Spiritual Reflections at, TX US - ADVENT SEASON

CHRISTMAS: OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT ON MEANING OF EXISTENCE
 
VATICAN CITY, 17 DEC 2008 (VIS) - Benedict XVI dedicated the last general audience of 2008, celebrated in the Paul VI audience hall, to Christmas, "a universal festivity".
 
 "Even non-believers", he said, "perceive something extraordinary and transcendental, something intimate that touches our hearts in this yearly Christian event. It is the festivity that sings of the gift of life. The birth of a child should always be a joyful occurrence".
 
 "Christmas is the encounter with a new-born baby, wailing in a wretched grotto", the Holy Father added. "Contemplating Him in this crèche how can we not think of all the children who still today, in many regions of the world, are born amidst such poverty? How can we not think of those newborns who have been rejected, not welcomed, those who do not survive because of a lack of care and attention? How can we not think of the families who desire the joy of a child and do not have this hope fulfilled?"
 
 "Unfortunately, under the drive of a hedonist consumerism, Christmas runs the risk of losing its spiritual meaning, reduced to a mere commercial occasion to buy and exchange gifts. Actually, however, the difficulties, uncertainty, and the economic crisis that many families are living in these months, and which affects all humanity, can truly serve as a stimulus for rediscovering the warmth of the simplicity, friendship, and solidarity that are the typical values of Christmas. Stripped of its materialist and consumerist trappings, Christmas can become the opportunity to welcome, as a personal gift, the message of hope that emanates from the mystery of Christ's birth".
 
 "Nevertheless, all of this does not suffice to capture the value of this celebration we are preparing for in all its fullness. We know that it celebrates the central event of history: the Incarnation of the Divine Word for the redemption of humanity. ... 'Thus the recurring annual cycle of the mystery of our salvation is renewed that, promised at the beginning and given to the end of time, is destined to last without end'".
 
 "At Christmas, therefore, we do not limit ourselves to commemorating the birth of a great person. We do not celebrate, simply and in the abstract, the mystery of the birth of humanity or, in general, the mystery of life. ... At Christmas we recall something that is quite concrete and important for human beings, something essential to the Christian faith, a truth that St. John summarizes in these few words: 'The Word became flesh': This is a historical fact that St. Luke the evangelist is careful to place in a particular historical context: during the days of the decree of the first census of Caesar Augustus".
 
 "In the darkness of the night in Bethlehem a great light was lit: the Creator of the universe became flesh, indissolubly and eternally joining himself to human nature, to the point of being 'God from God, light from light' and at the same time truly human. By 'the Word' ... John also intends the 'Meaning'" and "the 'Meaning' that became flesh is not just a general idea inherent in the world; it is a Word addressed to us".
 
 "The Meaning has power: it is God. A good God who cannot be confused with some being on high and far away who cannot be reached, but God who made Himself our neighbor and who is very near to us", "God reveals Himself to us as a poor 'infant' in order to conquer our pride. ... He made Himself small in order to free us from the human delusion of grandeur that arises from pride; He freely became flesh so that we might be truly free, free to love Him".
 
 "Christmas", the Pope concluded, "is the privileged opportunity to contemplate the meaning and value of our existence. The nearness of this solemnity helps us to reflect, on the one hand, on the dramatic nature of a history in which human beings, wounded by sin, are perennially seeking happiness and a reason for living and dying; on the other hand, it exhorts us to contemplate the merciful goodness of God, who has come to meet humanity that He might communicate the saving Truth to us directly and make us to participate in His friendship and His life".
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ADVENT: A CRY OF HOPE OF THE CHURCH AND OF THE JUST
 
VATICAN CITY, 29 NOV 2008 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica at 5 p.m. today, Benedict XVI presided at first Vespers for the First Sunday of Lent.
 
  "Advent is, par excellence, the spiritual season of hope", said the Pope in his homily. "During that time the entire Church is called to become hope, for herself and for the world. ... All the people of God resume their journey, attracted by this mystery: that our God is the 'God Who comes' and calls us to come out and meet Him, ... first and foremast in that universal form of hope and expectation which is prayer".
 
