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MASS OF THE DAY

Sunday, January 3rd. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 2,1-12.


Epiphany of the Lord

3 January 2021

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King

Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem.

Magi_1142-1

 

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 2,1-12.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,
saying, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”
When King Herod heard this, he was greatly troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it has been written through the prophet:
‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; since from you shall come a ruler, who is to shepherd my people Israel.'”
Then Herod called the magi secretly and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.
He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search diligently for the child. When you have found him, bring me word, that I too may go and do him homage.”
After their audience with the king they set out. And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.
They were overjoyed at seeing the star,
and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2020
Image: From Bible Hub

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THANK YOU

The Basilica of the National Shrine

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

National Shrine

YOUTUBE

of

The Sunday Mass –

Epiphany of the Lord

3 January 2021

Celebrant & Homilist: Celebrant & Homilist: Reverend Robert Cilinski

East Choir: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Choir Cantor & Organist, Washington, D.C.

Epiphany of the Lord — St. Genevieve, VIRGIN

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ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

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Epiphany of the Lord

3 January 2021

Commentary of the day

Saint Gertrude of Helfta

(1256-1301)

Benedictine nun

The Herald of Divine Love, Book IV, SC 255

“They prostrated themselves and offered their gifts” (Mt 2:11)

[On the feast of the Epiphany], moved (…) by the example of the blessed Magi, Gertrude rose up in the fervor of her spirit and prostrated herself with very humble devotion at the most holy feet of the Lord Jesus, worshiping in the name of all that is in the heaven, on earth and in the underworld (cf. Phil 2:10).

And, failing to find a gift she might worthily offer him, she began to traverse the whole world in her anxious desire, seeking amongst every creature whether she could find one worthy of being offered to her only love. Running like this, hot and breathing heavily in the thirst of her ardent fervor, she found despicable things that any creature would have wisely rejected, unworthy of being offered to the praise and glory of the Savior. But she, eagerly seizing hold of them, tried hard to restore them to Him whom all created things should uniquely serve.

Thus she drew into her heart, thanks to her fervent desire, all the pain, fear, grief and anguish that a creature might ever have borne, not for the glory of the Creator but through its own fault and weakness. And she offered them to the Lord like a precious myrrh. Secondly, she drew to herself all the feigned holiness and affected devotion of the hypocrites, Pharisees, heretics and those like them. And she offered it to God in the same way like a very sweet incense. Thirdly, she tried hard to draw into her heart all the feelings of human tenderness and unnatural, impure love of all creatures. And she offered it to the Lord as though it were precious gold.

All these things, then, were gathered together in her heart. But the loving desire, like a blazing fire, with which she tried hard to make a complete homage to her beloved from them, cleansed them of all rust just as gold is purified in the furnace, and they appeared like a noble and wonderful gift for the Lord. The desire to please him in every way, as witnessed by these offerings, brought unsurpassable delights to the Lord, as though he had been treated with presents that were extraordinarily rare.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Epiphany of the Lord

3 January 2021

Epiphany of the Lord

MASSYS_Quentin_Adoration_of_the_Magi

THE EPIPHANY OF THE LORD
Solemnity

The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Saviour of the world. The great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee.

In the magi, representatives of the neighbouring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. the magi’s coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations.

Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Saviour of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament. The Epiphany shows that “the full number of the nations” now takes its “place in the family of the patriarchs”(St. Leo the Great, Sermo 3 in epiphania Domini) and “acquires Israelitica dignitas” (Roman Missal, Easter Vigil, Prayer after the third reading) is made “worthy of the heritage of Israel”.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 528 –
Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

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Epiphany of the Lord

3 January 2021

Saint of the day

St. Genevieve

VIRGIN

(C. 422 – 512)

SAINT GENEVIEVE
Virgin
(c. 422-512)

        Genevieve was born at Nanterre, near Paris. St. Germanus, when passing through, specially noticed a little shepherdess, and predicted her future sanctity. At seven years of age she made a vow of perpetual chastity.

        After the death of her parents, Paris became her abode; but she often travelled on works of mercy, which, by the gifts of prophecy and miracles, she unfailingly performed. At one time she was cruelly persecuted: her enemies, jealous of her power, called her a hypocrite and tried to drown her; but St. Germanus having sent her some blessed bread as a token of esteem, the outcry ceased, and ever afterwards she was honored as a Saint.

        During the siege of Paris by Childeric, king of the Franks, Genevieve went out with a few followers and procured corn for the starving citizens. Nevertheless Childeric, though a pagan, respected her, and at her request spared the lives of many prisoners. By her exhortations again, when Attila and his Huns were approaching the city, the inhabitants, instead of taking flight, gave themselves to prayer and penance, and averted, as she had foretold, the impending scourge. Clovis, when converted from paganism by his holy wife, St. Clotilda, made Genevieve his constant adviser, and, in spite of his violent character, made a generous and Christian king. She died within a few weeks of that monarch, in 512, aged eighty-nine.

        A pestilence broke out at Paris in 1129, which in a short time swept off fourteen thousand persons, and, in spite of all human efforts, daily added to its victims. At length, on November 26th, the shrine of St. Genevieve was carried in solemn procession through the city. That same day but three persons died, the rest recovered, and no others were taken ill. This was but the first of a series of miraculous favors which the city of Paris has obtained through the relics of its patron Saint.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou:
Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU
Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as
Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez
at the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

______________________________________________

Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

Nov 13, 2018

THANK YOU :
Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

________________________________________________________________

London Symphony Orchestra –

Christmas Classics

(Full Album)

Thank you:
TAM TAM MUSIC 
Thank you
 London Symphony Orchestra –

_____________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

___________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

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Saturday, January 2nd. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St John 1,19-28.


Christmas Weekday (January 2nd)

2 January 2021

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

“I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert,

“Make straight the way of the Lord,”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 1,19-28.

This is the testimony of John. When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?”
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted, “I am not the Messiah.”
So they asked him, “What are you then? Are you Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.”
So they said to him, “Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said: “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord,”‘ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them, “I baptize with water; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Father Pat Fitzpatrick C.S.Sp.

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Christmas Weekday (January 2nd) 2 January 2021

St. Basil the Great — St. Gregory Nazianzen St. Macarius of Alexandria

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ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

___________________________________________________________________________

Christmas Weekday (January 2nd)

2 January 2021

Commentary of the day

Blessed Guerric of Igny

(c.1080-1157)

Cistercian abbot

Sermon 5 for Advent

“Make straight the Lord’s path”

“Prepare the way of the Lord.” Brothers, even if you have advanced greatly on this way, you still have to prepare it, so that from the point where you have already arrived, you might always go forward, always stretched out towards what is beyond. Thus, since the way has been prepared for his coming, with every step that you take, the Lord will come to meet you, always new, always greater. So the righteous person is right to pray thus: “Instruct me, O Lord, in the way of your statutes, that I may exactly observe them.” (Ps 119:33) And this way is called “the path of eternity” (Ps 139:24) (…) because the goodness of him towards whom we are advancing is unlimited.

That is why the wise and determined traveler, even though he has arrived at the goal, will think of beginning. “Giving no thought to what lies behind,” (Phil 3:13), he will tell himself every day: “Now I begin (Ps 76:11 Vulgate) (…) May it please heaven that we who talk about advancing on this path might at least have set out! To my understanding, whoever has set out is already on the good way. However, we must really begin, find “the way to an inhabited city” (Ps 107:4). For Truth says: “How few there are who find it!” (Mt 7:14) And many are those “who go astray in the desert.” (Ps 107:4) (…)

And you, Lord, have prepared a path for us, if we only agree to go on it (…) Through your Law, you have taught us the path of your will by saying: “This is the way; walk in it, when you would turn to the right or to the left.” (Isa 30:21) It is the path that the prophet had promised: “A highway will be there (…) No fools go astray on it.” (Isa 35:8) (…) I have never seen a fool going astray when following your path, Lord (…) But woe to you who are wise in your own sight (Isa 5:21). Your wisdom has taken you away from the path of salvation and has not allowed you to follow the Savior’s folly (…) A desirable folly, which at the time of God’s judgment will be called wisdom and which does not let us go astray, away from his path.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Christmas Weekday (January 2nd)

2 January 2021

Saints of the day

St. Basil the Great

BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

(† 379)

SAINT BASIL THE GREAT
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(† 379)

         St. Basil was born in Asia Minor. Two of his brothers became bishops, and, together with his mother and sister, are honored as Saints.

