An Advent Meditation

By BLESSED JOHN HENRY CARDINAL NEWMAN

Cardinal Newman explains that Christian worship should prepare us on earth for meeting Christ our Judge. Only prayer, the sacraments, and profession of the whole mystery of faith can prepare us.

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890)

Men sometimes ask, Why need they profess religion? Why need they go to church? Why need they observe certain rites and ceremonies? Why need they watch, pray, fast, and meditate? Why is it not enough to be just, honest, sober, benevolent, and otherwise virtuous? Is not this the true and real worship of God? Is not activity in mind and conduct the most acceptable way of approaching Him? How can they please Him by submitting to certain religious forms, and taking part in certain religious acts? Or if they must do so, why may they not choose their own? Why must they come to church for them? Why must they be partakers in what the Church calls Sacraments?

I answer, they must do so, first of all and especially, because God tells them so to do. But besides this, I observe that we see this plain reason why, that they are one day to change their state of being. They are not to be here for ever. Direct intercourse with God on their part now, prayer and the like, may be necessary to their meeting Him suitably hereafter: and direct intercourse on His part with them, or what we call sacramental communion, may be necessary in some incomprehensible way, even for preparing their very nature to bear the sight of Him.

Let us then take this view of religious service; it is "going out to meet the Bridegroom," [see Matt. 25: 6] who, if not seen "in His beauty," [Isaiah 33: 17] will appear in consuming fire. Besides its other momentous reasons, it is a preparation for an awful event, which shall one day be. What it would be to meet Christ at once without preparation, we may learn from what happened even to the Apostles when His glory was suddenly manifested to them. St. Peter said, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." [Luke 5: 8] And St. John, "when he saw Him, fell at His feet as dead." [Rev. 1: 17]

This being the case, it is certainly most merciful in God to vouchsafe to us the means of preparation, and such means as He has actually appointed. When Moses came down from the Mount, and the people were dazzled at his countenance, he put a veil over it. That veil is so far removed in the Gospel, that we are in a state of preparation for its being altogether removed. We are with Moses in the Mount so far, that we have a sight of God; we are with the people beneath it so far, that Christ does not visibly show Himself. He has put a veil on, and He sits among us silently and secretly. When we approach Him, we know it only by faith; and when He manifests Himself to us, it is without our being able to realize to ourselves that manifestation.

Such then is the spirit in which we should come to all His ordinances, considering them as anticipations and first-fruits of that sight of Him which one day must be. When we kneel down in prayer in private, let us think to ourselves, Thus shall I one day kneel down before His very footstool, in this flesh and this blood of mine; and He will be seated over against me, in flesh and blood also, though divine. I come, with the thought of that awful hour before me, I come to confess my sin to Him now, that He may pardon it then, and I say, "O Lord, Holy God, Holy and Strong, Holy and Immortal, in the hour of death and in the day of judgment, deliver us, O Lord!"

Again, when we come to church, then let us say: – The day will be when I shall see Christ surrounded by His Holy Angels. I shall be brought into that blessed company, in which all will be pure, all bright. I come then to learn to endure the sight of the Holy One and His Servants; to nerve myself for a vision which is fearful before it is ecstatic, and which they only enjoy whom it does not consume.

Marian apologetics

One discussion that came up today was if Mary had other children.  It's an interesting thought.  And it's easy to think of Mary and Joseph having a family since we enjoy our families so much.

One web site that I often check for answers to such questions is Bible Christian Society.  Here's their answer to the question:

The Bible clearly says that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but the Catholic Church teaches that Mary was a perpetual virgin...how can you reconcile those seemingly different positions?

Mk 6:3 says, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses, and Judas and Simon, and are not His sisters here with us?" We need to realize a few things here about these "brothers and sisters": #1, there was no word for cousin, or for nephew or niece, or for aunt or uncle in ancient Hebrew or Aramaic - the words that the Jews used in all those instances were "brother" or "sister". An example of this can be seen in Gen 14:14, where Lot, who was Abraham's nephew, is called his brother.