  The Pope indicated the Psalms as the most exalted form of prayer, and quoted Psalm 141: "I call upon You, O Lord; come quickly to me". This, he said, "is the cry of a person who senses great danger. But it is also the cry of the Church among the many perils that surround her and threaten her sanctity, that irreprehensible integrity of which the Apostle Paul speaks and which must be conserved for the coming of the Lord.
 
  "In this invocation resounds the cry of all the just, of all those who wish to resist evil and the enticements of iniquitous wellbeing, of pleasures offensive to human dignity and to the condition of the poor", the Holy Father added. "At the beginning of Advent, the liturgy of the Church once again makes this cry her own and raises it to God 'as incense' ... which is a symbol of prayer, of the effusions of people's hearts towards God".
 
  "In the cry of the mystical Body we recognise the voice of the Head, the Son of God Who has taken our trials and temptations upon Himself to give us the grace of His victory". In praying the Psalms, "the Church relives the grace of this compassion, of this 'coming' of the Son of God into human anguish until touching its very depths. The cry of hope of Advent expresses, then, ... all the gravity of our condition, our extreme need for salvation. Which is to say that we await the Lord not as some beautiful decoration to a world already saved, but as the only way of liberation from mortal danger".
 
  Referring again to Psalms 141 and 142, which form part of today's liturgy, Benedict XVI pointed out that "they guard us from any temptation to evade and flee reality, they protect us from a false hope which could perhaps seek to enter Advent and so make us proceed towards Christmas forgetting the drama of our individual and community existence".
 
  The Holy Father concluded by saying that "a reliable hope, one that does not deceive, cannot but be a 'Paschal' hope, as we are reminded ... by the canticle of the Letter to the Philippians with which we praise the Christ incarnate, crucified and risen, universal Lord".
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CONFORMING OUR LIVES TO THE LORD
 
VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2008 (VIS) - Today, the First Sunday of Advent, the Pope celebrated morning Mass at the Roman Basilica of San Lorenzo, in order to commemorate the 1,750th anniversary of the martyrdom of the deacon St. Lawrence.
 
  In his homily the Holy Father spoke of the significance of Advent, explaining that "it means remembering the first coming of the Lord in the flesh, with our minds on His definitive return; at the same time, it means recognising that Christ is present among us and is our travelling companion in the life of the Church which celebrates His mystery".
 
  "In this perspective Advent becomes for all Christians a time of expectation and hope, a privileged time in which to listen and reflect, allowing ourselves to be guided by the liturgy which invites us to go out towards the Lord Who comes".
 
  "'Come Lord Jesus', this ardent invocation of the early Christian community must also become our constant aspiration, the aspiration of the Church in all ages which longs and prepares for the meeting with her Lord: 'Come today, Lord, help us, enlighten us, give us peace, help us to overcome violence, come Lord, we pray in these weeks, Lord bring Your face to shine and we will be saved'".
 
  The Pope went on to focus on St. Lawrence, highlighting how "his solicitude for the poor, his generous service to the Church of Rome in the field of charity work, and his faithfulness to the Pope to the point of following him in the supreme trial of martyrdom ... are known to everyone".
 
  Benedict XVI then reminded the faithful of "a particularly dramatic event in the centuries-long history of your basilica, an event which took place during World War II, on 19 July 1943, when a violent bombardment inflicted grave damage to the building and to the entire neighbourhood, spreading death and destruction. History will never forget the indelible memory of the generous act undertaken on that occasion by my venerated predecessor, Pius XII, who immediately set out to save and console the hard-hit people among the smouldering ruins.
 
  "Nor do I forget", he added, "that this basilica houses the tombs of two other great figures", Blessed Pope Pius IX and Alcide De Gasperi "who was the wise and provident guide of Italy during the difficult post-war years of reconstruction and, at the same time, an outstanding statesman with a broad-ranging Christian vision of Europe".
 
