Christmas - Dec 24
I wonder what I would have
heard had I been there that night. It is a question that annually haunts me.
Would I have heard the choirs of angels singing or simply the sounds of barnyard
animals shifting around? Would I have seen the star in the sky that night or
simply two poor and very frightened kids? Would I have understood the hushed
silence of the divine presence, or simply the chill of a cold east wind. Would I
have understood the message of Emmanuel, God with us, or would the cosmic
implications of that evening have passed me by?
CHRISTMAS - Illustrations
| Consider Again Christmas When Pope Julius I authorized December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in A.D. 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today. |
Advent 4 A
Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
Michel de Verteuil
General Comments
Introduction to the Celebration
We are beginning the
celebration of God coming to us, God being with us, we being brought into the
presence of God. This is the great mystery of Christmas: it is the feast of
Emmanuel which means ‘God is with us.’ This is our special celebration this
Sunday, but each time we gather here we remember the words of Jesus: ‘When two
or three are gathered here in my name, I am there among them’. So, let us spend
time reminding ourselves that Jesus is among us, we are in his presence in this
gathering, and recalling that we are the people who proclaim him as Emmanuel:
God is with us.
--------------Michel de Verteuil
General Comments
Advent: Cardinal Luis Antonio (Chito) Tagle
We are in the
holy season of Advent, a time to prepare for the coming of the Messiah through
prayer, penance and good works. A few days ago a friend told me that my coming
into the Archdiocese of Manila as its 32nd Archbishop is truly Advent. “You are
the one who is to come,” he declared. The remark made me laugh. It also made me
think. Is this occasion really about me? I know many people are asking “who is
this new archbishop of Manila? What is he like? What are his vision and plans?”
But like John the Baptist I am inviting you to focus on the One mightier than
all of us, Jesus Christ, the Risen One and the True Shepherd of the Church. My
Episcopal motto says it plainly, “Dominus Est! It is the
Lord!”
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