I had a lot of resources for today so I figured I would give it its own post.

Indulgences:

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly assist either at the recitation or solemn singing of
- the Veni Creator, either on the first day of the year to implore divine assistance for the course of the whole year, or on the solemnity of Pentecost;
- the Te Deum, on the final day of the year, to offer thanks to God for gifts received throughout the course of the entire year.

- Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, (1999) #26, paragraph 1, numbers 1-2

Almanac:

Today is the Octave Day of Christmas: The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

Liturgy of the Hours: Seasonal proper

Liturgical Notes: With the permission of the diocesan bishop, the Mass for Peace is allowed. Gloria; Creed; Preface of the Blessed Virgin Mary I. Today is a holy day of obligation in the United States.

Other Calendars: In the Easter Orthodox tradition, today is the Circumcision of the Lord, which was also the celebration in our calendar before its reform. The East also remembers Saint Basil the Great today. Anglicans and Lutherans begin the new calendar year honoring the Holy Name of Jesus.

History: Birth of Pope Alexander VI (1431); Deaths of Saint Basil the Great (379) and Saint Telemachus (404)

Today’s Readings

Homilies:

Deacon David Deston
Father Lachance, OP

This is a great insight from Deacon David that I received today:

In saying yes, Mary becomes the Mother of God, the God-bearer, the Theotokos. For nine months, she carries within her God-made-man; she is pregnant with the Word. Our Lady, pregnant with the Word, brings Him forth so that we might be saved. She is a model for us in this. My friends, all of us, when we worship the Lord at Mass, when we hear His Word and receive His Body and Blood become pregnant with the Word. All of us, men and women, carry God within us.

If all of us are pregnant with the Word, then, what are we to do with Him? Using Mary as our model, we bring forth the Word and deliver Him to the world. All our good works, all the effort we spend in service to God and man, all our sacrifice, is a very real labor, and it is through this labor, sometimes painful, that we give birth to the Word, to God. We see this all around us, and indeed, in the life of Mary herself. It wasn’t enough for hear to give birth to Jesus. On the contrary, she bore Him to Egypt, fleeing the sociopathy of Herod. For Mary, the labor pains, as it were, were to continue throughout her life. Indeed, the prophet Simeon tells her that her own heart a sword shall pierce. In becoming the Mother of God, she also becomes the Mother of Sorrows.

Just as with the Mother of God, so too with us. We don’t need to flee to foreign parts, but how many of our brothers and sisters must flee governments headed by madmen? In this country, do we not see the most vulnerable of all suffer and die? Do we not see the family harassed by false understandings of marriage? Are we not twisted by the oversexualization of the culture? Indeed, these are labor pains, and we travail against them. We have no other choice. We have not choice, my friends, because in delivering God to the world, we help in its transformation; we raise it up and present it to God so that He might redeem it and bring us at last to the end of our pilgrimage, to eternal life with the Lord.

Miscellaneous:

Today is also the World Day of Prayer for Peace. The theme this year is "The Human Family, a Community of Peace." You can read his message here.

Here are Pope Benedict's prayer intentions for January:

General: That the Church may strengthen her commitment to full visible unity in order to manifest ever more clearly her nature as a community of love in which is reflected the communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Missionary: That the Church in Africa, preparing to celebrate the second Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Africa, may continue to be a sign and channel of reconciliation and justice in a continent still suffering from war, exploitation and poverty.

Here's a vocation intercession you might consider adding to your intentions at Mass and in the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours:

That all who are called to a life of service in the Church, may put their trust in our heavenly Mother who draws all to her Son, providing the model of perfect openness to the call of the Holy Spirit, we pray to the Lord.

If you're looking for more information on the dogma, check out the University of Dayton's website on Mary's Divine Maternity.

My new year's resolution is to work more diligently on the site. We'll see how long that lasts!

I'll be in bed watching the ball drop tonight as I continue to recover from whatever disease has ruined my vacation. I forgot to watch vespers with the Holy Father this afternoon, but remember:

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who devoutly assist either at the recitation or solemn singing of the Te Deum, on the final day of the year, to offer thanks to God for gifts received throughout the course of the entire year.

- Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, (1999) #26, paragraph 1, number 2

Austen Ivereigh, the former adviser to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, writes about Tony Blair's conversion in this coming week's America Magazine. The full text is only available to subscribers.

He writes about something I am also inclined to think when I hear a discussion of Catholic politicians: we don't know what struggles are going on within the person. This is not a cop-out nor is it an excuse to rationalize voting in favor of legislation that is objectively heinous. However, I have to wonder what is going on in their hearts. Politicians are thinking and feeling human beings who should always be treated as inherently good, with the dignity that comes from being a child of God. Despite their errors, I don't see how bad-mouthing them and impugning their characters in relatively anonymous blog posts is "building the kingdom."

As the presidential primaries loom, there are many who will not vote for Mitt Romney because of his "flip-flop" reputation. To me, it's more important to vote for the best candidate at the time of the election not the one who's been with me all along. Conversion is still something we preach. (Whether he changed his position to get elected or he did so legitimately is not something we can be sure of this side of heaven, so I'll leave that one to God. Intentions can be tricky.) Which leads me to wonder how our vitriolic criticism of pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage Catholic politicians is an act of charity, meant to correct our brothers and sisters. Frankly when people treat me that way, I tend to turn off the message, whether it's for my own good or not. In the end I lose, but human nature is proud.

Do not get me wrong: I firmly profess all that the Catholic Church teaches. I vote only for those politicians who best conform to those tenets. However, God is the one with the last word. He is the just judge. In the end, all our struggles and our actions will be laid bare for all to see. Catholics who cut down their brothers and sisters who are on a journey and cloak their venom in the otherwise legitimate cloak of "fraternal correction" will answer for their actions.

Let's be honest here: how many have come over to our side, convinced by the truly ugly comments? I'd rather say on Judgment Day that I stood up for Christ and acted out of love for my brothers and sisters rather than out of pride. Remember: it doesn't matter when we get there, just that we get there.

Here's how Ivereigh concludes:

It is one thing is to hold Catholics in public life to account: to question how Judge Antonin Scalia can be in favor of the death penalty, or John Kerry of abortion. But it is another to call them hypocrites, to pretend to know what choices faced them, and why they took the decisions they did. Politicians are not lackeys; they must govern in favor of the common good in a pluralist society. If a Catholic can only serve a government whose every act chimes with his conscience and with church teaching, he cannot be a politician.

Prying into a man’s conscience is something we can do only with trembling, which is why it is left to spiritual directors and priests under the seal of confession. Tony Blair has satisfied them that he assents to all that the Catholic Church believes, teaches and proclaims to be revealed by God. The rest of us can only hold out our hands in welcome, rejoice at his homecoming, and be glad that our own JFK moment–when a Catholic prime minister one day opens the door of No. 10 Downing St.–has inched a little closer.

Which leads me to the question which is still not answered and I feel will still not be answered by the end of this coming new year: in 2008, can one be both authentically Catholic and a United States politician?


I'd like to explore these questions in the new year, including the insights of revelation and the lives of the saints. Despite the rhetoric, I still do not see this as a simple discussion.

Labels: culture, dissent, politics, U.S. Church