  After mentioning the invitation in today's Gospel 'to remain vigilant', the Holy Father explained how this means "to follow the Lord, to chose what He chose, to Love what He loved, to conform our lives to His. Vigilance means spending every instant of our time within the horizon of His love without allowing ourselves to be cast down by the inevitable difficulties and daily problems. This is what St. Lawrence did, this is what we must do, and we ask the Lord to give us His grace, that Advent may become a stimulus for everyone to advance in this direction".
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GOD, BY ENTERING HISTORY, GIVES US HIS TIME
 
VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2008 (VIS) - At midday today, the First Sunday of Advent, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square to pray the Angelus with the thousands of pilgrims gathered there.
 
  Advent, which opens the new liturgical year, "invites us to reflect upon the dimension of time", said the Pope. Many people in our own day, he noted, complain of "a lack of time, because the rhythm of daily life has become so frenetic for everyone. Yet even on this subject, the Church has 'good news' to bring. God gives us His time. We always have little time. For the Lord, especially, we do not know how, or sometimes do not want to, find it. And yet God has time for us. ... He gives us His time, because He entered history with His word and His works of salvation, opening it to eternity and making it a history of alliance.
 
  "From this point of view", he added, "time is, in itself, already a fundamental sign of God's love: a gift which man ... can either value or waste, understand its significance of superficially ignore".
 
  The Pope then went on to identify the three cardinal moments of time which mark the history of salvation: creation, incarnation-redemption, and 'parusia' which includes the final judgement. "These three moments, however, are not to be understood in mere chronological succession", he said. "Creation is, indeed, the origin of everything but it is also continuous and operates over the entire span of cosmic development, until the end of time. Incarnation-redemption too, although it took place at a specific historical moment, the period of Jesus' time on earth, nonetheless extends its range of action to all time that preceded and followed. And in their turn the second coming and final judgement, decisively anticipated in the Cross of Christ, exercise their influence on the behaviour of mankind in all ages".
 
  "The Lord comes continually into our lives. ... On this first Sunday we are again powerfully presented with Jesus' call to "remain vigilant" because "at a time that only God knows each will be called to account for his or her life. This means", he concluded, "detachment from worldly things, sincere penitence for one's errors, effective charity towards others and, above all, humble and trusting abandonment in the hands of God, our tender and merciful Father".
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THE NEARNESS OF THE LORD, REASON FOR OUR JOY
 
VATICAN CITY, 14 DEC 2008, (VIS) - At noon today the Pope appeared at the window of his private study to pray the Angelus with thousands of persons who had gathered in St. Peter's Square. Among those gathered were many children who, as is traditional on the third Sunday of Advent, brought with them images of the Christ Child, which they place in their homes, schools, and churches at Christmastime, for the Pope to bless.
 
  The Holy Father recalled that this third Sunday of Advent is called "Gaudete Sunday" because, "returning to an expression of St. Paul's in his Letter to the Philippians", the Apostle says, "'The Lord is near'. This is the reason for our joy. But what does it mean that 'the Lord is near'? How are we to understand this 'nearness' of God? The Apostle Paul, writing to the Christians of Phillippi, clearly thought of Christ's return and called them to be joyful as it was certain".
 
  "Nevertheless", he continued, "Paul himself, in his Letter to the Thessalonians, tells us that nobody can know the moment of the Lord's coming and warns us against any alarm that Christ's return might be at hand. In this way the Church, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, already understood that the 'nearness' of God is not a question of space and time but rather a question of love: love draws near! This Christmas will come to remind us of this fundamental truth of our faith and, standing before the crèche, we will be able to taste Christian joy, contemplating in the new-born Jesus the face of God who out of love made himself close to us".
 
  Addressing the Roman boys and girls who had come with figures of the Christ Child, Benedict XVI invited them to join him in reciting the following prayer:
 
  "God, our Father, you so loved us even to the point of sending us your only son Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, to save us and bring us to you".
 
  "We ask that you bless these images of Jesus, who will soon come among us, as a sign of your presence and of your love in our homes".
 
  "Good Father, bless us as well, and our parents, our families, and our friends".
 
  "Open our hearts so that we might know how to receive Jesus with joy, doing always what he asks, and seeing him in all those who are in need of our love".
 
