Blurbs from Dec 10-11-12, 2009

John and Thommy et al.
Good morning. I love you.


Today, 12/11, there is no John, Kenneth, William, Thomas, or Jesuit. So, having not done this in a long while, I went back a day. Then I checked the Jesuit calendar and found one for tomorrow. Even bigger, 12/12 is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Friday in Greensboro. Here for a long weekend break from MGH. Monday I make a decision/they make a decision about how/whether we proceed. I am a clutz - poor interpersonal skills is the discussion. I don’t dance well and my dancing shoes are more like cleats than loafers. I should know better and do much better by now. And yet, I don’t. And, frankly my dear…. But I do. Maybe I can’t rather than won’t? …. Just shut up. Be patient! [how do you exclaim patience? Especially in the midst of a crisis. Except maybe it’s not a crisis. No one else seems to be in an urgent/emergent mode. I could be missing the whole picture! And it’s their hospital not mine - my deal is purely mercenary and they’re the client. I should be able to let the chips fall where they may. They are not my chips! I may be a part of the scenario; though I should do my own strategy - be a part and remain apart. Where is the patient advocacy? Where is the pride in work? Where is the duty to do what is right? To make the wrongs right, for the patients’ sake: come what may? It’s all a bluster to cover up my ineptness. …

Today I’ve written a letter. Gone to Mass. Avoided everything else on my to do list. Now I’m here - another avoidance? C’est la vie….



St. Edmund Genings
December 10 b. 1567 d. 1591 c. 1970

This saint made my day because this is also the day for Bl. John Mason, a man martyred for his faith when he was convicted of harboring St. Edmund.

One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Forty is only one group. Here is a good place for a tirade about our English brethren and their treatment of Catholics qua Catholics. But let’s not delve into the monstrosity known as the British Crown…. Know that many of our Catholic forebears were martyred in England/Wales because they refused The Oath or simply sustained their faith and religious practices.

This applies to us, especially in unCatholic/antiCatholic Greensboro NC and the various homes and schools we enter. How do we sustain our faith, maintain our religious practices, in the face of the powers in our own lives who are antiCatholic? How do we respectfully, lovingly live our Catholic lives, a statement of faith and, by the comparisons the antiCatholics make, a rebuke of the way others close to us choose to live? Like the Forty Martyrs, the antiCatholics will/do martyr us in their own vile way - how do we respond to the withdrawal of friendships and affection [of love]? How do we respond to the punitive reactions put upon us? In the living of our faith, in the practice of our religion, we live a holy martyr’s life not unlike Edmund Genings, John Mason, and the many martyrs of England.

Edmund Genings converted to Catholicism when he was seventeen. A Lichfield boy, in the home of Protestant England, heard a different calling and said, in spite of the tremendous risk, Yes, Lord, I am here for you. The words of Mary we hear so often as we ramp up to Christmas - I am the handmaid of the Lord, do unto me according to your will. Your Will. Is it God’s will that we pursue to live? Let “God’s will” be the answer to the antiCatholics in your life.

Edmund Genings followed his calling to serve God to Rheims where he was ordained in 1590 [a mere 23! What will you do when you are 23?]

Edmund Genings returned to the English Mission - of course knowing the likely result. He was martyred in Gray’s Inn Fields in London in 1591. One year a priest. Was it worth it? Once you start down the garden path of God’s will, you do not know where it takes you or how long it will take to get there. We are always on the threshold of infinity; or, better, in the midst of our infinity. So, it’s not one year but our forever serving God’s will.




Bl. John Mason
December 10 d. 1591 bl. 1929

John Mason was a layman who took Fr. Edmund Genings into his home. I wonder about John Mason’s home and family - married? children? extended family? How did he meet Edmund Genings? What possessed this man to invite a 23 year old priest into his home? John Mason knew what would happen if/when he got caught. And he did it anyway. Who will you take into your life because God brings him/her to you? Knowing the risks - maybe not martyrdom but ridicule or austricization?

John Mason was martyred at Tyburn - he was hanged, drawn, and quartered with Sts. Edmund Genings and two others. A gruesome death! What are you willing to risk for your faith and religion? For your immortal soul?



