness of his parents,” the Pope suggested. “The Gospel doesn’t say this, but I believe that we can presume it.”

He said that Mary’s question to Jesus, “why have you treated us like this?” contains “a certain reproach, revealing the concern and anguish which she and Joseph felt.” The Pope that Jesus “surely remained close” to Mary and Joseph as a sign of his “complete affection and obedience.”

“Moments like these become part of the pilgrimage of each family; the Lord transforms the moments into opportunities to grow, to ask for and to receive forgiveness, to show love and obedience,” Pope Francis said.

“To all of you, dear families, I entrust this most important mission--the domestic pilgrimage of daily family life - which the world and the Church need, now more than ever.”

Later on Sunday in his Angelus remarks to pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope said that the example and witness of the Holy Family provides valuable guidance for life. In the Holy Family, families can find “strength and wisdom for the journey of every day.”

“Our Lady and Saint Joseph teach us to welcome children as a gift from God, to get them and rear them, cooperating in a wonderful way with the Creator’s work and giving to the world, in every child, a new smile.”

He stressed the virtues of love, tenderness, mutual respect, mutual understanding, forgiveness and joy.

After the Angelus he voiced his thoughts for the many Cuban migrants stranded on the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border. He said many of them are human trafficking victims. He invited the region’s countries to take “all necessary efforts” to resolve the humanitarian crisis.
 
'Jesus, Mary, and Our Mother, the Church are Inseparable,' Pope SaysVatican City, Jan 1 (EWTN News/CNA) - In his homily on New Year’s Day, Pope Francis said that Jesus and his mother Mary are “inseparable,” just like Jesus and the Church, who is the mother of all humanity that guides her children to God.

“To separate Jesus from the Church would introduce an ‘absurd dichotomy,’” the Pope told Mass attendees who were present in St. Peter’s Basilica for his Jan. 1 Mass celebrating the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

“(The Church) is like a mother who tenderly holds Jesus and gives him to everyone with joy and generosity…Without the Church, Jesus Christ ends up as an idea, a moral teaching, a feeling,” he said.

Without the Church and her guidance, our relationship with Christ “would be at the mercy of our imagination, our interpretations, our moods,” the Roman Pontiff continued.

It is not possible to understand the salvation offered by Jesus without also appreciating the motherhood of the Church, he explained, adding that it is also impossible to love and belong to Christ without loving and belonging to the Church, because the Church is God’s family who brings Christ to humanity.

“Our faith is not an abstract doctrine or philosophy, but a vital and full relationship with a person: Jesus Christ” who lives among us and can be encountered inside the Church through her sacraments, Pope Francis explained.

“No manifestation of Christ, even the most mystical, can ever be detached from the flesh and blood of the Church, from the historical concreteness of the Body of Christ.”

In his reflections, Pope Francis noted how the Church, in celebrating the solemnity of Mary as the Mother of God, reminds us that she, more than anyone else, has received the Lord’s blessing by giving a human face to the eternal God.

At Jesus’ birth, he and his mother Mary “were together, just as they were together at Calvary, because Christ and his mother are inseparable: there is a very close relationship between them, as there is between every child and his or her mother,” the Pope observed.

Mary is capable of being so close to her son due to the knowledge of heart and faith that she received from him, as well as her experience of motherhood and her openness to allowing God to enter into her own plans, the pontiff noted.

“She is the believer capable of perceiving in the gift of her Son the coming of that fullness of time…that is why Jesus cannot be understood without his Mother,” he said, reiterating that it is not possible to understand Jesus without the Church either, “because the Church and Mary always go together.”

By giving us Jesus, the Church offers humanity the fullness of God’s eternal blessing, he said, noting that Mary is the “first and most perfect” disciple of Christ, and is the one who opens the path to receive the Church’s motherhood.

Mary is the model of the pilgrim Church and is the one who sustains the Church in her maternal mission, he observed, noting that her “tactful witness” has accompanied the Church since its beginnings.

“She, the Mother of God, is also the Mother of the Church, and through the Church, the mother of all men and women, and of every people,” the pontiff said, and prayed that Mary would obtain the Lord’s blessing for all of humanity.

Pope Francis then noted how Jan. 1, in addition to the Marian solemnity, also marks the World Day of Peace, which this year holds the theme: “No Longer Slaves, but Brothers and Sisters.”

He prayed that the Lord would generate peace in individual hearts, within families and among nations, and called on each person, according to their capabilities, to combat modern forms of slavery and foster solidarity with the help of Jesus, who became our servant.

The Roman Pontiff concluded his homily by drawing attention to a statue of Mary and the child Jesus at the side of the altar, and noted how her title as “Holy Mother of God” dates back the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.

“What a beautiful greeting for our mother,” he said, and invited the congregation to join him in standing and honoring her by reciting aloud the title “Mary, Holy Mother of God” three times.

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​A bit of humor…

Some Thoughts:
-Don't spell part backwards. It's a trap.  
-With the rise of self-driving vehicles, it's only a matter of time before we get a country song where a guy's truck leaves him too.
- I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
- A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
- Seen it all, done it all, can’t remember most of it.
- Efficiency is a highly developed form of laziness.

