The Holy Family: "the Church is nothing other the 'the family of God'"

Christ chose to be born and grow up in the bosom of the holy family of Joseph and Mary. The Church is nothing other than "the family of God." From the beginning, the core of the Church was often constituted by those who had become believers "together with all [their] household." When they were converted, they desired that "their whole household" should also be saved. These families who became believers were islands of Christian life in an unbelieving world.CCC 1655

"O King of the Gentiles": waiting for Christ to "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad

"O King of the Gentiles, yea, and Desire thereof, O Cornerstone that makest of twain one; come to save man, whom thou hast made of the dust of the earth!" Magnificat Antiphon, Vespers, 22 December

The covenant with Noah remains in force during the times of the Gentiles, until the universal proclamation of the Gospel. The Bible venerates several great figures among the Gentiles: Abel the just, the king-priest Melchisedek - a figure of Christ - and the upright "Noah, Daniel, and Job". Scripture thus expresses the heights of sanctity that can be reached by those who live according to the covenant of Noah, waiting for Christ to "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad".CCC 58

O Key of David: Jesus, "who is called Christ", should be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of David"

O Key of David, * and Sceptre of the house of Israel that openest, and no man shutteth; and shuttest and no man openeth; come to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death! 

"To the shepherds, the angel announced the birth of Jesus as the Messiah promised to Israel: "To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." From the beginning he was "the one whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world", conceived as "holy" in Mary's virginal womb. God called Joseph to "take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", so that Jesus, "who is called Christ", should be born of Joseph's spouse into the messianic lineage of David."

CCC 437

"O Root of Jesse": the characteristics of the Messiah in the "Book of Emmanuel"

"O Root of Jesse, * which standest for an ensign of the people, at whom the kings shall shut their mouths, to whom the Gentiles shall seek; come to deliver us, make no tarrying!

O radix Iesse * qui stas in signum populórum, super quem continebunt reges os suum, quem Gentes deprecabúntur: veni ad liberándum nos, iam noli tardare."
 
- Magnificat Antiphon, Vespers, December 19

The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory," speaking of Christ), especially in the first two verses of Isaiah 11:

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

- CCC 712

O Adonai: in reading of Sacred Scripture, the revealed name (YHWH) is replaced by the divine title "LORD", in Hebrew "Adonai"

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,

when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;

As king he shall reign and govern wisely,

he shall do what is just and right in the land.

In his days Judah shall be saved,

Israel shall dwell in security.

This is the name they give him:

“The LORD our justice.”

- Jer 23

"Out of respect for the holiness of God, the people of Israel do not pronounce his name. In the reading of Sacred Scripture, the revealed name (YHWH) is replaced by the divine title "LORD" (in Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kyrios). It is under this title that the divinity of Jesus will be acclaimed: 'Jesus is LORD.'" 

CCC 209

O Wisdom: "And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom"

"O Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love; come to teach us the path of knowledge!" (Antiphon for Mass of December 17)

"The characteristics of the awaited Messiah begin to appear in the "Book of Emmanuel" ("Isaiah said this when he saw his glory," speaking of Christ), especially in the first two verses of Isaiah 11: 

"'There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.' " CCC 712

Our Lady of Guadalupe and her message of God's merciful love

"I am the perfect and ever virgin Holy Mary, Mother of the God of truth through whom everything lives, the Lord of all things near us, the Lord of heaven and earth".

The Blessed Virgin Mary [then] declares the intention of her apparition: "I want very much to have a little house built here for me, in which I will show him [God], I will exalt him and make him manifest". "I will give him to the people in all my personal love, in my compassion, in my help, in my protection: because I am truly your merciful Mother, yours and all the people who live united in this land and of all other people of different ancestries, my lovers, who love me, those who seek me, those who trust in me. Here I will hear their weeping, their complaints and heal all their sorrows, hardships and sufferings".3

- More about the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe through Saint Juan Diego at EWTN

For more about the images found in the eyes of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe visit http://www.sancta.org/eyes.html

Traditional Bambinelli blessing of the baby Jesus from the family creche on Gaudete Sunday

Bambinelli blessing at church on Gaudete Sunday, the third of Advent, for the baby Jesus from the family creche at home

The children enter in procession with the priest who prays this blessing prior to the Mass and blesses the images of the Christ Child with holy water:

"God our Father, you loved us so much you sent us your only Son, Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary, to save us and lead us back to you.

"We pray that, with your blessing, these images of Jesus might be a sign of your presence and love in our homes.

"Good Father, give your blessing to all who gather with us this Christmas, family and friends.

"Open our hearts, that we might receive Jesus in joy, do always what he asks of us and see him in those who need our love.

"We ask this in the name of Jesus, your beloved Son, who came to give peace to the world. You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen."

Friday, Advent I: "the eyes of the blind shall see"

"Let it be done for you according to your faith." And their eyes were opened.

