Cancelled

In case you didn't get the e-mail or get the message the Snowshoeing trip is cancelled. Sorry for all those who were looking forward to this trip. Maybe next time!

Keep your days clear for February 24th for

Shake your Beauty

and

Virtuous Reality!

Homosexuality

Here's more background info on what we talked about. Click on the underlined large words for the full articles and documents.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Chastity and homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God's will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord's Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.

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From Catholic Answers

Homosexuality

Every human being is called to receive a gift of divine sonship, to become a child of God by grace. However, to receive this gift, we must reject sin, including homosexual behavior—that is, acts intended to arouse or stimulate a sexual response regarding a person of the same sex. The Catholic Church teaches that such acts are always violations of divine and natural law.

Homosexual desires, however, are not in themselves sinful. People are subject to a wide variety of sinful desires over which they have little direct control, but these do not become sinful until a person acts upon them, either by acting out the desire or by encouraging the desire and deliberately engaging in fantasies about acting it out. People tempted by homosexual desires, like people tempted by improper heterosexual desires, are not sinning until they act upon those desires in some manner.

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From the group COURAGE

Persons with homosexual desires have always been with us; however, until recent times, there has been little, if any, formal outreach from the Church in the way of support groups or information for such persons. Most were left to work out their path on their own. As a result, they found themselves listening to and accepting the secular society's perspective and opting to act on their same-sex desires.

His Eminence, the late Terence Cardinal Cooke of New York, was aware of, and troubled by this situation. He knew that the individual dealing with same-sex attractions truly needed to experience the freedom of interior chastity and in that freedom find the steps necessary to living a fully Christian life in communion with God and others. He was concerned that many would not find this path and would be constantly trying to get their needs met in ways that ultimately do not satisfy the desires of the heart.

In response to this concern, he decided to form a spiritual support system which would assist men and women with same-sex attractions in living chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love.
Knowing of Fr. John Harvey's extensive ministry experience in this field, he invited him to come to his Archdiocese.

With the help of the Rev. Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., and others, Fr. Harvey began the Courage Apostolate with its first meeting meeting in September, 1980 at the Shrine of Mother Seton in South Ferry.

With the endorsement of the Holy See, Courage now has more than 110 Chapters and contact people world-wide, over 1500 persons participating in its ListServs, and hundreds of persons per week receiving assistance from the main office and website. It has become a mainstream Catholic Apostolate helping thousands of men and women find peace through fellowship, prayer, and the Sacraments.

The Courage Central Office operates through the prayerful and financial support of the Archdiocese of New York as well as contributions and volunteer work from Courage members and other individuals and organizations committed to advancing its efforts.
Individual chapters throughout the world are self-supporting and exist with the permission of their diocesan Bishop.

In helping individuals gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the Church's teachings, especially in the area of chastity, Courage extends the Church's invitation to a life of peace and grace. In chaste living, one finds the peace and grace to grow in Christian maturity.

Copyright (C) 2000 Courage

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If you are struggling with Homosexual inclinations or know someone who is feel free to come and talk with me or get in contact with the Washington Chapter of Courage.

TOB Intro Part II

I hope this week was a little easier to digest especially with all that small group time :) Next week we're talking about what the Church says about Homosexuality. Here's the info from last night!
(modified from Life Teen's "Off the Wall" night)

From last week’s talks, would you say that in this world sexuality is viewed as it should be?
No.

But our God is asking us, just like he asked Peter today, to have faith in Him. Have faith in his incredible plan for our sexuality so that we might marvel at the wonder he shows us when we do.

You, are the hope for this world. You, bearing God’s gifts, vision, and promise. Our generation has already started, there is a revival. Teens and young people are starting to wake up to the truth about their sexuality and are realizing that they shouldn’t settle for the lies about our sexuality.

We need to seek the truth about our sexuality and guard our hearts against the disordered messages we’re getting from everywhere. Oral sex, sex parties, petting, pornography…these are not okay. This is not what God had in mind when he designed you, body and soul. And the fruits of abortion, contraception, suicide, STDs, depression, and despair clearly show this. This is not the happiness God intended for you when he created sex.