Meeting Mom
My cousin was in love and wanted to introduce his bride-to-be to his hypercritical mother. But in order to get an unbiased opinion, he invited over three other female friends as well and didn’t tell his mom which one he intended to marry.
After the four women left, he asked his mother, "Can you guess which one I want to marry?"
"The one with short hair."
"Yes! How’d you know?"
"Because that’s the one I didn’t like."
 
 Eat the ColorsOver dinner, I explained the health benefits of a colorful meal to my family. "The more colors, the more variety of nutrients," I told them. Pointing to our food, I asked, "How many different colors do you see?"
"Six," volunteered my daughter. "Seven if you count the burned parts."
 
  
The Young and New Ideas
The elderly priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, "It was a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theater seats. It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills first now."

The young priest nodded, and the old priest continued, "And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock 'n roll gospel choir. Now our services are consistently packed to the balcony."

"Thank you, Father," answered the young priest. "I am pleased that you are open to the new ideas of youth."

"All of these ideas have been well and good," said the elderly priest, "But I'm afraid you've gone too far with the drive-thru confessional."

"But, Father," protested the young priest, "my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began that!"
"Yes," replied the elderly priest, "And I appreciate that.

But the flashing neon sign on the church roof reading, 'Toot 'n Tell or Go to Hell' has got to go!
 
The Father's only Son, conceived as man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, is "Christ", that is to say, anointed by the Holy Spirit, from the beginning of his human existence, though the manifestation of this fact takes place only progressively: to the shepherds, to the magi, to John the Baptist, to the disciples. Thus the whole life of Jesus Christ will make manifest "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power."  -Catechism of the Catholic Church #486

+JMJ+

SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord – Sunday, January 5, 2025


The First Reading - Isaiah 60:1-6
Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem!  Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the LORD shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance. Raise your eyes and look about; they all gather and come to you: your sons come from afar, and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow, for the riches of the sea shall be emptied out before you, the wealth of nations shall be brought to you. Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the LORD.
Reflection
In this passage from Isaiah, God addresses the city of Jerusalem as a woman—the “you” throughout the passage is a feminine singular pronoun.  This is typical of Isaiah, who elsewhere speaks of Jerusalem as “the daughter of Zion” or even “the virgin daughter of Zion” (Isa 37:22).  Zion, of course, was the ridge on which David built the royal palace, and was thus the heart of the city, which in turn was the heart of Judah, which was the heart of Israel.  Thus “Zion” or “Jerusalem” often represents the entire chosen people of God. In this First Reading, the prophet foresees a day when divine light shall shine all over God’s people, attracting the nations who will be grateful for this light.  The presence of God within his people will draw not only the traditional people of God (Israel), but even distant nations with very different cultures, like Sheba (either southern Arabia or Ethiopia).  As we will see, this prophecy has important connections with the Gospel Reading.
Adults - In what ways is the Church the New Jerusalem?
Teens - What elements of Jewish liturgy do we still see today in the Mass?
Kids - What does it mean that the Church is ‘universal’?


Responsorial- Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-11, 12-13
R.Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
O God, with your judgment endow the king,
and with your justice, the king's son;
He shall govern your people with justice
and your afflicted ones with judgment.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts;
the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute.
All kings shall pay him homage,
all nations shall serve him.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
For he shall rescue the poor when he cries out,
and the afflicted when he has no one to help him.
He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the poor he shall save.
R. Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Reflection
The Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 72) is one of the most important in the collection of 150 Psalms.  It comes at the end of Book II of the Psalter (i.e. Psalms 42-72), one of the most optimistic of the five Books of Psalms, surpassed for joyfulness only by Book V (Psalms 107-150).  Psalm 72 is labeled “of Solomon,” but was traditionally understood as a psalm written by David about Solomon rather than one authored by Solomon himself. The reign of Solomon is an important anticipation or type of the reign of Christ and the establishment of the Church.  Solomon ruled over a multi-national empire (1 Kings 4:21), an empire that foreshadowed the multi-national spiritual empire that is the Catholic Church.  Solomon’s wisdom was so renowned that wise men came to hear him from all nations, even from the East (1 Kings 4:29-34).  Likewise, the last time that caravans arrived in Jerusalem bearing gold and frankincense from Sheba (mentioned in the First Reading) was during Solomon’s reign (1 Kings 10:10).  Of course, this only happened when Solomon was at the height of his power.  Jesus outdoes Solomon, because even as a toddler, the wise men of the East are already coming to him to acknowledge his greatness and show him honor.  Jesus is a better, wiser Son of David than even Solomon himself.  Did you know the connection between Solomon and Christ?


The Second Reading- Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Brothers and sisters: You have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for your benefit, namely, that the mystery was made known to me by revelation. It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Reflection -  This passage was chosen for St. Paul’s statement about the Gentiles as “coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise….” The Magi, as Gentile scholars from some eastern land, are the first Gentiles in the New Testament to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ.  They are a foretaste of the incredible ingathering of different nations to the people of God that we call the “Church.”  -How does knowing that Jesus is the Lord of all peoples affect the way you live?