"We ask you in the name of Jesus, your beloved Son, who came to bring peace to the world. He lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Amen".
 
  After the Marian prayer the Pope said that "today in the diocese of Rome we celebrate the day of building new churches. In the past years new parishes have been established but there are still communities that have to deal with provisional and inadequate buildings. I give my heart-felt thanks to those who have supported this very important commitment of the diocese and I renew the invitation for us to help the Roman parishes build their church".
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VATICAN CITY, DEC 11, 2005 (VIS) - Preparation for Christmas was the central theme of Benedict XVI's reflections before praying the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. "In today's consumer society," said the Pope, "this season unfortunately suffers from the 'contamination' of commercialism that risks changing its true spirit, characterized by reflection, sobriety and a joy that does not come from outside, but from within. It is, therefore, providential that the entrance door to Christmas" should be "the feast of the mother of Jesus who brings us to know, love and adore the Son of God, made man. Allow her, therefore, to accompany us ... with sincerity of heart and openness of spirit to recognize in the Child of Bethlehem the Son of God, Who came to earth for our redemption." "Immediately after the feast of the Immaculate Conception, many families begin to prepare their nativity scenes, as if to relive, together with Mary, those days filled with trepidation which preceded the birth of Jesus. Bringing the nativity scene into the home can be a simple but efficacious way to present and transmit the faith to children ... A nativity scene can help us understand the true secret of Christmas, because it speaks of the humility and the merciful goodness of Christ, Who 'though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor'." To conclude, the Holy Father blessed, according to tradition, the figures of the Child Jesus brought by the children of Rome to St. Peter's Square to place in their own nativity scenes. "With this gesture I invoke the help of the Lord so that all Christian families may prepare to celebrate with faith the forthcoming Christmas celebrations/

PERIOD OF ADVENT, JOURNEY OF TRUE SANCTIFICATION VATICAN CITY, NOV 26, 2005 (VIS) - This evening in the Vatican Basilica, Benedict XVI presided at the celebration of the first Vespers of the first Sunday of Advent, which mark the opening of the new liturgical year. In his homily, the Holy Father commented on a passage from the First Letter of St. Paul to the Thessalonians (5, 23-24). The Apostle, said the Pope, hopes that "each individual will be sanctified by God and remain 'sound and blameless' in 'spirit and soul and body' until the final coming of the Lord Jesus." The Holy Father pointed out that the hope expressed by the Apostle "contains a fundamental truth, one he seeks to inculcate into the faithful of the community he founded, and that we can sum up like this: God calls us to communion with Him, communion which will be fully realized with the return of Christ, and He Himself undertakes to ensure that we are ready when we reach this final and decisive encounter." Pope Benedict went on: "The future is, so to say, contained in the present or, better still, in the presence of God Himself, in His indefectible love which does not leave us alone, does not abandon us even for an instant, just as fathers and mothers never cease to follow their children's development. "Faced with Christ who approaches, man feels called in all his being. ... Sanctification is a gift of God, it is His initiative, but human beings are called to correspond with all their being, leaving nothing of themselves excluded." "Just as at the center of human history is the first advent of Christ, and at the end His glorious return, so each individual existence is called to measure itself against Him in a mysterious and multifaceted way during the earthly journey, so as to be found 'in Him' at the moment of His return." "May Mary Most Holy, the faithful Virgin, guide us to make this period of Advent, and the whole of the new liturgical year, a journey of true sanctification, to the praise and glory of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." HML/VESPERS:ADVENT/ VIS 051128 (370)