I don’t know exactly where each one of you stands with your faith life, I wish I did but I’m not there yet as a youth minister, so let’s level the playing field and make sure we’re all on the same page. I hope and pray that all of you are rooted in the belief that the Catholic Church speaks the truth revealed by Christ, but in case some of you are unsure consider this point when listening tonight because everything that we’re talking about is rooted in scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. So consider this…

Is it possible that a rational, intelligent person could accept the teachings of Christianity, and more specifically the Catholic Faith, as Truth? Yes... The world is full of rational, intelligent people who not only believe them to be true, but have been willing to give their lives for what they believe. So, it must at least be something worth investigating right? So please, keep an open mind while we’re talking about the Theology of the Body because for the next 5 life nights, we may be discussing things you’ve never heard and possibly disagree with. And with that….let’s get onto the truth about ourselves.

Beginning in 1979, about after a year of being Pope, John Paul II began a series of teachings at his weekly Wednesday public audiences about the human body and sexuality. These five weekly teachings lasted FIVE YEARS. This collection is now known as the Theology of the Body, and it is revolutionary and prophetic. John Paul II could see even in the late 70’s how broken our sexuality was starting to become with the “sexual revolution” and where we were heading if it did not change.

So let’s look at where we began. We’ve already discussed Genesis a lot. When God created us in his image and likeness, male and female he created us. So realize this, every bit of you, who you are, how you were made, what you look like, from your fingernails, your eyeballs, even down to your genitals, is made in the image and likeness of God. Our bodies image Him and the functions of our bodies mirror and reveal to us the mysteries of God and His love for us.

So undo the twisted ideas that say that the body is dirty, sinful, or unholy, or that your sexuality is unholy. The Catechism says “the flesh is the hinge of salvation”, but remember that is only true when “the flesh” is in line with the design of the creator. Our bodies are beautiful. We need our bodies for our faith. We believe in the WORD MADE FLESH who came to dwell among us and redeem the flesh. It is through your body that you sense and experience your faith. This is why we have sacraments, those outward and physical signs of inward grace being bestowed upon us by God. Holy water at baptism, sacred Chrism at baptism and confirmation, laying on of hands at confirmation and ordination, eating and drinking the Body and Blood of Christ at Mass, confessing your sins with your lips, anointing the sick, becoming one flesh in marriage; these are the sacraments, without your body you can’t receive them!
It is through our human flesh that we encounter the divine mystery.
To fully understand who we are and what we are we must understand in what image we are made and why.

Pope Benedict XVI has started off his Pontificate explaining it all for us, in his encyclical “God is Love”. God is a union of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God the Father is the lover, Jesus his only Son is the Beloved, and this love is so true and consuming that it is the blessed third person of the Trinity the Holy Spirit. When man and woman come together in a nuptial union, it images the trinity. This image is stamped in our bodies. So we are called also to reflect the love of God and love as he loves.

God loves us in many ways and these types of love are described by the scriptures and in much more detail in Pope Benedict’s encyclical. Some of the loves in the Bible describe God’s love as
-The love of an artist for his work.
-The love of a father for his son or daughter.
But the most used metaphor in scripture to describe how God loves us is that of the love between a Man and a Woman. The Bridegroom for his Bride. Our Church is called the eternal Bride of Christ and heaven is called the Eternal Wedding Feast.

Ephesians 5

Men your calling is to love your wives and all women as Christ loves the Church.

Women your calling is to allow yourselves to be loved as Christ loves you.

Submissive = under the mission

Suboordinate = under the order

Therefore....we are to be under the mission of men loving us as Christ loves us ladies. And men you are called to the difficult mission of loving as Christ loves. Corinthians 13 tells us....

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated,
it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails.

Don't settle for anything less, Christ wouldn't want you to.

Neat video.

Dove film, watch it again

Remember, women are God's masterpiece. God entered the world through a woman. Rejoice in your femininity girls, God does!

Theology of the Body

Click on the picture to read more...

(this is a condensed overview)

Click to Listen to Christopher West explain the Theology of the Body

click!Redemption of the Body
click!The Heart of God's Plan
click!The Human Body Shares in Divine Life
click!The Two Will Become One Flesh
click!The Human Desire for Heaven Gone Berserk
click!"Theological Time bomb"
click!Fuel of a Rocket
click!Live the Truth of The Spirit
click!Good News
click!Nakedness Without Shame
click!John Paul II
click!John Paul II Places a Value on Sex
click!Called With Power
click!Culture Has No Clue The Value of Sex
click!Eternal Plan of Love
click!Revolution For The Church
click!Theology of The Body is Not Just About Sex
click!Real Power From The Cross
click!Why is There Evil in The World
click!The Body Entered Theology Through The Main Door

Thirst

A new Rock band from our Diocese. Check 'em out. Just click below!

