First Friday : advent First week
Today, once again, he calls us to participate with Him in bringing His light to the world. We have plenty of examples of darkness in our world: violence, war, the culture of death, injustice, etc. That is why we are called to be messengers of light in our world.
If we can express in one word the reason for the decision to follow Jesus, we have to say that it is Faith. Faith is the first principle upon which every supernatural work is based upon. St. Augustine says: “Ground all of your works in faith, for the just man lives by faith and faith acts through love. May your works be based on faith; believing in God will make you faithful”
I Believe is the First article of the Creed and the New Catechism of the Catholic Church has a complete analysis of the virtue of faith. Faith is called: Man’s Response to God. The Catechism tells us “by faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. It is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed…” faith is full of practical consequences. It is reflected in our conduct. It informs our whole life down to the last detail. We see things in the light of faith and act accordingly.
It is very appropriate today when we read of Jesus giving sight back to two blind men who expressed their confidence in him. “The Lord is my light,” goes the responsorial psalm, “and my salvation” (Ps 27:1). The more we get to know ourselves (and that is a lifetime study), the more we recognize how blind we can be. We are blind often to our own irritating traits. We are blind to the generous and inspiring qualities of those closest to us. We are blind to the signs of God’s love and care for us in the world around us. We are blind to sources of beauty and joy around us.
As we share the Body and Blood of Christ today, a good prayer would be that this light shine in every corner of our soul and our life: “You are my light, my salvation, Lord” (Ps 27:1).
Today, once again, he calls us to participate with Him in bringing His light to the world. We have plenty of examples of darkness in our world: violence, war, the culture of death, injustice, etc. That is why we are called to be messengers of light in our world.
If we can express in one word the reason for the decision to follow Jesus, we have to say that it is Faith. Faith is the first principle upon which every supernatural work is based upon. St. Augustine says: “Ground all of your works in faith, for the just man lives by faith and faith acts through love. May your works be based on faith; believing in God will make you faithful”
I Believe is the First article of the Creed and the New Catechism of the Catholic Church has a complete analysis of the virtue of faith. Faith is called: Man’s Response to God. The Catechism tells us “by faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God. It is a free assent to the whole truth that God has revealed…” faith is full of practical consequences. It is reflected in our conduct. It informs our whole life down to the last detail. We see things in the light of faith and act accordingly.
It is very appropriate today when we read of Jesus giving sight back to two blind men who expressed their confidence in him. “The Lord is my light,” goes the responsorial psalm, “and my salvation” (Ps 27:1). The more we get to know ourselves (and that is a lifetime study), the more we recognize how blind we can be. We are blind often to our own irritating traits. We are blind to the generous and inspiring qualities of those closest to us. We are blind to the signs of God’s love and care for us in the world around us. We are blind to sources of beauty and joy around us.
As we share the Body and Blood of Christ today, a good prayer would be that this light shine in every corner of our soul and our life: “You are my light, my salvation, Lord” (Ps 27:1).
St Francis of Xavier
The Catholic Church commemorates the feast day of St. Francis Xavier today, the Spanish priest regarded as the "Patron of Foreign Missions."
Born in Pamplona, Spain in 1506, he was one of the first seven followers of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
In 1541, four years after his ordination, he was sent as a missionary to India where he preached in the Portuguese colony of Goa. Crossing the sea of Arabia and India, they landed at Goa on the 6th of May, in 1542,
To do what he did and to go where he did in the circumstances in which he did it, are really quite remarkable. But all he did was take the Lord seriously and become a missionary as a disciple of the Lord.
On the Arrival in Goa on May6th 1541 he immediately began to preach and was successful in making converts. To call down the blessing of heaven on his labors, St. Francis consecrated most of the night to prayer. Having spent the morning in assisting and comforting the distressed in the hospitals and prisons, he walked through all the streets of Goa, with a bell in his hand, summoning all masters, for the love of God, to send their children and slaves to catechism. The little children gathered in crowds about him, and he led them to the church and taught them the creed and practices of devotion, and impressed on their tender minds strong sentiments of piety and religion. By the modesty and devotion of the youth, the whole town began to change its face and the most abandoned sinners began to blush at vice.
