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Catholic Caucus: Daily Mass Readings, 12-06-05, Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas
USCCB.org/New American Bible ^ | 12-06-05 | New American Bible

Posted on 12/06/2005 9:09:43 AM PST by Salvation

December 6, 2005
Tuesday of the Second Week in Advent

Psalm: Tuesday 52

Reading I
Is 40:1-11

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

A voice says, “Cry out!”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13

R. (see Isaiah 40:10ab) The Lord our God comes with power.
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.
They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.

Gospel
Mt 18:12-14

Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”




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KEYWORDS: advent; catholiccaucus; catholiclist; dailymassreadings; stnicholas
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For your reading, reflection, faith-sharing, comments, questions, discussion.

1 posted on 12/06/2005 9:09:45 AM PST by Salvation
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To: nickcarraway; sandyeggo; Siobhan; Lady In Blue; NYer; american colleen; Pyro7480; livius; ...
Alleluia Ping!

Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Alleluia Ping List.

2 posted on 12/06/2005 9:11:09 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Life of Saint Nicholas the Bishop, from The Golden Legend compiled by Jacobus de Voragine

An Orthodox priest at Bari; the story of St. Nicholas' bones

Turkish Town Exchanges St. Nick for Santa (Former Myra, hometown of St. Nicholas) St. Nicholas belongs in any reclamation of Christmas

The Real St. Nicholas

Yes, There Really is a St. Nicholas !

Don't forget: St. Nicholas' Day is tomorrow [today] (get your shoes out!)

St. Nicholas [NOT Santa Claus], the Gift Giver [Read Only]

3 posted on 12/06/2005 9:18:44 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
 
Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

4 posted on 12/06/2005 9:19:23 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Advent Weekday
First Reading:
Psalm:
Gospel:
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 96:1-3, 10-13
Matthew 18:12-14

Indeed, the Church, though scattered throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received the faith from the apostles and their disciples. . . guards [this preaching and faith] with care, as dwelling in but a single house, and similarly believes as if having but one soul and a single heart, and preaches, teaches and hands on this faith with a unanimous voice, as if possessing only one mouth.

-- St. Iranaeus, Adversus haereses


5 posted on 12/06/2005 9:21:29 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
The Season of Advent -- 2005 -- Praying Each Day
6 posted on 12/06/2005 9:24:06 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Advent 2005 – He Comes! The King of Glory
7 posted on 12/06/2005 9:30:31 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Catholic Caucus: Advent Activity - The Jesse Tree
8 posted on 12/06/2005 9:31:26 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Catholic Culture

Collect:
Father, hear our prayers for mercy, and by the help of Saint Nicholas keep us safe from all danger, and guide us on the way of salvation. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

December 06, 2005 Month Year Season

Optional Memorial of St. Nicholas, bishop

Old Calendar: St. Nicholas, bishop and confessor

St. Nicholas was born in Lycia, Asia Minor, and died as Bishop of Myra in 352. He performed many miracles and exercised a special power over flames. He practiced both the spiritual and temporal works of mercy, and fasted twice a week. When he heard that a father who had fallen into poverty was about to expose his three daughters to a life of sin, Nicholas took a bag of gold and secretly flung it through the window into the room of the sleeping father. In this way, the three girls were dowered and saved from mortal sin and hell.

Jesse Tree ~ Samuel

St. Nicholas of Myra
Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, is undoubtedly one of the most popular saints honored in the Western world. In the United States, his memory has survived in the unique personality of Saint Claus — the jolly, rotund, white-bearded gentleman who captivates children with promises of gifts on Christmas Eve. Considered primarily as the patron saint of children, Nicholas is also invoked by sailors, merchants, bakers, travelers and pawnbrokers, and with Saint Andrew is honored as the co-patron of Russia.

In spite of his widespread fame, Saint Nicholas, from the historian's point of view, is hardly more than a name. He was born in the last years of the third century in Asia Minor. His uncle, the archbishop of Myra in Lycia, ordained him and appointed him abbot of a nearby monastery. At the death of the archbishop, Nicholas was chosen to fill the vacancy, and he served in this position until his death. About the time of the persecutions of Diocletian, he was imprisoned for preaching Christianity but was released during the reign of Emperor Constantine.