Thirst

Pro-Life Videos

Thanks for this video Jan. Take a look it's pretty cool. Keep your eyes peeled for TOB stuff coming soon.




This one is even cooler.

Jr. High Rally!!!

2007 Jr. High Rally

GOL: God on Line!

March 3,2007

Highline Community College

Save the Date!!!

T-Shirts!! Breakfast!! Snowshoes!!!

T-Shirt Designs!!! Apparently no-one wants to design St. Cecilia Youth Group T-shirts or something....so I guess we're going to extend the deadline.....How about Feb 24th? I've got some designs, but I know you guys can come up with catchy slogans and graphics and stuff.

Good News!! Since I have the big brown truck now....Breakfasts with Val will begin on February 7th! 8am-8:45am. Come eat and chat before you start your Wednesday school day. I'm thinking.....hashbrowns and scrambled eggs for our first go around. Sound good?

Snowshoe!!! You know you want to come. It's only $26.50. We get a guided trek with an instructor from the Stevens Pass Nordic Center. Get your permission forms on Sunday!

Snowshoe!!

Here's the permission form for Snowshoeing! We're going on Saturday Feb 17th at Stevens Pass! The cost is $26.50 per person. Click on the little form to see and print the large permission slip!

Wise Men vs. Shepherds

January is Poverty Awareness Month!

Middle School - we talked about Poverty Last Night and our need to be aware of our Brothers and Sisters who are poor but still deserve Dignity. Click below to Learn More about Poverty. Remember we need to Learn, Act, and Give to help the poor. Don't just forget about them, they are people too.

Click! Click! CLICK HERE!! Watch a Video! Learn More!!!

Poverty USA Learn More!!

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High School - We learned about our spiritual gifts and Charisms and we took the Spiritual Gifts Inventory. Here's an overview.

Charism is simply the Greek word used in the New Testament for “favor” or “gratuitous gift.” Charisms, or spiritual gifts, are special abilities given to Christians by the Holy Spirit to enable them to be powerful channels of God’s love and redeeming presence in the world. Whether extraordinary or ordinary, charisms are to be used in charity or service to build up the Church. ….grace also includesthe gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church.(CCC 2003)

Charisms are gifts given to us to give away. Charisms are always focused outward.

Talents are inherited from our parents. They are natural tools that we were born with. Charisms are supernaturally given to us by God, not to say that the Holy Spirit won’t work with the natural talents you already have, but they are supernaturally empowered.

According to the teachings of the Church all baptized Christians are given charisms, though not all charisms are permanent.

This inventory will help us to discern which charisms we might have by identifying patterns you see in your life. But this is not the be all and end all of your gifts. Remember, some charisms are temporary and all charisms need to be developed through spiritual guidance and discernment.

Our CHARISMS are not super powers to be used for our own benefit. CHARISMS must always be focused outward and rightly ordered in the process of the Church. So if you have an extraordinary charism like prophecy, you must get guidance from a priest to develop this charism for the good of the Body of Christ instead of personal glorification or pride. For a charism to be used best it must be used with humility.

For more info on the spiritual gifts inventory and charisms check out.... www.siena.org

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Val's special note to the youth....

Now remember, the test you took was taken quickly. The workshop usually takes 3 days and there's lots of explanation into each Charism. If you want to know more about the high scores you got on your test come see me and we'll look at the big explanation in the book.

Your charisms are best used serving the Body of Christ, this is best determined by talking with someone who can guide you spiritually. The best bet for this would be a priest (Fr. Charles or Fr. Matthew or another Catholic ordained guy), a religious (Br. Laurence or some other handy dandy Monk or Nun you know), or if absolutely no one else.....maybe a youth minister (Me? uh.... I'd probably just refer you to Fr. Matthew anyways....you know that whole priestly ordination thing takes a lot of studying and wisdom gaining. Hah!)

So don't just wander around saying "I CAN DISCERN IF YOU HAVE AN EVIL SPIRIT IN YOU" if you think you have the charism of discernment of spirits, 'cuz that's not what we took the test for. This inventory was just to give you an idea of qualities you may not have recognized in yourself that can help bring others to Christ and help them live happier and more fulfilled lives. What better gift can you give to Christ but yourself and more souls for his glory?

