St. Stephen - The First Martyr

The Martyrdom of St. Stephen, Rembrandt

We have only just celebrated the birth of our Lord and already the liturgy presents us with the feast of the first person to give his life for this Baby who has been born. Yesterday we wrapped Christ in swaddling clothers; today, he clothes Stephen with the garment of immortality. Yesterday, a narrow manger cradled the baby Christ; today, the infinite heaven has received Stephen in triumph. (St. Fulgentius, Sermon 3)

The Church wants to make us realize that the Cross is always very close to Jesus and his followers. As he struggles for perfect righteousness - sanctity - in this world, the Christian will meet perfect situations and attacks by the enemies of God. Our Lord has warned us: If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you ... Remember the word that I said to you; a servant is not greater than his master: If they persecuted me they will persecute you. (John 15:18-20) Since the very beginning of the Church this prophecy has been fulfilled. And in our days too, if we really follow Our Lord, we are going to suffer difficulties and persecutions in one way or another and of different kinds. Every age is an age of martyrdom, St. Augustine tells us. Don't say that Christians are not suffering persecution; the Apostle's words are always true ...: All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (2 Tim 3:12) All, he says, with no one being excluded or exempted. If you want to test the truth of this saying, you have only to begin to lead a pious life and you will see what good reason he had for saying this. (St. Augustine, Sermon 6, 2)

In Conversation with God: Advent and Christmastide

Feast of the Holy Family

Between Joseph and Mary there existed a holy affection, a spirit of service, and a mutual desire for each other's happiness. This is Jesus' family: sacred, holy, exemplary, a model of human virtues, ready to carry out God's will exactly. A Christian home must be an imitation of the house of Nazareth; a place where there is plenty of room for God so that He can be right at the centre of the love that members of the family have for one another.

In Conversation with God: Advent and Christmastide

Welcome, Lord Jesus

Adoration of the Shepherds by François Boucher, 1750

For a child is born to us, a son is given us;
upon his shoulder dominion rests.
They name him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero,
Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.
His dominion is vast and forever peaceful,
From David's throne, and over his kingdom,
which he confirms and sustains
By judgment and justice, both now and forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!

Isaiah 9:5-6

May God bless you richly and may you recognize the blessings He sends you. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Riddles

What do elves learn in school?
[The Elf-abet!]

What was so good about the neurotic doll the girl was given for Christmas?
[It was already wound up.]

Did you hear that one of Santa's reindeer now works for Proctor and Gambel?
[Its true, Comet cleans sinks!]

Mom, can I have a dog for Christmas?
[No, you can have turkey like everyone else.]

What nationality is Santa Claus?
[North Polish.]

What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmastime?
[Sandy Claws!]

What kind of bird can write?
[A PENguin.]

Waiting in Joyful Anticipation

Jerusalem, turn your eyes to the east,
see the joy that is coming to you from God.
Look, the children you watched go away are on their way home;
reassembled from east and west,
they are on their way home at the Holy One's command,
rejoicing in God's glory.

Baruch 4:36-37

The Gospel According to Cats and Dogs

A dog thinks:
This man feeds me, loves me, lets me in and out and cares for me. He must be God.

A cat thinks:
This man feeds me, loves me, lets me in and out and cares for me. I must be God.

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, "It's funny because it's true." Thanks to Kim at The Upward Call for reminding me of this one!

Great Study Resources

READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
My Daily Catholic Bible-RSV: 20-Minute Daily Readings

My Daily Catholic Bible offers the only reading plan that …

• divides all of Sacred Scripture into 365 segments, one for each day of the year
• features two small, manageable readings for each day, one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament
• tells you the Catholic saint or feast for each day, and provides an insightful quote from a saint for that day.

There’s never been an easier way to read the Bible. You don’t have to start on January 1. Begin reading on any calendar date and twelve months later you’ll have made your way through all seventy-three books of the biblical canon. And a place for a check mark next to each entry makes it simple to keep track of your progress. Plus, you’ll know exactly where to start in again if you miss a day or two!

CATHOLIC BIBLE STUDIES FOR WOMEN
I found these on an Amazon list by a woman who is Catholic & an aspiring Carmelite. It's pretty hard to find Catholic Bible studies, much less specifically for women, so I thought I'd pass these recommendations along.

Woman of Grace: A Bible Study for Married Women
For married Catholic women. 9 lessons.

Courageous Virtue
For Catholic women. 8 lessons based on the moral and theological virtues

Courageous Women
For Catholic women. 8 lessons on holy women of the Bible.

Courageous Love
For Catholic women. 8 lessons on topics such as holiness, prayer, obedience, dignity, etc.