The Holy Gospel according to Matthew 2:1-12
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel." Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star's appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage." After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.  
Reflection  The Magi were learned men, the academics or scientists of their day.  Their knowledge base would have included the fundamentals of astronomy, which was not distinct from astrology in antiquity.  Different constellations were associated with various ethnic groups, and there was a certain interpretive “language” that identified astronomical phenomena with historical events.  Providentially, the astronomical events around the time of Our Lord’s birth indicated a new royal line among the Jews in the interpretive schema employed by these eastern sages. The gifts that the Magi bring are rich in biblical symbolism.  “Frankincense and myrrh” are only mentioned together in the Old Testament in the Song of Solomon, where they are nuptial perfumes employed by Solomon and his bride to prepare for their marriage.  Here in Matthew, Jesus is being marked out as Bridegroom King from his birth. At the same time, “gold and frankincense” are only mentioned together in the Scriptures in the prophecy of Isaiah 60:6, part of our First Reading.  So, there is an obvious association of Jesus with the “light” predicted by Isaiah, which is associated with the miraculous star that brings the Magi to the Christ Child. As we ponder the meaning of these sacred Readings for ourselves this weekend, we are struck first by the fulfillment of the prophecies of the gathering of the nations to Christ.  Now at the beginning of the third millennium, one in three inhabitants of the globe identifies him- or her-self as a follower of Christ, a total of 2.2 billion, of whom about half are Catholics.  Even when the last New Testament writer wrote, the population of Christians was at best in the tens of thousands, mostly Greek-speaking and concentrated in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.  The incredible expansion of this “Jewish cult” to lands unknown would have seen absurd in those ancient days, but through God all things are possible.
Adults - Meditate on the power and mercy of the Lord that has expanded His Church to every corner of the world.
Teens - How does it impact your faith to know that you are a part of the biggest Church in the world?
Kids - How does Jesus teach us to love all people?

LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! – Epiphany means manifestation.  What the Church celebrates today is the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world; after being made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem He is revealed to the Magi who have come from the East to adore Him.  Christian tradition has ever seen in the Magi the first fruits of the Gentiles; they lead in their wake all the peoples of the earth, and thus the Epiphany is an affirmation of universal salvation.  Pope St. Leo the Great brings out this point admirably in a sermon, read at Matins, in which he shows in the adoration of the Magi the beginnings of Christian faith, the time when the great mass of the unevangelized sets off to follow the star which summons it to seek its Saviour.  Since we have received the Good News of evangelization, let us greet and receive them with joy as we have Christ Jesus.


Sacred Scripture 
21. What is the importance of the Old Testament for Christians? 
d) all of the above 
Christians venerate the Old Testament as the true word of God. All of the books of the Old Testament are divinely inspired and retain a permanent value. They bear witness to the divine pedagogy(way God teaches us) of God's saving love. They are written, above all, to prepare for the coming of Christ the Savior of the universe. 
 
22. What importance does the New Testament have for Christians? 
b) it conveys to us the ultimate truth of divine Revelation 
The New Testament, whose central object is Jesus Christ, conveys to us the ultimate truth of divine Revelation. Within the New Testament the four Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John are the heart of all the Scriptures because they are the principle witness to the life and teaching of Jesus. As such, they hold a unique place in the Church. 
 
23. What is the unity that exists between the Old and the New Testaments? 
c) the Old prepares for the New and New fulfills the Old 
Scripture is one insofar as the Word of God is one. God’s plan of salvation is one, and the divine inspiration of both Testaments is one. The Old Testament prepares for the New and the New Testament fulfills the Old; the two shed light on each other. 
 
24. What role does Sacred Scripture play in the life of the Church? a) “ignorance of Scripture, is ignorance of Christ” 
Sacred Scripture gives support and vigor to the life of the Church. For the children of the Church, it is a confirmation of the faith, food for the soul and the fount of the spiritual life. Sacred Scripture is the soul of theology and of pastoral preaching. The Psalmist says that it is “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). The Church, therefore, exhorts all to read Sacred Scripture frequently because “ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ” (Saint Jerome). 

​

Season of Christmas in the Church
 
SEASON OF CHRISTMAS IN THE CHURCH
Wednesday, December 25. Solemnity of Christmas
December 26. Feast of St. Stephen
December 27. Feast of St. John
December 28. Feast of Holy Innocents
Sunday, December 29. Feast of the Holy Family
December 30. Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
December 31. Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Wednesday, January 1. OCTAVE DAY Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God
January 2. Memorials of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen
January 3. Most Holy Name of Jesus
January 4. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Sunday,January 5. Solemnity of Ephiphay of the Lord
January 6. Optional Memorial of Blessed Andre Bessette
January 7. Optional Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort
January 8. Wednesday of Christmas Time after Epiphany
January 9. Thursday of Christmas Time after Epiphany
January 10. Friday of Christmas Time after Epiphany
January 11. Saturday of Christmas Time after Epiphany
Sunday, January 12. Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
[Christmas ends and Ordinary Time begins on day, Monday, January
13th.]