Bl. Thomas Somers
December 10 d. 1610

Thomas Somers worked for a time as a schoolmaster. If anything can test your faith, your mettle, your essence, it’s teaching. You must know who you are and why you do what you do in order to be a good teacher. Thomas Somers discovered that he was called not only to teach but to preach the word of God - to be a priest.

Thomas Somers went to Douai to study for the priesthood - remember the history, it was treason to teach men to become a priest in England, northern France had the nearest seminaries. Thomas Somers was ordained and quickly returned “home” to serve the Church, the Catholic cause, in London. Try to fathom what these Englishmen did! Why they did it! Gilbert and Sullivan should have done a musical about these EnglishMen!

Thomas Somers was arrested for being a priest. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn with Blessed John Roberts. A spectacular showing - a long running show of England’s finest sense of justice…. These men literally spilled their guts for faith, for us.



St. Thomas of Farfa
December 10 d. 720

Thomas de Maurienne was not originally from Farfa. He was born in Savoy, France (well, Gaul). Thomas de Maurienne became a Benedictine in the late seventh century - a high water mark for their brand of monasticism. Who and what will you join? Which group of people will you most dearly identify yourself? Family? Faith? A covey of friends? An organization? Parish?

Thomas de Maruienne made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Take your own pilgrimages to the holy places from which you can draw spiritual sustenance. Go and be with God. Thomas spent three years in Jerusalem - certainly in service, penance, and prayer. Three years dedicating himself to the purpose of his pilgrimage.

While in prayer before the Holy Sepulchre, Our Lady appeared to him and told him to return to Italy and restore the deserted monastery at Farfa. Few of us get such a clear vision of what God wants us to do. Praying to Mary, meditating upon her life, her holiness, will help us discern God’s will for us; and, more importantly, will prepare us to say yes when we recognize His calling. [At the same time, the Duke of Spoleto received a vision guiding him to aid in the rejuvenation of the monastery at Farfa.]

God inspires and, in this case, both men said yes; and here we are considering their example and the consequences of their ‘yes’ for us. How much has not been done because one person in the chain says no? Saying no to our own calling not only costs us but innumerable other people. If Thomas de Maruienne or if the Duke said no, Farfa would likely not have been rejuvenated - you can calculate that the people touched by this Benedictine revival in northern Italy, might not have gotten a similar grace from another intermediary….

For over a century, Frankish monks led the Benedictine efforts in Farfa.

Abbot Thomas of Farfa received the accolades of sainthood - imagine the grace needed to get Italian laymen and French monks to agree to the everlasting holiness of this man.



Bl. Thomas Holland, S.J.
December 12 b. 1600 d. 1642

How does the son on an English gentleman develop a vocation? Develop a vocation? That’s not it. We start by pursuing, discerning God’s will - or not. If yes, the likelihood of finding our vocation is much higher - we’re either listening to God’s call or we’re not. When not, our going where God calls is purely chance and a very low probability. How do we know what is God’s will? Ah, our friend Ignatius has a systematic approach to that - pick up his long retreat section that leads us through the process….

After college study in France, Thomas Hollandwent to Valladolid, Spain for his seminary training. Valladolid, in north central Spain, was a magnet for seminarians from all over. The royalty of Spain got a bit antsy about the loyalties of the seminarians. Thomas Holland was sent to represent them to reassure the Prince. How does a man become a leader of men? How did Thomas Holland have the courage to not only represent the seminarians but face the Prince - whom, if he did not convince him of his and their loyalty, was in a mood to squash them all like pesky bugs? What is the source of your leadership? Your courage? Or is the question better, Who is the Source?

At 24. Thomas Holland entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Watten in Flanders. My novice class was about half right out of high school; the other half were relatively new college grads up to a few guys in their early forties. How does a man at 24 come to affirm for himself, and persuade others he’s right, that his vocation is to be, in this case, a Jesuit? How do you affirm to yourself that the vocation you have chosen, the calling you are following, is the one from God for you? I wish we had more from the writings about the saints to tell us about their process, to inform us about how to go about the process.

Thomas Holland, not unlike many of the Jesuits in the first century of the Society, went through a relatively short training before ordination - relatively short. In my day, the path was two years novitiate, two years ‘juniorate’, four years college, three years service [usually as a high school teacher], three years theology, ordination, and a fourth year, post ordination, of theology before final vows into the Society. That path is still the usual - although very few are accepted into the journey before graduating from college.

