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Do You Want to Have a Good Christmas? Then Listen Carefully to this Advent Message: “You Need a Savior!” Msgr. Charles Pope • December 5, 2018 • One of the goals of Advent (in many ways a penitential season) is to meditate on our need for a savior. In daily Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours, we read lengthy passages from Isaiah and the other prophets, who speak boldly and bluntly about the people’s sin. Some of the passages are even a bit humorous. Here are a few: Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the LORD...

December 6, 2018 Thursday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 26:1-6 On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah: "A strong city have we;he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.Open up the gatesto let in a nation that is just,one that keeps faith.A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;in peace, for its trust in you." Trust in the LORD forever!For the LORD is an eternal Rock.He humbles those in high places,and the lofty city he brings down;He tumbles it to the ground,levels it with the dust.It is...

“The Child Who Is Zechariah’s Hope” (Luke 1:5-25) “What Child Is This?” That’s the theme of our midweek Advent series this year, picking up on the title of the hymn we sang. “What Child Is This?” Of course, the child we sing about in that hymn is the Christ child, Jesus, the Savior sent from heaven. But there is another child we consider first, one who prepares the way for Jesus, both later on in his ministry, but also even here in his birth. And that child is John, John the Baptist. And because our text today is about John...

December 5, 2018 Wednesday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 25:6-10a On this mountain the LORD of hostswill provide for all peoplesA feast of rich food and choice wines,juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.On this mountain he will destroythe veil that veils all peoples,The web that is woven over all nations;he will destroy death forever.The Lord GOD will wipe awaythe tears from all faces;The reproach of his people he will removefrom the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken. On that day it will be said:"Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!This...

Father Alfred Delp was in the midst of his studies to become a Jesuit priest when Hitler took power in Germany in 1933. Despite increasing difficulties under the regime, he was ordained a priest for the order in 1937. The priest eventually was imprisoned in 1944 and executed in 1945 by the Gestapo, as he was falsely believed to be involved in the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. Even though he was able to prove his innocence, he was hung for high treason for his involvement in resistance activities. He was offered his freedom if he left the...

December 4, 2018 Tuesday of the First Week of Advent Reading 1 Is 11:1-10 On that day,A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,and from his roots a bud shall blossom.The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,A Spirit of counsel and of strength,a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.Not by appearance shall he judge,nor by hearsay shall he decide,But he shall judge the poor with justice,and decide aright for the land's afflicted.He shall strike the ruthless with the...

December 3, 2018 Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest Reading 1 Is 2:1-5 This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come,The mountain of the LORD's houseshall be established as the highest mountainand raised above the hills.All nations shall stream toward it;many peoples shall come and say:"Come, let us climb the LORD's mountain,to the house of the God of Jacob,That he may instruct us in his ways,and we may walk in his paths."For from Zion shall go forth instruction,and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.He shall judge between the nations,and impose terms...

The History of the Advent Wreath REV. WILLIAM SAUNDERS A Baptist friend asked me about the Advent wreath its history, meaning, etc. I think I gave her a pretty good answer. Perhaps you could provide a little more information. The Advent wreath is part of our long-standing Catholic tradition. However, the actual origins are uncertain. There is evidence of pre-Christian Germanic peoples using wreathes with lit candles during the cold and dark December days as a sign of hope in the future warm and extended-sunlight days of Spring. In Scandinavia during Winter, lighted candles were placed around a wheel,...

Happy Advent! We enter into a penitential spirit, awaiting the Messiah in anticipation of the joy of Christmas. We also celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas on Dec. 6th. Mass and Office Propers and Texts Missa Ad Te Levavi Kontakion and Troparion to St. Andrew (Byzantine) Seasonal Psalm Psalm 84 (85), Benedixisti Hymns and Carols Creator Alme Siderum Verbum Supernum Prodiens O Come, Divine Messiah On Jordan's Banks Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding Hymns in honor of St. Nicholas

December 2, 2018 First Sunday of Advent Reading 1 Jer 33:14-16 The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and Judah.In those days, in that time, I will raise up for David a just shoot ; he shall do what is right and just in the land.In those days Judah shall be safe and Jerusalem shall dwell secure; this is what they shall call her: “The LORD our justice.” Responsorial Psalm Ps 25:4-5, 8-9, 10, 14 R. (1b) To you, O Lord, I lift my soul.Your ways,...