Explore the Season of Christmas 

http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/seasons/Christmas/

"The 12 Days of Christmas"
~ Origins and Religious Meaning ~

C atholics in England during the period 1558 to 1829 were prohibited by law to practice their faith either in public or private. It was illegal to be Catholic until Parliament finally emancipated Catholics in England in 1829.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" was written in England as one of the "catechism songs" to help young Catholics learn the basics of their faith. In short, it was a coded-message, a memory aid. Since the song sounded like rhyming nonsense, young Catholics could sing the song without fear of imprisonment. The authorities would not know that it was a religious song.
"The 12 Days of Christmas" is in a sense an allegory. Each of the items in the song represents something significant to the teachings of the Catholic faith. The hidden meaning of each gift was designed to help Catholic children learn their faith. The better acquainted one is with the Bible, the more these interpretations have significance.
T he song goes, "On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…"
The "true love" mentioned in the song doesn't refer to an earthly suitor, but it refers to God Himself. The "me" who receives the presents refers to every baptized person. i.e. the Church.
1st Day:The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them.
     The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the Cross.
2nd Day:The "two turtle doves" refers to the Old and New Testaments.
3rd Day:The "three French hens" stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).
4th Day:The "four calling birds" refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
5th Day:The "five golden rings" represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
6th Day:The "six geese a-laying" is the six days of creation.
7th Day:The "seven swans a-swimming" refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
8th Day:The "eight maids a milking " reminded children of the eight beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.
9th Day:The "nine ladies dancing" were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
10th Day:The "ten lords a-leaping" represents the Ten Commandments
11th Day:The "eleven pipers piping" refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
12th Day:The 'twelve drummers drumming" were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles' Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.
S o the next time you hear "the Twelve Days of Christmas" consider how this otherwise non-religious sounding song had its origins in keeping alive the teaching of the Catholic faith.   ​

FOUR WAYS TO HAVE A MORE JOYFUL CHRISTMAS

1.  STOP, LOOK, AND LISTEN:

If you discover yourself becoming dulled to the joys of  the season, STOP!  Slow the pace down and become still, taking time to LOOK and LISTEN.  Take a winter walk, curl up in a favorite chair or before the fireplace. Helen Keller once observed, "The seeing see little."  So feel the comfort of the glow of a candle, or the red of the poinsettias.  Listen with new ears to laughter and bells, and to the expression of love found in the story of the first Christmas.   LOOK UPON THE MANGER, the second home of Love after the womb of His Virgin Mother.

2.  BE WILLING TO BE SURPRISED:
     
Remember that God can come in the least likely ways - a Holy Child born in a village stable, a brightly shining star, an angel song in the night sky. Watch for Him to come in equally surprising ways to you, too.  When we live as if God is going to "surprise" us at any moment, in any way, in any place, then He usually does!

3.  FREE YOUR CHILDLIKE SPIRIT:
     
Jesus held up child-likeness as a quality to be cultivated (Mark 10:15 ).  Children are experts at dreaming up simple things as delights that adults don't, or have forgotten how to do.  Can't you picture a little boy singing "Jingle Bells" to a plastic Jesus in a store?  Christmas often comes in precious moments like this, when we spontaneously show our adoration for the Baby in the manger.

4.  SHARE THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS WITH SOMEONE ELSE:

Nothing multiplies the sense of wonder in your life like giving it away.  The more you share (not just things, but yourself) the brighter Christmas grows.

I hope that these simple steps will help you, or someone you can share these with, keep the wonder and excitement of Christmas alive during this blessed season. 

"Jesus is the reason for the season."
 
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"As He was physically formed in her, so He wills to be spiritually formed in you.  If you knew He was seeing through your eyes, you would see in every fellowman a child of God.  If you knew that He worked through your hands, they would bless all the day through.  If you knew He spoke through your lips, then your speech, like Peter's, would betray that you had been with the Galilean.  If you knew that He wants to use your mind, your will, your fingers, and your heart, how different you would be.  If half the world did this there would be no war!"
(Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen)
  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 ​

By Vatican News
Greccio is the mountain village where Saint Francis of Assisi created the first crib scene in 1223 to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Pope Francis returned to the town on Sunday to deliver his Apostolic Letter entitled, “Admirabile signum”.
An enchanting imageThe Latin title of the Letter refers to the “enchanting image” of the Christmas crèche, one that “never ceases to arouse amazement and wonder”, writes the Pope. “The depiction of Jesus’ birth is itself a simple and joyful proclamation of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God”, he says.
A living Gospel“The nativity scene is like a living Gospel rising up from the pages of sacred Scripture”, continues Pope Francis. Contemplating the Christmas story is like setting out on a spiritual journey, “drawn by the humility of the God who became man in order to encounter every man and woman.” So great is His love for us, writes the Pope, “that He became one of us, so that we in turn might become one with Him.”


A family traditionThe Pope hopes this Letter will encourage the family tradition of preparing the nativity scene, “but also the custom of setting it up in the workplace, in schools, hospitals, prisons and town squares.” Praising the imagination and creativity that goes into these small masterpieces, Pope Francis says he hopes this custom will never be lost “and that, wherever it has fallen into disuse, it can be rediscovered and revived.”