        He studied with great success at Athens, where he formed with St. Gregory Nazianzen the most tender friendship. He then taught oratory; but dreading the honors of the world, he gave up all, and became the father of the monastic life in the East.

        The Arian heretics, supported by the court, were then persecuting the Church; and Basil was summoned from his retirement by his bishop to give aid against them. His energy and zeal soon mitigated the disorders of the Church, and his solid and eloquent words silenced the heretics.

        On the death of Eusebius, he was chosen Bishop of Cæsarea. His commanding character, his firmness and energy, his learning and eloquence, and not less his humility and the exceeding austerity of his life, made him a model for bishops.

        When St. Basil was required to admit the Arians to Communion, the prefect, finding that soft words had no effect, said to him, “Are you mad, that you resist the will before which the whole world bows? Do you not dread the wrath of the emperor, nor exile, nor death?” “No,” said Basil calmly; “he who has nothing to lose need not dread loss of goods; you cannot exile me, for the whole earth is my home; as for death, it would be the greatest kindness you could bestow upon me; torments cannot harm me: one blow would end my frail life and my sufferings together.” “Never,” said the prefect, “has any one dared to address me thus.” “Perhaps,” suggested Basil, “you never before measured your strength with a Christian bishop.” The emperor desisted from his commands.

        St. Basil’s whole life was one of suffering. He lived amid jealousies and misunderstandings and seeming disappointments. But he sowed the seed which bore goodly fruit in the next generation, and was God’s instrument in beating back the Arian and other heretics in the East, and restoring the spirit of discipline and fervor in the Church.

        He died in 379, and is venerated as a Doctor of the Church.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Christmas Weekday (January 2nd)

2 January 2021

Saints of the day

St. Gregory Nazianzen

BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

(† C. 390)

Saint Gregory Nazianzen
Bishop and Doctor of the Church
(c. 303 – c. 390)

       St. Gregory was born near Nazianzus, in Cappadocia, and about 330 AD. He followed the monastic way of life for some years.  Saint Gregory and Saint Basil were life-long friends.

       He was ordained priest, and became Bishop of Constantinople in 379, when the Arian controversy was at itsheight. He was forced to retire to Nazianzus, where he died on 25 January 389, or 390.

       His learning and his powers of oratory were remarkable, and he was called The Theologian.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Christmas Weekday (January 2nd)

2 January 2021

Saints of the day

St. Macarius of Alexandria

ANCHORITE

(† 394)

SAINT MACARIUS OF ALEXANDRIA
Anchorite
(† 394)

 

        Macarius when a youth left his fruit-stall at Alexandria to join the great St. Antony. The patriarch, warned by a miracle of his disciple’s sanctity, named him the heir of his virtues.

        His life was one long conflict with self. “I am tormenting my tormentor,” replied he to one who met him bent double with a basket of sand in the heat of the day. “Whenever I am slothful and idle, I am pestered by desires for distant travel.”

        When he was quite worn out he returned to his cell. Since sleep at times overpowered him, he kept watch for twenty days and nights; being about to faint, he entered his cell and slept, but henceforth slept only at will. A gnat stung him; he killed it. In revenge for this softness he remained naked in a marsh till his body was covered with noxious bites and he was recognized only by his voice. Once when thirsty he received a present of grapes, but passed them untouched to a hermit who was toiling in the heat. This one gave them to a third, who handed them to a fourth; thus the grapes went the round of the desert and returned to Macarius, who thanked God for his brethren’s abstinence.

        Macarius saw demons assailing the hermits at prayer. They put their fingers into the mouths of some, and made them yawn. They closed the eyes of others, and walked upon them when asleep. They placed vain and sensual images before many of the brethren, and then mocked those who were captivated by them. None vanquished the devils effectually save those who by constant vigilance repelled them at once. Macarius visited one hermit daily for four months, but never could speak to him, as he was always in prayer; so he called him an ” angel on earth.”

        After being many years Superior, Macarius fled in disguise to St. Pachomius, to begin again as his novice; but St. Pachomius, instructed by a vision, bad, rim return to his brethren, who loved him as their father. In his old age, thinking nature tamed, he determined to spend five days alone in prayer. On the third day the cell seemed on fire, and Macarius came forth. God permitted this delusion, he said, lest he be ensnared by pride.

        At the age of seventy-three he was driven into exile and brutally outraged by the Arian heretics. He died A. D. 394.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

___________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou:
Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU
Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as
Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez
at the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

______________________________________________

Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

Nov 13, 2018

THANK YOU :
Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

________________________________________________________________

London Symphony Orchestra –

Christmas Classics

(Full Album)

Thank you:
TAM TAM MUSIC 
Thank you
 London Symphony Orchestra –

_____________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

___________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

 

 


Friday, January 1st, Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 2,16-21.


Mary, Mother of God – Solemnity

1 January 2021

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph,

and the infant lying in the manger.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2,16-21.

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.
When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Fr. Dan Donovan

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Mary, Mother of God  , January 1 2021

Mary, Mother of God – Solemnity

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ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Mary, Mother of God – Solemnity

1 January 2021

Saint Pius X

Pope from 1903 to 1914

Encyclical “Ad diem illum laetissimum” §10-11 (trans. © copyright Libreria Editrice Vaticana; rev.)

Called children of Mary

Is not Mary the Mother of Christ? Then she is our Mother also. And we must in truth hold that Christ, the Word made Flesh, is also the Savior of mankind. He had a physical body like that of any other man: and again as Savior of the human family, he had a spiritual and mystical body, the society, namely, of those who believe in Christ. “We are many, but one sole body in Christ” (Rom. xii., 5). Now the Blessed Virgin did not conceive the Eternal Son of God merely in order that He might be made man taking His human nature from her, but also in order that by means of the nature assumed from her He might be the Redeemer of men. For which reason the Angel said to the Shepherds: “To-day there is born to you a Savior who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Wherefore in the same holy bosom of his most chaste Mother Christ took to Himself flesh, and united to Himself the spiritual body formed by those who were to believe in Him.

Hence Mary, carrying the Savior within her, may be said to have also carried all those whose life was contained in the life of the Savior. Therefore all we who are united to Christ, and as the Apostle says are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones (Eph 5:30), have issued from the womb of Mary like a body united to its head. Hence, though in a spiritual and mystical fashion, we are all children of Mary, and she is Mother of us all. (…)

If then the most Blessed Virgin is the Mother at once of God and men, who can doubt that she will work with all diligence to procure that Christ, Head of the Body of the Church (Col 1:18), may transfuse His gifts into us, His members, and above all that of knowing Him and living through Him (I John 4:9)?

ⒸEvangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Mary, Mother of God – Solemnity

1 January 2021

Solemnity

Mary, Mother of God 

MARY, MOTHER OF GOD

O marvelous exchange!
Man’s Creator has become man,
born of a virgin.
We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ
who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

Mary has given birth to a King
whose name is everlasting ;
hers the joy of motherhood,
hers the virgin’s glory.
Never was the like seen before,
never shall it be seen again, alleluia.

By your miraculous birth of the Virgin
you have fulfilled the Scriptures :
like a gentle rain falling upon the earth
you have come down to save your people.

O God, we praised you.

Christian Prayer : The Liturgy of the Hours; Daughters of St. Paul * St. Paul Editions * 1976
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2017

_____________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou:
Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU
Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as
Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez
at the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

______________________________________________

Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

Nov 13, 2018

THANK YOU :
Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

________________________________________________________________

London Symphony Orchestra –

Christmas Classics

(Full Album)

Thank you:
TAM TAM MUSIC 
Thank you
 London Symphony Orchestra –

_____________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

___________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

 

 

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 


Thursday, December 31st. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St John 1,1-18.


