December 31
Eve of the Feast of Mary, Mother of God
Mother benign of our redeeming Lord,
Star of the sea and portal of the skies,
Unto thy fallen people help afford –
Fallen, but striving still anew to rise.
Thou who dids’t once, while wond’ring
worlds adored,
Bear thy Creator, Virgin then as now,
O by thy holy joy at Gabriel’s word,
Pity the sinners who before thee bow.
-Roman Breviary, Antiphon of the Blessed Virgin
MN asks: “Is there anything wrong with taking the family pet to a holistic vet? Our cat has had bladder problems in the past, and we are buying special food for him from the vet, but he has put on weight and we would rather consult with a vet who can recommend a homemade cat food recipe that is less expensive and healthier for him. We have had a history with our pets getting cancer, and we are concerned that commercial pet foods may be partially responsible.”
December 30
“God could make a bigger world or a wider sky, but He could not raise a pure creature higher than Mary, for the dignity of Mother of God is the highest dignity that can be conferred on a creature.”
-St. Bonaventure
To begin a new series of catechesis on the virtues and vices, Pope Francis spoke about the necessity of understanding the dynamics of evil and temptation and why it is so important to guard the heart against the wiles of Satan.
December 29
“The first thing which kindles ardor in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose?”
-St. Ambrose of Milan
December 28
“True love of God consists in adhering perfectly to His holy will, not desiring to do or to be other than what God indicates for each of us, to the point of becoming, as it were, “a living will of God.”
-Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD
Photo courtesy of Wikicommons images, Valder Beebe Show, CC BY 3.0 DEED)
LM writes: “I listen to your show as often as I can. I am concerned though that I may not be doing the right thing watching a show called The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel.”
December 27
“The Blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been His mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood.”
-St. Augustine
December 26
Her Feet Shod with Holiness
And, if our faith had given us nothing more
Than this Example, of all Womanhood,
So mild, so merciful, so strong, so good,
So patient, so peaceful, loyal, loving pure –
This were enough to prove it higher and truer
Than all the creeds the world had known before.
Virgin, who lovest the poor and lonely,
If the loud cry of a mother’s heart
Can ever ascend to where thou art,
Into thy blessed hands and holy
Receive my prayer of praise and thanksgiving.
Let the hands that bore our Savior bear it
Into the awful presence of God;
For thy feet with holiness are shod,
And, if thou bearest it, he will hear it.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
December 25
Tall men were these, the shepherds come from flocks
And wearing sheephides with the dew still wet
Upon the wool…
No further movement
Till the youngest, kneeling still, moved on
From out the rest, and when his eyes had marked
The swaddling bands… and did not shrink at what he saw.
The full words spilled out to her in eagerness
Of quiet flocks, the brightness of the sky…
The music that had sifted
Down, more fragile than the light of stars…
The upswept choirs and surge and flight of wings:
I bring you tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people: for this day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger…Glory to God in the highest: and on earth peace to men of good will.
(Excerpted from A Woman Wrapped in Silence By John W. Lynch)
