It's the feast of (among others) St. Peter Canisius, Jesuit university founder and Vatican spy, responsible for getting all the decrees from the Council of Trent through hostile territory to the bishops of Europe. Let's jump right in, however, as I am behind and the upcoming papal schedule is very full. (Mustn't let the homilies mount up).Popery:
Angelus messages:
- Dec. 2, On Hope, on the relation between Advent and Spe Salvi.
- Dec. 8, Immaculate Conception, special Saturday edition of the Angelus, proposes Mary especially as a friend to young people.
- Dec. 9, John the Baptist & the call to repentance:
it is today, in the present, that our future destiny is at stake; it is the concrete way we conduct ourselves in this life that decides our eternal fate. At the sunset of our days on earth, at the moment of death, we will be evaluated according to whether or not we resemble the Child who is about to be born in the lowly cave in Bethlehem, since he is the criterion by which God measures humanity.
- Dec. 16, Gaudete Sunday.
Some ask themselves: But is this joy still possible today? The answer is given by the life of men and women of every age and social condition, happy to consecrate their existence to others! Was not Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta perhaps, in our times, an unforgettable witness of evangelical joy? She lived in daily contact with misery, human degradation, death. Her soul knew the trial of the dark night of faith, and yet she bestowed the smile of God upon all.
The Holy Father makes remarks like that quite often, as did JP the Great. I am certain he means us not only to look to the saints as examples, but to call us to sanctity: a world that has lost its hope and lost its capacity to reason needs witnesses, he continually reminds us.
- St. Chromatius (12/5), bishop of Aquileia in Italy, an oasis of Christian peace for Jerome, Athanasius and other Christian notables at various times. Eusebius' brother, he was ordained by Ambrose and highly praised by Chrysostom & Jerome. He advanced the Church's understanding of the role of Mary. The Pope encourages us to make a lovely prayer of the saint's our own (see the close).
- St. Paulinus of Nola (12/12), who proves that Frenchmen & politicians can be saints. Great friend of Augustine, poet, patron of the arts, and later monk & mystic. From a letter to St. Augustine:
"We should not be astonished if we, though distant, are in each other's presence and, without having met, we know each other, as we are parts of one body, we have one head only, we are filled with one grace, we live of the same bread, we walk along one single road, we live in the same house" (Ep. 6, 2).
The Pope concludes:The testimony of St. Paulinus of Nola helps us to experience the Church as it is presented in the Second Vatican Council: sacrament of the intimate union with God, and as such the union of us all and eventually of all humankind (cf. "Lumen Gentium," No. 1). From this perspective I wish you all a good Advent.
- Dec. 19, he takes a break from the Fathers to wish us Merry Christmas. He begins with a discussion of Justice (a theme drawn from Spe Salvi), saying that the longing for justice shared by every human heart takes particular from in a Christian:
The Christian significance of waiting for justice implies that we begin to live under the eyes of the Judge, according to the criteria of the Judge; that we begin to live in his presence, rendering justice in our lives.
From there to the Christian duty of evangelization, and the recommendation that we study a new "Doctrinal Note" from the CDF personally and communally.
Often it is maintained that any attempt to convince others on religious matters is a limitation of their freedom. From this perspective, it would only be legitimate to present one’s own ideas and to invite people to act according to their consciences, without aiming at their conversion to Christ and to the Catholic faith. It is enough, so they say, to help people to become more human or more faithful to their own religion; it is enough to build communities which strive for justice, freedom, peace and solidarity. Furthermore, some maintain that Christ should not be proclaimed to those who do not know him, nor should joining the Church be promoted, since it would also be possible to be saved without explicit knowledge of Christ and without formal incorporation in the Church.The question so posed, the document makes some distinctions about the relationship between evangelization and respect for human dignity and freedom. It's too lengthy to treat here, but clearly intended as a companion piece to Spe Salvi. All you people who were waiting for Benedict to make his big move: this is it! And it has nothing to do with tut-tutting the world and its crimes, or putting the curia in its place, or giving public lectures to bishops we don't like or any of our other pet programs. It has everything to do with challenging Christians to repent and believe the Gospel and be worthy of the name above all other names. Just one line from the introduction:
to evangelize does not mean simply to teach a doctrine, but to proclaim Jesus Christ by one’s words and actions, that is, to make oneself an instrument of his presence and action in the world.It's not a more or less interesting piece of information for the files we're passing along, fellas, says the pope.