The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

31 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God,

who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

1 Fridolin_Leiber_-_Holy_Trinity

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 1,1-18.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be
through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.
John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'”
From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Fr. Francis Salasiar, CSC

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas , December 31 2020

St. Sylvester I, POPE

___________________________________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

_________________________________________________________________________

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

31 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Thalassios the Libyan

Priest and abbot in Libya

Centuries on Love I, 95-100; II, 94-95; IV, 73 (Philokalia;
trans. G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos Ware, 1979)

God is on earth, man is in heaven

God, who gave being to all that is, at the same time united all things together in his providence. Being master, he became a servant (cf, Phil 2:6-7), and so revealed to the world the depth of his providence. God the Word, in becoming incarnate while remaining unchanged, was united through his flesh with the whole of creation.

There is a new wonder in heaven and on earth: God is on earth and man is in heaven. He united men and angels so as to bestow deification on all creation. The knowledge of the holy and coessential Trinity is the sanctification and deification of men and angels. (…) When, in his compassion for man, the Word became flesh (cf. Jn 1:14), he changed neither what he was nor what he became.

Just as we speak of the one Christ as being “from Godhead” and “from manhood” and “in Godhead” and “in manhood”, so we speak of him as being “from two natures” and “in two natures”. (…) Jesus is the Christ, one of the Holy Trinity. You are destined to be his heir (cf. Rm 8:17).

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

____________________________________________________________

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

31 December 2020

Saint of the day

St. Sylvester I

POPE,

(+ 335)

SAINT SYLVESTER
Pope
(? – 335)

        Sylvester was born in Rome toward the close of the third century.

        He was a young priest when the persecution of the Christians broke out under the tyrant Diocletian. Idols were erected at the corners of the streets, in the market-places, and over the public fountains, so that it was scarcely possible for a Christian to go abroad without being put to the test of offering sacrifice, with the alternative of apostasy or death. During this fiery trial, Sylvester strengthened the confessors and martyrs, God preserving his life from many dangers.

        In 312 a new era set in. Constantine, having triumphed under the “standard of the Cross,” declared himself the protector of the Christians, and built them splendid churches. At this juncture Sylvester was elected to the chair of Peter, and was thus the first of the Roman Pontiffs to rule the flock of Christ in security and peace. He profited by these blessings to renew the discipline of the Church, and in two great Councils confirmed her sacred truths. In the Council of Arles he condemned the schism of the Donatists; and in that of Nicæa, the first general Council of the Church, he dealt Arianism its death-blow by declaring that Jesus Christ is the true and very God.

        Sylvester died AD 335.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

__________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou:
Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU
Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as
Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez
at the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

______________________________________________

Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

Nov 13, 2018

THANK YOU :
Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

________________________________________________________________

London Symphony Orchestra –

Christmas Classics (Full Album)

Thank you:
TAM TAM MUSIC 
Thank you
 London Symphony Orchestra –

_____________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

___________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

Wednesday, December 30th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 2,36-40.


The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

30 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher gave thanks to God and

spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2,36-40.

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Fr. Francis Salasiar, CSC – Celebrant

Deacon Mike Walsh – Homilist

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas , December 30 2020

St. Sabinus, BISHOP, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

___________________________________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

__________________________________________________________________________

The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

30 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Pope Francis

Encyclical ” Lumen fidei / The Light of faith”, §50-51 (trans. © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)

“She spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem”

“God prepares a city for them” (Heb 11:16). Faith and the common good. In presenting the story of the patriarchs and the righteous men and women of the Old Testament, the Letter to the Hebrews highlights an essential aspect of their faith. That faith is not only presented as a journey, but also as a process of building, the preparing of a place in which human beings can dwell together with one another (…). If the man of faith finds support in the God of fidelity, the God who is Amen (Is 65,16), and thus becomes firm himself, we can now also say that firmness of faith marks the city which God is preparing for mankind. Faith reveals just how firm the bonds between people can be when God is present in their midst. Faith does not merely grant interior firmness, a steadfast conviction on the part of the believer; it also sheds light on every human relationship because it is born of love and reflects God’s own love. The God who is himself reliable gives us a city which is reliable.

Precisely because it is linked to love (Gal 5:6), the light of faith is concretely placed at the service of justice, law and peace. Faith is born of an encounter with God’s primordial love, wherein the meaning and goodness of our life become evident (…) The light of faith is capable of enhancing the richness of human relations, their ability to endure, to be trustworthy, to enrich our life together. Faith does not draw us away from the world or prove irrelevant to the concrete concerns of the men and women of our time.

Without a love which is trustworthy, nothing could truly keep men and women united. Human unity would be conceivable only on the basis of utility, on a calculus of conflicting interests or on fear, but not on the goodness of living together, not on the joy which the mere presence of others can give (…) Faith is truly a good for everyone; it is a common good. Its light does not simply brighten the interior of the Church, nor does it serve solely to build an eternal city in the hereafter; it helps us build our societies in such a way that they can journey towards a future of hope.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

__________________________________________________________

The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

30 December 2020

Saint of the day

St. Sabinus

BISHOP, AND HIS COMPANIONS,

MARTYRS

(† C. 303)

SAINT SABINUS
Bishop
and his Companions
Martyrs
(† c. 303)

        The cruel edicts of Diocletian and Maximin against the Christians being published in the year 303, Sabinus, Bishop of Assisium, and several of his clergy, were apprehended and kept in custody till Venustianus, the Governor of Etruria and Umbria, came thither. Upon his arrival in that city he caused the hands of Sabinus, who had made a glorious confession of his Faith before him, to be cut off; and his two deacons, Marcellus and Exuperantius, to be scourged, beaten with clubs, and torn with iron nails, under which torments they both expired.

        Sabinus is said to have cured a blind boy, and a weakness in the eyes of Venustianus himself, who was thereupon converted, and afterward beheaded for the Faith. Lucius, his successor, commanded Sabinus to be beaten to death with clubs at Spoleto. The martyr was buried a mile from that city, but his relics have been since translated to Faënza.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

__________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou:
Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU
Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as
Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez
at the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

______________________________________________

Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

Nov 13, 2018

THANK YOU :
Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

________________________________________________________________

London Symphony Orchestra –

Christmas Classics (Full Album)

Thank you:
TAM TAM MUSIC 
Thank you
 London Symphony Orchestra –

_____________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

___________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

Tuesday, December 29th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 2,22-35.


The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

29 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ

“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be

contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the

thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Immaculate Heart of Mary.jpg

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2,22-35.

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,”
and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Fr. Francis Salasiar, CSC

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas , December 29 2020

St. Thomas Becket, BISHOP AND MARTYR

___________________________________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

_______________________________________________________________________

The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

29 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Saint Cyprian

(c.200-258)

Bishop of Carthage and martyr

On mortality, 2-3 (trans. ©Fathers of the Church, 1958)

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace”

“The kingdom of God is at hand” (Lk 21:31). The king­dom of God, beloved brethren, has begun to be at hand; the reward of life and the joy of eternal salvation and per­petual happiness and the possession of paradise once lost are now coming with the passing of the world; now the things of heaven are succeeding those of earth; great things, small, and eternal things, transitory. What place is there here for anxiety and worry? (…)

It is written that “the just man lives by faith” (Rm 1:17). If you are just and live by faith, if you truly believe in Jesus Christ, why do you, who are destined to be with Christ and secure in the promise of the Lord, not rejoice that you are called to Christ (…)? Take the example of Simeon, the just man who was truly just, who with full faith kept the commandments of God: when the answer had been given him from heaven that he would not die before he had seen Christ, and when Christ as an infant had come into the temple with His mother, he knew in spirit that Christ was now born, concerning whom it had been foretold to him before, and on seeing him he knew that he himself would quickly die.

Happy, therefore, at the death that was now at hand and untroubled at the approaching summons, he took the child into his hands and, blessing God, he cried out and said: “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation.” Thus he proved surely and bore witness that the servants of God have peace, they have a free and tranquil repose when, on being released from the storms of this world, they have sought the harbor of our abode and eternal security (…) For that is our peace, that is our sure tranquility, that our steadfast and firm and everlasting security.