Thomas Holland served the Jesuits, and the communities in which he taught/served in several leadership roles in Ghent and at St. Omer’s seminary in France.

In 1635, Thomas Holland, the writings say, ‘was sent’ on the English Mission. The discernment process never stops. Within the Jesuits - as, I am sure, with all religious orders - it is a formal process, both personal and with your spiritual advisor and your superiors. What am I called to do? What does the Society need me to do? How do we find God’s will in all the cross currents of needs, wants, hopes, aspirations? It is very possible that Thomas Holland was sent without the English Mission’s being his answer to ‘what does God want of me?’ And yet, he went.

The vow of obedience. I’ve taken a long life of disobedience to learn that obedience is a promise and duty of love. Love, honor, obey. The vows of obedience taken by priests and religious. First of all a love of God. How do we show our love for Him? Know and exemplify his commandments - His explicitly telling us how we can best show him that we love Him. If you love me, do as I ask you to do. Better, anticipate my asking you and do that. With God, there are no secrets; we have His Word for what Love looks like….

Imagine what it took to be a priest in London in 1635. Thomas Holland was adept in disguising himself, and could speak French, Spanish, and Flemish to perfection. Living and serving in secret in public was the life of a priest of that era. Living every moment in fear of being caught as an enemy of the state. How do you do it? How do you live every day being a Catholic and worried that you’ll be found out? How do you personify what is most important to your life and not get caught by the wrong people doing it? What a toll that must take.

Thomas Holland was arrested on suspicion of being a Catholic priest on a London street on 4 Oct., 1642. Seven plus years of service. Thomas Holland was committed to the New Prison. He was transferred to Newgate, and arraigned at the Old Bailey, 7 December, for being a priest. The jury found him guilty, to the indignation of the Lord Mayor, Sir Isaac Pennington, and another member of the bench named Garroway. Even friends in high places will not likely be enough when “everyone” around you is antiCatholic.

On Saturday, 10 December, sentence was passed. On his return to prison great multitudes went to Thomas Holland, and he heard many confessions. On Sunday and Monday he was able to say Mass in prison, and soon after his last Mass was taken off to execution. There Thomas Holland made a considerable speech and to said many prayers with the crowd, and when the cart was turned away, he was left to hang till he was dead.

The Jesuits by practice keep a detailed diary of individuals and the Order. The individuals have a duty to report. The superiors have a responsibility to collate the individuals’ reports and to supplement the activities of the Order and its people. We have a lot of information from and about Thomas Holland. The blurbs in the abridged Butler give us plenty to consider about ourselves and our own circumstances. Retrieving some of the original documentation will also shed some light on the how and why….

I got to Mass just as the priest started the prayers of the faithful. Does missing the Liturgy of the Word mean I missed Mass?….




Friday, 12/11/09, of the second week of advent. Two candles lit. Gaudate Sunday coming up….


Reading 1
Is 48:17-19

Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go.
If you would hearken to my commandments, your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea; your descendants would be like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their name never cut off or blotted out from my presence.


How do we address God? Jesus gave us Abba, Dad. The Holy One. The Lord. God. Our Redeemer. Names are important. What we call Him sets us in relation to Him. I suggest you scan the Bible for the many names we use. Try a few of them on for size. Like we change what we call people depends on the circumstance as well as our feeloughts not to mention the actual relationship between any two people, what we call God affects how He comes into our consciousness, how we let Him affect us, How we experience His love….

God teaches us what is for our Good. He leads us on the way we should go. That too is the responsibility given to parents by God; to teachers and other authorities -- but especially and in particular to parents. God gives us a specific teaching about that: Honor your father and your mother.

If you listen to God’s commandments, your prosperity will be like a river, for generation after generation. Simple enough…. Love God, do His will…. And your prosperity will be like a river.



Responsorial Psalm
Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6

R. (see John 8:12) Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life.
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked or walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.

Follow God and by definition you have the Light of Life. Like the Jews in the desert. They followed the torch in the sky!

Blessed are you when you delight in the law of the Lord. When you meditate on the law day and night. More mundanely, blessed are you who does what God says shows him your love. When we love someone, the Loved One has a responsibility to help us show our love to them. God does that with His Laws. So, too, will all the loves of our lives - the better they love us, the better they tell us how to love them and the more we love them the more we will do/anticipate then do what shows to them our love.