JESUS COMES TO STAY WITH US FOREVER The Holy Father speaks about “An Advent of Hope.” Addressing some 10,000 people, John Paul II said that “Advent keeps alive the wait for Christ who will come to visit us with His salvation, fully realizing His kingdom of justice and peace. The annual commemoration of the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem renews in the hearts of believers the certainty that God keeps faithful to His promises. Therefore, Advent is a powerful proclamation of hope that touches our personal and common experience deeply.” After emphasizing that all human beings “dream of a more just and unified world where dignified conditions of life and peaceful coexistence make relations among individuals and peoples harmonious,” he said: “Often it is not this way. … The mystery of Christmas, which we will relive in a few days, assures us that God is Emmanuel – God with us. Therefore, we must never feel alone. He is close to us, He became one of us in the virginal womb of Mary. He shared in our earthly pilgrimage, guaranteeing us the joy and peace which we aspire to from the depths of our being.” The Pope said that Advent highlights “a second element of hope which regards more generally the meaning and value of life. … What meaning do our accomplishments on earth have, what awaits us after death? … Are the search for greater material well-being, the pursuit of ever-more advanced social, scientific and economic goals” enough, he asked, “to satisfy the most intimate aspirations of our soul? Today’s liturgy invites us to amplify our vision and to contemplate the wisdom of God who comes to us from on high.” A third element of Christian hope is that “God has taken the initiative to come in contact with man. Becoming a child, Jesus assumed our nature and established His alliance with all of humanity forever.” “The meaning of Christian hope which Advents proposes,” he concluded, “is that of confident hope, of docility and joyful openness in encountering the Lord. He came to Bethlehem to be with us forever.”

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THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S LOVE... As we prepare for the Mystery of God's Love, we join the Church is saying, "Come, Key of David, open the gates of God's eternal kingdom, free the prisoners of darkness." This invocation in the liturgy invites us to turn our gaze to the One who is born to redeem humanity. We are now on the threshold of Christmas and the entreaty of the expectant people grows more intense: "Come, Lord Jesus", come and free "the prisoners of darkness!" We are preparing to commemorate the event that is at the heart of the history of salvation: the birth of the Son of God, who came to dwell among us to redeem every human creature by His death on the Cross. The Easter mystery is already present in the mystery of Christmas; in the night of Bethlehem we already glimpse the Easter Vigil. The light that illuminates the grotto directs us to the brightness of the risen Christ who overcomes the darkness of the tomb. Christmas is an important "birthday" which we celebrate, meditating on the extraordinary event of the eternal Word made man for our salvation. We are preparing to relive the imminent Christmas celebrations with renewed faith, to receive the fullness of their spiritual message. The Cribs at Bethlehem At Christmas/ we naturally think of Bethlehem:"But you," says the prophet Micah, "0 Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel" (Micah 5:1). These words are echoed by the Evangelist Matthew. To the Magi, who want King Herod to tell them "where is he who has been born king of the Jews? (Matthew 2:2), the high priests and the scribes of the people communicate what the ancient prophet wrote of Bethlehem: "from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel" (Matthew 2:6). The Church of the East prays thus in the Office of the Orthros for the solemnity of Christmas: "Bethlehem, make ready; sing, city of Zion; exult, wilderness that has attracted joy: the star moves to show the Christ, who is about to be born in Bethlehem; a grotto welcomes the One whom absolutely nothing can contain, and a manger is prepared to receive eternal life." During these days, Bethlehem becomes the place on which all believers focus their eyes. The representations of the nativity scene, which popular tra- dition has spread to every corner of the earth, help us to reflect better on the message which continues to radiate from Bethlehem for all humanity. In a poor grotto, we contemplate a God who for love makes Himself a child. He gives joy to those who welcome Him and reconciliation and peace to the peoples. We are invited to open our hearts to the One who unlocks "the gates of the kingdom of heaven" for us. Preparing ourselves to receive Him requires first and foremost an attitude of intense and trusting prayer. Making room for Him in our hearts demands a serious commitment to convert to His love. Implore the gift of peace with prayerful trust It is He who frees us from the shadow of evil and asks us to make a concrete contribution so that His plan of salvation can be carried out. The prophet Isaiah describes it with vivid images: the wildernes becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. And the effect of righteousenss will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and turst forever. (Isaiah 32: 15-17) This is the gift we must implore with prayerful trust, this is the project we are called to make our own with constant concern! In a message to people of good will, I pointed out that "on the path to better understanding among peoples there remain many challenges which the world must face," and I therefore recalled that "everyone must feel the moral duty to take concrete and timely steps to promote the cause of peace and understanding among peoples." May Christmas revive in everyone the will to become an active and courageous builder of the civilization of love. It is only thanks to everyone's contribution that Micah's prophecy and the proclamation which rang out on the night of Bethlehem will bear their fruit and that it will be possible to live our Christian Christmas to the full. --Pope John Paul II

