FEAST OF JUAN DIEGO-CHRISTMAS CARD DAY
Proverbs, Chapter 1,
Verse 33
But whoever obeys me
dwells in security, in peace, without fear
of harm.”
We must move toward inward
peace!
This was the oath he swore to our father
Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him
without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.
In modern times, with all the violence that is
going on in the whole world and with America at the center of any response to
terror and terrorists, and rogue nations how should we respond? First and foremost,
without fear for the Lord is our King. We should search our hearts and
seek to retain a heart of peace. Our response must be measured and
used with no malice. We must stop evil but not with hatred.
We should love the humanity of our enemies, pray for them and do good to them
if we can.
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink." (Romans 12:20)
According to the CIA world fact book many of the
countries in which we have the greatest troubles have the lowest per capita
income per person in the world. For example, per capita in the US is
$57,400 a year versus $1700 in North Korea (note the US is 20th in per capita
(Hong Kong is 19); it is interesting to note the number one nation in per
capita is Liechtenstein (big money launders) at $139,100). Our enemies
are hungry and used or abused by ruff creatures of men. Imagine what
could happen if we could use the great economic power of this country and other
countries of goodwill to raise the good men in these regions up: to feed the
hungry, give drink to the thirsty: to empower men of goodwill and remove the
ruff creatures of men from power.
716 The People of the
"poor" - those who, humble and meek, rely solely on their God's
mysterious plans, who await the justice, not of men but of the Messiah - are in
the end the great achievement of the Holy Spirit's hidden mission during the
time of the promises that prepare for Christ's coming. It is this quality of
heart, purified and enlightened by the Spirit, which is expressed in the
Psalms. In these poor, the Spirit is making ready "a people prepared for
the Lord."
2559 "Prayer is
the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things
from God." But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and
will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart? He who
humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer, only
when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we
ought," are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a
beggar before God."
Have you been away from the Church? Are you thinking about
coming back? Do you know someone who wants to come home to the Catholic Church,
but is struggling with their faith? Maybe you or someone you know has
experienced one of these thoughts:
·
I grew up Catholic, but for some reason I just sort of stopped going to
Church…
·
I just moved to a new city, I tried going to a couple different
parishes, but I never really felt welcomed...
·
After my marriage ended, I felt uncomfortable around my family, friends
and parish…
·
I just don't understand why the Church teaches what it does! Some
teachings seem so outdated…
·
I tried to contact my parish about getting married, but no one got back
to me…
If you have experienced one of these situations or thoughts,
you are not alone. The Church wants you to know that you are a child of God,
called by name, precious in his eyes and loved by him (Is. 43:1,4). The Church
also wants you to know that you are missed. When one member of the Body of
Christ suffers, the entire Body of the Church suffers.
This website
contains resources to help you rediscover the faith and answer questions about
the Church and Church teachings. We invite you to explore this site and contact
your local parish.
Octave of the
Immaculate Conception[2]
DECEMBER
8. ON this and the following eight days the Church celebrates, with particular
solemnity, the immaculate conception of the ever-blessed Virgin Mary, who, from
all eternity, was chosen to be the daughter of the heavenly Father, the spouse
of the Holy Ghost, the Mother of the divine Redeemer, and, by consequence, the
queen of angels and of men. The consideration of these prerogatives convinced
the most enlightened fathers and teachers of the Catholic Church that she was
conceived immaculate, that is, without original sin. It is very remarkable that
among the shining hosts of saints who have, in every century, adorned the
Church no one wrote against this belief, while we find it confirmed by the
decisions of the holy fathers from the earliest times. Pope Pius IX., forced,
as it were, by the faith and devotion of the faithful throughout the world,
finally, on December 8, 1854, sanctioned, as a dogma of faith falling within
the infallible rule of Catholic traditions, this admirable prerogative of the Blessed
Virgin. It is, therefore, now no longer, as formerly, a pious belief, but an
article of the faith, that Mary, like the purest morning light which precedes
the rising of the most brilliant sun, was, from the first instant of her
conception, free from original sin. In the Introit of the Mass the Church
sings: “Hail, holy parent, who as a happy mother brought forth the King Who
rules heaven and earth from eternity to eternity.” “My heart hath uttered a
good word, I speak my works to the King.”
