Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 12-25-05, Nativity of the Lord, (Christmas) Mass at Midnight

What did he say about it?

**In the sixth age of the world, while the whole earth was at peace—
JESUS CHRIST
eternal God and the Son of the eternal Father, willing to consecrate the world by His gracious coming, having been conceived of the Holy Ghost, and the nine months of His conception being now accomplished, (all kneel) was born in Bethlehem of Judah of the Virgin Mary, made man. The birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the flesh.**

I can't answer your question about the sixth age, but in looking at the sentence it looks like it refers to the time of Christ's birth. Maybe we are still in the sixth age?

Merry Christmas to all who will read this!

Christ is born - Glorify Him!

Forgive typos:

Everyone who has sung or listened to Handel's 'Messiah' knows the words: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The migty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6, KJV). Magnificent. Here, as of this week's amended Missalette, is the New American Bible: "For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests. They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace." Try singing that. Whether under the rules of literal accuracy or of what, taking liberties, translators call "dynamic equivalence," that is no more than a pedantic transliteration of the Hebrew. It is not a translation. It is a string of possible signifiers. It is not English. To be fair, the passage is not representative. Most of the NAB is English, albeit of a down-market variety.

Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 12-25-05, Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)Mass During/Day

Lk 2:1-14
#	Douay-Rheims	Vulgate
1	And it came to pass that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.	factum est autem in diebus illis exiit edictum a Caesare Augusto ut describeretur universus orbis
2	This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria.	haec descriptio prima facta est praeside Syriae Cyrino
3	And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city.	et ibant omnes ut profiterentur singuli in suam civitatem
4	And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David.	ascendit autem et Ioseph a Galilaea de civitate Nazareth in Iudaeam civitatem David quae vocatur Bethleem eo quod esset de domo et familia David
5	To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.	ut profiteretur cum Maria desponsata sibi uxore praegnate
6	And it came to pass that when they were there, her days were accomplished that she should be delivered.	factum est autem cum essent ibi impleti sunt dies ut pareret
7	And she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger: because there was no room for them in the inn.	et peperit filium suum primogenitum et pannis eum involvit et reclinavit eum in praesepio quia non erat eis locus in diversorio
8	And there were in the same country shepherds watching and keeping the night watches over their flock.	et pastores erant in regione eadem vigilantes et custodientes vigilias noctis supra gregem suum
9	And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them and the brightness of God shone round about them: and they feared with a great fear.	et ecce angelus Domini stetit iuxta illos et claritas Dei circumfulsit illos et timuerunt timore magno
10	And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people:	et dixit illis angelus nolite timere ecce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum quod erit omni populo
11	For, this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David.	quia natus est vobis hodie salvator qui est Christus Dominus in civitate David
12	And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.	et hoc vobis signum invenietis infantem pannis involutum et positum in praesepio
13	And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God and saying:	et subito facta est cum angelo multitudo militiae caelestis laudantium Deum et dicentium
14	Glory to God in the highest: and on earth peace to men of good will.	gloria in altissimis Deo et in terra pax in hominibus bonae voluntatis

Adoration of the Shepherds

Tommaso di Stefano
c. 1525-1564
Oil on panel
Art Gallery of Ontario

The Meaning of Christmas

by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

Other Articles by Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

The Meaning of Christmas

12/26/05

In the days of Caesar Augustus, an era of peace was established in the Mediterranean world after centuries of strife. But this peace was forged by the proud ambition of emperors and the edges of their armies’ swords.


Upon this stage appears a baby acclaimed as king by eastern dignitaries. Neither Caesar nor Herod will brook any rivals. So brutal hordes are sent to slay Him at birth, though He himself comes without armies. The thugs are thwarted, but only for a season. For the royal child is laid in a manger, and the wood of that manger foreshadows the wood of the Cross. Caesar and Herod were bound to misunderstand Him. They climbed their way to the top, stepping on all who stood in their way. He emptied Himself and plunged to the bottom, from the glory of heaven to the squalor of a stable. Pharaohs and caesars strained towards immortality. Yet He Who was immortal by nature embraced mortality. The great ones of the world took every opportunity to exalt themselves. In the very act of being born, He humbled Himself. You would think that He would have chosen Rome or Athens as the place of His appearance. But He selected an obscure desert town in a dusty provincial outpost. Even in this humble spot, not even a seedy inn would make room for Him. So they had recourse to a cave, welcomed only by the animals. Isaiah said it well: “an ox knows its owner, and an ass its master’s manger; but Israel does not know, my people has not understood” (Is 1:2). Everything was in fulfilment of Scripture. He was born in Bethlehem, a town whose name means “house of bread.” His crib was a manger, a feeding trough. But they did not understand that He was the Bread of Life. He was wrapped, like Solomon, in swaddling clothes (Wis 7:4-5), but they did not recognized Him as the new King and embodiment of divine wisdom. The only people who recognized Him are shepherds, the humblest in society, and Magi, the wisest. But most Israelites, like us, were neither very humble nor very wise, so they missed it. They especially missed this: that one of the birthday gifts was incense, used in the worship of gods. He was not only king, wise man, Messiah, and Savior — He was God incarnate. How could Jews have believed this? God is infinite, invulnerable, omnipotent. What is more vulnerable, fragile, and helpless than an infant? Can the Eternal be born in time? Can the Divine Word be a child at the breast, incapable of speech? Can a mere teenage girl be the Mother of God? It was just as hard for the pagans to believe it. For their philosophers had taught that God is spirit and the body is a prison. Salvation means liberation from the confines of the physical body. So the idea that a divine Savior would embrace human flesh just did not compute. Love sometimes does strange things. It takes great risks and goes to extreme lengths that many would call foolish. On that first Christmas day, God’s foolishness was wiser than men, and His weakness was stronger than men. It took them all by surprise. But this, of course, was part of God’s strategy. The element of surprise is critical in warfare. And Christmas was an act of warfare. In fact it was D-Day, the day of deliverance. The preparation had taken centuries, but now it was time for the Conqueror to land on enemy-occupied territory. He came in humility, and would finish the conquest thirty years later by the greatest act of humility the world had ever seen. “Peace on earth; good will towards men.” True peace can never be forged by steel, but only by love. It is the humble babe in the manger, not Caesar in his chariot, Who is the real Prince of Peace.