December 17
“If we would please this Divine Infant, we too must become children, simple and humble; we must carry to Him flowers of virtue, of meekness, of mortification, of charity; we must clasp him in the arms of our love.”
-St. Alphonsus Ligouri
Recognize Him in the events of daily life
December 16
“To predispose our mind to welcome the Lord… we must learn to recognize him as present in the events of daily life. Therefore, Advent is, so to speak, an intense training that directs us decisively toward him who already came, who will come, and who comes continuously.”
-Pope St. John Paul II
A vigilant awaiting of the coming of Christ
December 15
“The liturgy of Advent… helps us to understand fully the value and meaning of the mystery of Christmas. It is not just about commemorating the historical event, which occurred some 2,000 years ago in a little village of Judea. Instead, it is necessary to understand that the whole of our life must be an ‘advent,’ a vigilant awaiting of the final coming of Christ.”
-Pope St. John Paul II
The promise of eternal happiness
December 14
“The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all.”
-St. Leo the Great
His gentle pressure
December 13
“God walks into your soul with silent step. God comes to you more than you go to Him. Never will his coming be what you expect, and yet never will it disappoint. The more you respond to his gentle pressure, the greater will be your freedom.”
-Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Rebecca Campbell Mystery School: Not for Christians
We recently received an email from a reader whose friend, a practicing Catholic, was becoming involved with Rebecca Campbell’s Mystery School. Is this okay for Catholics?
The babe who made the world
December 12
“Because he’s born in a cave, all who wish to see him must be bend, must stoop, the stoop is the mark of humility. The proud refuse to stoop. Therefore they miss divinity. Those, however, who are willing to risk bending their egos to go into that cave, find that they are not in a cave at all; but they are in a universe where sits a babe on his mother’s lap, the babe who made the world.”
-Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
The Christmas Scams are Back!
It’s that time of year! With 57 percent of consumers expected to do their Christmas shopping online this year, who among us is not waiting for a package to arrive? This explains why so many of us are beginning to see strange text and email messages warning us that our package was delayed and needs further information to process. Don’t click on those links until you read this!
Model of our faith
December 11
“Open to the Spirit, [Mary] consecrated herself totally as lowly handmaid to the person and work of the Savior. She received Christ in order to share Him with all the world whose hope He is. In her, we recognize the model of the Church’s faith and our own.”
-St. Eugène de Mazenod
Is Knocking on Wood a Superstition?
Someone recently told me that “knocking on wood” was not really a superstition because it refers to knocking on the wood of the cross. Is this true? Curious, I decided to do some checking. Here’s what I found out.