It's clear the Doctrinal Note is the big news, but the Pope also delivered a number of lovely homilies this month.
- Vespers for 1st Sunday of Advent: No one "unpacks" (to use theology cant I detest) the significance of an antiphon like Ratzi. But he also comments on Spe Salvi (which had just been released the day before):
hope distinguishes Christians from those who live in pagan religiosity. In writing to the Ephesians, St Paul reminds them that before embracing faith in Christ, they had "no hope and [were] without God in the world" (2: 12). This appears an especially apt description for the paganism of our day: in particular, we might compare it with the contemporary nihilism that corrodes the hope in man's heart, inducing him to think that within and around him nothingness prevails: nothing before birth and nothing after death. In fact, if God is lacking, hope is lacking. Everything loses its "substance". It is as if the dimension of depth were missing and everything were flattened out and deprived of its symbolic relief, its "projection" in comparison with mere materiality.
The last few graphs are lovely, too --reminiscent of JP the Great's comment in Threshold that the Holy Spirit is always the author of prayer, even when it seems to be our own initiative. Tolle, lege. - Funeral mass of Card. Alfons Maria Stickler (Spanish). I don't know much about him, but a quick Googling finds he was a stalwart defender of the view the Extraordinary Rite of the mass had never been abrogated, a view vindicated by the recent motu proprio. He must have suffered some for this position, because the Holy Father remarks that the deceased took to heart the beatitude "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven and so persecuted they the prophets before you." This was interesting (my trans):
All of us, beloved brothers and sisters, have been called through baptism to seek and serve Jesus; we know that we can't and shouldn't expect recognition and applause on this earth. The true recompense of a faithful disciple will be in heaven: Christ himself. We must never forget this truth. We must never give in to the temptation to seek success and human approval instead of counting only and always on Him who came to the world to save us and redeem us by his cross.
- Two days later, Gaudete Sunday, (Span) the Pope visited one of the parishes of Rome on the occasion of dedicating a bigger Church. (That's big news in itself). Story here in English.
- A visit to St. John the Baptist hospital in Rome.
- to Gambia:
The commitment to truth is the soul of justice; it establishes and strengthens the right to freedom and opens the way to forgiveness and reconciliation (cf. Address to the Diplomatic Corps, 9 January 2006). Political institutions and public officials are by their very nature open to legitimate control and criticism since they serve the common good of the country and the needs and aspirations of the people whom they represent.
- to Suriname:
Not only does the flow of illegal narcotics do grave harm to those who abuse these substances, but the very structures necessary to facilitate this trade entangle society in a web of corruption, greed and exploitation.
Remind people that there is more to life than professional success and profit. Through the practice of charity, in the family and in the community, they can be led towards "that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others" (Deus Caritas Est, 31). This is the great hope that Christians in Japan can offer their compatriots; it is not foreign to Japanese culture, but rather it reinforces and gives new impetus to all that is good and noble in the heritage of your beloved nation.Potpourri
Whew! Is that not enough? Well, I'd be remiss not to note Sarkozy visited the pope. (Good info in the story, even if it preposterously focuses on why Sark's alleged girlfriend didn't travel with him. Bah!) And...
- China: After a two-week delay, the new Pope-approved bishop was ordained; however, another faithful bishop passed away overnight.
- Philippines: Muslims patrol to keep Christians safe during Christmas exertions.
- U.S.: there's an official website for the Pope's visit here now.
