Yesterday's Thoughts
Morning Offering:
O Jesus, through the most pure heart of Mary, I offer you all the
prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions
of your divine heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass. I
offer them especially for the Holy
Father's intentions:
Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for December is: "That,
faced by the growing expansion of the culture of violence and death, the Church
may courageously promote the culture of life through all her apostolic and
missionary activities".
His
mission intention is: "That, especially in mission countries, Christians
may show through gestures of brotherliness that the Child born in the grotto in
Bethlehem is the luminous Hope of the world".
December 19, Friday of the third week in Advent 1
(December 19) Blessed
Pope Urban V (1310-1370)
In 1362,
the man elected pope declined the office. When the cardinals could not
find another person among them for that important office, they turned
to a relative stranger: the holy person we honour today. The new Pope
Urban V proved a wise choice. A Benedictine monk and canon lawyer, he
was deeply spiritual and brilliant. He lived simply and modestly, which
did not always earn him friends among clergymen who had become used to
comfort and privilege. Still, he pressed for reform and saw to the
restoration of churches and monasteries. Except for a brief period he
spent most of his eight years as pope living away from Rome at Avignon,
seat of the papacy from 1309 until shortly after his death. He came
close but was not able to achieve one of his biggest goals—reuniting
the Eastern and Western churches. As pope, Urban continued to follow
the Benedictine Rule. Shortly before his death in 1370 he asked to be
moved from the papal palace to the nearby home of his brother so he
could say goodbye to the ordinary people he had so often
helped. (AmericanCatholic.org)
click on centre arrow
Scripture today:
Judges
13:2-7, 24-25a; Psalm 71:3-4a, 5-6ab,
16-17; Luke 1:5-25 (click here for
readings)
In the
time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who
belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was
also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of
God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. 
But
they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both
well on in years. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was
serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the
custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn
incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the
assembled worshippers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord
appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But
the angel said to him: Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has
been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to
give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many
will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of
the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he
will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people
of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on
before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts
of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of
the righteous— to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Zechariah
asked the angel, How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife
is well on in years. The angel answered, I am Gabriel. I stand in the
presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you
this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until
the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will
come true at their proper time. Meanwhile, the people were waiting for
Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he
came out, he could not speak to them. They realised he had seen a
vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained
unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned
home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months
remained in seclusion. The Lord has done this for me, she said. In
these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the
people. (Luke
1:5-25)
Our
beautiful passage today is taken from the Gospel of St Luke and it is
celebratory of the great personage of John the Baptist, who himself
was, we might say, celebratory of the greatest of the great, Jesus
Christ. The entire Gospel is a proclamation of the Good News of Jesus
Christ and every part of it serves to glorify him, and what Luke
narrates of John in our passage today (Luke
1:5-25)
ought be seen
within that context. So let us contemplate this announcement by the
angel Gabriel, which Luke undoubtedly learnt from the Virgin Mary
during the years of the Church’s infancy following Pentecost. The scene
opens with our gaze on two profoundly devout Hebrew spouses, the priest
Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, also of priestly descent. Their life
was given to the service of God and Luke adds, “but they had no
children”. They were happy in their life for God. But there was this
one great sadness that despite their constant prayer they were not
blessed with offspring. In this we are given a sense of their poverty
before God. They loved him and served him and they experienced their
poverty in what they had most desired. Within this scene of humble
service, a service marked by poverty of spirit before God, a momentous
intervention occurred. Zechariah was at his priestly duty which was his
by lot, and lo! An angel of the Lord appeared to him at the very altar.
It must have been a tremendous apparition conveying all the impression
of a heavenly being for Zechariah was gripped with fear. The angel had
to reassure him not to be afraid. He had come with a message: his
prayer for a child had been answered, and what a child it would be! So
great was the favour to come that an angel had been sent, Gabriel no
less. He was Gabriel of the Scriptures, the Gabriel whom Zechariah
would have read about in the inspired writings and perhaps even prayed
to. Their child would be great in the sight of the Lord, a very great
prophet, another Elijah, who would prepare the people for God’s coming.
