Year IV, Number 50

In tonight's second reading, the Apostle Paul helps us to understand the Christ-event which we celebrate on this radiant night. He writes: "The grace of God has appeared, offering salvation to all men" (Tit 2:11).

The "grace of God" appearing in Jesus is God's merciful love, which dominates the entire history of salvation and guides it to its definitive fulfilment. The self-revelation of God who "humbled himself to come among us as a man" (Preface of Advent, I) is the anticipation, here on earth, of his glorious "appearing" at the end of time (cf. Tit 2:13).

But there is more. The historical event which we are experiencing in mystery is the "way" given to us as a means of encountering the glorious Christ. By his Incarnation Jesus teaches us, as the Apostle observes, "to reject godless ways and worldly desires, and live temperately, justly and devoutly in this age as we await our blessed hope" (Tit 2:12-13).

O Birth of the Lord, you have inspired Saints of every age! I think, among others, of Saint Bernard and his spiritual ecstasy before the touching scene of the Crib. I think of Saint Francis of Assisi, the inspired creator of the first live depiction of the mystery of Christmas night. I think of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, who by her "little way" suggested anew to the proud modern mind the true spirit of Christmas.

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I feel called to teach philosophy or theology and to defend the Church against heresy. I have wanted to become a priest in the past, but now I am not so sure because I have no desire to perform specifically priestly tasks, like offering the sacrifice of the Mass, hearing confessions, etc. Since I do not have any desire to do these things, does this necessarily mean that I am not called to the priesthood?

- Seth

A. Dear Seth,

A vocation is usually manifested in an attraction to some aspect of the priestly life or ministry. The initial attraction may not be to the essentials of the priesthood, and much will depend on your age and your spiritual journey up to the point of first feeling the attraction.

The initial attraction of course has to be deepened, for even if there is a strong desire to say Mass or hear confessions, these are things that a priest does, and only a priest can do, but they are not the essence of the priesthood.

An important part of the maturing of a vocation that takes place in the seminary is the progress from this first attraction towards something that a priest does to a desire and decision to BE a priest, to identify with Christ, Priest and Victim, in your mind and heart, and to be willing to embrace the Cross of Christ in your own life, by doing his will always, to the best of your ability. This is aided by prayer, instruction and spiritual direction, but it is essentially a grace.

What you have to ask God to enlighten you about, and ask him to strengthen you for, is whether he is really inviting you to give yourself totally to him through your desires to serve the Church as a teacher. Your spiritual director will have to help you figure if that total gift of yourself might entail being available to be a priest, or if it means consecration in religious life or a lay movement. If your soul was once open to the priesthood, I would suggest you open it again, and offer yourself to Christ to be his priest. People need teachers, for sure, but especially priests - and priests are all the time teaching: to crowds in their preaching, and one-on-one in confession and spiritual direction.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

In feeling called to a more contemplative spirituality, does that mean we reject the use of the Holy Spirit, as it moves in movements such as the Charismatic Renewal?

- Catherine

A. Dear Catherine,

St Paul tells us to seek the higher gifts, and the highest of all is love. Indeed, it is the only gift that matters as he explains - even faith that moves mountains is empty without love (1 Cor 13). To focus only on Christ, like Mary at his feet contemplating him and absorbing his words, is a pure and beautiful expression of love. Christ calls it “the better part.”

For some people an increase in contemplation is compatible with some of the external forms of devotion and particular gifts associated with the Charismatic Renewal, while God may call others to leave these aside (for example if you discover a vocation to a religious order whose spirituality does not have those elements). This is not rejecting the Holy Spirit, quite the contrary, you are going to have to be closer than ever to him because he himself is love and without him you cannot love, you cannot be a contemplative.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

You are young. You hold in your hands the great gift of youth. Life, for you, is all promise and challenge. You want to take advantage of your talents and make the best use of them. You contemplate life in all its beauty and mystery. That gift of life is in our hands, both mine and yours. And in every succeeding moment the gift is renewed in a mysterious way. God gave us life and together with it he gave us another great gift: the gift of liberty. As a consequence of our free decision life is ours to be gained or lost, to be taken advantage of or wasted. Freedom is ours and God will not take it away. How great man must be that God should treat him with such respect! How marvelous a gift our freedom must be, that through it we can choose either to cleave with our whole being to what is good, to God’s will, or on the other hand, freely decide to diverge from that will and choose the way that leads to evil!

When I was your age, I too, used to ask myself questions about life, about its meaning, about why the doors of existence should have been opened to me to let me enter in from utter nothingness. At the time I felt coursing in my veins the throbbing force of life. And I felt unable to admit that my passage through this world was but fleeting and momentary. Like you, I too used to dream of doing great things. I wanted to take on the world for some noble cause, to be a champion of the truth, to exalt the beautiful, to be a hero, to give myself unconditionally for some grand ideal, not to just let life drag me along, but rather to forge ahead for myself, and with my liberty give direction to my existence.

I found answers to all these questions in the faith. From a very early age, in a simple childish way, whether it was in the parish or from the slopes of the hills surrounding the town where I was born, I remember thinking to myself, that I would only find the meaning of my existence in God, my Creator. The fact that in creating me, God should have thought of me from all eternity, filled me with joy and consolation: “I am because someone loves me. I am because someone has thought of me and continues to think of me, with infinite love.”

