« Puer natus est nobis... | Main | Pope Benedict XVI and Faith and Reason »

December 26, 2005

Feast of Saint Stephen

Well, the great Solemnity of Christmas has come and gone again (even though we are still in the Octave of Christmas). I did not get sick in the middle of Midnight Mass this year, which is a good thing. I stuck it out for 2 Vigil Masses, 1 Mass at Midnight, and 1 Mass during the Day. I only missed Mass at Dawn (these are all the different Christmas Masses for those who do not know). They were all nice, and I enjoy helping out at them. In between Masses I was at my Aunt's house, my Cousin's house, and last night I was at my Grandma's house. All fun times. It is nice to be with family, well I like it all the time, but especially at Christmas.

Tonight, the Diocese of Youngstown had its annual Seminarian Christmas Gathering. This year we had it with our Administrator since we are Bishopless. I am hoping for a new Bishop by the end January, that is if Pope Benedict keeps pumping US Bishops out at the rate he has been this past week and a half. It is always nice to see my brethren from other Seminaries and to get caught up on the latest with them.

For Christmas I got a guitar, the "In Conversation with God" book set, and some clothes. Not to mention numerous graces.

I was happy to see the Confession lines at many Churches around me to be an hour + long. I walked in the Cathedral and a Shrine near my Church and the line was so long I left. I wish we had those types of lines more often. The Graces of God were in abundance this year, and so many people responded to them.

Our Dear Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, celebrated his first Christmas as the Roman Pontiff. Here is an excerpt from his Homily at Midnight Mass in Saint Peter's Basilica:

But first, light means knowledge; it means truth, as contrasted with the darkness of falsehood and ignorance. Light gives us life, it shows us the way. But light, as a source of heat, also means love. Where there is love, light shines forth in the world; where there is hatred, the world remains in darkness. In the stable of Bethlehem there appeared the great light which the world awaits. In that Child lying in the stable, God has shown his glory – the glory of love, which gives itself away, stripping itself of all grandeur in order to guide us along the way of love. The light of Bethlehem has never been extinguished. In every age it has touched men and women, "it has shone around them". Wherever people put their faith in that Child, charity also sprang up – charity towards others, loving concern for the weak and the suffering, the grace of forgiveness. From Bethlehem a stream of light, love and truth spreads through the centuries. If we look to the Saints – from Paul and Augustine to Francis and Dominic, from Francis Xavier and Teresa of Avila to Mother Teresa of Calcutta – we see this flood of goodness, this path of light kindled ever anew by the mystery of Bethlehem, by that God who became a Child. In that Child, God countered the violence of this world with his own goodness. He calls us to follow that Child.

Love, in the true sense of the word, is the answer the problems of the world. God, in becoming man, showed us that selfless love. By imitating the Christ Child, we can help overcome the errors of this world. (for those waiting, this is the summary of my Fides et Ratio paper)

And yesterday, in his Urbi et Orbi message, the Pope had this to say:

A united humanity will be able to confront the many troubling problems of the present time: from the menace of terrorism to the humiliating poverty in which millions of human beings live, from the proliferation of weapons to the pandemics and the environmental destruction which threatens the future of our planet.

If the nations of this world would stop being so damn Hobbsian, and stop trying to out do the other, then maybe we can get somewhere in making the world a brighter place. I will never figure out why people and countries just can not cooperate with each other. Every country is not perfect, but each has something to offer to this world. Instead of making weapons to destroy it, we should start giving something back. I sound like a big crazy hippie, but I don't care. The major countries of this world are more concerned about making weapons to destroy this world, then in preserving. How is that benefiting mankind?

(All this stuff is supposed to relate to what the Holy Father had to say on Christmas)

My concluding thought of the day is that Pope Benedict XVI is a genius, but he needs to give Youngstown a Bishop. When he does that, he will be far superior to a genius. So much so, I don't even know the world for it. That is how smart he will be. LOL.

Merry Christmas and Happy Feast of Stephen!

Posted by cr3do1 at December 26, 2005 09:52 PM

Comments

Post a comment