There
are many thoughts that this account suggests to us, beginning with the
greatness of John. Luke would show the greatness of John later in his
Gospel. He would have learnt of his greatness even if he had not known
of John at the time of John’s ministry. Christ had expressed the utmost
praise of John. Luke tells us here that his greatness was announced
from heaven prior to his very conception. This angelic announcement was
a manifestation of the power and the goodness of God. But let us revert
to our earlier thought. This was announced to humble and obedient
servants of God who were poor in spirit. God has a predilection for the
poor in spirit, the lowly, the pure in heart. Zechariah and Elizabeth
were such. Yes, Zechariah failed in believing the angel’s message but
he accepted his penalty and continued in obedient service of God. He
and his wife were excellent instances in Scripture of how God’s power
works in human weakness. From their poverty they were lifted up by God
to the dignity of being the parents of John, the forerunner of the
Messiah. There is a lesson here for all the little ones of this world.
Do not worry about your poverty in this or that respect and your
lowliness. Just serve the Lord in gladness and faithfully. Pray to him
for all your needs and trust in his power and mercy. If he does not
grant the answer you are seeking at the time you seek it, trust him
still. Trust him unfailingly and never lose heart, continuing to serve
him in obedience and humility. He will answer in the way he knows to be
best, if not in this life then marvellously in the next. Answer your
prayer he will. We remember the words of St Thomas More as he
approached the scaffold, bearing witness to the truth of Christ and his
Church. “Though I lose my head, I’ll come to no harm.” God will use our
poverty. He will work in and through our humility and our ordinariness.
He will bestow on our lives a true if hidden fruitfulness, just as he
did for Elizabeth and Zechariah.
Let
us be content in the wisdom and the power of God. The impression we are
given of Zechariah and Elizabeth is that their joy in life was to serve
and love the Lord. They had their limitations and Zechariah failed in
faith in this important instance. But they were pleasing in the sight
of the Lord. Our truest joy is to serve the Lord in our ordinary and
everyday duties. So much of life is frustrating and even bitter, and we
have a hint of this in the disappointment of Zechariah and Elizabeth in
having no child. But God is always near. So let us trust him and serve
him, placing before him all our needs, knowing that his power is at
work in human weakness.
(E.J.Tyler)
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You haven't got the spirit of
poverty if, when you
are able to choose in such a way that your choice is not noticed, you
do not select for yourself what is worst.
(The Way,
no.635)
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PARIS, SEPT. 13, 2008 -
Continuing Benedict
XVI's address to the clergy and consecrated persons during
vespers celebrated Friday in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
"The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged
sword", as the author of the Letter to the Hebrews tells us (4:12).
Dear seminarians, who are preparing to receive the sacrament of Holy
Orders and thus to share in the threefold office of teaching, governing
and sanctifying, this word
is given to you as a precious treasure. By
meditating on it daily, you will enter into the very life of Christ
which you will be called to radiate all around you. By his word, the
Lord Jesus instituted the Holy Sacrament of his Body and Blood; by his
word, he healed the sick, cast out demons and forgave sins; by his
word, he revealed to us the hidden mysteries of his Kingdom. You are
called to become stewards of this word which accomplishes what it
communicates. Always cultivate a thirst for the word of God! Thus you
will learn to love everyone you meet along life's journey. In the
Church everyone has a place, everyone! Every person can and must find a
place in her.
And you, dear deacons, effective co-workers of the Bishops and priests,
continue to love the word of God! You proclaim the Gospel at the heart
of the Eucharistic celebration, and you expound it in the catechesis
you offer to your brothers and sisters. Make the Gospel the centre of
your lives, of your service to your neighbours, of your entire
diakonia. Without seeking to take the place of priests, but assisting
them with your friendship and your activity, may you be living
witnesses to the infinite power of God's word!
(Continuing)
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