The Gospel origin of the crèchePope Francis recalls the origin of the Christmas crèche as related in the Gospels. “Coming into this world, the Son of God was laid in the place where animals feed. Hay became the first bed of the One who would reveal Himself as ‘the bread come down from heaven’.” The nativity scene “evokes a number of the mysteries of Jesus’ life and brings them close to our own daily lives”, writes the Pope.

Saint Francis’ crèche in GreccioPope Francis takes us back to the Italian town of Greccio, which Saint Francis visited in the year 1223. The caves he saw there reminded him of the countryside of Bethlehem. On 25 December, friars and local people came together, bringing flowers and torches, writes the Pope. “When Francis arrived, he found a manger full of hay, an ox and a donkey.” A priest celebrated the Eucharist over the manger, “showing the bond between the Incarnation of the Son of God and the Eucharist.”

The start of the traditionThis is how our tradition began, continues Pope Francis, “with everyone gathered in joy around the cave, with no distance between the original event and those sharing in its mystery.” With the simplicity of that sign, Saint Francis carried out a great work of evangelization, he writes. His teaching continues today “to offer a simple yet authentic means of portraying the beauty of our faith.”

A sign of God’ tender lovePope Francis explains that the Christmas crèche moves us so deeply because it shows God’s tender love. From the time of its Franciscan origins, “the nativity scene has invited us to ‘feel’ and ‘touch’ the poverty that God’s Son took upon Himself in the Incarnation”, writes the Pope. “It asks us to meet Him and serve Him by showing mercy to those of our brothers and sisters in greatest need.”

The meaning of the crèche elements  Pope Francis reflects on the meaning behind the elements that make up the nativity scene. He begins with the background of “a starry sky wrapped in the darkness and silence of night.” We think of when we have experienced the darkness of night, he says, yet even then, God does not abandon us. “His closeness brings light where there is darkness and shows the way to those dwelling in the shadow of suffering.”

The landscapeThe Pope then writes about the landscapes that often include ancient ruins or buildings. He explains how these ruins are “the visible sign of fallen humanity, of everything that inevitably falls into ruin, decays and disappoints.” This scenic setting tells us that Jesus has come “to heal and rebuild, to restore the world and our lives to their original splendour.”

The shepherdsTurning to the shepherds, Pope Francis writes that, “unlike so many other people, busy about many things, the shepherds become the first to see the most essential thing of all: the gift of salvation. It is the humble and the poor who greet the event of the Incarnation.” The shepherds respond to God “who comes to meet us in the Infant Jesus by setting out to meet Him with love, gratitude and awe”, he adds.  

The poor and the lowlyThe presence of the poor and the lowly, continues the Pope, is a reminder that “God became man for the sake of those who feel most in need of His love and who ask Him to draw near to them.” From the manger, “Jesus proclaims, in a meek yet powerful way, the need for sharing with the poor as the path to a more human and fraternal world in which no one is excluded or marginalized.”

Everyday holinessThen there are the figures that have no apparent connection with the Gospel accounts. Yet, writes Pope Francis, “from the shepherd to the blacksmith, from the baker to the musicians, from the women carrying jugs of water to the children at play: all this speaks of everyday holiness, the joy of doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way.”

Mary and JosephThe Pope then focuses on the figures of Mary and Joseph.
“Mary is a mother who contemplates her child and shows Him to every visitor”, he writes. “In her, we see the Mother of God who does not keep her Son only to herself, but invites everyone to obey His word and to put it into practice. Saint Joseph stands by her side, “protecting the Child and His Mother.” Joseph is the guardian, the just man, who “entrusted himself always to God’s will.”

The Infant JesusBut it is when we place the statue of the Infant Jesus in the manger, that the nativity scene comes alive, says Pope Francis. “It seems impossible, yet it is true: in Jesus, God was a child, and in this way He wished to reveal the greatness of His love: by smiling and opening His arms to all.” The crèche allows us to see and touch this unique and unparalleled event that changed the course of history, “but it also makes us reflect on how our life is part of God’s own life.” 

The Three KingsAs the Feast of Epiphany approaches, we add the Three Kings to the Christmas crèche. Their presence reminds us of every Christian’s responsibility to spread the Gospel, writes Pope Francis. “The Magi teach us that people can come to Christ by a very long route”, but returning home, they tell others of this amazing encounter with the Messiah, “thus initiating the spread of the Gospel among the nations.”

Transmitting the faithThe memories of standing before the Christmas crèche when we were children should remind us “of our duty to share this same experience with our children and our grandchildren”, says Pope Francis. It does not matter how the nativity scene is arranged, “what matters is that it speaks to our lives.”
​
The Christmas crèche is part of the precious yet demanding process of passing on the faith, concludes Pope Francis. “Beginning in childhood, and at every stage of our lives, it teaches us to contemplate Jesus, to experience God’s love for us, to feel and believe that God is with us and that we are with Him.”