Oh the Weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful bunch of Holy Days! Time to burst into the NEW YEAR!

First things first...our first Life Night this year is on Sunday the 7th! See you ALL after mass!

Second things second....we're having a

Youth Group T-Shirt Design Contest!

You can see the form here!

Click for entry form

Third things Third....

We're having a movie night on the 14th because it's a 3 day weekend. So no class, but Movie, Pizza, and Cranium!!

We'll be watching.....THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

Here's a clip!

The Lights of Christmas

The Lights of Christmas was really cool! Watching Charity Parker sniff a large pizza at Little Caesar's later that night was cool too!! We went a little victorian, rode a
train, went on a horse carriage ride, ate some yummy mini donuts, tromped through lights and gift shops and hugged the snowman and teddy bear. We had a fabulous night. Yay for field trips!

Gaudete Sunday!! Rejoice!!!

From Magnificat's reflection section for Gaudete Sunday....

"Nature warns us by a clear sign that our desitation is attained. That sign is joy. I mean joy, not pleasure. Pleasure is only a contrivance devised by nature to obtain for the creature the preservation of its life; it does not indicate the direction in which life is thrusting. But joy always announces that life has succeeded, gained ground, conquered. All great joy has a triumphant note. Now, if we take this indication into account and follow this new line of facts, we find that wherever there is joy, there is creation; the richer the creation, the deeper the joy" (Henri Bergson). Joy is perfectly compatible with moral excellence; it is a sign of this excellence and contributes to its perfection. The fount of joy lies in the innter depths of our being, at the roots of our freedom, when this freedom is open to the oupourings of goodness and love.

Yet, in order for the waters of this fount to pour forth within us, we have to make a personal choice of great price: When we receive the call to a greater good, a good that will reveal to us the true joy at the core of our lives, will we know how to break free from the charms of pleasure through a liberating renunciation? The discovery of joy beyond our trials is a decisive step on the way to moral maturity. One even comes to perceive, upon fulfilling its requirements, that joy does not destroy, but rather defines and rightly orders, pleasure.

Father Servais Pinckaers, O.P.
Father Pinckaers is professor emeritus of moral theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel, shall come to thee Oh Israel!!

Events, events, events....

The Dead Sea Scrolls were great! It was amazing to see the first written word of God. Highlights...the Genesis scroll, Isaiah, Psalm 119.....learning about pottery and the essenes....having lunch at Seattle Center......going on a field trip with the youth!!!!

Today..... Dec. 19th

The Lights of Christmas!

If you're interested in coming bring your permission forms (or your parent to sign one 'cuz I'll bring extras). I've got 4 extra tickets since some people can't go today! Meet Jeannie and Val at the entrance at 5pm!!

Tomorrow.....

The Parish Christmas Party/ Bye bye Bettie Party!!

Thursday..... Dec. 21st

Gathering Place/ Soup Kitchen and.........................

JEANNIE'S YOUTH GROUP CHRISTMAS PARTY!!!

The Bishop's request on fasting for peace.

Here's some info on the rules for Catholic fasting.

Fasting as explained by the U.S. bishops means partaking of only one full meal. Some food (not equaling another full meal) is permitted at breakfast and around midday or in the evening—depending on when a person chooses to eat the main or full meal.

http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Lent/faqle9902.asp

The Archbishop is asking us to make a sacrifice and pray for peace. It's all about giving of yourself physically to suffer a little for the greater body of Christ. Let's pray for peace as we wait for the Prince of Peace this Advent :)

Original Sin and Suffering - 2nd week of Advent!

It's Advent, so we're trying to clean our souls up and get them spiffy for the Lord's coming on Christmas and when he comes again to take us home!

(**modified from Lifeteen “Full Filled” retreat.)

Sin. We’ve emptied ourselves of it. So how do we stay out of it?

Picture it: You realize that you’re in an unhealthy relationship. Emptying your jar means not only breaking up with someone who is dragging you down, emptying your jar, your life, but it also means that you might spend some nights alone – all alone – just you and God. That is a tough reality sometimes.

Picture it: You realize that you are consumed not by God’s fire, but by the need to be liked or to be accepted. Everything you do and don’t do, say and don’t say, wear and don’t wear, is in some way, big or small, affected by those you go to school with or hang out with. You realize that by emptying your jar, your life, also means that you probably won’t “fit in” completely. It means that to truly follow the Gospel means you can’t accept certain behaviors in the people around you, because they lead to sin and, ultimately to death. That’s a tough reality sometimes.

