Christian Faith Requires a Martyrs' Heroism

Pope Benedict's Angelus Today (Feast of St. Stephen)

From AsiaNews.it :

To speak about St Stephen's martyrdom in the joyful atmosphere of Christmas is not out of place. Indeed, the cross already cast its shadow on the manger in Bethlehem. This was foretold by the poor stable where the Child wailed, by the prophecy of Simeon on the sign of contradiction and the sword that would pierce the Virgin?s soul, and by Herod?s persecution which made the flight to Egypt necessary.

It is not surprising that upon reaching adult age the Child should call on his disciples to follow him on the path of the Cross with total trust and faithfulness.

Drawn by His example and sustained by His love, many Christians from the dawn of the Church bore witness to their faith with their blood. Others have followed the first martyrs across the centuries until now.

How not to see that, even in our times and in various parts of the world, being Christian requires a martyr's heroism? How not to recognise that everywhere, even where there is no persecution, living the Gospel coherently carries a high price.?

Contemplating the divine Child in Mary?s arms and looking at the example of St Stephen, let us ask God to grant us the grace of living our faith coherently, always ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks us for a reason for our hope (cf 1 Pt, 3: 15).

Thanks for all the Gifts!

Wishing You a Blessed and Holy Christmas!

Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.

You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened ‘to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.

Let us then joyfully celebrate the coming of our salvation and redemption. Let us celebrate the festive day on which he who is the great and eternal day came from the great and endless day of eternity into our own short day of time.

-Saint Augustine-

Olny Srmat Poelpe Can Raed Tihs

Cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

First Encyclical will Carrry Christmas Date

"God is Love" (based on the First Letter of John...which is interesting in and of itself...read it and you'll see why).

From Pope to Publish First Encyclical:

"Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told the ANSA and Apcom news agencies that the encyclical will carry the date of Dec. 25, 2005. It will be called 'Deus, Caritas Est,' and will have the Italian title of 'Dio E' Amore,' ('God is Love'), according to Apcom and other Italian news reports.

'The decision to make it public in January is due to the fact that the pope will release important documents over this period,' Navarro-Valls was quoted as saying by Apcom."

New Bishop of Reno

Fr. Randolph Roque Calvo of the clergy of San Francisco, U.S.A., pastor of the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Redwood City, as bishop of Reno (area 183,506, population 607,459, Catholics 91,973, priests 42, permanent deacons 11, religious 50), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Agana on the island of Guam in 1950 and ordained as a priest in 1977.

O Emmanuel

O EMMANUEL, God with us, Our King and Lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their savior: COME to save us, O Lord our God.

In the build up of the O Antiphons, lost on the hymn based on them, is the revelation of who it is that we expect to come. O Wisdom, O Lord, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Dawn of the East, O King of the Gentiles and today O God with us, Come!

We await the coming not of an emissary, but of God Himself coming to be with us. All of the other titles have hinted that the coming is not necessarily in the way we expect, because they all, even "Adonai" or Lord hint at the coming of a human savior, again "adonai" being the word that the non-priestly person would have referred to God who the High Priest alone spoke the true name YAHWEH.

In our fallen nature we tend to think we rule ourselves, this was the original temptation that humanity acquiested to in the garden, acknowledging that the God who walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden is our King and Lawgiver is already a step toward salvation.

The next step is to remember this every moment of our lives. He is King, it is His law that we obey for our very life depends entirely on Him.

O Emmanuel, Come!