 ​

This is a series of excerpts from the Diary of St. Faustina on the Infant Jesus and the Holy Eucharist:
 
After Holy Communion: "I suddenly saw the Infant Jesus standing by my kneeler and holding on to it with His two little hands. Although He was but a little Child, my soul was filled with awe and fear, for I see in Him my Judge, my Lord, and my Creator, before whose holiness the Angels tremble.  At the same time, my soul was flooded with such unspeakable love that I thought I would die under its influence" (Divine Mercy in My Soul, 566).
 
During Mass, "I saw the Infant Jesus near my kneeler. He appeared to be about one year old, and He asked me to take Him in my arms. When I did take Him in my arms, He cuddled up close to my bosom and said, 'It is good for Me to be close to your heart . . . . Because I want to teach you spiritual childhood. I want you to be very little, because when you are little, I carry you close to My Heart, just as you are holding Me close to your heart right now" (1481). 
"I saw the Infant Jesus who, with hands outstretched toward us, was sitting in the chalice being used at Holy Mass. After gazing at me penetratingly, He spoke these words: 'As you see Me in this chalice, so I dwell in your heart" (1346). 
 
"When Mass began, a strange silence and joy filled my heart. Just then, I saw Our Lady with the Infant Jesus . . . . The most holy Mother said to me, 'Take my Dearest Treasure,' and she handed me the Infant Jesus. When I took the Infant Jesus in my arms, the Mother of God and Saint Joseph disappeared. I was left alone with the Infant Jesus" (608).
 
 "When I arrived at Midnight Mass, from the very beginning I steeped myself in deep recollection, during which time I saw the stable of Bethlehem filled with great radiance. The Blessed Virgin, all lost in the deepest of love, was wrapping Jesus in swaddling clothes, but Saint Joseph was still asleep. Only after the Mother of God put Jesus in the manger did the light of God awaken Joseph, who also prayed. But after awhile I was left alone with the Infant Jesus who stretched out His little hands to me, and I understood that I was to take Him in my arms. Jesus pressed His head against my heart and gave me to know, by His profound gaze, how good He found it to be next to my heart" (1442). 

​

A popular custom is to bless the Christmas tree before lighting. This can be done on Christmas Eve.   It is good to remind our children and ourselves of the part a tree played in the sins of our first parents and of the sacred wood of the Tree (the Cross) on which Jesus Christ, whose birthday we are about to celebrate, wrought our redemption.
 
The origin of the Christmas tree goes back to the medieval German mystery plays. One of the most popular 'mysteries' was the Paradise play, representing the creation of man, the sin of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from Paradise. It usually closed with the consoling promise of the coming Savior and with a reference to His incarnation. This made the Paradise play a favorite pageant for Advent, and its closing scenes used to lead directly into the story of Bethlehem.
 
These plays were performed either in the open, or the large squares in front of churches, or inside the house of God. The garden of Eden was indicated by a fir tree hung with apples; it represented both the 'Tree of Life' and the 'Tree of discernment of good and evil' which stood in the center of Paradise.
 
After the suppression of the mystery plays in churches, the Paradise tree, the only symbolic object of the play, found its way into the homes of the faithful, especially since many plays had interpreted it as a symbol of the coming Savior. Following this symbolism, in the fifteenth century the custom developed of decorating the Paradise tree, already bearing apples, with small white wafers representing the Holy Eucharist; thus, in legendary usage, the tree which had borne the fruit of sin for Adam and Eve, now bore the saving fruit of the Sacrament, symbolized by the wafers. These wafers were later replaced by little pieces of pastry cut in the shape of stars, angels, hearts, flowers, and bells.
 
In some homes the tree is blessed on Christmas eve and the crib on Christmas morning. The following form may be used for the Blessing of the Christmas Tree:

 When the tree has been prepared, the household gathers around it. All make the sign of the cross.
 
The father or leader   begins:
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
 
All respond:
Now and for ever.
 
The leader may use these or similar words to introduce the blessing:
This tree is a blessing to our home. It reminds us of all that is beautiful, all that is filled with the gentleness and the promise of God. It stands in our midst as a tree of light that we might promise such beauty to one another and to our world. It stands like that tree of paradise that God made into the tree of life, the cross of Jesus.
 
FIRST READING :
 
The mother of the family reads:
God said: Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and all kinds of fruit trees that bear fruit containing their seed. And so it was. The earth brought forth vegetation, every kind of seed-bearing plant and all kinds of trees that bear fruit containing their seed. The Lord God made to grow out of the ground all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:10-13)
 
The reader concludes:
The Word of the Lord.
 
All respond:
Thanks be to God.
 (The family's Bible may be used for an alternate reading such as Psalm 96:11-13.)
 
SECOND READING :
 
One of the children reads:
From the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke:
At that time it came to pass that while Mary and Joseph were at Bethlehem, the days for her to be delivered were fulfilled. And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds in the same district living in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them and the glory of God shone about them and they feared exceedingly. And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you news of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there has been born to you today in the town of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
 
All recite:
Glory to God on high, * and on earth peace to men whom God has chosen. * We praise you. * We bless you. * We adore you. * We glorify you. * We worship you for your great glory. * Lord God, heavenly king, * God the Father all-powerful! * Lord Jesus Christ, only-begotten Son! * Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father! * You that take away the sins of the world, * have mercy on us. * You that take away the sins of the world, * receive our prayer. * You that sit at the right hand of the Father, * have mercy on us. * For you alone are the Holy One, * you alone are the Lord. * You alone are the Most High, O Jesus Christ, * with the Holy Spirit in the glory of God the Father. * Amen.
 