 

 

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

______________________________________________________________________

The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

29 December 2020

Saint of the day

St. Thomas Becket

BISHOP AND MARTYR

(† 1170)

SAINT THOMAS OF CANTERBURY
Bishop and martyr
(c. 1118-1170
)

        St. Thomas, son of Gilbert Becket, was born in Southwark, England, in 1117. When a youth he was attached to the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury, who sent him to Paris and Bologna to study law.

        He became Archdeacon of Canterbury, then Lord High Chancellor of England; and in 1160, when Archbishop Theobald died, the king insisted on the consecration of St. Thomas in his stead. St. Thomas refused, warning the king that from that hour their friendship would be broken. In the end he yielded, and was consecrated. The conflict at once broke out; St. Thomas resisted the royal customs, which violated the liberties of the Church and the laws of the realm.

        After six years of contention, partly spent in. exile, St. Thomas, with full foresight of martyrdom before him, returned as a good shepherd to his Church. On the 29th of December, 1170, just as vespers were beginning, four knights broke into the cathedral, crying: “Where is the archbishop? where is the traitor?” The monks fled, and St. Thomas might easily have escaped. But he advanced, saying: “Here I am—no traitor, but archbishop. What seek you?” “Your life,” they cried. “Gladly do I give it,” was the reply; and bowing his head, the invincible martyr was hacked and hewn till his soul went to God.

        Six months later Henry II. submitted to be publicly scourged at the Saint’s shrine, and restored to the Church her full rights.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

__________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou: Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU

Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as

Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez

at

the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

______________________________________________

Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

Nov 13, 2018

THANK YOU :
Christmas Non Stop Songs 2019

________________________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

___________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

Monday, December 28th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 2,13-18.


The Holy Innocents, martyrs – Feast

28 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

Joseph rose and took the child and his mother

by night and departed for Egypt.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 2,13-18.

When the Magi had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”
Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt.
He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi.
Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet:
A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Fr. Roshan Loy D’Souza, CSC 

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

The Holy Innocents, martyrs – Feast , December 28 2020

The Holy Innocents, martyrs — Anthony the Hermit

___________________________________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

______________________________________________________________________________

The Holy Innocents, martyrs – Feast

28 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Saint Cyprian

(c.200-258)

Bishop of Carthage and martyr

Letter 55

“The servant is not greater than his lord” (Jn 15:20)

The Apostle John said: “Whoever says he abides in Christ, ought to walk even as Christ walked” (1 Jn 2:6). Moreover, the blessed Apostle Paul exhorts and teaches us, saying: “We are God’s children; but if children, then heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together” (Rm 8:16f.) (…) Let us, beloved brethren, imitate righteous Abel, who initiated martyrdom, he being the first to be slain for righteousness’s sake (Gn 4:8) (…); let us imitate the three children Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, who (…) overcame the king by the power of faith (Dn 3) (…) What of the prophets whom the Holy Spirit quickened to a foreknowledge of future events? What of the apostles whom the Lord chose? Since these righteous men were slain for righteousness’ sake, have they not taught us also to die?

The nativity of Christ at once witnessed the martyrdom of infants, so that they who were two years old and under were slain for his name’s sake. An age not yet fitted for the battle appeared fit for the crown. That it might be manifest that they who are slain for Christ’s sake are innocent, innocent infancy was put to death for his name’s sake (…) How grave is the case of a Christian if he, a servant, is unwilling to suffer when his Master first suffered (…)! The Son of God suffered that he might make us sons of God and the son of man will not suffer that he may continue to be a son of God! (…) The Maker and Lord of the world also warns us, saying: “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me before you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world (…) remember the word that I said to you: “The servant is not greater than his lord” (Jn 15:18-20).

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

__________________________________________________________

The Holy Innocents, martyrs – Feast

28 December 2020

Saints of the day

The Holy Innocents,

martyrs –

Feast

holy-innoncense-untitled

THE HOLY INNOCENTS
Martyrs

        Herod, who was reigning in Judea at the time of the birth of Our Saviour, having heard that the Wise Men had come from the East to Jerusalem in search of the King of the Jews, was troubled.

He called together the chief priests, and learning that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, he told the Wise Men: “When you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him.” But God having warned them in a dream not to return, they went back to their homes another way. St. Joseph, too, was ordered in his sleep to “take the Child and His Mother and fly into Egypt.”

        When Herod found that the Wise Men did not return, he was furious, and ordered that every male child in Bethlehem and its vicinity of the age of two and under should be slain.

        These innocent victims were the flowers and the first-fruits of His martyrs, and triumphed over the world, without having ever known it or experienced its dangers.

______________________________

Father,

the Holy Innocents offered you praise

by the death they suffered for Christ.

May our lives bear witness

to the faith we profess with our lips.

(The Weekday Missal Collins -1979-)
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016

______________________________________________________________________________

The Holy Innocents, martyrs – Feast

28 December 2020

Saints of the day

 

Anthony the Hermit

 

N/A

 

 

 

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

___________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou: Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU

Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as

Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez

at

the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

________________________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

___________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

Sunday, December 27th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 2,22-40.


The Holy Family – Feast

27 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace,

according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation,”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2,22-40.

When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord,
just as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be consecrated to the Lord,”
and to offer the sacrifice of “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons,” in accordance with the dictate in the law of the Lord.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the holy Spirit was upon him.
It had been revealed to him by the holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord.
He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform the custom of the law in regard to him,
he took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word,
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you prepared in sight of all the peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”
The child’s father and mother were amazed at what was said about him;
and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted
(and you yourself a sword will pierce) so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.
When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

####################################

THANK YOU

The Basilica of the National Shrine

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

National Shrine

YOUTUBE

of

The Sunday Mass –

The Holy Family – Feast

27 December 2020

Celebrant & Homilist: Celebrant & Homilist: Reverend Andrew Fisher

East Choir: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Choir Cantor & Organist, Washington, D.C.

The Holy Family – Feast — St. John, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST

__________________________________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The Holy Family – Feast

27 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Saint Teresa of Calcutta

(1910-1997)

founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity

A Simple Path

“They returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth”

You can pray to the Holy Family for your own family: Our Father, who art in heaven, you have given us a model of life in the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Help us, most loving Father, to make a new Nazareth of our own families, where joy and peace will reign. May it be deeply contemplative, fervently eucharistic and joyfully vibrant.

Help us to stay together through good and ill thanks to our praying as a family. Teach us to encounter Jesus in every member of our own families, especially those who suffer and are wounded.

May the eucharistic Heart of Jesus make our hearts as meek and humble as his (Mt 11:29). Help us to fulfill our vocation as a family in holiness.

May we love one another as God loves each one of us more and more every day, and forgive each other’s faults as you forgive our sins.

Most loving Father, help us to accept all you give to us and give all you take from us with a big smile. Immaculate heart of Mary, cause of our joy, pray for us.

Holy Guardian Angels be always with us, guiding us and protecting us. Amen.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

____________________________________________________

The Holy Family – Feast

27 December 2020

The Holy Family of Jesus,

Mary, and Joseph –

Feast

costa_lorenzo_nativity

The Holy Family
of
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
(Feast)

The home of Nazareth is the school where we begin to understand the life of Jesus — the school of the Gospel. First, then, a lesson of silence. May esteem for silence, that admirable and indispensable condition of mind, revive in us…
A lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character…
A lesson of work. Nazareth, home of the Carpenter’s Son,” in you I would choose to understand and proclaim the severe and redeeming law of human work.” — (Paul VI at Nazareth, January 5, 1964)

The Holy Family models for us what family life should exemplify. It is a school of virtue for both parents and children. There we find God, and learn how to connect with God and with others. The family is where love is freely given without self-interest. It is where we learn to love, to pray and to practice the gift of charity.
Pope John Paul II has said, “The family, more than any other human reality, is the place in which the person is loved for himself and in which he learns to live the sincere gift of self”.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2016

__________________________________________________________

The Holy Family – Feast

27 December 2020

Saint of the day

St. John

APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST

(FEAST)

SAINT JOHN
Apostle and Evangelist
(† c. 100)
Feast

        St. John, the youngest of the apostles in age, was son of Zebedee. He was called to follow Christ on the banks of the Jordan during the first days of Our Lord’s ministry. He was one of the privileged few present at the Transfiguration (with Peter and James) and the Agony in the garden.