READ THE CATECHISM
Don't forget that Living Catholicism is taking us through the Catechism a bit at a time. This is the easy, spoon-fed way to read the book that I have heard is second only to the Bible as a "must read" for Catholics.

Jesus, Son of Mary

Matthew 1 details the genealogy of Jesus starting with Abraham and showing how Joseph descended from the line of King David (of the house of Judah), hence fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies about the lineage of the promised messiah (and explaining why Joseph had to register in Bethlehem).

Here's the twist...Jehoiachin (he has some other aliases I forget), the last surviving king of Israel (reigned shortly before Israel went into Babylonian captivity), was evil and was told by God that none of his descendants would be king. Now we have a little problem. Joseph descended directly from that king, so if Jesus were his son, he couldn't be the promised king.

Marla at Proverbial Wife has some very cool info about Jesus' genealogy and, not incidentally, about Jewish mothers.

Biblical Prayer Themes, Part I

... many people think of prayer mainly as asking for help in our sundry problems and needs. Fewer still think of it as being in love with God and expressing that love in many diverse ways, often in touching and tender terms. But such is the scriptural reality. In order to handle clearly this extraordinary abundance of interpersonal beauty, I think it best to sample these biblical prayer themes under several headings. Your own use of the Bible and participation in the eucharistic liturgy will furnish you with many more examples of these themes.

1. Petitionary prayer. We begin with a type of prayer that is familiar to everyone -- even to the former atheist in the foxhole. We are to ask and it will be given to us, seek and we shall find, knock and the door will be opened (Mt 7;7-8). We are to call on this God who works wonders for those he loves (see Ps 4:3). Just as infants turn with complete trust to their parents for all of their needs, so we also cast our cares on the Lord, because he cares for us tenderly beyond our imagining (1 Pet 5:7).

2. Adoration, praise, blessing. Filled with joy, we worship our Origin and our final Destiny, purest goodness and beauty (Ps 16:5-11). We join with "everything that lives and breathes" in a hymn of praise (Ps 150:6; 96:1-2, 98:4-8). We bless and praise this God, not simply once in a while, but at all times (Ps 34:1). We glorify him as the worker of marvels on our behalf (Ps 31:21), as we celebrate his lasting love in outpourings of tribute and thanksgiving (Ps 136:1-26). All this occurs in an atmosphere of blessing and rejoicing in the tender love of the Creator toward everything he has made (cf. Ps 146:1-2; 150:1-6)

3. Thanksgiving. Closely akin to adoration and praise, and yet with an added dimension, is heartfelt thanksgiving. Repeatedly the psalmist and the Church hearken to our privilege and duty of expressing gratitude to the Father for every good and perfect gift that descends from him (Jas 1:17). All of us are to declare to this God an endless proclamation of thanksgiving (cf. Ps 28;7; Col 3:15).

Prayer Primer, Thomas Dubay, S.M.

[to be continued...]

The Old Mass is Found in the New

My thesis is that to understand and enter fully into the spirit of the modern liturgy you must understand the Tridentine liturgy, just as to fully understand the impact of the New Testament you must be intimately familiar with the Old Testament. After all, it was always the intent of the Church that the modern Mass should emerge as an organic development of the old Mass--not as a rejection of centuries of liturgical practice, a liturgical practice that nourished and was central for most of our well-known saints. It is funny that many who love St. Francis of Assissi seem so hostile to and suspicious of the Mass that was central to his life.

Catholic Analysis, insightful as always, discusses the need for a synoptic approach to both liturgical forms. A great point and one that hadn't occurred to me.

Men and Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

That is the subject of an interesting article by Jay at Living Catholicism. I never really thought about it much one way or the other but I don't thing I know any men who are devoted to the Blessed Virgin ... or if they are, then they aren't mentioning it. (Kind of hard to work into conversation for one thing!)

Jay not only gives reasons why it is a good idea but then talks about how to do it ... or at least see if it is right for you. This is well worth it for women to read as well as there are some good insights in general here.

My friend Ron had some interesting comments about Jay's post ... I especially like his insights about Mexican culture.

Interesting. I would never have thought in such broad terms. It seems there are a lot of Men who pray the Rosary and to me that seems to be a true devotion to Mary. Maybe the point is we need more....

I grew up in large part revering the Virgin of Guadalupe. In the Mexican culture it's almost ingrained in you from the beginning and it seems that many men have a special place for her. In fact the culture itself seems for the most part to be a Matriarchal society and revering Mary is just an extension of that (or vice versa). I know most people think that since the word "macho" comes from the Mexican culture that it implies a patriarchal society. My experience just doesn't prove that out, Men are very integral and in some parts very strong but the woman is the glue - the spiritual guide.