Picture it: Your jar is empty and God is calling you not to fill it….not to fill it with busyness, not to fill it with your own wants or desires – He wants to be the one to fill it. Think about it, God wants you to remain completely empty and be filled only by Him to COMPLETELY let go of control. Can you do it? Can you trust Him?

True repentance has two motions: turning away and turning toward. Last week you turned away from sin. Unless you identify those areas of your life that lead you into sin, however, there is a good chance that you will walk back into it…even seek sin.

Fear of emptiness (being emptied of the comforts which lead you to sin) is what the devil wants. He wants you to doubt God’s grace and the fulfillment you get with God.
Emptiness of sin makes us nervous, anxious, scared, worried, frustrated, doubtful.
We are afraid to let God take care of everything. Why when we know that God is bigger than the issues we have and he sees all our hurts and knows our every need? He sees everything, he knows everything, he knows you, and he loves you.

(Blue is Info from “A Father Who Keeps His Promises” by Scott Hahn)

So how did we get this way? How did we come to the point where we lack trust in God? Why do we fall to sin? Why do we suffer from all of this?
Adam and Eve and the first sin – Original Sin

Here's a neat video on The Beginning. Just know that they take some creative story-telling liberties and they aren't using straight up Bible verses. Also, after Lucifer fell we refer to him as Satan. But other than that, it's a pretty neat video and fits into our discussion well.

The serpent lied to us and we believed him. Unfortunately sometimes we still do.

Check out Genesis 3: The Fall of Man

If we’re on Adam’s team (the human race team) and he is our challenge "champion" then we are troubled with the fate he “won” for us. The Stain of Original Sin.


Quote from Scott Hahn
“ Once the nature of Adam’s sin is understood to be his refusal to suffer out of love for his Father and bride, three conclusions logically follow. First, the divine curse of suffering imposed on Adam and Eve was reasonable. Second, their humble acceptance of that punitive suffering would be remedial. Third, Christ’s bearing of this curse, in his own sacrificial suffering on the cross, would prove to be redemptive.”

“Willingness to give ourselves out of love, even if it entails suffering, is what makes us fruitful.”
Adam failed to give himself willingly out of love, trusting God and being obediant to Him. He doubted God and feared the serpent aka the devil more than he trusted God. He failed God and he failed his wife.

Thus the curse of suffering was laid upon us all.

“Our father still wants us to be fruitful; that is why he imposed the curse of suffering, in order to keep alive our potential to become supernaturally fruitful.”

Suffering as part of the Church (which is Christ’s mystical body) shares in the redemption factor which gets us into heaven. Christ’s sacrifice made it possible for us to get into heaven. So being part of his church and part of his mystical body redeems us, but we have to “take up our cross” and suffer along with him as well. This is why there is suffering in the world.

As Christians we are called to suffer joyfully with Christ for through his suffering and the suffering of the Church his bride we are redeemed! We can’t be totally free from Original Sin until we’re in heaven, but the only reason we’re allowed into heaven/paradise in the first place is because of Christ’s strength in death to counter Adam’s weakness. Christ is the new Adam being the perfect man and Mary is the new Eve as the perfect woman. Through Mary's self giving "Be it done to me according to thy word", and by Christ's death on the cross we are again allowed to partake in salvation. We can see that "tree of life" again.

This is all the spirit of Advent. It’s penitential, but it’s life giving. We’re suffering because we’re waiting in anticipation, but we’re joyful because Christ is coming!!

For more info check out "A Father Who Keeps His Promises" by Scott Hahn, The Catechism of the Catholic Church #396 - 421, and some of these links In Innocence We Were Created, To Explain Infant Baptism You Must Explain Original Sin, Verse by Verse on Original Sin

Courtesy of B.Lo aka Brother Laurence

Network Shows We'd Like to See
(If Catholics took over the airwaves.)

Married With Lots of Children
A young Catholic couple with seven children live a happy, Christ centered, hectic life.

Friends of Christ
Five attractive and funny 20-something Catholic men and women share the fun and fulfillment of chaste, platonic relationships as they discern their vocations.

Madrid About You
A sitcom about an annoying Catholic apologist who constantly pesters a 30-something NY couple to become Catholic.

As the World Burns
A lighthearted, "feel good" sitcom set on the Day of Judgment.