Popular legends have involved Saint Nicholas in a number of charming stories, one of which relates Nicholas' charity toward the poor. A man of Patara had lost his fortune, and finding himself unable to support his three maiden daughters, was planning to turn them into the streets as prostitutes. Nicholas heard of the man's intentions and secretly threw three bags of gold through a window into the home, thus providing dowries for the daughters. The three bags of gold mentioned in this story are said to be the origin of the three gold balls that form the emblem of pawnbrokers.

After Nicholas' death on December 6 in or around 345, his body was buried in the cathedral at Myra. It remained there until 1087, when seamen of Bari, an Italian coastal town, seized the relics of the saint and transferred them to their own city. Veneration for Nicholas had already spread throughout Europe as well as Asia, but this occurrence led to a renewal of devotion in the West. Countless miracles were attributed to the saint's intercession. His relics are still preserved in the church of San Nicola in Bari; an oily substance, known as Manna di S. Nicola, which is highly valued for its medicinal powers, is said to flow from them.

The story of Saint Nicholas came to America in distorted fashion. The Dutch Protestants carried a popularized version of the saint's life to New Amsterdam, portraying Nicholas as nothing more than a Nordic magician and wonder-worker. Our present-day conception of Santa Claus has grown from this version. Catholics should think of Nicholas as a saint, a confessor of the faith and the bishop of Myra — not merely as a jolly man from the North Pole who brings happiness to small children. Many countries and locations honor St. Nicholas as patron: Greece, Russia, the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily, Lorraine, and many cities in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Belgium.

Taken in part from Lives of the Saints for every day of the Year, Volume III © 1959, by The Catholic Press, Inc.

Patron: against imprisonment; against robberies; against robbers; apothecaries; bakers; barrel makers; boatmen; boot blacks; boys; brewers; brides; captives; children; coopers; dock workers; druggists; fishermen; grooms; judges; lawsuits lost unjustly; longshoremen; maidens; mariners; merchants; murderers; newlyweds; old maids; parish clerks; paupers; pawnbrokers; perfumeries; perfumers; pharmacists; pilgrims; poor people; prisoners; sailors; scholars; schoolchildren; shoe shiners; spinsters; students; thieves; travellers; unmarried girls; watermen; Greek Catholic Church in America; Greek Catholic Union; Bari, Italy; Fossalto, Italy; Duronia, Italy; Portsmouth, England; Greece; Lorraine; Russia; Sicily;

Symbols: Three children in a trough or tub; three golden balls on a book; six golden balls; three golden apples; three loaves; three purses or bags of gold; anchor; ship; Trinity symbol on a cope; angel; small church; three balls;
Often Portrayed As: Bishop with three children in a tub at his feet; Bishop calming a storm; bishop holding three balls; bishop holding three bags of gold; bishop with three children.

Things to Do:

  • Today is a good day to teach your children the difference between Santa Claus and St. Nicholas. This story of the origin of Santa Claus will help you. Also learn all you can about St. Nicholas.

  • Choose some of the recommended activities — a puppet show, a party, a visit from "St. Nicholas." Make sure to include in all the activities the story of St. Nicholas, virtues to imitate, and his significance in the Advent season. Read how different countries Celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas.

  • To enhance your feasting, purchase a copy of the cd by the Anonymous 4 Legends of St. Nicholas. This is medieval music, all in honor of St. Nicholas, done by four female vocalists.

  • There are numerous recipes to enhance this feast, anything from a soup to dessert, so have fun in the kitchen trying different ones.

  • St. Nicholas did his charitable works secretly. Suggest that your children do one hidden act of kindness in imitation of the saint.

  • From the Netherlands we have the most popular recipe, speculaas (or St. Nicholas Cookies; Speculaus; Speculatius; Kris Kringle Cookies; Dutch spice cookies). You can find tips for using special speculaas cookie molds by Gene Wilson. Try these sites for St. Nicholas Cookie cutters or molds: Heart and Home, House on the Hill, HOBI Picture Cookie Molds, Rycraft, and St. Nicholas Center. You could also use Nativity Cookie Cutters, like these from Cookie Craft.