        At the Last Supper his head rested on the bosom of Jesus, and in the hours of the Passion, when others fled or denied their Master, St. John kept his place by the side of Jesus, and at the last stood by the cross with Mary. From the cross the dying Saviour bequeathed his Mother to the care of the faithful apostle, who “from that hour took her to his own;” thus fitly, as St. Austin says, “to a virgin was the Virgin intrusted.”

        After the Ascension, St. John lived first at Jerusalem, and then at Ephesus. He was thrown by Domitian into a caldron of boiling oil, and is thus reckoned a martyr, though miraculously preserved from hurt.

        Afterwards he was banished to the isle of Patmos, where he received the heavenly visions described in tine Apocalypse. He is the author of the Fourth Gospel, the Apocalypse, and three Epistles.

        He died at a great age, in peace, at Ephesus, about the year 100.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou: Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU

Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as

Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez

at

the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

________________________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

_______________________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

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Saturday, December 26th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Matthew 10,17-22.


Saint Stephen, first martyr – Feast

26 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

“You will be hated by all because of my name,

but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10,17-22.

Jesus said to His disciples: “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

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THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Father Henk van Meijel S.J

Deacon Robert Kinghorn – Homilist

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Saint Stephen, First martyr, December 26 2020

Saint Stephen, First martyr 

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ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Saint Stephen, first martyr – Feast

26 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Saint John Chrysostom (c.345-407)

priest at Antioch then Bishop of Constantinople, Doctor of the Church

Sermon for Good Friday “The Cross and the bandit”

“Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60)

Let us imitate our Lord and pray for our enemies (…) He was crucified yet, at the same time, prayed to his Father for the sake of those who were crucifying him. But how could I possibly imitate our Lord, one might ask? If you want to, you can. If you weren’t able to do it how could he have said: “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart”? (Mt 11:29) (…)

If you have difficulty in imitating our Lord, at least imitate him who is also his servant, his deacon. I would speak of Stephen. Just as Christ, in the midst of those crucifying him, without considering the cross, without considering his own predicament, pleaded with the Father on behalf of his tormentors (Lk 23:34), so his servant, surrounded by those who were stoning him, attacked by all, crushed beneath a hail of stones and without taking any account of the suffering they were causing him, said: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Do you see how the Son spoke and how his servant prayed? The former said: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” and the latter said: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”. Moreover, to make us realize better the fervor with which he was praying, he did not just pray as he stood beneath the blows of the stones but he spoke on his knees with sincerity and compassion (…)

Christ said: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. Stephen cried out: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”. Paul, in his turn, said: “I offer up this sacrifice for my brethren, my kin according to race” (cf. Rm 9:3). Moses said: “If you would only forgive their sin! And if you will not, then strike me out of the book that you have written!” (Ex 32:32). David said: “May your hand fall on me and my kindred,”» (2 Sam 24:17). (…) What kind of forgiveness do we think we shall get if we ourselves do the opposite of what is asked of us and pray against our enemies, when the Lord himself, and his servants of both Old and New Testaments, direct us to pray on their behalf?

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Saint Stephen, first martyr – Feast

26 December 2020

Saints of the day

Saint Stephen,

First martyr –

Feast

SAINT STEPHEN
The first martyr
Feast

         Saint Stephen is one of the first deacons chosen by the early church in Acts of the Apostles.
Upon the death of Jesus, Stephen began to work hard to spread what was then called The Way. He preached the teachings of Jesus and participated in the conversion of Jews and Gentiles. Acts tells the story of how Stephen was tried by the Sanhedrin for blasphemy and was then stoned to death by an infuriated mob encouraged by Saul of Tarsus, the future Saint Paul. He died praying for those who killed him : “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”.

         Saint Stephen’s name is simply derived from the Greek Stephanos, meaning “crown”, which translated into Aramaic as Kelil. Saint Stephen is traditionally invested with a crown of martyrdom for Christianity and is often depicted in art with three stones and the martyrs’ palm. In Eastern Christian iconography he is shown as a young beardless man with a tonsure, wearing deacon’s vestments, and often holding a miniature church building and censer.

*****************

Lord,

today we celebrate the entrance of Saint Stephen

into eternal glory.

He died praying for those who killed him.

Help us to imitate his goodness

and love our ennemies.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

__________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Thankyou: Christmas Channel
Best Nonstop Christmas Songs Medley 2021 🎅 🌲Top Christmas Songs Playlist 2021

___________________________________________________________

Christmas in Vienna

2008(HD)

THANK YOU

Christmas in Vienna” with international soloists such as

Elina Garanča and Juan Diego Flórez

at

the Wiener Konzerthaus 2008

________________________________________________________________

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

_______________________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

Friday, December 25th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St John 1,1-18.


MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL WITH LOVE

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Christmas (Mass of the day)

25 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

“He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 1,1-18.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be
through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
A man named John was sent from God.
He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him.
He was not the light, but came to testify to the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know him.
He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.
But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name,
who were born not by natural generation nor by human choice nor by a man’s decision but of God.
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.
John testified to him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘The one who is coming after me ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.'”
From his fullness we have all received, grace in place of grace,
because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
No one has ever seen God. The only Son, God, who is at the Father’s side, has revealed him.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

 

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THANK YOU

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Daily TV Mass

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For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

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by

Father Henk van Meijel S.J

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Christmas (Mass of the day) , December 25 2020

Bl. Br. Charles of Jesus,PRIEST — St. Eligius, BISHOP

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THANK YOU

The Basilica of the National Shrine

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

National Shrine

YOUTUBE

of

The Sunday Mass –

The Solemn Mass of Christmas –

December 25, 2020 CC

Celebrant & Homilist: Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge

East Choir: Basilica of the National Shrine of

the Immaculate Conception Choir Cantor & Organist, Washington, D.C.

______________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

____________________________________________________________

Christmas (Mass of the day)

25 December 2020

Saint Amadeus of Lausanne

(1108-1159)

Cistercian monk, then Bishop

Homilies in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary, IV (Magnificat,, trans.
Marie-Bernard Saïd & Grace Perigo, Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1979, p. 87)

The Son of God has visited the sons of Adam

By a wondrous condescension, an astonishing and unbelievable love, God came down into a body and in the flesh he visited the sons of Adam. (…)

Therefore the Son of God was made the son of man. In unity of person he was God and man: God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the world began,; man of the substance of his mother, born in the world. So, a giant of twin substance, he rejoiced to sing with tuneful voice and sweet airs to the lyre of our body and on the organ made of our flesh, to send forth dulcet sounds to re-echo, as it were, with ineffable harmony, so that he raised up stones, moved trees, drew beasts, led forth on high men delivered from their flesh. For by the sweetness of his wonderful song he raised up from stones sons of Abraham and the trees of the wood, that is the hearts of the Gentiles, he moved to faith. Wild beasts also, that is fierce passions and savage barbarism, he tamed to good ways, and he set among the gods men drawn from among men.

Well, therefore, did (…) songs echo to the ends of the earth.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Christmas (Mass of the day)

25 December 2020

Saints of the day

Bl. Br. Charles of Jesus

PRIEST

(1858-1916)

BLESSED CHARLES OF JESUS
Charles de Foucauld
Priest
(1858-1916)

         Bl. Charles of Jesus was born in Strasbourg, France on September 15th, 1858. Orphaned at  six, he and his sister Marie were raised by their grandfather, in whose footsteps he followed by taking up a military career.

         Charles lost his faith as an adolescent. His taste for easy living was well known to all, yet he showed that he could be strong willed and constant in difficult situations. In 1883, he undertook a risky exploration of Morocco. Upon seeing the way Muslims expressed their faith, Charles questioned God and he began repeating, ‘‘My God, if you exist, let me come to know you.’’

         After Charles returned to France, the warm, respectful welcome he received from his deeply Christian family made him continue his search. Under the guidance of Fr. Huvelin, Charles rediscovered God in October 1886. He was 28 years old. ‘‘As soon as I believed in God, I understood that I could not do otherwise than to live for him alone.’’