All My Baptized Children
The uplifting story of a devout Catholic widow and her heroic efforts to raise her kids strong in the Faith.

IHS-1
24-hour all Catholic music video channel.

I Dream of Genealogies
(Whoops, never mind. Thats a Mormon show.)

The Samsons
This animated Old Testament family gets into hilarious religious dilemmas caused by their rambunctious long haired son who's really, really strong.

Sesame Street Preachers
Evangelization and apologetics training for kids! Catholic toddlers learn how to explain and defend the Faith through rhymes, skits, and cute songs.

Father Seinfeld
The funny, quirky story of a New York Jewish Comedian who converts to the Catholic Faith, becomes a priest, and spends his life working among Indian children in rural New Mexico.

God's E.R.
True stories of the confessional (names have been changed to protect the absolved).

Heavenly Court T.V.

A dramatic, edge of your seat depiction of Matthew 25. See souls judged and sentenced for all eternity.

Wheel of Providence
See ordinary people answer challenging questions that lead them to discover the will of God for their lives!

N.Y.P.D. Blue Army
A tense, gritty, dramatic series about hard boiled cops who fight street crime and spread the message of Our Lady of Fatima.

Oprah Sin-Free
A sassy daytime talk show featuring interesting guests who talk about how they avoid sin and cultivate virtue.

The Whore of Babylon (Five)
Part five in a thrilling mini series adventure about the Catholic Church's heroic struggle against, and victory over, the antichrist and his minions.

WWC "Wrestling With Your Conscience!"
Top moral theologians grapple with real, live sinners who give lame excuses for not repenting and returning to the sacraments.

Bayside Watch
Attractive, athletic young Catholic men and women save unsuspecting people from the dangers of bogus Marian apparition cults.

From Envoy Magazine May/June 1997, Volume 1.3

News from the Archbishop

Prepare your heart!!

It's Advent!!!

Reconciliation

Prayer

Good Works

Fasting

Holy Reading

Waiting patiently with excitement!!!

Don't forget the Parish Reconciliation Service on Wednesday at 7pm!!!

Here's a cool article on Advent Click Here for the original article.
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As We Wait in Joyful Hope
Ancient Catholic Customs Can Control Christmas Materialism
By Kevin Orlin Johnson

For many American Catholics, Thanksgiving kicks off another season of "here we go again"-fending off the annual bombardment from advertisers and the temptation to measure Christmas in terms of presents. It's a month-long struggle to get all of our holiday work done and somehow keep Christ in Christmas, too.

Many of us look back to a simpler Christmas in the "good old days," a mythical time when the holiday came wrapped in a stocking full of chocolates and maybe an orange. Well, let's look back a little farther and stand where we can get some perspective on the matter.

For one thing, when you look at the liturgical calendar, you'll notice that Christmas isn't the Church's major holiday. It never has been. Church Fathers such as Augustine didn't include a commemoration of Christ's birth in their lists of holidays at all. Early Christians focused their attention on Easter, the holiest day in the Church's calendar, the solemnity of solemnities.

In fact, our pattern of activity each week still echoes the Easter Triduum. That's why every Friday has always been a day of penance (it still is, by the way-the rule is either no meat or an equivalent penance, every Friday). Saturday was originally a day to lie low and keep quiet, which is why we have two-day weekends instead of laboring six days, as it says in Genesis. Sunday is the "little Easter" commemorating the resurrection in the splendid liturgies of the principal Mass of the week. The early Church recalled this more explicitly in its weekly liturgies, but in the old days Easter itself was surrounded by vigils, processions, songs, presents, feasts, and parties for which everybody bought new clothes.

Today we've shifted all of the fuss and festivities to Christmas, and we pass over Easter almost entirely. But Easter still overshadows the commemoration of the birth of Jesus-spiritually, theologically, and liturgically-as the high holy day, the most solemn and joyous holiday of all.

That's undoubtedly why we didn't get around to commemorating the birth of Christ in the liturgy until about the late fourth century. The earliest surviving record of a specific celebration of the Nativity is a sermon by St. Optatus, bishop of Mileve in Africa, from about 383. Evidently, Optatus was the first to put a Feast of the Nativity into his diocese's calendar. The idea caught on almost immediately, but the feast was celebrated on different days in different places any time from November to March. It wasn't set at December 25 for the whole Church until about 650, and even then it wasn't a major holiday. It wasn't called "Christmas" until about the year 1000. The Feast of the Nativity didn't get loaded down with all secular customs of Christmas-the caroling, the banqueting, and the elaborate exchange of presents-until about five hundred years later.