After a time of silence, all join in prayers of intercession and in the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father).
 
Then the father or leader invites:
Let us now pray for God's blessing upon this tree and all who gather around this tree.
 
After a short silence, the father or leader prays:

Lord our God, we praise you for the light of creation: the sun, the moon, and the stars of the night. We praise you for the light of Israel: the Law, the prophets, and the wisdom of the Scriptures.
 
We praise you for Jesus Christ, your Son: he is Emmanuel, God-with-us, the Prince of Peace, who fills us with the wonder of your love.
 
God of all creation, we praise you for this tree which brings beauty and memories and the promise of life to our home. May the light and cheer it gives be a sign of the joy that fills our hearts. May all who delight in this tree come to the knowledge and joy of salvation.
 
Father, bless this noble tree which we have adorned in honor of the new birth of Your only-begotten Son, and also adorn our souls with the manifold beauties of Your graces that being internally enlightened by the splendor radiating from this tree, we like the Magi may come to adore Him who is eternal Light and Beauty, the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord.
 
R. Amen.

 
The lights of the tree are then illuminated.   And then the tree is blessed with Holy Water.
 
The leader says:
Let us bless the Lord.
 
All respond, making the sign of the cross:
Thanks be to God.
 
Another child concludes:After the fall of our first parents the earth was bare and desolate; the world stood in the darkness of sin. But when the Savior was born our earth shone with a new brightness; the glory of the Almighty had renewed the world, making it more beautiful than before. This tree once stood dark and empty in a cold world. But now resplendent with lights and bright adornments in its new glory, this Christmas tree reflects the new beauty that God brought to earth when "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." By a tree the whole world has been redeemed, and therefore, with great joy we celebrate the glory of this tree.

The manger scene has a special place near the Christmas tree or in another place where family members can reflect and pray during the Christmas season. It is blessed each year on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.   It is appropriate to have Holy Water available.
 
All make the sign of the cross. The leader begins:
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
 
All respond:
Who made heaven and earth.
 
The leader may use these or similar words to introduce the blessing.
We are at the beginning of the days of Christmas. All through the season we will look on these images of sheep and cattle, of shepherds, of Mary and of Joseph and Jesus.
 
Then the Scripture is read by a reader:
Listen to the words of the holy gospel according to Luke:
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea , to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.—Luke 2:1-7
 
The reader concludes:
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
 
All respond:
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
 
The figures may be placed in the manger. After a time of silence, all join in prayers of intercession and in the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father).
 
Then the leader invites:
Pray now for God's blessing as we look on these figures.
 ​

Some Thoughts: 
-Chocolate is the best investment. You buy 100 g – you gain 2 kg!
-It’s all a matter of viewpoint. 250 lbs here on Earth is 94.5 lbs on Mercury. Fat? No. I’m just not on the right planet.
-The trouble with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it.  
-Insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.  
-If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, why isn’t anything in the store free yet?  
-Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia: Fear of long words.  
-I’m in shape. Round is a shape isn’t it    


Profound Thoughts of Christmas
Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people once a year.” ~Victor Borge
Once again, we come to the Christmas Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes,
in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.  -Anonymous
Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.  ~Larry Wilde
Nothing's as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas.  ~Kin Hubbard
The office Christmas party is a great opportunity to catch up with people you haven’t seen for 20 minutes.


Office Holiday Memo
To: All Employees
From: Management
Subject: Office conduct during the Christmas season
Effective immediately, employees should keep in mind the following guidelines in compliance with FROLIC (the Federal Revelry Office and Leisure Industry Council).
1. Running aluminum foil through the paper shredder to make tinsel is discouraged.
2. Playing Jingle Bells on the push-button phone is forbidden (it runs up an incredible long distance bill)
3. Work requests are not to be filed under "Bah humbug."
4. Company cars are not to be used to go over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house.
5. All fruitcake is to be eaten BEFORE July 25.
6. Egg nog will NOT be dispensed in vending machines.
In spite of all this, the staff is encouraged to have a Happy Holiday.
 
Christmas Gifts
Some mice enter heaven on Christmas.  St. Peter asks them what they would like for Christmas.   They say some roller skates, so he equips them with some.
 
Next, a cat comes to heaven.  St. Peter asks what the cat would like for Christmas.   The cat looking around seeing the mice enjoying their gifts says, "Meals on wheels."



It is all about Communication

-As a little girl climbed onto Santa's lap, Santa asked the usual, "And what would you like for Christmas?"
The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified for a minute, then gasped: "Didn't you get my text, social media post, and E-mail?"