         A pilgrimage to the Holy Land revealed Charles’ vocation: To follow Jesus in a life at Nazareth. Charles spent 7 years as a Trappist, first in France and then at Akbès in Syria. Later, he began to lead a life of prayer and adoration, alone, near a convent of Poor Clares in Nazareth.

         Ordained at forty-three, Fr. Charles left for the Sahara, living at first in Beni Abbès and later at Tamanrasset among the Tuaregs of the Hoggar. He wanted to be among those who were ‘‘the furthest removed, the most abandoned.’’ He wanted all who drew close to him to find in him a brother, ‘‘a universal brother.’’ With great respect for the culture and faith of those among whom he lived, his desire was to ‘‘shout the Gospel with his life.’’ ‘‘I would like to be sufficiently good that people would say, ‘If such is the servant, what must the Master be like?’’’

         On the evening of December 1st 1916, Fr. Charles was killed by a band of marauders who encircled his house.

         He had always dreamed of sharing his vocation with others: After having written several rules for religious life, he came to the conclusion that this ‘‘life of Nazareth’’ could be led by all. Today, the spiritual family of Charles de Foucauld encompasses several associations, religious communities and secular institutes for both priests and lay people.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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Christmas (Mass of the day)

25 December 2020

Saints of the day

St. Eligius

BISHOP

(† 665)

SAINT ELIGIUS
Bishop
(† 665)

        Eligius, a goldsmith at Paris, was commissioned by King Clotaire to make a throne. The gold and precious stones given him were so many that he made two instead. Struck by Eligius’ rare honesty, King Clotaire gave Eligius a position at Royal court.

        Upon entering court, Eligius mortified his senses and prayed routinely. He had a marvellous zeal for redeeming captives, and for their deliverance would sell his jewels, food, clothes and his very shoes. Through prayers and acts of mercy, Eligius broke the chains binding prisoners, “leading captives in his train” (Eph 4:8, Ps 68:18). For all his ardent works, Eligius’ one delight was making shrines for relics.

        His striking virtue caused him, a layman and a goldsmith, to be made Bishop of Noyon. He possessed gifts of miracles and prophecy.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

_________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

The

Nativity

MERRY CHRISTMAS

and 

A HAPPY NEW YEAR 

TO ALL

_______________________________________________________________

untitled2

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

___________________________________________________

“This is my commandment:

love one another as I love you.”

###########################

Thursday, December 24th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 2,1-14.


The Nativity of the Lord, Mass at Midnight

24 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

The Nativity of the Lord

 

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold,

I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

stdas0407

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 2,1-14.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled.
This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town.
And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.
And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:
Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

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For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

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by

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Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Thursday of the Fourth week of Advent, December 24 2020

The Nativity of the Lord — St. Delphinus, BISHOP — Sts. Thrasilla and Emiliana, VIRGINS

___________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The Nativity of the Lord, Mass at Midnight

24 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Saint Amadeus of Lausanne

(1108-1159)

Cistercian monk, then Bishop

Homilies in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
IV, SC 72 (Magnificat, trans. Marie-Bernard Saïd & Grace Perigo, Kalamazoo:
Cistercian Publications, 1979, pp, 93-96 rev.)

Light shone in the darkness

The heavens were glad, earth exulted when Mary gave birth and hell was troubled and aghast. The heavens in their joy produced a shining star and a glorious army of angels, uttering praise and saying: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will.” (Lk 2:14) The earth, exulting, brought shepherds giving glory and magi adoring and offering gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. (…)

Reflect how that night poured forth light in the darkness and instead of blackness it offered radiance. It gave light before the sun arose and a brightness which, from its exceeding brilliance, obscured the splendor of the sun. Concerning this night the psalmist says: “Night is my light in my delights”. and turning to the Lord he says: “The darkness will not be dark for you and the night will be as bright as the day, for the darkness is as light for him” (cf. Ps 38[139]:11-12 LXX). (…)

Taking up the newborn Emmanuel, Mary beheld a light incomparably fairer than the sun and saw a fire that water cannot quench. She received in the covering of flesh that she had borne the light that enlightens all things, and she was worthy to carry in her arms the Word that carries the universe.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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The Nativity of the Lord, Mass at Midnight

24 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

The Nativity of the Lord

CORREGGIO_Nativity_Holy_Night

Nativity of the Lord

 THE SON OF GOD BECAME MAN

 

  1.   WHY DID THE WORD BECOME FLESH?

With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”

        The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who “loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins”: “the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world”, and “he was revealed to take away sins”:

Sick, our nature demanded to be healed; fallen, to be raised up; dead, to rise again. We had lost the possession of the good; it was necessary for it to be given back to us. Closed in the darkness, it was necessary to bring us the light; captives, we awaited a Saviour; prisoners, help; slaves, a liberator. Are these things minor or insignificant? Did they not move God to descend to human nature and visit it, since humanity was in so miserable and unhappy a state? (St. Gregory of Nyssa)

The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God’s love: “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

   The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me.” “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” On the mountain of the Transfiguration, the Father commands: “Listen to him!” Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and the norm of the new law: “Love one another as I have loved you.” This love implies an effective offering of oneself, after his example.

The Word became flesh to make us “partakers of the divine nature“: “For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God.” “For the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” “The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods.”

2 THE INCARNATION

         Taking up St. John’s expression, “The Word became flesh”, The Church calls “Incarnation” the fact that the Son of God assumed a human nature in order to accomplish our salvation in it. In a hymn cited by St. Paul, the Church sings the mystery of the Incarnation:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. and being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. (Ph 2:5-8) 

The Letter to the Hebrews refers to the same mystery:

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, Lo, I have come to do your will, O God.” (He 10:5-7)

         Belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is the distinctive sign of Christian faith: “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” Such is the joyous conviction of the Church from her beginning whenever she sings “the mystery of our religion”: “He was manifested in the flesh.”

 

Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 456-463 – Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2015
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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The Nativity of the Lord, Mass at Midnight

24 December 2020

Saints of the day

St. Delphinus

BISHOP

(† 403)

IMAGE: N/A

SAINT DELPHINUS 
Bishop
(† 403)

Little is known of St. Delphinus before his elevation to the episcopate. He assisted at the Council of Saragossa, in 330, in which the Priscillianists were condemned, and also at the Council of Bordeaux, which condemned the same schismatics.

        He baptized St. Paulerius in 388, and the latter, in several letters, speaks of him as his father and his master. St. Delphinus died on the 24th of December, 403.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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The Nativity of the Lord, Mass at Midnight

24 December 2020

Saints of the day

Sts. Thrasilla and Emiliana

VIRGINS

(6TH CENTURY)

IMAGE: N/A

SAINTS THRASILLA and EMILIANA
Virgins
(6th century)

        Sts. Thrasilla and Emiliana were aunts of St. Gregory the Great. They lived in their father’s house as retired as in a monastery, far removed from the conversation of men; and, exciting one another to virtue by discourse and example, soon made considerable progress in spiritual life.

        Thrasilla was favored one night with a vision of her uncle, St. Felix, Pope, who showed her a seat prepared for her in heaven, saying: “Come; I will receive you into this habitation of light.” She fell sick of a fever the next day. When in her agony, with her eyes fixed on heaven, she cried out to those that were present: “Depart! make room! Jesus is coming.” Soon after these words she breathed out her pious soul into the hands of God on the 24th of December.

        A few days after she appeared to her sister Emiliana, and invited her to celebrate with her the Epiphany in eternal bliss. Emiliana fell sick, and died on the 8th of January.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

________________________________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

________________________________________________________________

Merry Christmass

and

a Happy New Year 2021

 

 

_____________________________________________________________

 


Wednesday, December 23rd. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 1,57-66.


Readings for 23 December

23 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

“John is his name,”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,57-66.

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

###################################################

THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Father Michael Coutts S.J.

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Wednesday of the Fourth week of Advent, December 23 2020

St. John of Kanty, PRIEST — St. Servulus

___________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

________________________________________________________________________

Readings for 23 December

23 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Homily attributed to Saint Gregory the Wonderworker

(c.213-270)

Bishop

Homily on the holy Theophany, 4 ; PG 10, 1181 (©Friends of Henry Ashworth)

“He spoke, blessing God”

[John the Baptist said:] “I am the voice, the voice crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord”. So I cannot be silent, Lord, in your presence. “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” (Mt 3:3.14).