As much as it is important, imperative, that we show that we love God, love our Loved Ones, it is necessary to also not do , to avoid, the people and things that prevent our loving, that make us less lovable: do not hang around with sinners or the insolent; do not take advice from, glean ‘wisdom’ from the wicked. It is important who you hang with, listen to….

R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life. He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. Whatever he does, prospers.

Psalm 1 is one of the few scripture passages I’ve memorized and that’s stuck with me. Follow God, be a good Catholic, and you will be like a tree planted near running water, bearing fruit for yourself and those who seek sustenance in your shade…. Follow our faith and whatever you do will prosper in the eyes of those who only count.


R. Those who follow you, Lord, will have the light of life. Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away. For the LORD watches over the way of the just, but the way of the wicked vanishes.

The Bible, God’s word, is not one sided. He tells it like it is, the good the bad and the ugly. Follow Jesus and you have the light of life. Not so the wicked! The wicked are like chaff which the winds blow away; like the chaff that is used as fodder for the fire. The way of the wicked vanishes. The Lord watches over the just and the fruits of the Just are everlasting….



Gospel
Mt 11:16-19

Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation?
Personalize the question. To what shall Jesus compare you? Your generation? Are you like…

children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’
Children in the marketplace. Ragamuffins? Runabouts? Brats who assume the rest of us are suppose to move to your music?


For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

The children of the marketplace want it both ways - they want the unpleasant holiness of Jesus and His people to be disparaged and dismissed. Are those who live an ascetic, disciplined life possessed by the devil? Wouldn’t that be convenient for those of us who have no inclination to emulate the holy ones? So Jesus goes to the wedding at Cana; he calls the little children to him; he listens to and counsels sinners; he goes to dinner with tax collectors. So we can wave him off because he is one crazy dude who keeps very bad company.

Wisdom is vindicated by her works! Or, the proof is in the pudding….



12/12/09
1100
Continuing…



Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 12
Patron of the Americas

Our Lady of Grace parish held their now annual super celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe last night. Native American dancing and music - native, that is, to Aztecs et al. And they moved their celebration from the parish church to a public venue with more space but, in the spirit of ‘where two or more are gathered in My Name’, no less holy. … Fr Melo is a holy, pious man. He continues to improve the talent of the supporting cast. The priest who wrote in this week’s ncr re: liturgy as theater would be proud of this celebration.


Missionaries who first came to Mexico with the conquistadors had little success in the beginning. Christianity was not popular among the native people.

Missionaries were common companions of the conquering explorers. The conquistadors were sent with high hopes and clear intentions - find lands and treasures for the king, and get to keep a share of the booty. And any peoples found in the new land were, like the land, to become subject to the new rulers. One way to cement that new allegiance was to align their religion with that of the king’s. Even when we grant the purist motives to the missionaries - sometimes hard to do - it is difficult to disconnect their efforts for men’s souls from the king’s efforts to rule the


In 1531 miracles began to happen. Jesus' own mother appeared to humble Juan Diego. The signs -- of the roses, of the uncle miraculously cured of a deadly illness, and especially of her beautiful image on Juan's mantle -- convinced the people there was something to be considered in Christianity.

Today’s GSO News-Record calls this legend. We call it fact. What is so unbelievable about the reality of miracles? The witness of the Indian Juan Diego and his community? What does the fact of their experience and witness - not to mention the six million Native Mexicans who soon accepted the faith - mean to your embracing your baptism and confirmation?

Mary, again and again, brings us to her Son. Like at the wedding at Cana where Mary simply told the wine steward, listen to my son, he’ll take care of your dilemma for you. Mary’s silent witness at the foot of the cross. Her presence in the upper room when the Paraclete stormed in. Her appearances through the generations. The inspiration she has given to uncounted men and women of faith - especially those of us who struggle with their faith: I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your word. At Christmas time let’s not forget Mary’s part. [I’ll save my Joseph ‘rants’ for another time.]

We have the feast of the Immaculate Conception; and today’s Lady of Guadalupe - go tell the bishop to build a church here. Of course the bishop didn’t attribute any credibility to Juan Diego. And even if he did ultimately relent to the miracles brought via Mary and the peasant to build a building, might not Mary had meant to build The Church, the Body of Christ, the gathering of two or more in His name; maybe not so much to build as to recognize Jesus in the Indians and illuminate their faith in the Christian beliefs?….