+JMJ+
SUNDAY BIBLICAL MASS READINGS AND QUESTIONS
for Self-Reflection, Couples or Family Discussion

Sunday, December 29th, 2024-in the Octave of Christmas

The First Reading - Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14
God sets a father in honor over his children; a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.  Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them.  When he prays, he is heard; he stores up riches who reveres his mother.  Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children, and, when he prays, is heard.  Whoever reveres his father will live a long life; he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother.  My son, take care of your father when he is old; grieve him not as long as he lives.  Even if his mind fail, be considerate of him; revile him not all the days of his life; kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly planted against the debt of your sins —a house raised in justice to you.  
Reflection
Wisdom is a treasure which men cannot discover, for it is found only with God, who grants it to men. The wisdom of God is seen not only in His creation but in His management of human history (Job 12:13). Wisdom, while learned from tradition, is ultimately a gift of the Lord (Proverbs 2:6). The wisdom literature alone in the Old Testament directs attention explicitly to the problems of the individual person; it is free of peculiarly national traits and of messianism. Its merit is that it does draw attention to the importance of the business of daily life of the everyday, normal man, and its emphasis on the fact that life is unity and integrity which must be preserved from the disintegration of folly is not misplaced. Today we hear Sirach tell us that fidelity to parents (the 4th commandment) is fidelity to the Lord. This reading is a commentary on the 4th commandment (Exodus 20:12).  
Adults - What is the difference between wisdom and knowledge?
Teens - How can you use your knowledge to grow in wisdom?
Kids - What does it mean to be wise?


Responsorial- Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

R.Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.
Reflection
To fear the Lord is to stand in wonder and awe of His power, majesty, and love. We are called to walk in His ways of love, out of our own love from Him and for others.  Are you in awe of the Lord?


The Second Reading- Colossians 3:12-21

Brothers and sisters: Put on, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another;  as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do.  And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection.  And  let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body.  And be thankful.  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.  And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Wives, be subordinate to your husbands, as is proper in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness toward them.  Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, so they may not become discouraged.
Reflection -  When you were baptized, you clothed yourself in Christ. This is a brief description of that clothing. These terms (chosen, holy, beloved) were also used in the Old Testament to describe Israel. As a baptized Christian they have entered the new Israel, a community of God’s people – their relations to one another should reflect this. In verse 12 Paul tells us to clothe ourselves in the attributes of Christ. Then in verse 14 we put on love (agape) as the final garment which covers all the others and binds them together. In the Sermon on the Mount, God’s great universal love is the supreme model for man “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
-Pray and meditate on the virtues in this passage and ask God to help you choose one to work on in your own life.


The Holy Gospel according to Luke 2:41-52

Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom.  After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.  Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him.  After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.  When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”  And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  But they did not understand what he said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.  
Reflection  One of the themes in this Gospel is the true origin of Christ. Although Joseph was His legal and beloved earthly father, He truly had no biological father. Like the old Adam of the old creation, the New Adam of the New Creation has no human father. This is a reminder to us that though we do have biological fathers and biological children, that ultimately all of humanity, through Jesus Christ, has God the Father as their true Father. Even two great Saints parenting a Divine Child experienced stress and strain in this experience. Relationships here on earth are never going to be perfect, but when we order them properly to God, He will guide us as any good Father would.
Adults - How can you put God at the top of your priorities for relationships, and how will that help you love the others in your love better?
Teens - Do you ever feel like Jesus is hard to find? Look for Him in the Church. Attend Mass, pray at a Holy Hour, and ask Him to make Himself known to you.
Kids - How do you think Mary and Joseph felt when they found Jesus? Does encountering Jesus at the Church bring you that much joy?


LIVING THE WORD OF GOD THIS WEEK! – “Almost intuitively, one can recognize that the mysterious, exemplary, guardianship enacted by Joseph was conducted firstly, in a yet more intimate way, by Mary. Consequently, the liturgical feast of the Holy Family speaks to us of the fond and loving care that we must render to the Body of Christ. We can understand this in a mystical sense, as guardians of the Church, and also in the Eucharistic sense. Mary and Joseph took great care of Jesus’ physical body. Following their example, we can and must take great care of His Mystical Body, the Church, and the Eucharist which He has entrusted to us. If Mary was, in some way, ‘the first tabernacle in history’ (John Paul II Ecclesia de Eucharistia, n. 55) then we the Tabernacle in which Our Lord chose to reside in person, in His Real Presence, was also entrusted to us. We can learn from Mary and Joseph! What would they ever have overlooked in the care of Jesus’ physical body? Is there something, therefore, that we can withhold for the right and adoring care of His Eucharistic Body? No amount of attention, no sane act of love and adoring respect will ever be too much! On the contrary, our adoration and respect will always be inferior to the great gift that comes to us in the Holy Eucharist.  Looking at the Holy Family, we see the love, the protection, and the diligent care that they gave to the Redeemer. We can not fail to feel uneasiness, perhaps a shameful thought, for the times in which we have not rendered the appropriate care and attention to the Blessed Eucharist. We can only ask for forgiveness and do penance for all the sacrilegious acts and the lack of respect that are committed in front of the Blessed Eucharist. We can only ask the Lord, through the intersession of the Holy Family of Nazareth, for a greater love for their Son Incarnate, who has decided to remain here on earth with us every day until the end of time.  --From the Congregation for the Clergy.