Another point to consider. If Jesus had had any brothers, if Mary had had any other sons, would the last thing that Jesus did on earth be to grievously offend his surviving brothers? In Jn 19:26-27, right before Jesus dies, it says that Jesus entrusted the care of His mother to the beloved disciple, John. If Mary had had any other sons, it would have been an incredible slap in the face to them that the Apostle John was entrusted with the care of their mother!

Also, we see from Mt. 27:55-56, that the James and Joses mentioned in Mark 6 as the "brothers" of Jesus, are actually the sons of another Mary. And, one other passage to consider is Acts 1:14-15, "[The Apostles] with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with His brothers...the company of persons was in all about a hundred and twenty." A company of 120 persons composed of the Apostles, Mary, the women, and the "brothers" of Jesus. Let's see there were 11 Apostles at the time. Jesus' mother makes 12. The women, probably the same three women mentioned in Matthew 27, but let's say it was maybe a dozen or two, just for argument's sake. So that puts us up to 30 or 40 or so. So that leaves the number of Jesus' brothers at about 80 or 90! Do you think Mary had 80 or 90 children? She would have been in perpetual labor! No, Scripture does not contradict the teaching of the Catholic Church about the "brothers" of Jesus, when Scripture is properly interpreted in context.

I loved today, did you?

Were you among the women at today's Advent retreat?  If so, I hope Mary and her Blessed Son had a special message for you today.  If you didn't attend, we are thinking of having another retreat during Lent, at which we'll study the last few chapters of the book, My Soul Magnifies The Lord: A Scriptural Journey with Mary, written by Jeanne Kun.

January or February may even bring up a day to study the middle chapters, so we'll keep you posted.  I hope you share the book with others of your prayer group or parish.  The more we learn about Mary, the closer we get to her son.

Thank you for coming!  If you're interested in another retreat, let me know!

Miscellany since Thanksgiving

This year, we attended Thanksgiving Day Mass before we left town to be with family.  Attending Thanksgiving Day Mass makes one ponder about the best Thanksgiving feast.  I think the best Thanksgiving meal is the one at Mass!  Even though, my sister-in-law is a fabulous cook, and it was great to spend the holiday with them.

One really great part of my job is the people I get to meet.  I love meeting the parishioners who I now serve, and I loved meeting Phil, who spoke at the parishes of that cluster and to our confirmation kids.  There's just always someone to pray for, isn't there?

Tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 4) is an Advent Retreat in Pocahontas.  The topic is one of my new favorite people - Mary, the Mother of God.  I just know she has a special day in store for us.

Wow!

I have 19 RSVP's for our Advent Retreat on Dec. 4.  We'll be studying about Mary, who spent her advent preparing for the arrival of her son.  I truly pray this day reminds us to prepare for the arrival of Mary's Son.

If you're coming to the retreat, you'll want a pencil/pen, maybe a highlighter and your Bible.  We'll pray, read, have quiet meditation, small groups and I'll even share my new super-easy fudge!

Just 3 more days to Thanksgiving before we greet a beautiful time of year.  Send a card to your aged aunt, uncle or someone in a nursing home, phone a relative far away, say a Rosary for our seminarians and those who are discerning the priesthood or religious life.  There are so many little ways to make this the most wonderful time of the year, and the most blessed time of the year.

Because you never know...

Remember the women's retreat we had last summer in Fort Dodge?  There were recordings made, but we're still waiting for them, right?  Well, that's why God is in charge of the "big picture."

I talked to the retreat master (Gina) today and asked when they would be coming, here's what I found out.

She gave the original recordings to a young college student to edit them for sound, making sure they weren't too quiet or too loud.  This kid's going to school for this type of work and this was his first project so it took a little longer than usual.

It gets better....

This young man used to be Catholic, and after listening to these CD's to edit them, he's coming back to the Church.  It was this conference that changed this guy, please keep him in your prayers!  These CD's are anointed, don't ya think?

BWY, I've talked to Gina about scheduling a date for 2011.  Got any ideas?

Living with sons

He calls it "marking my territory".