Let it be Christmas everywhere......

The story of hope and peace in a manger two thousand years ago in a small town with two brave people should still speak loudly to us today.  Everyday is a new day, may we take each day from this day forward and make a positive difference in someone else.

Holidays and family: what to do when they are far away?

Well, as they say, we aren't getting any younger.....especially my parents!  This year is especially hard for me, selfishly, I might add.  Both my parents moved into INdependent living communities due to their age and declining sturdiness.  I wasn't there when either of them moved and needed an extra hand, I wasn't there when they were in the hospital, I wasn't there when my mom needed to get her prescriptions picked up, or groceries, or just her daughter to be near for consolation and company.

I wasn't there.  Where was I, you ask?  In a town over ten hours hours northeast from them raising their grandchildren who are busy into sports, music, and their friends. In a town I absolutely detest, with no friends, no happy parish life, a cliquey community, snobby social clubs, and no common place to go.  Just home with my husband, daughters and 5 animals.  I know why I keep acquiring kittens.....sigh.

This is not abnormal, I know, many MANY of you guys live hours, if not oceans away from loved ones, parents, and siblings.  How do you do it?  Every year, I get blue missing my mom and brothers, regretting my kids not having the close relationships with their uncles and aunts along with their grandparents.  Especially my mom.

Can anyone help me find a solution to cope with this??

THE PROCLAMATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST

Traditional Proclamation of Christ's Birth


"Today Is the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ"

VATICAN CITY, DEC. 25, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has restored the tradition of proclaiming the birth of Christ with the chanting of the "Kalenda." The chant culminated the prayer vigil in St. Peter's Square on Christmas Eve, which was accompanied by the unveiling of the life-size Nativity Scene.



Here is an English translation of the proclamation, provided by the U.S. bishops:



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THE PROCLAMATION OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST




Today, the twenty–fifth day of December,



unknown ages from the time when God created the heavens and the earth and then formed man and woman in his own image.



Several thousand years after the flood, when God made the rainbow shine forth as a sign of the covenant.



Twenty–one centuries from the time of Abraham and Sarah; thirteen centuries after Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt.



Eleven hundred years from the time of Ruth and the Judges; one thousand years from the anointing of David as king;



in the sixty–fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel.



In the one hundred and ninety–fourth Olympiad;

the seven hundred and fifty–second year from the foundation of the city of Rome.



The forty–second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus; the whole world being at peace,



Jesus Christ, eternal God and Son of the eternal Father, desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming, being conceived by the Holy Spirit,



and nine months having passed since his conception, was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary.



Today is the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.



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On the Net:



Text with music setting: www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-resources/christmas/upload/proclamation-of-the-birth-of-christ.pdf



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Pope's Christmas Eve homily (Thanks to Zenit.org)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

The reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to Titus that we have just heard begins solemnly with the word "apparuit", which then comes back again in the reading at the Dawn Mass: apparuit – "there has appeared". This is a programmatic word, by which the Church seeks to express synthetically the essence of Christmas. Formerly, people had spoken of God and formed human images of him in all sorts of different ways. God himself had spoken in many and various ways to mankind (cf. Heb 1:1 – Mass during the Day). But now something new has happened: he has appeared. He has revealed himself. He has emerged from the inaccessible light in which he dwells. He himself has come into our midst. This was the great joy of Christmas for the early Church: God has appeared. No longer is he merely an idea, no longer do we have to form a picture of him on the basis of mere words. He has "appeared". But now we ask: how has he appeared? Who is he in reality? The reading at the Dawn Mass goes on to say: "the kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed" (Tit 3:4). For the people of pre-Christian times, whose response to the terrors and contradictions of the world was to fear that God himself might not be good either, that he too might well be cruel and arbitrary, this was a real "epiphany", the great light that has appeared to us: God is pure goodness. Today too, people who are no longer able to recognize God through faith are asking whether the ultimate power that underpins and sustains the world is truly good, or whether evil is just as powerful and primordial as the good and the beautiful which we encounter in radiant moments in our world. "The kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed": this is the new, consoling certainty that is granted to us at Christmas.