9 posted on 12/06/2005 9:38:39 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
Homily of the Day


Homily of the Day

Title:   Aging is a Gift!
Author:   Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph. D.
Date:   Tuesday, December 6, 2005
 


Is 40:1-11 / Mt 18:12-14

Isaiah reminds us quite pointedly today of our mortality. "All mankind is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower wilts...." How true, and how fast it happens. Before we know it, our lives are half over or more. And we can find ourselves sad or disappointed or even fearful about what comes next. There's a yearning in us for something more substantial, something more lasting.

Isaiah shows us where to look. "Though the grass withers and the flower wilts, the word of our God stands forever." And that's where we need to plant our lives, squarely in the Lord Who is the ground of our being. Aging has its drawbacks, but it has some singular blessings as well. It can remind us of what lasts and what doesn't, of where our hearts will be satisfied and filled full, and where they won't. It can prod us to let go of what doesn't count, and to grasp at real life, not just appearances.

Thank God that He's giving you the gift of time, time to grow up on the inside and to learn to value what has lasting value. Thank God, and let Him come all the way into your life.

May your Advent be more than just a recollection of events long past. Let it be a rejoicing at His coming to take up residence within you, never to leave again.

 


10 posted on 12/06/2005 9:48:24 AM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Salvation

Thanks for the ping.


11 posted on 12/06/2005 10:55:31 AM PST by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Salvation

Great links - thank you.


12 posted on 12/06/2005 11:21:21 AM PST by Nihil Obstat
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To: Salvation
Hymn based on Isaiah 40 (same as posted Sunday when this lesson also appeared):\

"Comfort, Comfort, Ye My People"
by Johann Olearius, 1635-1711
Translated by Catherine Winkworth, 1829-1878

1. Comfort, comfort, ye My people,
Speak ye peace, thus saith our God;
Comfort those who sit in darkness,
Mourning 'neath their sorrows' load.
Speak ye to Jerusalem
Of the peace that waits for them;
Tell her that her sins I cover
And her warfare now is over.

2. Yea, her sins our God will pardon,
Blotting out each dark misdeed;
All that well deserved His anger
He no more will see or heed.
She hath suffered many a day,
Now her griefs have passed away;
God will change her pining sadness
Into ever-springing gladness.

3. Hark, the Herald's voice is crying
In the desert far and near,
Bidding all men to repentance
Since the Kingdom now is here.
Oh, that warning cry obey!
Now prepare for God a way;
Let the valleys rise to meet Him
And the hills bow down to greet Him.

4. Make ye straight what long was crooked,
Make the rougher places plain;
Let your hearts be true and humble,
As befits His holy reign.
For the glory of the Lord
Now o'er earth is shed abroad,
And all flesh shall see the token
That His Word is never broken.

The Lutheran Hymnal
Hymn #61
Text: Is. 40:1-8
Author: Johann Olearius, 1671
Translated by: Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.
Titled: "Troestet, troestet meine Lieben"
Tune: "Freu dich sehr"
1st Published in: _Genevan Psalter_, 1551
13 posted on 12/06/2005 12:06:38 PM PST by lightman (The Office of the Keys should be exercised as some ministry needs to be exorcised.)
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To: Salvation

Faith-sharing bump.


14 posted on 12/06/2005 1:12:31 PM PST by Ciexyz (Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
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To: Salvation

Bump for Pfeffernuesse cookies in honor of St. Nicholas!


15 posted on 12/06/2005 1:16:13 PM PST by Ciexyz (Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
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To: Salvation

Does anyone why his day is only an optional memorial now?

Anyone who gets in a fist-fight with a notorious heretic at a Church council deserves extra feast days....


16 posted on 12/06/2005 2:11:15 PM PST by tlRCta (St. Joseph, pray for us!)
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To: tlRCta

I think it is optional in the western church. In the Orthodox and Eastern Churches there is much reverence for St. Nicholals.


17 posted on 12/06/2005 5:13:44 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Ciexyz

They sound good; I like anything with lots of lemon in it!