I am Gonna Get You So Many Lizards!

Fry: "I said I want the best one! Now which costs more, the parrot or the stinklizards?"

Man: "The lizards are a buck each, the parrot is $500."

Fry: "That's a hell of a good parrot!"

Fry: "Although I could get five hundred lizards for the same price. Girls like swarms of lizards, right?"

Man: "Sir, the store is closing in two minutes."

Fry: "I'll take the five hundred lizards! No...wait...yes. No! Yes! Yes! Yes! The parrot!"

Parrot: "squawk!"

later in episode ....

Leela: "Hi there."

Fry: "Leela! Oh my God, you saved my life! I am gonna get you so many lizards!"

Futurama, Xmas Story

This is the bit of Futurama Christmas show that led to one of our family's private jokes. After we watched this episode for the umpteenth time, I had gotten something at the store that Rose loves but didn't expect (what was it? I have no clue.). She popped out with, "I am gonna get you so many lizards." Cue laughter and a family tradition/joke was born. It didn't take long ... now Hannah's friends have watched that episode and are starting to say it too ...

I Like Tom's Explanation

Checking out at the Central Market today I recognized the checker. That's easy enough to do if you go to any store often. They're always in the same place. We expect to see those familar faces. This fellow wasn't someone I usually go to but the CM is remarkably open at the check out area so looking around while groceries are being bought you get used to the regular faces.

I was surprised though when he looked at me and said, "Weren't you just in here yesterday?" It took me a minute and then I remembered that I ran in for a gallon of milk (ok, and a quart of eggnog on the side, if we must be totally honest). He was my checker in the "10 items or less" line. Now I only bought two unremarkable items and paid in cash (remarkable for me but he didn't know that). Out of all the people he saw yesterday he still remembered me well enough to remark on it?

Ahem. I have had this happen before so I know I look ... well, let's call it "distinctive" enough to have people remember me. Perhaps it's the combination of spiky haircut, glasses and rather spherical profile. I was telling Tom about the incident and he said, "It is the glow of your radiant beauty they recognize." Awwwwwwwww. I am gonna get him soooo many lizards!

Weekend Puzzler

LAST WEEK'S ANSWER
The answer to last week's Puzzler about the boy who had to figure out a way to get his fishing pole on the bus is:
He goes back to the store where he bought the fishing rod and gets a box that's 4 feet by 3 feet and the diagonal is 5 feet.

Congratulations to Gilbert, the only person to guess the right answer last week (including me because I never look at the answer until I post it).


THIS WEEK'S PUZZLER: IGOR AND HIS PRINCESS
Also from Car Talk

The beautiful young princess had a dilemma. She was in love with Igor, the blacksmith's son, and she wanted to marry him. However, she knew that her father, the king, would not approve. Furthermore, if the king knew of their love, he would surely have the young man executed.

They devised a plan. They will elope. Sadly, their plan is foiled, and they are stopped at the castle gates by the guards.

And they are brought before the king. Now the king was indeed furious but decided to offer Igor a sportin' chance, as they say. He said he would write the word princess on one piece of paper and death on another, and the young lad could decide his own fate by selecting one of the slips of paper from a jar. So the two slips are crumbled up, thrown in a jar.

Sadly, the king is a sneak. He writes "death" on both pieces of paper. Despite this. Igor manages to win the princess's hand.

How did he thwart the king?

My Christmas Menu

For my friend Marlene and anyone else who is interested ... my Christmas Menu and a few of the recipes.

The Faith of Mary

Take the trusting serenity of the virgin Mary in the secret she kept from Saint Joseph. Mary loved Joseph and she saw him suffer (Matt. 1:18-19). She trusted in God. It is possible that in following our own vocation or in carrying out God's will, we may be afraid of making our loved ones suffer. He knows best how to arrange things. God knows best. She was to understand later. The accomplishment of God's will, which always involves faith, is the greatest good for ourselves and for those with whom we normally come in contact, or have dealings with.

Think of the faith of Our Lady in the difficult moments that preceded the birth of Jesus. St. Joseph knocked on many doors that Christmas eve and Our Lady heard many refusals. Think of her faith in the face of that rapid flight into Egypt, of God fleeing to a foreign land!

Consider too Mary's trust every single day of those thirty years when Jesus led his hidden life in Nazareth, when there were no miraculous signs of her son's divinity, nothing but simple and ordinary work ...