God has chosen Mary to lead us to Jesus.

So what is your relation to Mary? Catherine Mary, your grandmother’s name. The good Irish Catholic New Yorker who she was, named after the Mother of God had her many devotions to Mary in prayer and action. The good Dominican sisters and their clanging rosaries were no subtle reminder of the importance of Mary in their lives as well as how she should be important in yours.

I had Jesuits - at Cheverus, in the novitiate of course, and subsequent personal study and spiritual development - who have their own Ignatian approach to a devotion to Mary.

I also had the Marists for two years at Molloy - they too had the rosary on display; plus we said the rosary every day during lunch time along with the Angelus. Every day for two years we said the Angelus and the Rosary. We celebrated Mary’s feasts as special occasions, routinely special like the extraordinariness of ordinary time. How have you ingrained your relationship with Mary? She unabashedly loves all of God’s children, the brothers and sisters of her Son. She also has no qualms about her purpose - the handmaid of the Lord - to lead us to her Son…. Go with her to Him….


Mary appeared to Juan Diego as a beautiful Aztec princess speaking to him in his own Aztec language. If we want to help someone appreciate the gospel we bring, we must appreciate the culture and the mentality in which they live their lives. By understanding them, we can help them to understand and know Christ.

It bothers many people to see Mary represented as a woman of another culture - note the Korean Madonna at St. Pius. As Jesus’ mother, Mary is our Mother, too. So our art, our imagination, personalizes Mary. What’s wrong with that? Like the icons, our statues, our artwork, the mosaics, the stained glass windows, the many representations of Mary are meant to stimulate our heart, mind, soul to bring us closer to Mary so that she can more easily lead us to Jesus. To better present ourselves, we need a smidgen of chameleon so that we will be seen in the eyes of the beholder; and seen as Jesusesque so that our Gospel message will be better, more easily received. So too with Mary. No sense appearing to a little girl in France or to a 55 year old Aztec in Mexico looking like a first century Galilean - what’s with that?! She came to be seen so that she could be a light to follow to her son….


Oral and written, Indian and Spanish, the account is unwavering. To a neophyte, fifty five years old, named Juan Diego, who was hurrying down Tepeyac hill to hear Mass in Mexico City, on Saturday, 9 December, 1531, the Blessed Virgin appeared and sent him to Bishop Zumárraga to have a temple built where she stood. She was at the same place that evening and Sunday evening to get the bishop's answer. He had not immediately believed the messenger; having cross-questioned him and had him watched, he finally bade him ask a sign of the lady who said she was the mother of the true God. The neophyte agreed so readily to ask any sign desired, that the bishop was impressed and left the sign to the apparition.

Juan was occupied all Monday with Bernardino, an uncle, who seemed dying of fever. Indian specifics failed; so at daybreak on Tuesday, 12 December, the grieved nephew was running to the St. James's convent for a priest. To avoid the apparition and untimely message to the bishop, he slipped round where the well chapel now stands. But the Blessed Virgin crossed down to meet him and said: "What road is this thou takest son?" A tender dialogue ensued. Reassuring Juan about his uncle whom at that instant she cured, appearing to him also and calling herself Holy Mary of Guadalupe she bade him go again to the bishop.

Without hesitating he joyously asked the sign. She told him to go up to the rocks and gather roses. He knew it was neither the time nor the place for roses, but he went and found them. Gathering many into the lap of his tilma a long cloak or wrapper used by Mexican Indians he came back. The Holy Mother, rearranging the roses, bade him keep them untouched and unseen till he reached the bishop. Having got to the presence of Zumárraga, Juan offered the sign. As he unfolded his cloak the roses fell out, and he was startled to see the bishop and his attendants kneeling before him: the life size figure of the Virgin Mother, just as he had described her, was glowing on the poor tilma.



At Mass this morning [St Paul’s], the Pastor did not offer us a homily: not even a mention of the significance of the feast day. Well, it apparently isn’t a significant feast day - the turnout at Mass this morning was if anything less than usual. Here we have a Saturday - what used to be the day when we celebrated a Mass in honor of Mary; not so much, rarely, any more. Plus, we have the feast of our Patron of the Americas, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Still, we do not have any specialness to our celebration. Ok, we did say the Gloria; but not the Credo. We did not sing. We did not stop after the liturgy of the Word (the shorter versions of the two options for each reading) for a moment of silent reflection on the readings or on the feast. I felt cheated.