Gospel: Lk 1:39-45

In those days Mary arose and went in haste to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Introductory Prayer: Lord enlighten the eyes of my heart to the beauty of Mary’s self giving to others. Help me to follow Mary’s example, putting into practice all I have seen and heard knowing that it is in giving that I receive, in losing my life for others I gain life not for temporal pleasures but for eternal life.

Petition: Lord help me to look out on the horizon of life, lived to the full through sacrifice and self giving for your glory.

1. “Mary arose and went in haste to the hill country.”

It is easy to respond to a family member's needs when they are in a jam. But what about those who we are not familiar with or who are not in the select group of our friends? We see the need in this gospel to not let anything stop us from helping a neighbor, a stranger, or workmate, to look on them with eyes of faith and compassion as God does. To feel the urgent calling if you do not do it then who will?

2. “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?”

Just imagine being in the presence of the “Mother of God, Mary”. What an incredible and moving scene when we contemplate being there in her presence! You probably have had the experience of being in the presence of someone you admire. There is something that rubs off on you, especially if it is someone who is very charity and kindness. There are so many examples that come to mind. The Holy Father and Mother Teresa are two of them. We can also ask God for the graces we need to emulate their way of life through a deeper prayer life that moves us to action. So, we need to constantly put ourselves in environments that will help us grow in virtue and allow us to practice charity the way Jesus and Mary did.

3. “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

We can ask Mary to gain for us the graces to be firm believers in God's will for our lives. Contrary to the modern mindset that faith has to be proven through science and experiment, it is really natural to believe. It is built into the human heart. Man is religious by nature. In our daily experiences of life we are enriched by men and women who have high ideals and set high standards for themselves and on the other hand repulsed by people who have bad attitudes who infect others through negative comments. Let us ask for the graces to be real believers and men and women who proclaim the gospel from the rooftops, overflowing with charity.

Dialogue: Jesus and Mary you know in my heart I desire to do well and avoid evil. Help me to not just talk the talk but look for every opportunity throughout the day to be a beacon of light for others so they can walk closer to you!

Questionnaire:

1. Looking back over this gospel and the lights the Holy Spirit is inspiring me with, which are the dark areas that I must work on, or which virtues need to be toned up in order to be the person God is calling me to be?

2. Looking at Mary’s readiness to serve, how do I respond to others in need? Which are the moments when I find it hard to look out for those around me and their needs – the moments when I am indifferent, and ready to ignore them?

3. What repercussions do the demands of faith have in my life? What am I mostly concerned about throughout the day?

(Luke 14:25-27; Matthew 10:37-40)

These are some of those words that we often wish Christ had not said.

Whenever we read them we almost wait to see if our Lord will have second thoughts and hurriedly backtrack, apologizing and saying that it is just a figure of speech, or that he just got carried away on the tide of his own passionate rhetoric. At times we might find ourselves embarrassed to read them in public, and simply mutter in our hearts, This is a hard saying.

But when we dare to look up at Christ, we do not find him embarrassed at what he has let slip out, nor do we find him rushing to take his words back, or to rephrase and water them down.

He just looks at us and says, “Because of this, will you also go away?” (cfr. John 6)

Let us read the actual words of the gospel:

Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-27)

The first thing we notice here is that Jesus is not speaking in private, in one of those many closed sessions he often had alone with his twelve apostles. He is addressing the great multitudes. And further, the specific reference to family members seems unprovoked in the context. It is not as if someone has just said to him, I will follow you if my family will only let me, to which he answers by putting the family in its place - much in the same way as he declared the hindrance of riches when the rich young man turned away from him in sadness because he was not willing to give up his possessions (cfr Luke 18:18-25).

So here, he is not specifically addressing an isolated instance of overcoming the opposition of parents and siblings. Jesus is laying down a general principle, valid for all times and circumstances, and not only for when there is opposition. He is not saying: If family members are a problem then you have to put them in second place. He is saying: If right off the bat you do not put your blood relationships in second place you are simply not worthy of me.

He even goes further than that to say something that affects us even more directly and personally (and perhaps will make your family feel a little better about the place you are assigning them): If you do not put yourself, your own life, in a lower place than me you are not worthy of me: if you do not take up your cross daily and follow me you are not worthy of me.

In other words, Christ is establishing a principle and a pattern: we are only worthy of him when he is everything to us, and when we embrace his cross.

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

Rome, Italy. December 27, 2003 - January 5, 2004. Pilgrimage for college-aged men and high school seniors. Price: $399 + airfare. Chaplains are the Legionaries of Christ. Contact Karolee Stauduhar at kstauduhar@msn.com or (407) 869-8263.

Rome, Italy. December 27, 2003 - January 5, 2004. Youth Pilgrimage for boys ages 11-15. Price: $1,495 (includes airfare) Chaplains are the Legionaries of Christ. Contact Ray Arsenault at (902) 854-2808 or arsenaultacres@pei.sympatico.ca

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated women

Rome, Italy. December 28, 2003 - January 6, 2004. Pilgrimage for high school girls (grades 8 -11). Price: $600 + airfare. To register now contact Tracy Jones at sjfc@pei.sympatico.ca or (902) 854-2969

Christmas retreat for young women ages 13 - 17 discerning a call to consecrated life. For more information contact Liliana Esmenjaud at matere@ids.net or (401) 378-3201

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony MacDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. amacdonnell@arcol.org.

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