MARY SHOWS THE HUMILITY, SILENCE, STUPOR AND JOY OF CHRISTMAS The Incarnation of the Redeemer began in Mary's heart with her 'here I am' full of faith, in answer to the divine call. If we wish to understand the true meaning of Christmas, it is thus to her that we must look, her that we must invoke." "Mary, mother par excellence, helps us to understand the key words of the mystery of the birth of her divine Son: humility, silence, stupor, joy. She exhorts us above all to humility, so that God can find room in our hearts, not darkened by pride or arrogance. She points us to the value of silence, of knowing how to listen to the song of the angels and the crying of the Child, not suffocating them in noise and confusion. Together with her, we pause in front of the nativity scene with stupor, tasting the joy, simple and pure, that that Child brought to all of mankind." --Pope John Paul II-ANG/CHRISTMAS. VIS 031222

COME LORD JESUS... Everyone seeks joy. Everybody wants to be happy and seeks joy. The good and the bad are equal in their desire to be happy. Good people are good to be happy, and bad people are bad hoping to become happy in this way. In his Confessions, the great St. Augustine says: "If we all love joy, it is because we have already known it in a mysterious way. If we had not come to know it - if we were not created for it - we would not love it." The person who knocks at the door of a church - even if he does so with violence and anger - does it because he seeks joy. However, we see that the world around us is mostly sad. Sadness and restlessness strangle our throats and almost suffocate us. Today one notices that there are fewer and fewer joyful people and joyful Christians. Nietsche once criticised Christians because their gloomy, frowning faces. Sadness and restlessness walk in our streets, in our villages and in our cities. Sadness has even sneaked into our families. Sadness and restlessness infect even our children to whom we give plenty to eat, bigger and better toys, very often in place of imparting a spirit of joy. Joy does not come from material things--toys, eating, cars, technology, money or pleasure. Our hearts and souls seek the real food. The soul cannot be cheated with material goods. If not fed with God and His Word, it will rebel with signs like emptiness, lack of meaning, nervousness, aggressiveness, anger against everything and everybody. Once these signs are recognized, one has to learn again to enjoy the little things and to recognize so many blessings around us - that everything is given, and that we neither earned nor merited anything. Our Blessed Mother, walks our journey with us. For the past twenty years she has been with us. preparing us for her Son. In her November message, she prepares us for this time of Advent, placing before our eyes the King of Peace. Restlessness and hatred govern the world, our Mother tells us in this message, a fact we know and see very well. And not only in the world, but also into our human relationships, within families and among nations. Our Lady shows us the way, she puts into our hands a powerful means with which we can reach peace, if we want it and seek it. It is not enough to see and understand the state of one's heart and soul, of one's family. Just as it no use for a hungry man to know that bread is good. It is useless to know that God is love, or that Our Lady is with us here for love of us, we need to follow her words, to decide today to follow her. We need to encounter and experience the God of Love. It is useless to curse darkness; let us light a lamp instead, and darkness vanishes. Sometimes it is enough to lift our eyes just a bit above the mud of this world, above our heads, to pronounce a good and positive word, and darkness is already gone. We need to heal our negative, black, tragic thoughts and pronounce pure words, so that God's grace and peace may reach us. It is not enough to say that there is no prayer in my family, that we can never get together, that each goes their own way after their own business. Perhaps if one person starts, having the courage to pray to God to cry out to him, then through h/him, the light may come down, little by little, on those within the family. There are many hearts today who follow Our Lady's messages. Our Lady counts on those who wish to hear her words; she counts on their perseverance, even when the fruits/successes are not immediately apparent. We find security in her presence, in her words that she is remains with us in spite of everything. Let us be grateful and let us remain with Her. Peace and good to you. Medjugorje, November 26th, 2001 Fr. Ljubo Kurtovic, OFM

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