“Advent: Receiving the Coming King” (Luke 19:28-40) Well, it’s Advent. And you know what that means: We’re beginning the countdown to Christmas. Of course, the world has already been celebrating their Christmas for several weeks now, what with Hallmark Christmas movies, and Christmas TV specials and commercials, and radio stations playing songs about “Santa Baby” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” But that’s the world’s Christmas. In the church, though, we get to celebrate the real thing, the true Christmas. And Advent, which begins today, serves as the lead-up to it. But that’s not all Advent does. Oh,...

Violet Privileged Sunday of the Second Class (Semidouble) (If this Sunday fall on the 24th of December, it is omitted that year; and in its place is said the Office of Christmas Eve, which is given here) WE HAVE NOW entered into the week which immediately precedes the Birth of the Messias. That long-desired Coming might be even tomorrow; and at furthest, that is, when Advent is as long as it can be, the beautiful feast is only seven days from us. So that the Church now counts the hours; she watches day and night, and since the 17th...

“Gabriel’s Gracious Greeting” (Luke 1:26-38) Every year on the Fourth Sunday in Advent, the Holy Gospel is a reading about Mary. Last year it was the message to Joseph that Mary would bear a son. Next year it will be Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth. This year it is the Annunciation to Mary that she will conceive in her womb and bear a son. So each year on this Sunday there’s something about Mary becoming the mother of our Lord, which is most fitting on the Sunday closest to Christmas. As I say, our text today is the Annunciation, the announcement...

December 24, 2017 Fourth Sunday of Advent Reading 1 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 When King David was settled in his palace,and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side,he said to Nathan the prophet,"Here I am living in a house of cedar,while the ark of God dwells in a tent!"Nathan answered the king,"Go, do whatever you have in mind,for the LORD is with you."But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:"Go, tell my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD:Should you build me a house to dwell in?' "It was I who...

December 23, 2017 Saturday of the Third Week of Advent Reading 1 Mal 3:1-4, 23-24 Thus says the Lord GOD:Lo, I am sending my messengerto prepare the way before me;And suddenly there will come to the templethe LORD whom you seek,And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.But who will endure the day of his coming?And who can stand when he appears?For he is like the refiner's fire,or like the fuller's lye.He will sit refining and purifying silver,and he will purify the sons of Levi,Refining them like gold or like...

Violet Fast and Partial Abstinence Prope est jam Dominus; venite, adoremus. The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore. THE LESSONS from the Prophet Isaias are interrupted today also; and a Homily on the Gospel of the Mass is read in their place. As this Gospel is repeated in the Mass of the fourth Sunday of Advent, which is tomorrow, we will, for the present, omit it, and be satisfied with mentioning the reason of the same Gospel being assigned to the two days. The primitive custom, in the Roman Church, was to hold Ordinations in the night...

THE CHURCH sings this Antiphon in today’s Lauds: ANT. Ecce completa sunt omnia quæ dicta sunt per Angelum, de Virgine Maria. ANT. Lo! all things are accomplished that were said by the Angel, of the Virgin Mary. SEVENTH ANTIPHON O EMMANUEL, Rex et Legifer noster, exspectatio gentium, et salvator earum; veni ad salvandum nos, Domine Deus noster. O EMMANUEL, our King and Lawgiver, the Expectation and Savior of the nations! come and save us, O Lord our God! O Emmanuel! King of Peace! thou enterest today the city of thy predilection, the city in which thou hast placed thy...

What Does It Mean to Find the Perfect Gift? Msgr. Charles Pope • December 21, 2017 • Jesus said many paradoxical things. For example: Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it (Mat 10:39). For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it (Mat 16:25).The basic rule of life the Lord announces is that when we want something too much, or very insistently on our own terms, we can never possess it. Rather, it possesses us. Only when...

Violet Fast and Full Abstinence Prope est jam Dominus; venite, adoremus. The Lord is now nigh: come, let us adore. THE CHURCH does not read anything from the Prophet Isaias today; she merely gives, in the Office of Matins, a sentence of that chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel which relates the mystery of our Lady’s Visitation: and to this she subjoins a fragment of St. Ambrose’s Homily upon that passage. The considerations and affections with which this important event of our Lady’s life ought to inspire the faithful shall be given further on, in the Proper of the Saints....

SIXTH ANTIPHON O REX Gentium, et desideratus earum, Lapisque angularis, qui facis utraque unum; veni, et salva hominem quem de limo formasti. O KING of nations, and their Desired One, and the Corner-Stone that makest both one; come and save man whom thou formedst out of slime. O KING of Nations! thou art approaching still nigher to Bethlehem, where thou art to be born. The journey is almost over, and thy august Mother, consoled and strengthened by the dear weight she bears, holds an unceasing converse with thee on the way. She adores thy divine Majesty; she gives thanks...