Reading 1
Zec 2:14-17 or Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab


We got the Zec reading - shorter and, to me, less Mary-esque. Still….

Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.
Let Mary be our Zion? Let both the reality of God’s gracing Zion and the symbolism of that for Mary be the focus of your contemplation. God says He is coming to dwell amongst us - not only where two or three are gathered but, like Mary, personally, really, dwell in us, personally and individually. Sing and Rejoice will be the least of our expressions the second we allow the reality of God’s presence in us reach our consciousness. Burst out into song, like Jesus Christ Superstar! Like that band Rush loves so much, begins with an M, I’ve got their discs somewhere in the Christmas pile. Sing! Rejoice! God dwells amongst us! Us personally. Us familially. Us as Church.


Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they shall be his people, and he will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
With the Lord amongst us, within us, how can we not join ourselves to the Lord? Be one with Him as He is with us. I know, maybe better than most, how difficult that it - well, maybe joining with Jesus is not so difficult, maybe the difficulty I have is disengaging from my sinful self…. Know that God sent us Mary; listen and follow her to her Son….

The LORD will possess Judah as his portion in the holy land, and he will again choose Jerusalem. Silence, all mankind, in the presence of the LORD! For he stirs forth from his holy dwelling.
When He comes, He possesses us, He makes us a Jerusalem - - only to the extent that we choose to show Him to the world through/by us…. There is time to Sing and Rejoice. There is time to be silent in the presence of the Lord. A time for all things in all seasons. Let us rejoice and be glad. Let us also celebrate His presence in silence; relish His being our soul….


I love reading Revelations - and I don’t have to be stoned to really get into it; though that might enrich the experience. Reading Revelations straight up, without antecedent study of the literature/symbolism etc of the time is a challenge. Accompany John’s Revelations with Jung’s writings about symbolism, collective unconscious, et al.: kerpow! Then there’s the slower, ponderous, but insight enhancing reading of Revelations with a readable commentary - the Jerusalem Bible e.g., or any of the other tombs that I have or you can find in most university libraries - - the Benedictine Abbey is just down the road.


God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Mary as a Great Sign in the sky. We have so many pictures of John’s imagery of the Madonna. Never mind the depth of symbolism, just picture the image John gives us. How do you express your personal revelations about Mary, God’s messenger….

She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth.

That was pre-epidurals. I remember when your mother was with child - because I was with her through much of those times. For John, she chose to remain in New Orleans until June, the first sixish months of the pregnancy. When we got to the hospital, there’d be no labor to give birth - John was to be born C-Section to prevent his catching the virus infecting his mother’s birth canal. Unfortunately, a hot shot anesthesiologist decided to administer the epidural rather than let the nurse anesthetist do what she was a master at doing. He missed! It was maybe a worse headache than birth pains. It did delay the delivery long enough for me/us to see most of the Giants/Bears Game on tv - thus the Giants and Bears trinkets that are around here somewhere that celebrate John’s birth. When the OB guy showed up it was nearly tennish but no one thought it a good idea to wait a couple more hours so John could be born on the same day as his grandfather [and, later, cousin.]

Thommy was a VBAC [pronounced veeback; vaginal birth after c-section]. This time the epidural was expertly administered. We had the pleasure of a birthing room and a small army of expert support. The canal was clear and Thommy came out to be caught in the biggest hands I’ve seen since I met Bob Cousey - this OB couldn’t drop the new born, his hands were so large. There was grunting and pushing but, thanks to modern medicine and a competent needle wheeler no wailing in pain….


Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth.

The devil is not a subtle presence. He too celebrates each birth. And he never gives up his desire to devour the child - - be constantly on your guard….


She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.

Your mother gave birth to two sons. We knew that pretty early on in the pregnancy. We chose your names even before the impregnations - there was a logic to each: the name of your grandfathers and the name of your father [like the first two boys born to Catherine and Kenneth Nolan]. We prayed for all tens and from there we knew we would love you ‘til the end of time. What is your destiny? I.e., what is God’s will for you? How will you discern it? How will you leverage the grace to achieve God’s will for you? …. Oro pro vobis.