Prayer.
We beseech Thee, O Lord, to bestow on Thy servants
the gift of heavenly grace, that, for those to whom the Blessed Virgin’s
maternity was the beginning of salvation, the votive solemnity of her
immaculate conception may procure increase of peace. Amen.
EPISTLE. Prov. viii. 22-35.
The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His ways,
before lie made anything from the beginning. I was set up from eternity, and of
old before the earth was made. The depths were not as yet, and I was already
conceived, neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out: the mountains
with their huge bulk had not as yet been established: before the hills I was brought
forth: He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of the
world. When He prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain law and
compass He enclosed the depths: when He established the sky above, and poised
the fountains of waters: when He compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a
law to the waters that they should not pass their limits: when He balanced the
foundations of the earth, I was with Him forming all things; and was delighted
every day, playing before Him at all times; playing in the world, and My
delights were to be with the children of men. Now, therefore, ye children, hear
Me: Blessed are they that keep My ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and
refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth Me, and that watcheth daily at
My gates, and waiteth at the posts of My doors. He that shall find Me shall
find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord.
Explanation.
This lesson is, in the literal sense, a eulogy on
the divine and uncreated wisdom, which before all things was in God; through
which all things were made, disposed, and preserved; which rejoices in its
works, and calls upon all its creatures, especially on men, to render to it
love and obedience. Most of what is here said is also to be applied to Mary, of
whom it may with truth be said that, as the holiest and most admirable of all
creatures, she occupies the first place in the heart of God. Therefore, the
Church also refers to her those words of the wise man: “I came out of the mouth
of the Most High, the first born of all creatures.”
GOSPEL. Luke i. 26-28.
And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, to
a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and
the virgin s name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail,
full of grace: The Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
St Juan
Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (1474-1548). Little is known about the life of
Juan Diego before his conversion, but tradition and archaelogical and
iconographical sources, along with the most important and oldest indigenous
document on the event of Guadalupe, "El Nican Mopohua" (written
in Náhuatl with Latin characters, 1556, by the Indigenous writer Antonio
Valeriano), give some information on the life of the saint and the apparitions.
Juan Diego was born in 1474 with the name "Cuauhtlatoatzin"
("the talking eagle") in Cuautlitlán, today part of Mexico City,
Mexico. He was a gifted member of the Chichimeca people, one of the more
culturally advanced groups living in the Anáhuac Valley. When he was 50 years old,
he was baptized by a Franciscan priest, Fr Peter da Gand, one of the first Franciscan
missionaries. On 9 December 1531, when Juan Diego was on his way to morning
Mass, the Blessed Mother appeared to him on Tepeyac Hill, the outskirts of what
is now Mexico City. She asked him to go to the Bishop and to request in her
name that a shrine be built at Tepeyac, where she promised to pour out her
grace upon those who invoked her. The Bishop, who did not believe Juan Diego,
asked for a sign to prove that the apparition was true. On 12 December, Juan
Diego returned to Tepeyac. Here, the Blessed Mother told him to climb the hill
and to pick the flowers that he would find in bloom. He obeyed, and although it
was wintertime, he found roses flowering. He gathered the flowers and took them
to Our Lady who carefully placed them in his mantle and told him to take them
to the Bishop as "proof". When he opened his mantle, the flowers fell
on the ground and there remained impressed, in place of the flowers, an image
of the Blessed Mother, the apparition at Tepeyac. With the Bishop's permission,
Juan Diego lived the rest of his life as a hermit in a small hut near the
chapel where the miraculous image was placed for veneration. Here he cared for
the church and the first pilgrims who came to pray to the Mother of Jesus. Much
deeper than the "exterior grace" of having been "chosen" as
Our Lady's "messenger", Juan Diego received the grace of interior
enlightenment and from that moment, he began a life dedicated to prayer and the
practice of virtue and boundless love of God and neighbor. He died in 1548 and was
buried in the first chapel dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe. He was
beatified on 6 May 1990 by Pope John Paul II in the Basilica of Santa Maria
di Guadalupe, Mexico City. The miraculous image, which is preserved in the
Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shows a woman with native features and
dress. She is supported by an angel whose wings are reminiscent of one of the
major gods of the traditional religion of that area. The moon is beneath her
feet and her blue mantle is covered with gold stars. The black girdle about her
waist signifies that she is pregnant. Thus, the image graphically depicts the
fact that Christ is to be "born" again among the peoples of the New
World and is a message as relevant to the "New World" today as it was
during the lifetime of Juan Diego.