18 posted on 12/06/2005 5:23:56 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
 
 
A Voice in the Desert
 
 

Tuesday December 6, 2005   Second Week of Advent

Reading (Isaiah 40:1-11)   Gospel (St. Matthew 18:12-14)

In the first reading today, the prophet Isaiah hears a voice that tells him to cry out, and when he asks, “What shall I cry out,” the answer comes: All flesh is grass, and all their glory like the flower of the field. Then it goes on to tell him how the grass is going to wilt and the flowers are going to fade, but that the Word of God stands forever. Now as we just simply look at our own selves day by day, we, of course, recognize that we get older. In America, we seem to have quite a problem with thinking that we are supposed to look like teenage kids even when we are seventy years old, but the reality is we get older. We start to fade; we start to wilt, if you will. Praise God, because if we could continue to make ourselves think that we were young and invincible, we would not ever want to go home. We would want to stay here instead of go to heaven, which is the dumbest thing anybody could ever want to do. But, unfortunately, because we do not know what heaven is and we know what we have here, we get caught in this idea of what life is about and we do not want anything else; or, at least, we are afraid of what might be awaiting us. 

But when we think about these words, about how all of us are going to wilt and pass away, we also then couple that with the Gospel, because the words we are told through Isaiah were that the Word of God stands forever. And what does the Word of God say? That He does not desire for any of these little ones to be lost. So if we are willing to allow ourselves to be small then we can be saved.  

Now, once again, we see the importance of this point of getting older and getting weaker. When we are young and we think that we are so strong, we can think that we do not really need God. “I can do this all by myself.” A pretty foolish thought, but it is probably the reality that most people deal with. But when we know that we cannot do it by ourselves then we are going to look to somebody beyond us. And so if we get to the point where we realize that we are no longer a kid and we cannot quite do the things we used to do, suddenly we realize that we are really a little one, that we are small, that we are pretty insignificant, even though we used to like to think about how important and significant we were (which we never really were, but that is what we liked to convince ourselves of). Suddenly, we realize just how small and insignificant we are.  

It is when we are small and insignificant that we have the greatest significance with God, because He is the One Who said that He does not will for any of these little ones to be lost. As long as we are willing to be a little one, just a little lamb in the Lord’s flock, then we are going to be fine. But remember what He said through the prophet Ezekiel: The strong and the sleek He will destroy, because they do not need a shepherd (so they think!). They will do it their own way; they do not have to follow God. But the little ones, the weak ones, they are the ones who recognize that they need somebody to protect them, that they need somebody who is going to be strong for them, that they need a shepherd. As long as we are willing to be the little lamb, to be weak, to be vulnerable, then we have a Shepherd Who is going to protect us, to put us up on His shoulders, to walk with us, and to bring us safely home, because the Word of God stands forever and the Word of God says that He does not will for any of the little ones to be lost. 

So we have the key to salvation: to be little, to not think ourselves too great, to be dependent on God, to follow Him, and to be obedient to Him. That is what it is all about. If we allow ourselves to be small then the Lord can do great things. If we think ourselves to be great then God can only use us for little things because we get in the way. So if we are willing to do it His way then the way to salvation is going to be clear, because we will follow the Shepherd, we will listen to His voice, we will do what He asks us to do, and we will therefore give Him the greatest glory and save our souls. 

*  This text was transcribed from the audio recording with minimal editing.  


19 posted on 12/06/2005 5:27:13 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: All
American Catholic’s Saint of the Day



December 6, 2005
St. Nicholas
(d. 350?)

The absence of the “hard facts” of history is not necessarily an obstacle to the popularity of saints, as the devotion to St. Nicholas shows. Both the Eastern and Western Churches honor him, and it is claimed that, after the Blessed Virgin, he is the saint most pictured by Christian artists. And yet, historically, we can pinpoint only the fact that Nicholas was the fourth-century bishop of Myra, a city in Lycia, a province of Asia Minor.

As with many of the saints, however, we are able to capture the relationship which Nicholas had with God through the admiration which Christians have had for him—an admiration expressed in the colorful stories which have been told and retold through the centuries.

Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age. Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married. Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast. In the English-speaking countries, St. Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus—further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.

Comment:

The critical eye of modern history makes us take a deeper look at the legends surrounding St. Nicholas. But perhaps we can utilize the lesson taught by his legendary charity, look deeper at our approach to material goods in the Christmas season and seek ways to extend our sharing to those in real need.

Quote:

“In order to be able to consult more suitably the welfare of the faithful according to the condition of each one, a bishop should strive to become duly acquainted with their needs in the social circumstances in which they live.... He should manifest his concern for all, no matter what their age, condition, or nationality, be they natives, strangers, or foreigners” (Decree on the Bishops' Pastoral Office, 16).



20 posted on 12/06/2005 5:41:05 PM PST by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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