Her child was caught up to God and his throne.
Mary’s child is from God’s throne and sits there now and forever. …

The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.
We each have a place prepared for us by God. The place where we fulfill God’s will. The place from which we defeat the devil in our lives….

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed.”
Remember this each time we celebrate a Marian Feast. Remember this during Christmastime.




Responsorial Psalm
Judith 13:18bcde, 19

There isn’t much to the Book of Judith - I.e., it’s short, not sparse in substance. The women of the Bible are worth much more than the beautiful fiction of Orson Scott Card - though I recommend his works to you. Read the Bible’s women to learn to better know and respond to women.
I’ve known two Judith’s in my lifetime. An aunt, Judy; Walter’s [grandpa’s brother’s] wife, mother to Nancy, David, and Jill. With whom we lived for several months after we moved from Portland to NYC. Lots of stories from that brief and formative period with them - imagine four adults and six children, two families under one roof. Judy has been a matronly presence in my life, probably the aunt with whom I most closely identify; who, among all my aunts, is most a fiber of my identity….
I dated a Judith, Judi, for a couple of years when I worked at Nassau County Medical Center. She and I remain friends. If I were to regret not marrying someone, she’d be at the top of the list…..


R. (15:9d) You are the highest honor of our race.
Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth;
and blessed be the LORD God, the creator of heaven and earth.

WOMAN personified deserves this special honor, don’t you think? You’d better. If you do not, you will not become the best husband you can be. To the extent that you believe a particular woman is God’s will to be your wife, she will also be ‘daughter by the Most High God’ who will bless God first and foremost.

Mary, Judith, Ruth, get to know those honored of our race so that you might better find the woman God created for you if marriage is your vocation.

Your deed of hope will never be forgotten by those who tell of the might of God.

What has Mary done for you? What ‘deed of hope’? What has Mary done for you lately? If you cannot identify her presence in your life, you’re not looking good enough.




Gospel
Lk 1:26-38 or Lk 1:39-47

Watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' - - over and over again….

The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”

The recognition of the Immaculate Conception? Certainly, Mary was a holy woman - one reason to get to know her well; so that you might identify the woman for you by the extent to which she is like Mary your Mother.


But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

It wasn’t the angel that frightened her? A sign of her holiness? Maybe she was used to receiving messages from God in various ways. But ‘full of grace’ and ‘the Lord is with [her]’? Holy implies humble, too.


Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
How many times does God tell us “Do not be afraid” - some one’s counted it, of course. The number’s over 150, I think. Do not be afraid for you have found favor with God. It is the favor with God part that exorcises the fear. [as opposed the ‘fear God’ phrase that really has nothing to do with our definition of ‘fear’.] Be in favor with God and there is nothing to fear….


“Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

When you anticipate your first child [if that is your vocation], consider the Angel’s words to Mary and apply them to your hopes for your child.

But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”

When confronted with the will of God for you, remember this interchange. God’s will for you is accompanies by “the Holy Spirit will come upon you” and the firm knowledge that “nothing will be impossible for God”. With this faith, you can respond like Mary did - both in words and a life time of service to God’s will - -

Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”


Then the angel departed from her. Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
Left alone by the Angel, stunned by the Word, imbued with the Spirit, Mary’s first act is to go see Elizabeth. [I’ll skip my commentary about Joseph….]


When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

If you are blessed with fatherhood as your vocation, remember Elizabeth’s exclamation. The blessing of a child is a gift from the Holy Spirit. Be sure to cry out often to your wife/motherofyourchild - Most Blessed are you among women and Blessed is the fruit of your womb! Another reason you want your wife/motherofyourchild to be like your Mother Mary - it will be natural and easy to exclaim this blessing every morning and every night….


And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Blessed are you who believes that what is spoken to you by the Lord will be fulfilled. Elizabeth’s words are for us, too.

And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.”

Here’s another reason why you want your spouse to be like your Mother Mary - you want a woman who believes, aspires, that her soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, that her Spirit rejoices in God y’all’s savior. And it will be such greatness that will lift the two of you and your children to God and into heaven….


But what do these readings have to do with Our Lady of Guadalupe? It’s 1303 and I’m typed out. Put your own spin on the connections….



I Love you,
Dad