The Feast of St. Francis Xavier commemorates the death of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of Goa. Fondly called the Goincho Saib or the Lord of Goa, St. Xavier was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who preached Christianity in many parts of Asia. After achieving great success in Goa, St Xavier set sail for China but breathed his last at the Sancian Island, about 10-km from the mainland of China, on December 3, 1552 while he was waiting for a boat that would agree to take him to mainland China..He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan Island. His incorrupt body was taken from the island in February 1553 and was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca on 22 March, 1553. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after April 15, 1553, and moved it to his house. The body was received in Goa on March 16th 1554 from Malacca which would be his final resting place. The body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637.
The Catholic Church commemorates the feast day of St. Francis Xavier today, the Spanish priest regarded as the "Patron of Foreign Missions."
Born in Pamplona, Spain in 1506, he was one of the first seven followers of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
In 1541, four years after his ordination, he was sent as a missionary to India where he preached in the Portuguese colony of Goa. Crossing the sea of Arabia and India, they landed at Goa on the 6th of May, in 1542,
To do what he did and to go where he did in the circumstances in which he did it, are really quite remarkable. But all he did was take the Lord seriously and become a missionary as a disciple of the Lord.
On the Arrival in Goa on May6th 1541 he immediately began to preach and was successful in making converts. To call down the blessing of heaven on his labors, St. Francis consecrated most of the night to prayer. Having spent the morning in assisting and comforting the distressed in the hospitals and prisons, he walked through all the streets of Goa, with a bell in his hand, summoning all masters, for the love of God, to send their children and slaves to catechism. The little children gathered in crowds about him, and he led them to the church and taught them the creed and practices of devotion, and impressed on their tender minds strong sentiments of piety and religion. By the modesty and devotion of the youth, the whole town began to change its face and the most abandoned sinners began to blush at vice.
The Feast of St. Francis Xavier commemorates the death of St. Francis Xavier, patron saint of Goa. Fondly called the Goincho Saib or the Lord of Goa, St. Xavier was a Spanish Jesuit missionary who preached Christianity in many parts of Asia. After achieving great success in Goa, St Xavier set sail for China but breathed his last at the Sancian Island, about 10-km from the mainland of China, on December 3, 1552 while he was waiting for a boat that would agree to take him to mainland China..He was first buried on a beach of Shangchuan Island. His incorrupt body was taken from the island in February 1553 and was temporarily buried in St. Paul's church in Malacca on 22 March, 1553. Pereira came back from Goa, removed the corpse shortly after April 15, 1553, and moved it to his house. The body was received in Goa on March 16th 1554 from Malacca which would be his final resting place. The body is now in the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa, where it was placed in a glass container encased in a silver casket on December 2, 1637.
Advent Tuesday first week : Be child Like relations to God
What he communicates to his followers here is the surprising truth that it is their very simplicity, their trusting childlike acceptance of his person that has qualified them to be recipients of the Father's revelation. They are more blessed than prophets and kings because it has pleased the Father to choose those who, like Jesus himself, are actuated by concern for pleasing the Father. They possess a high dignity, incomparably greater than the privileged of this world, not through ambition, nor because of their learning, power or influence, but, paradoxically, because God prefers the simple-hearted, those who approach him with the confident trust and love of children.
How do children differ from the learned and clever? The little ones are, in this contrast, individuals open to instruction, to learning something new, to being helped. If we bring a child-like willingness to be taught, to be led, and to be helped to the Savior, we open ourselves to the grace and power of this season. The childlikeness commended by the Lord consists in a willingness to believe that there is more to see and more to hear than we see and hear so far.