At my birth I took away my mother’s barrenness, and while still an infant I healed my father’s dumbness, for you gave me in childhood the gift of working miracles. But when you were born of the Virgin Mary, in the way you willed and in a manner known to you alone, you did not take away her virginity, but while preserving it intact you gave her in addition the name of “mother.” Her virginity did not hinder your birth, nor did your birth destroy her virginity. On the contrary, two opposites, motherhood and virginity, were easily united by you, because the laws of nature have their origin in you.

I am a mere man, sharing in the grace of God, but you are both God and man because of your love for humankind (cf. Wis 1:6).

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

____________________________________________________

Readings for 23 December

23 December 2020

Saints of the day

St. John of Kanty

PRIEST

(1390-1473)

SAINT JOHN of Kanty
Priest
(1390-1473)

        St. John was born at Kenty in Poland in 1390, and studied at Cracow with great ability, industry, and success, while his modesty and virtue drew all hearts to him.

        He was for a short time in charge of a parish; but he shrank from the burden of responsibility, and returned to his life of professor at Cracow. There for many years he lived a life of unobtrusive virtue, self-denial, and charity.

        His love for the Holy See led him often in pilgrimage to Rome, on foot and alone, and his devotion to the Passion drew him once to Jerusalem, where he hoped to win a martyr’s crown by preaching to the Turks.

        He died in 1473.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

________________________________________________________________________

Readings for 23 December

23 December 2020

Saints of the day

St. Servulus

(† c. 590)

SAINT SERVULUS
(† c. 590)

        Servulus was a beggar, and had been so afflicted with palsy from his infancy that he was never able to stand, sit upright, lift his hand to his mouth, or turn himself from one side to another. His mother and brother carried him into the porch of St. Clement’s Church at Rome, where he lived on the alms of those that passed by.

        He used to entreat devout persons to read the Holy Scriptures to him, which he heard with such attention as to learn them by heart. His time he consecrated by assiduously singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God.

        After several years thus spent, his distemper having seized his vitals, he felt his end was drawing nigh. In his last moments he desired the poor and pilgrims, who had often shared in his charity, to sing sacred hymns and psalms for him. While he joined his voice with theirs, he on a sudden cried out: “Silence! do you not hear the sweet melody and praise which resound in the heavens?” Soon after he spoke these words he expired, and his soul was carried by angels into everlasting bliss, about the year 590.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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“I am the LORD and there is no other,

there is no God besides me.”

                                                                                                                                           Book of Isaiah 45,1.4-6.

_______________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

___________________________________________________


Tuesday, December 22nd. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 1,46-56.


Readings for 22 December

22 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ

Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,46-56.

Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked with favor on his lowly servant;
from this day all generations will call me blessed.
The Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel ,
remembering his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

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National Catholic Broadcasting Council

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For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Bishop Robert Kasun

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Tuesday of the Fourth week of Advent, December 22 2020

St. Ischyrion, MARTYR

___________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

________________________________________________________________________________

Readings for 22 December

22 December 2020

A Greek 4th century homily

Wrongly attributed to Gregory of Neocaesarea,

called “Thaumaturgos”, no. 2 ; PG 10, 1156

“His promise to our fathers”

Then Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior (…) He has helped Israel his child (Lk 1:54 Gk), remembering his mercy and the covenant he made with Abraham and his descendants for ever.” Do you observe how the Virgin surpasses the perfection of the patriarch and seals the covenant God made with Abraham when he said to him: “This is to be the covenant between me and you”? (Gn 17:11) (…) It is the song of this prophecy that the holy Mother of God addressed to God when she said: “My soul magnifies the Lord (…), for he who is Mighty has magnified me; holy is his name. In making me the mother of God he preserves my virginity. The full number of every generation is summed up within my womb, that they may be made holy in it. For he has blessed all ages, men and woman, young people, children, the old” (…)

“He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly” (…) The lowly, the gentile peoples hungry for righteousness (Mt 5:6), have been exalted. By making known their lowliness and hunger for God, and by begging for God’s word just as the Canaanite woman asked for crumbs (Mt 15:27), they have been satisfied with the riches concealed within the divine mysteries. For Jesus Christ our God, son of the Virgin, has handed out to the gentiles the whole inheritance of divine favors. “He has raised up Israel his child”: not just any Israel, but his child, on whose exalted birth he bestows honor. This is why the Mother of God calls this people her child and her heir. God, who found this people worn out by the letter, wearied by the Law, calls it to his grace. By giving this name to Israel he raises him up, “remembering his mercy, as he promised to our forefathers, Abraham and his seed for ever.” These few words sum up the whole mystery of our salvation. Wanting to save humankind and seal the covenant established with our fathers, Jesus Christ then “inclined the heavens and came down” (Ps 18[17]:10). Thus he manifested himself to us, putting himself within our reach so that we might see him, touch him and hear him speak.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

____________________________________________________

Readings for 22 December

22 December 2020

Saint of the day

St. Ischyrion

MARTYR

(† C. 250)

IMAGE: N/A

SAINT ISCHYRION
Martyr
(† c. 250)

        St. Ischyrion was an inferior officer who attended on a magistrate of a certain city in Egypt. His master commanded him to offer sacrifice to the idols; and because he refused to commit that sacrilege, reproached him with the most abusive and threatening speeches.
        By giving way to passion and superstition, the officer at length worked himself up to such a degree of frenzy as to run a stake into the bowels of the meek servant of Christ, who, by his patient constancy, attained to the glory of martyrdom.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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“I am the LORD and there is no other,

there is no God besides me.”

                                                                                                                                           Book of Isaiah 45,1.4-6.

_______________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

___________________________________________________


Monday, December 21st. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 1,39-45.


Readings for 21 December

21 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ

“Most blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,39-45.

Mary set out in those days and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.
Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

 

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©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
Image: From Bible Hub

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THANK YOU

National Catholic Broadcasting Council

Daily TV Mass

YouTube

For

Celebrates Daily TV Mass from Loretto Abbey in Toronto,

Ontario, Canada.

by

Fr. Dan Donovan

Catholic Mass Today | Daily TV Mass,

Monday of the Fourth week of Advent, December 21 2020

St. Peter Canisius, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

___________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

________________________________________________________________________

Readings for 21 December

21 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Byzantine Liturgy

Acathist hymn to the Mother of God (7th century; trans. ©Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware)

“The infant in my womb leaped for joy”

Bearing God within her womb, the Virgin hastened to Elizabeth, whose unborn child, knowing at once the salutation of Mary, rejoiced and, leaping up as if in song, cried out to the Mother of God :

Hail, vine whence springs a never-withering branch.

Hail, orchard of the fruit of life.

Hail, for thou tendest the Husbandman, friend of man (Sg 1:6).

Hail, for thou hast borne the Gardener who cultivates our life.

Hail, earth yielding a rich harvest of redemption.

Hail, table laden with mercy in abundance for the forgiveness of sins.

Hail, for through thee the fields of Eden flower again:

Hail, for thou makest ready a haven of peace for our souls.

Hail, acceptable incense of intercession to God (Gn 8:21).

Hail, propitiation for the whole world.

Hail, loving-kindness of God unto mortal man:

Hail, freedom of approach for mortals unto God.

Hail, Bride without bridegroom!

Tossed inwardly by a storm of doubts, prudent Joseph was troubled: knowing thee to be unwedded, O blameless Virgin, he feared a stolen union. But when he learnt that thy conceiving was from the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:20), he said: “Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!” The shepherds heard the angels glorify Christ’s coming in the flesh. Quickly they ran to the Shepherd and beheld him as a Lamb without spot that had been pastured in the womb of Mary; and they sang praises to her, saying:

Hail, Mother of the Lamb and of the Good Shepherd (Jn 1:29; 10:14).

Hail, fold of the gathered sheep (Jn 10:16).

Hail, protection against rapacious wolves (v. 12).

Hail, key to the door of Paradise.

Hail, for the heavens exult with the earth (Lk 2:14).

Hail, for things on earth rejoice with the heavens.