In all three Christmas Masses, the liturgy quotes a passage from the Prophet Isaiah, which describes the epiphany that took place at Christmas in greater detail: "A child is born for us, a son given to us and dominion is laid on his shoulders; and this is the name they give him: Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace. Wide is his dominion in a peace that has no end" (Is 9:5f.). Whether the prophet had a particular child in mind, born during his own period of history, we do not know. But it seems impossible. This is the only text in the Old Testament in which it is said of a child, of a human being: his name will be Mighty-God, Eternal-Father. We are presented with a vision that extends far beyond the historical moment into the mysterious, into the future. A child, in all its weakness, is Mighty God. A child, in all its neediness and dependence, is Eternal Father. And his peace "has no end". The prophet had previously described the child as "a great light" and had said of the peace he would usher in that the rod of the oppressor, the footgear of battle, every cloak rolled in blood would be burned (Is 9:1, 3-4).



God has appeared – as a child. It is in this guise that he pits himself against all violence and brings a message that is peace. At this hour, when the world is continually threatened by violence in so many places and in so many different ways, when over and over again there are oppressors’ rods and bloodstained cloaks, we cry out to the Lord: O mighty God, you have appeared as a child and you have revealed yourself to us as the One who loves us, the One through whom love will triumph. And you have shown us that we must be peacemakers with you. We love your childish estate, your powerlessness, but we suffer from the continuing presence of violence in the world, and so we also ask you: manifest your power, O God. In this time of ours, in this world of ours, cause the oppressors’ rods, the cloaks rolled in blood and the footgear of battle to be burned, so that your peace may triumph in this world of ours.



Christmas is an epiphany – the appearing of God and of his great light in a child that is born for us. Born in a stable in Bethlehem, not in the palaces of kings. In 1223, when Saint Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas in Greccio with an ox and an ass and a manger full of hay, a new dimension of the mystery of Christmas came to light. Saint Francis of Assisi called Christmas "the feast of feasts" – above all other feasts – and he celebrated it with "unutterable devotion" (2 Celano 199; Fonti Francescane, 787). He kissed images of the Christ-child with great devotion and he stammered tender words such as children say, so Thomas of Celano tells us (ibid.). For the early Church, the feast of feasts was Easter: in the Resurrection Christ had flung open the doors of death and in so doing had radically changed the world: he had made a place for man in God himself. Now, Francis neither changed nor intended to change this objective order of precedence among the feasts, the inner structure of the faith centred on the Paschal Mystery. And yet through him and the character of his faith, something new took place: Francis discovered Jesus’ humanity in an entirely new depth. This human existence of God became most visible to him at the moment when God’s Son, born of the Virgin Mary, was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. The Resurrection presupposes the Incarnation. For God’s Son to take the form of a child, a truly human child, made a profound impression on the heart of the Saint of Assisi, transforming faith into love. "The kindness and love of God our Saviour for mankind were revealed" – this phrase of Saint Paul now acquired an entirely new depth. In the child born in the stable at Bethlehem, we can as it were touch and caress God. And so the liturgical year acquired a second focus in a feast that is above all a feast of the heart.



This has nothing to do with sentimentality. It is right here, in this new experience of the reality of Jesus’ humanity that the great mystery of faith is revealed. Francis loved the child Jesus, because for him it was in this childish estate that God’s humility shone forth. God became poor. His Son was born in the poverty of the stable. In the child Jesus, God made himself dependent, in need of human love, he put himself in the position of asking for human love – our love. Today Christmas has become a commercial celebration, whose bright lights hide the mystery of God’s humility, which in turn calls us to humility and simplicity. Let us ask the Lord to help us see through the superficial glitter of this season, and to discover behind it the child in the stable in Bethlehem, so as to find true joy and true light.



Francis arranged for Mass to be celebrated on the manger that stood between the ox and the ass (cf. 1 Celano 85; Fonti 469). Later, an altar was built over this manger, so that where animals had once fed on hay, men could now receive the flesh of the spotless lamb Jesus Christ, for the salvation of soul and body, as Thomas of Celano tells us (cf. 1 Celano 87; Fonti 471). Francis himself, as a deacon, had sung the Christmas Gospel on the holy night in Greccio with resounding voice. Through the friars’ radiant Christmas singing, the whole celebration seemed to be a great outburst of joy (1 Celano 85.86; Fonti 469, 470). It was the encounter with God’s humility that caused this joy – his goodness creates the true feast.