Things to Do[4]
·
Meditate
on Our Lady's beautiful words to St. Juan Diego: "Hear and let it
penetrate into your heart, my dear little son; let nothing discourage you,
nothing depress you. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Also, do
not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here who am your
Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of
life? Are you not in the crossing of my arms? Is there anything else that you
need?"
·
Cook
some Mexican dishes for dinner and bake a Rose Petal Pound Cake or other rose
theme for dessert in honor of St. Juan Diego.
·
From
the Catholic Culture Library:
·
Recommended
Reading: For children: The Lady of
Guadalupe
by Tomie dePaola. For adults: The
Wonder of Guadalupe by
Francis Johnston.
·
For
music for Juan Diego's and Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast, see www.savae.org. The San Antonio
Vocal Arts Ensemble have two cds of authentic music by Mexican medieval
composers. Very beautiful!
·
Visit
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of
the Americas
for detailed accounts on the apparition to Juan Diego.
Way back in 1843,
the first commercial Christmas card was created in England by Sir Henry Cole, a
civil servant who was responsible for the idea of sending greetings scribbled
into the now familiar cards we get around the season of good cheer.
Christmas Card Day honors its inventor on the 9th of December. The first ever
commercial Christmas card showed a family raising a toast, and in the following
year’s designs showing flowers or depicting the promise of spring were favored.
Lithograph firm Prang and Mayer started selling their whimsical Christmas
cards, often featuring children or cartoon animals, across the pond to America
in 1874. By 1880, Prang and Mayer were producing a massive five million
cards a year. With so many designs, shapes and sizes, some Christmas cards have
become collector’s items which have been known to shift at a pretty penny at
auction. One of the world’s first cards, commissioned by Cole and produced by
J. C. Horsley, saw the hammer come down at £22,250 in 2001. Another one of
Horsley’s cards sold for almost £9000 in 2005 – and if you want to see a big
collection of these coveted cards you can drop by the British Museum to see
Queen Mary’s early 1900s collection. Today, seasonal cards are posted all over
the world and can be found in hundreds of thousands of designs. The most
popular messages you’ll find inside a Christmas card are ‘seasons
greetings’ and ‘merry Christmas, and a happy new year’ – but many also stick to
religious roots by featuring a short biblical verse or a religious blessing.
How to Celebrate Christmas Card Day
·
If
you’ve got time, it’s always nice to make handmade cards to send out. Get hold
of some glitter and a dab of glue and see what you can come up with. The
recipients are sure to appreciate it – or if you have children, get them
involved in making cards for friends and family! With the advent of e-mail,
it’s easier than ever to send Christmas wishes to friends and family across the
world – e-cards appeared in the 90s and are frequently used in place of
physical cards, so you’ve got no excuse nowadays not to send those season’s
greetings. But since nothing beats the real thing, perhaps now is the right
time to send out those Christmas cards so they all get to your family and
friends before the last post on 23rd December! And if you don’t celebrate
Christmas, you could always send out some cheery cards to celebrate the coming
of the new year!
Daily
Devotions
·
Attend Mass: the Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been moved to today.
*http://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/Octave%20of%20the%20Immaculate%20Conception%20Weninger.html
[1]http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/new-evangelization/rediscovering-the-faith/index.cfm
[2]Goffine’s
Devout Instructions, 1896.
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