Hail, never-silent voice of the apostles.

Hail, unconquered courage of the victorious martyrs.

Hail, firm foundation of the faith.

Hail, shining revelation of grace.

Hail, for through thee hell is stripped bare.

Hail, for through thee we are clothed in glory.

Hail, Bride without bridegroom! (…)

Seeing this strange birth, let us become strangers to the world, fixing our minds in heaven. To this end has the Most High God appeared on earth as a lowly man, because he wishes to draw heavenward all who cry aloud to Him: “Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia!”

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

_______________________________________________________

Readings for 21 December

21 December 2020

Saint of the day

St. Peter Canisius

PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

(1521-1597)

SAINT PETER CANISIUS
Priest and Doctor of the Church
(1521-1597)

        St. Peter Canisius was born in 1521, at Nijmegen in Holland. He entered the Society of Jesus, was ordained in 1546, and went to Cologne, where he founded a Jesuit house.

        He was a vigorous defender of Catholicism, and published a catechism which was very influential in the Counter-Reformation.

        He died in 1597.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

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“I am the LORD and there is no other,

there is no God besides me.”

                                                                                                                                           Book of Isaiah 45,1.4-6.

_______________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

___________________________________________________


Sunday, December 20th. Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St Luke 1,26-38.


Fourth Sunday of Advent 

20 December 2020

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ 

“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall name him Jesus.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,26-38.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

 

Copyright © Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, USCCB
©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019
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THANK YOU

The Basilica of the National Shrine

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

National Shrine

YOUTUBE

of

The Sunday Mass –

Fourth Sunday of Advent

20 December 2020

Celebrant & Homilist: Rev. Kevin Regan

East Choir: Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Choir Cantor & Organist, Washington, D.C.

St. Dominic of Silos, ABBOT

__________________________________________________________________________

ACT OF SPIRITUAL COMMUNION

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul.

Since I cannot now receive You sacramentally,

Come at least spiritually into my heart.

As though You were already there,

I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You;

Permit not that I should ever be separated from You. Amen.

____________________________________________________________________

Fourth Sunday of Advent

20 December 2020

Commentary of the day

Saint Bede the Venerable

(c.673-735)

Monk, Doctor of the Church

Homilies for Advent, no. 3 ; CCL 122, 14-17 (Christ our Light, pub. Exordium books, 1981, ©Friends of Henry Ashworth, pp. 32-33)

“The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.” What is said of the house of David applies not only to Joseph but also to Mary. It was a precept of the law that each man should marry a wife from his own tribe and kindred. Saint Paul also bears testimony to this when he writes to Timothy: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, as preached in my Gospel” (2 Tm 2:8) (…)

“He will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.” The angel refers to the kingdom of the Israelite nation as the throne of David because in his time, by the Lord’s command and assistance, David governed it with a spirit of faithful service (…) As David had once ruled the people with temporal authority, so Christ would now lead them to the eternal kingdom by his spiritual grace (…)

“He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever”. The house of Jacob here refers to the universal Church which, through its faith in and witness to Christ, shares the heritage of the patriarchs. This may apply either to those who are physical descendants of the patriarchal families, or to those who come from gentile nations and are reborn in Christ by the waters of baptism. In this house Christ shall reign for ever, and “of his kingdom there will be no end”. During this present life, Christ rules in the Church. By faith and love he dwells in the hearts of his elect, and guides them by his unceasing care toward their heavenly reward. In the life to come, when their period of exile on earth is ended, he will exercise his kingship by leading the faithful to their heavenly country. There, for ever inspired by the vision of his presence, their one delight will be to praise and glorify him.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

____________________________________________________________

Fourth Sunday of Advent

20 December 2020

Saints of the day

St. Dominic of Silos

ABBOT

(11TH CENTURY)

SAINT DOMINIC OF SILOS
Abbot
(c. 1000-1073)

        St. Dominic of Silos was defender of the faith. Born in Canas, Navarre, Spain, circa 1000, he entered the Benedictines at San Millan de Ia Cogolla. King Garcia III of Navarre challenged him when he became abbot of the monastery, and Dominic refused to surrender part of the Benedictine lands to the crown. For this he was exiled, going to King Ferdinand I of Castile and Leon, who made him abbot of St. Sebastian Abbey at Silos, now called St. Dominic’s.

        Dominic reformed the abbey, built the cloisters in Romanesque style, and started a scriptorium that became famous throughout the region. One of the most beloved saints in Spain, Dominic also rescued Christian slaves from the Moors.

        Dominic’s shrine is noted for its place in the birth of Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers. Dominic de Guzman’s mother begged for a child there. Dominic was also noted for miracles of healing.

©Evangelizo.org 2001-2019

______________________________________________________

Fourth Sunday of Advent

20 December 2020

Fourth Sunday of Advent  

220px-adventcandles.jpg

Advent wreaths are used to mark

the passage of the season, 

Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming”) is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi. The Eastern churches’ equivalent of Advent is called the Nativity Fast, but it differs both in length and observances and does not begin the church year, which starts instead on September 1.

The progression of the season may be marked with an Advent calendar, a practice introduced by German Lutherans. At least in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist calendars, Advent starts on the fourth Sunday before December 25, the Sunday from November 27 to December 3 inclusive.

Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, the season of Advent serves as a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ’s return. This is the fourth week of ADVENT.

 

The Fourth Sunday of Advent 

From the Catholic Culture


The first reading is taken from 2 Samuel 7:1-5; 8-11;16 and refers to when David was anointed king in Hebron by all the tribes of Israel and Judah and his first step was to capture Jerusalem from the Jebusites and make it the political capital of his kingdom.

The second reading is from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans 26:25-27 where he introduces himself to the Christians in Rome and he gives an incomplete synthesis of his theology. His words remind us to give glory to God this Christmas and always, for the marvelous things he has done for us.

The Gospel is from Luke 1:26-38. At the moment our Lady said: “be it done to me according to thy word” the most stupendous event that ever happened, or ever could happen on earth, took place on this planet of ours. The Son of God took on human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. We are familiar with this story from childhood. We often say the Angelus in which this tremendous act of God’s love is described. Although familiarity, in this case, does not breed contempt, it does help to blunt the real impact on our minds of such an extraordinary occurrence. If God had created a very special child, and made him into an outstanding saint, so that he could intercede with God for us, this would be a great act of love for us on God’s part. Or, if he had sent an angel from heaven in human form, to teach us all about God and to help us to lead holy lives, this would deserve our deepest gratitude. But neither a saintly man nor a holy angel could do for us all that God wanted. No man or angel could make us adopted sons of God and heirs of heaven. It was necessary, in God’s plan for us, that his divine Son should become man, should share our humanity so that we could share his divinity.

Could infinite love have gone any further? Our creation, the fact that we exist as human beings on earth, is a great gift to us on the part of God. Of what value could eighty, a hundred, even seven hundred years of a continuously happy life on this earth be for us if we learned that we had to depart life forever one day? In a world tormented by sin and its evil effects our normal span of life would be less satisfying. However, when God created us, he so planned that our stay here would be but a stage, a stepping stone in fact, toward our everlasting home. We are well aware indeed of the lengths to which God’s love has gone in order to make us his children and heirs to his kingdom. Are we, however, grateful to him for the love he has shown us? Are we honestly and sincerely trying to make ourselves worthy of the great future he has in store for us?

Today is a suitable occasion to look right into our hearts, to see how we stand with God. During the week we shall be keeping the feast of Christmas. The Baby in the manger will remind us of what God has done and is still doing for us. What are we doing in return? Have we shown our gratitude by living as true followers of Christ? If most of us must answer: “no,” this is the time to change our course and return to the right road once more. God is asking this of us today. Shall our answer be: “behold here I am Lord, your humble and grateful servant, let it be done to me according to your word”?

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O’Sullivan, O.F.M.
From the Catholic Culture

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“I am the LORD and there is no other,

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                                                                                                                                           Book of Isaiah 45,1.4-6.

_______________________________________________________

FRANCIS XAVIER SAMSEN

HAPPY JESUS TO ALL 

FROM

FRANCIS XAVIER, SAMSEN

THAILAND

___________________________________________________