Today, anyone wishing to enter the Church of Jesus’ Nativity in Bethlehem will find that the doorway five and a half metres high, through which emperors and caliphs used to enter the building, is now largely walled up. Only a low opening of one and a half metres has remained. The intention was probably to provide the church with better protection from attack, but above all to prevent people from entering God’s house on horseback. Anyone wishing to enter the place of Jesus’ birth has to bend down. It seems to me that a deeper truth is revealed here, which should touch our hearts on this holy night: if we want to find the God who appeared as a child, then we must dismount from the high horse of our "enlightened" reason. We must set aside our false certainties, our intellectual pride, which prevents us from recognizing God’s closeness. We must follow the interior path of Saint Francis – the path leading to that ultimate outward and inward simplicity which enables the heart to see. We must bend down, spiritually we must as it were go on foot, in order to pass through the portal of faith and encounter the God who is so different from our prejudices and opinions – the God who conceals himself in the humility of a newborn baby. In this spirit let us celebrate the liturgy of the holy night, let us strip away our fixation on what is material, on what can be measured and grasped. Let us allow ourselves to be made simple by the God who reveals himself to the simple of heart. And let us also pray especially at this hour for all who have to celebrate Christmas in poverty, in suffering, as migrants, that a ray of God’s kindness may shine upon them, that they – and we – may be touched by the kindness that God chose to bring into the world through the birth of his Son in a stable. Amen.

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Merry Christmas and may our world feel blessed this year.

Both my oldest daughter and I will be playing violin for both Christmas Masses tonight, and my knight and youngest daughter will be in the choir.

May the world be peaceful tonight as the Child King makes His entrance into a fallen world in need of salvation.

O Emmanuel!!!!!

Come to save us, O Lord our God.

O Emmanuel, God with us, our King and Lawgiver, the expected of the nations and their Savior: Come to save us, O Lord our God.

O Emmanuel, Rex et legifer noster, expectatio gentium, et Salvator earum: veni ad salvandum nos, Domine, Deus noster.

The manger reminds us of the simplicity and poverty surrounding the birth of Jesus and is representative of His life of humility.



Recommended Readings: Isaias 9:2-7

I highly recommend Catholic Culture.org for all your liturgical information and more!

Behold

In a far distant time,

In a story so well known throughout the lands,

We hear once again about an angel

Who visits a young girl to announce God's plans. 

We hear about the angel's proclamation, "Behold..."  and her response, "Behold..."    

In both the Online Dictionary and in Merriam Webster dictionary the definition of BEHOLD is a transitive verb meaning:

1: to perceive through sight or apprehension : see

2: to gaze upon : observe

Literally, they are saying, "Watch, this will happen," it's an action on both sides; the Holy Spirit will come down and bring forth the pregnancy in Mary and, in turn, Mary will allow this in cooperation with God as His handmaid.  Human and divine working together for one purpose, love.

Behold, our God will bring us a savior, His name is Jesus!  Jesus loved us so much and He showed us in not so small ways throughout His earthly life.  Here, His mother begins His journey towards the goal of salvation!

The magnitude of these actions are dynamic yet are revealed in so humble a way that they can be misconstrued as simple, if not precious.  When looking at the big picture, this Advent cannot be precious, but amazing if not overwhelmingly incomprehensible!  This first step in the journey that leads us in so many ways in awe of what we have in salvation history, a faithful and loving Triune God who keeps His promises and loves us in a dimension not fully comprehended by man.

Throughout salvation history, we have witnessed the bravery, strength, and courage of so many of our brothers and sisters saying "Yes" to God's plan, empowering those around them and ourselves into the future to keep the faith and stay in the vineyards building the Kingdom of God in our midst.   Not only for ourselves, but those in the future generations who will need this more. The unknown is scary as the young Mary displayed in her conversation with Gabriel, but she pressed on for future generations, as we must too.  We must keep on fighting the good fight, pressing on with bravery, strength, and courage for the future generations that will need us more in the unknown times ahead.

"For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name.  And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation."

Behold!

The Holy Spirit, prayer, feminine genius and teens

Our son and his wife



Having raised one teen to adulthood and raising his two sisters presently in the midst of their teen years has given me experience in watching teens grow, but wisdom?  If anything, I think I'm losing it with each new issue that comes up.  With teen eyes watching as I make my way through life I tend to forget they are taking notes.  They listen, hear, and notice my every wart, judgement, prejudice, and criticisms, some they adopt and others they fight.  But which ones should they take on and which ones should I disembark from.  As each year passes and I get older am I doing the right thing by them, I question myself.



Their antics are a constant



When does one become an expert in a field they have experienced, studied, and made through?  Since I have been a mother for 30 years now, am I considered one?  An emphatic "No" is my answer.  I know that many claim to be experts in one thing or another, but parenthood?  The fleeting theories and trials cannot be proven to be successful in each and every individual since we are all but snowflakes in the winter, totally different, unique, and functioning with the God-given gift of freewill that is managed by a soul like none other.  Even from the same parents in the same household, each child is as individual as if conceived from another completely different couple.  How do we keep up this pace with several children in our care?