Christians in northern Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean were still observing a fairly low-profile Christmas around the year 1500. But it was different in northern Europe. About that time, that part of the world experienced a mini-Ice Age. Suddenly there was snow in the winter, lots of it; people had to work all summer to store up food for the weeks and months they'd be kept indoors. By the end of December you'd probably be stringing the dried fruit into endless garlands and singing incomprehensible songs anyway, holiday or no.

Certainly having the neighbors in to sit around a blazing Yule log wouldn't cut into your workday. All of the extras that naturally settled around Christmas-which comes just after the winter solstice-were not so much a burden as a welcome excuse for some social and physical activity. The parties back then were a well-earned celebration of a whole year's work harvested and gathered into barns.

Nowadays, of course, we wear ourselves out doing all of that stuff in addition to our normal daily workload, which takes the whole point out of it. Simplifying things to a leisurely level would be a courageous counter-cultural stand. But as our forebears in faith filled their empty hours with Yuletide cheer, they did something else, too, in the weeks before Christmas, something that can still put the holiday in perspective: They observed Advent.

Advent is really a lot like Lent. Both are roughly month-long seasons of preparation for a joyful holiday. In fact, starting in about the sixth century, Advent and Lent used the same liturgies, Mass for Mass, in the Latin Rite. During both seasons, you would see the purple vestments of mourning, symbolism echoed today by the colored candles of the Advent wreath. In the reign of Innocent III (1198-1216) the vestments of Advent were black. Long after that, pictures and statues were covered, the organ was silenced, and flowers were banned from the churches, just as during Lent. Even in the Ambrosian and Mozarabic rites, where there was no special Advent liturgy, there was still a requirement to fast during the season before the Nativity. It was designed to remind us of the need to repent in preparation for a holy season.

In Protestant denominations, of course, Advent has largely faded away. That's probably why the secular observances of Christmas, as they rushed in to fill the void, got out of hand. Advent fasting and almsgiving used to keep people aware of the proper use of material goods and of the need to offset other people's poverty with the excess from our own prosperity. If you take the penitential observances away, the secular celebrations can seem somehow obligatory, somehow the essence of Christmas.

Well, you wouldn't get far asking people to give up Santa's jolly red suit in favor of sackcloth and ashes. But there's one crucial difference between Lent and Advent: Christmas doesn't have Passion Week preceding it. The penitential observances of Advent always had a festive character to them. The idea was to contain your excitement before Christmas and to use that energy in preparing for Christ's coming. So people took on these penances joyfully-something that only a Christian could do. They'd pause in their celebrations to acknowledge their sins and to clean house spiritually, overjoyed that Christ came to us, but aware of our unworthiness to receive him.

We still use Advent calendars and wreaths to measure out joyful anticipation, but we can learn a lot from the old Advent practices that we've forgotten. Kids probably begged Optatus himself for Christmas presents, but for a month before that they would collect pennies for the poor, going door to door with a little Christ-child doll in an Advent variation on trick-or-treat. Families would have meager meals and give the unused food to the needy. Parishes used to have penitential feasts after Mass during Advent, with menus that were abundant but austere-bread and water, maybe, or fish, but plenty of it.

People had a good time keeping Advent, although music and dancing were forbidden then, just as during Lent. It was all part of a "discipline of joy" that is still an important part of our heritage today. Listen to the Mass after the Lord's Prayer: "In your mercy keep us free from sin . . . as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ." That's Advent, right there.

Maybe we can still recapture this uniquely Christian attitude of joyful penance. During these Advent weeks bring out that Lenten alms box and add coins to it before a meatless Friday dinner. Sing an Advent song as you do. Put the poor on your gift list: books and toys for the children, of course, but the whole family might save up for a bigger gift-an overcoat, maybe, for somebody who couldn't otherwise afford it.

And pay more attention to Easter. It's still our highest holy day. And the weather's usually nicer, too.


Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D., is author of several books about the Church and her teachings, including Apparitions: Mystic Phenomena and What They Mean and Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads.
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We're going to see this Movie on Friday. Meet at the Theatre at 3:30 to buy your $6.00 matinee ticket. The show is at 3:50. Don't forget your permission slips! Bring your friends and family!