Ponder the faith of Mary on Calvary. This was how the Blessed Virgin made progress on the pilgrimage of faith. She maintained her union with her son right up to the cross. There, by the divine plan, she took her stand, endured bitter grief with her only child, shared with a mother's heart in his sacrifice by giving a loving consent to the offering of the victim who had taken birth from her. (Second Vatican Council, Lumen gentium)

Mary lives with her eyes fixed on God. She has placed all her trust in the Almighty and surrendered herself entirely to him. She asks this for us, too: that we may live with unbreakable trust in Jesus, untroubled amidst all the storms of life and eager to pass on the same attitude to those around us. This is what she wants for us, her children. And, above all, she wants some day to see us in heaven, beside her Son.

(In Conversation with God, Advent and Christmastide)

Dancing Queen

Friday was Hannah's school dance recital and it was mercifully brief compared to last year's. This year there were two different teachers and one of the thing that stood out was what a difference choreography can make to an inexperienced dancer. Luckily, Hannah's teacher was the good one of the two but I really felt for the hapless Intro to Dance students whose teacher had them doing carefully timed moves. They had little chance of being together on most of them so one was left watching the individual students for their own levels of expertise.

Of course, Hannah was the best in her class ... was there any doubt of that? Actually, she always does stand out because somehow she has that perfect ballerina posture and completes every movement with great assurance. She also looks out with a serious composure that reminds one of a prima ballerina. I know I'm the doting mother here, but I have had more than one person comment on this to me. Perhaps she should have been taking dance classes all along ... too bad to think we might have deprived the world of an artist. Or maybe she actually is here to remind us all of the grace possible in just holding ourselves well (as I straighten my back hastily)!

I Now Know More Than Most People Ever Should About Alcatraz

After Tom took Hannah to San Francisco for her 16th birthday trip she returned with insatiable curiousity about Alcatraz and "Birdman" James Stroud. What she found out and reported over the next week was really interesting.

Last night Rose practiced her Speech "final" with me ... over and over and over ... about Alcatraz (what else?). So not only has my memory been refreshed, I got to hear several debates over the fine points as Hannah's sources often differed with Rose's. The battle of Alcatraz, James' Stroud's little anger management problem (let's just call him insane and be done with it), Al Capone's reaction to imprisonment there, and much more are now part of my data base forever.

Now I hear through the grapevine that my good friend, the Happy Capitalist, is complaining because the light from Alcatraz blinks and obscures his fine view of San Francisco. That's one detail I didn't need to hear. Let's all go blow dust off our old records of Joe Walsh's Life's Been Good to Me So Far and sing along ... "I can't complain but sometimes I still do..."

(Now I've just gotta get myself to Oakland so I can complain about that darn light too!)

Something to Keep in Mind When Buying Christmas Gifts

LITTLE ABIGAIL AND THE BEAUTIFUL PONY

There was a girl named Abigail
Who was taking a drive
Through the country
With her parents
When she spied a beautiful sad-eyed
Grey and white pony.
And next to it was a sign
That said,
FOR SALE -- CHEAP.
"Oh," said Abigail,
"May I have that pony?
May I please?"
And her parents said,
"No you may not."
And Abigail said,
"But I MUST have that pony."
And her parents said,
"Well, you can't have that pony,
but you can have a nice butter pecan
Ice cream cone when we get home."
And Abigail said,
"I don't want a butter pecan
Ice cream cone,
I WANT THAT PONY --
I MUST HAVE THAT PONY."
And her parents said,
"Be quiet and stop nagging --
You're not getting that pony."
And Abigail began to cry and said,
"If I don't get that pony I'll die."
And her parents said, "You won't die.
No child ever died yet from not getting a pony."
And Abigail felt so bad
That when they got homeshe went to bed,
And she couldn't eat,
And she couldn't sleep,
And her heart was broken,
And she DID die --
All because of a pony
That her parents wouldn't buy.

(This is a good story
To read to your folks
When they won't buy
You something you want.)

Shel Silverstein, The Light in the Attic

The Reason for the Luminous Mysteries

Back in September, Mary posted the following:
"There are three influences which appear to Us to have the chief place in effecting this downgrade movement of society. These are-first, the distaste for a simple and labourious life; secondly, repugnance to suffering of any kind; thirdly, the forgetfulness of the future life."
Pope Leo XIII
Remedies:
Dislike of Poverty - The Joyful Mysteries
Repugnance to Suffering-The Sorrowful Mysteries
Forgetfulness of the Future - The Glorious Mysteries
She then asked:
"For what ill in society would the Luminous Mysteries be a remedy?"

Alicia at Fructis Ventris has the answer and it's a goooood one! I won't steal her thunder by telling her answer. You need to go read it for yourself. It makes perfect sense to me considering that we were given the Luminous Mysteries in this day and age. The Luminous Mysteries are my favorites and I am going to be even fonder of them when keeping her reflections in mind.