It is an absolute necessity that one must become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Now in order to be as a child, that means, on one level, to have complete confidence in one’s parents and to not worry about where things are going to come from. Little children do not worry about whether they are going to have a meal; they just assume that they will. They do not worry about whether they are going to have a roof over their head, but nonetheless they have confidence that all of these things are going to be taken care of. They just go. They just move on from one thing to the next and they do not worry about all the little things. That is the same kind of confidence we have to have.Become like a little child in the presence of God, to have that simplicity of a child which many of us find to be repulsive because we think that becoming more complex is the more impressive thing to do. In becoming more simple, we will become more childlike. That is exactly what Our Lord tells us we must do.
That is the kind of relationship Our Lord wants. to have those childlike traits, those virtues that we see only in little children: the complete confidence, the total love, the dedication, all of the things that a child is about. Those are the things God wants to see in us, to have that trust – total and complete trust in God – not worrying about everything, not upset about all kinds of things, not trying to control everything, just letting go and giving it all over to God; and when we have a difficulty, to come to Him; when we are having a great day, to come to Him. Any of you who are parents know how children are. They do not go very far from Mom and they make sure they pay a visit quite often. They are off playing all by themselves, they come racing over, grab her by the legs, go back, and play. A few minutes later, they come racing back, just want to sit on her lap for thirty seconds, and off they go to play again. They are constantly coming back. How many times a day do we check in with Our Lord? How far do we go away from the Lord? Little children always want to be right in the sight of their mother. They do not even like to be in the next room. We need to keep God always in our presence. No matter where we are, He is in our hearts if we are in the state of grace, but we need to keep our minds focused on Him. Be like a little child in the arms of God.
What he communicates to his followers here is the surprising truth that it is their very simplicity, their trusting childlike acceptance of his person that has qualified them to be recipients of the Father's revelation. They are more blessed than prophets and kings because it has pleased the Father to choose those who, like Jesus himself, are actuated by concern for pleasing the Father. They possess a high dignity, incomparably greater than the privileged of this world, not through ambition, nor because of their learning, power or influence, but, paradoxically, because God prefers the simple-hearted, those who approach him with the confident trust and love of children.
How do children differ from the learned and clever? The little ones are, in this contrast, individuals open to instruction, to learning something new, to being helped. If we bring a child-like willingness to be taught, to be led, and to be helped to the Savior, we open ourselves to the grace and power of this season. The childlikeness commended by the Lord consists in a willingness to believe that there is more to see and more to hear than we see and hear so far.
It is an absolute necessity that one must become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Now in order to be as a child, that means, on one level, to have complete confidence in one’s parents and to not worry about where things are going to come from. Little children do not worry about whether they are going to have a meal; they just assume that they will. They do not worry about whether they are going to have a roof over their head, but nonetheless they have confidence that all of these things are going to be taken care of. They just go. They just move on from one thing to the next and they do not worry about all the little things. That is the same kind of confidence we have to have.Become like a little child in the presence of God, to have that simplicity of a child which many of us find to be repulsive because we think that becoming more complex is the more impressive thing to do. In becoming more simple, we will become more childlike. That is exactly what Our Lord tells us we must do.
That is the kind of relationship Our Lord wants. to have those childlike traits, those virtues that we see only in little children: the complete confidence, the total love, the dedication, all of the things that a child is about. Those are the things God wants to see in us, to have that trust – total and complete trust in God – not worrying about everything, not upset about all kinds of things, not trying to control everything, just letting go and giving it all over to God; and when we have a difficulty, to come to Him; when we are having a great day, to come to Him. Any of you who are parents know how children are. They do not go very far from Mom and they make sure they pay a visit quite often. They are off playing all by themselves, they come racing over, grab her by the legs, go back, and play. A few minutes later, they come racing back, just want to sit on her lap for thirty seconds, and off they go to play again. They are constantly coming back. How many times a day do we check in with Our Lord? How far do we go away from the Lord? Little children always want to be right in the sight of their mother. They do not even like to be in the next room. We need to keep God always in our presence. No matter where we are, He is in our hearts if we are in the state of grace, but we need to keep our minds focused on Him. Be like a little child in the arms of God.
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