(Samo pozvati pažnju na kvarte, koje su između treće i četvrte nedjelje došašća, srijedom petkom i subotom, posta, nemrsa i molitve. Održavale su se do reforme drugog vatikanskog. Četiri puta na godinu. Držimo dobre običaje.)
This week, between the 3rd and the 4th Sunday of Advent, is Ember week. The Ember days which occur four times a year (during Advent, Lent, Pentecost and September), are days of fast, abstinence and prayer. Traditionally they have always been ordination days, especially Ember Saturdays. Please honor these days – Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of this week – as best you can!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
My dearly beloved in Our Lord,
St. Paul in today's reading encourages us not to be worried, not to worry ourselves! We should not worry about anything, but make our petitions known to God, in our prayers and our demands, with thanksgiving.
It is indeed difficult for us on many
occasions not to worry and to be concerned, since we are living in very
“interesting“ and strange times: Several decades without a Pope, without
bishops, without the teaching by which they normally give us and keep up our
faith; a time seemingly without safe laws
and sure orientations for our way to
Heaven; a time when the signs of the crisis preceding Christ's final coming are
getting clearer and stronger every day.
What are we to do?
Firstly, let us consider the words of St John the Baptist in today's Gospel: “I baptize with water; but in your midst is one standing whom you do not know.“
My dear Catholics: Christ has been with us, with the human race, and particularly with his Church, for 2000 years. And it would seem that we still do not really know HIM! He “is coming after John the Baptist, but he was made before him.“How difficult do we find it to acknowledge the true nature of Our Lord Jesus Christ... How easily are we scandalized by him, as his apostles have been at the time of trial, at the time of his sacred Passion... Oh we poor men of little faith: He is God, and he can do whatever he wants: “Omnia quaecumque... God hath done all things whatsoever he would, in heaven and on earth” (cf.Ps 113); he is God made man, so he is our mediator with the Father – he can give us, and he does give us more than we need, in order to make our way to eternal salvation, to Heaven.
May he enlighten the darkness of our mind by the grace of his coming! (cf. Collect)
Secondly, we may look at the example of Our Blessed Lady, the Virgin Mother of God.
We might think that everything was easy and straightforward for her, that she had no problems serving God. This is true in as much as she had been preserved from all stain of sin, and she effectively never sinned.
But God in no way exempted her from suffering, trials and grief! The Church honors her rightly as the Mother of Sorrows. And not only did she suffer, but God also put her faith and her endurance to a very strong trial: After having inspired her to consecrate her life to God in perpetual virginity, she was told by the priests that she was to leave the temple where she had been educated, and to marry. They even found a spouse for her, St Joseph from the house of the king David. Shortly after that, “antequam convenirent – before they lived together”, as the gospel clearly states (Mt 1:18, see Gospel on Christmas Eve), the Archangel Gabriel announces her that she is to be the Mother of God. She asks how this could happen, since she does not know a man. The Angel answers that this will be by the power of God; and that nothing is impossible for God. Upon this she simply answers with the beautiful words which we repeat three times a day: “Ecce ancilla Domini. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.”She has no idea, in which way exactly God will act. But she manifests complete faith and trust in him. She does not worry herself, once God has given his promise; she does not “play Providence”. And St Elisabeth blesses her, she praises her because of her faith: “Beata quae credidisti – blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord.” (Lk 1:45)
My dearly beloved! Like the true Christians, the children of God at all times, we are today living in the desert: Not only has the world become a very rough place – for the least – but also the beneficial power of Christ's Church has become almost imperceptible. If we want to use an expression from Our Lady's words at La Salette (1846), we can say that the Church is eclipsed. So the Church is there, she cannot perish, but she is practically imperceptible for most. But just as even the elect would not be saved if these times were not shortened, so the Church seems to be doomed in our days. - What is left for us? The words of Our Lord; the teaching of the Church and her holy and sanctifying rules and laws, together with the Sacraments. It is just like in the desert: There is barely enough to survive; but for him who knows the herbs, there is enough food, even in the desert. He who is used to pick and choose his food from an overloaded table, cannot possibly survive on a desert diet, but he will soon die. This is why we cannot afford to, and we do not want to rely on anything but on Catholic dogma and sound theology. It might seem like tough food sometimes, but it is very safe, nourishing and life-giving.
Oh if we could only truly believe in God's goodness; in His providence which cares for us at every instant of our life. Our faith must become more and more “practical” by the works of charity, both corporal and spiritual. Thus not only we refrain from condemning our neighbor – as some please to do for their own peril – but we also find and keep this peace of soul which is one of the signs of predestination.
May St John the Baptist, the humble precursor of Christ, inspire us by his faith and his simplicity.
May Our Blessed Lady, the Virgin Mother of God, grant us a share of her immeasurable faith, so that she may lead us to the gates of Heaven: “peccatorum miserere – have mercy on the sinners.” (Alma Redemptoris)
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Nema komentara:
Objavi komentar