--Mt 9:27-31

Prayer to Jesus is answered by him already during his ministry, through signs that anticipate the power of his death and Resurrection: Jesus hears the prayer of faith, expressed in words (the leper, Jairus, the Canaanite woman, the good thief) or in silence (the bearers of the paralytic, the woman with a hemorrhage who touches his clothes, the tears and ointment of the sinful woman). The urgent request of the blind men, "Have mercy on us, Son of David" or "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" has-been renewed in the traditional prayer to Jesus known as the Jesus Prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Healing infirmities or forgiving sins, Jesus always responds to a prayer offered in faith: "Your faith has made you well; go in peace."

St. Augustine wonderfully summarizes the three dimensions of Jesus' prayer: "He prays for us as our priest, prays in us as our Head, and is prayed to by us as our God. Therefore let us acknowledge our voice in him and his in us."

-- CCC 2616

Thursday, Advent I: "the LORD is an eternal Rock"

Christ is the first gift, the perfect gift and eternal sign and source of the Father's love. In the Church we continue to benefit from the gift of the Lord on the first Christmas through the means of salvation He established in and through His Churchj. These gifts include the Apostles together with Peter. Peter was the first pope, whose faith and person form part of the solid rock foundation upon which we build our live sin this world with a view to eternity. "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

-- Mt 7:21, 24-27

Simon Peter holds the first place in the college of the Twelve; Jesus entrusted a unique mission to him. Through a revelation from the Father, Peter had confessed: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Our Lord then declared to him: "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." Christ, the "living Stone", thus assures his Church, built on Peter, of victory over the powers of death. Because of the faith he confessed Peter will remain the unshakable rock of the Church. His mission will be to keep this faith from every lapse and to strengthen his brothers in it.

-- CCC 552

Wednesday, Advent I: “My heart is moved with pity"

Physical healing is a promise of the power of God's love to heal our nature wounded by sin. Physical wholeness is a powerful sign in this world of God's promise for each of us of life completed because an eternal gift. The light which symbolizes the advent of Jesus Christ during this season promises healing for hearts which have known the darkness of sin. The "lame, the deformed, the mute" all are signs for us of our own present need for healing which can come only from God through Christ with us. Great crowds came to him, having with them the lame, the blind, the deformed, the mute, and many others. They placed them at his feet, and he cured them.

-- Mt 15:29-37

"Individual, integral confession and absolution remain the only ordinary way for the faithful to reconcile themselves with God and the Church, unless physical or moral impossibility excuses from this kind of confession." There are profound reasons for this. Christ is at work in each of the sacraments. He personally addresses every sinner: "My son, your sins are forgiven." He is the physician tending each one of the sick who need him to cure them. He raises them up and reintegrates them into fraternal communion. Personal confession is thus the form most expressive of reconciliation with God and with the Church.

-- CCC 1484

Photo source: Vatican Radio.

Tuesday, Advent I: "he shall judge the poor with justice"

He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.

-- Is 11:1-10

Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love and peace. According to the Lord, the present time is the time of the Spirit and of witness, but also a time still marked by "distress" and the trial of evil which does not spare the Church and ushers in the struggles of the last days. It is a time of waiting and watching.

-- CCC 672

Photo source: Sacred Destinations. More views of Lausanne Cathedral here.

Advent I, Monday: "only say the word and my servant will be healed": walking by faith in the light of the Lord

As we undertake the way of Advent in the Church we hear Isaiah's call again, "Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord."

Light is a symbol of the Advent season with the lighting of the candles each week, the glow growing brighter as the birth of the Lord draws near. There is another light, however, that is more powerful and beautiful because it does not depend upon an earthly source to feed its hunger for fuel; a fire that cannot die because its source is not limited by the elements of this world.

The power of this other kind of light is conferred as a gift from God. We encounter that gift in the centurion, a man of authority who knows its source in obedience. The faith of the Centurion is light to us because his words reflect an interior life aglow with faith in Christ: " I too am a man subject to authority".

He recognizes that Jesus' obedience, like his, is an authentic source of authority, conferring worthiness to influence and direct the lives of others. Christ lived openly as One in evident loving obedience to God and therefore reflects the Father as One who is worthy of command like the centurion. This shared obedience is precisely the nature of faith.

The centurion sees Christ as one who heals like God through the vision and strength of faith. The light of faith is vision to behold the God who heals in Christ. The word of absolution in Confession is also a healing word, sought because of faith which confers the ability to accept Jesus as He gives Himself.

When we live the obedience we see in the life of Christ as did the centurion, we share the saving gift of faith. The assurance this grace confers in God's love to save us warms us as an inner and spiritual fire as we journey through the dark days of life on earth, yearning for the undying light of heaven's glory.

"Come, Lord Jesus!"

(Monday of the first week of Advent)