With freewill, comes another gift privy only to the women of the family, I think, Feminine Genius.  When I least expect it, it kicks in when most needed.  I know that it's the Holy Spirit in feminine guise, but there is some ownership on my part.  Yes, so far we have survived these past 30 years with prayer, deep in the night, while preparing meals, at Mass, running errands: I pray.

With my knight, we are surrounded by love

Cohabitation and Marriage: Not Equal Alternatives

Studies Continue Confirming the Need to Strengthen Families By Father John Flynn, LC

ROME, DEC. 2, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The popularity of cohabitation as an alternative or a preliminary step to marriage continues to grow. Data published this week by the British Office for National Statistics for England and Wales confirms the trend.

In 2010 only 48.2% of the adult population of England and Wales were married. Of the rest, 35.6% were single, 9.3% were divorced, and 7% were widowed. It is estimated around one in six people are cohabitating.

"One of the main reasons for the decrease in the married population and the increase in the single population is the growth of cohabitation by unmarried couples,” the report stated.

Earlier this year cohabitation in England was examined in a study published by the Jubilee Centre, a group that describes itself as a Christian social reform organization.

In “Cohabitation: An Alternative to Marriage?,” authors John Hayward and Guy Brandon said that although the rise in rates of cohabitation is now stabilizing, an increasing proportion of these relationships do not lead to marriage but end in separation.

Their study was based on data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study that allows a year-by-year comparison of trends. The data covers 14,103 households and 22,265 adults.

Major changes in family relationships started back in the 60s and 70s and by the early 80s cohabitation had supplanted marriage as the most popular form of first relationship. Since 2000, a scant 15% of couples have married rather than cohabited as a first relationship.

Cohabitation has undergone significant changes in recent decades. In the 80s no less than 81% of people cohabitating married their first live-in partner. By the year 2000 this had declined to 64%. Nevertheless, the great majority -- 87% -- still marry one of their first two live-in partners, but this is down from 95% in the 80s.
Children

There is also an increase in the numbers of cohabitating couples who have dependent children. In 2001 there were 808,000 households with a cohabiting couple and children. By 2010 this had increased to 1.07 million.

Given this data, not surprisingly in the last few decades the average age of first marriages has risen, from 23.1 in 1981 to 30 in 2009 for women and from 25.4 to 32.1 for men.

The average age of first cohabitation has also increased, by more than three years for both men and women in this same period of time. So couples are cohabitating later than they used to and marrying even later still.

Another development is an increase in long-term cohabitation. In the early 70s only 25% of couples lived together for more than 3 years. This contrasts with the current 50% rate. Moreover, around 25% now live together for more than 6.5 years before separation or marriage.
Overall, the duration of cohabiting relationships has roughly doubled over the last 40years. An analysis of the data shows, however, that this is mainly due to an increase in the length of the shortest cohabitations.

According to the authors, couples' perceived reasons for cohabiting are changing. Forty years ago cohabitation was more likely to be viewed as a temporary step prior to marriage.
Changing attitudes meant that by the 80s separation was more accepted, and this not only led to higher divorce numbers but also to more separations of cohabitating couples.

The authors conclude that currently cohabitation is increasingly considered as a lifestyle choice in its own right, rather than principally as a prelude to marriage.
Downside
The study also looked at the effects of cohabitation on future marriages. Around 55% of marriages that started in the early 1980s in which at least one partner had lived with someone else have ended in divorce or separation. This compares with around 45% of couples who had only lived with each other and 40% for those who had not lived together at all.
"For all marriages since 1980 prior and previous cohabitation quickly emerge as being associated with greater risk of separation and divorce," the report concluded.
The damage caused by cohabitation increases when it has been with someone who is not the eventual spouse. Prior cohabitation of a married couple is associated with a 15% greater risk of divorce. Previous cohabitation with other partners leads to a much greater 45% risk.
The news of increased cohabitation comes when again and again research has shown a stable married family is the best environment in which to raise children.
This was confirmed in research published last month by the federal government’s Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Researchers Lixia Qu and Ruth Weston, a Nov. 16 press release explained, analyzed data on almost 5,000 children across Australia, from the time the children were 4-5 years old until they were 8-9 years old.

They found that children of married couples have higher levels of learning and social and emotional development than children of de facto parents or single mothers. Confirmation, yet again, that much more needs to be done to protect and strengthen marriage.