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St. Eugenia: Saint of the Day for Friday, December 25, 2020

There definitely was a Roman martyr named Eugenia but the rest of her story is a romantic fictitious legend. According to it she was the daughter of Duke Philip of Alexandria, governor of Egypt during the reign of Emporer Valerian. She fled her father’s house dressed in men’s clothing and was baptized by Helenus, bishop of Heliopolis, who sent her to an abbey of which she later became abbot. Accused of adultery by a woman she had cured of a sickness and whose advances she had resisted, she was …

Thursday in the Fourth Week of Advent – Mass in the Morning

Reading 1 2 SM 7:1-5, 8B-12, 14A, 16 

When King David was settled in his palace,
and the LORD had given him rest from his enemies on every side,
he said to Nathan the prophet,
“Here I am living in a house of cedar,
while the ark of God dwells in a tent!” 
Nathan answered the king,
“Go, do whatever you have in mind,
for the LORD is with you.” 
But that night the LORD spoke to Nathan and said:
“Go, tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD:
Should you build me a house to dwell in?

“‘It was I who took you from the pasture
and from the care of the flock
to be commander of my people Israel. 
I have been with you wherever you went,
and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. 
And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth. 
I will fix a place for my people Israel;
I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place
without further disturbance.
Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old,
since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel.
I will give you rest from all your enemies. 
The LORD also reveals to you
that he will establish a house for you. 
And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins,
and I will make his Kingdom firm.
I will be a father to him,
and he shall be a son to me.
Your house and your Kingdom shall endure forever before me;
your throne shall stand firm forever.’”

Responsorial Psalm PS 89:2-3, 4-5, 27 AND 29

R. (2)  For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to David my servant:
Forever will I confirm your posterity
and establish your throne for all generations.”
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
“He shall say of me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the rock, my savior.’
Forever I will maintain my kindness toward him,
and my covenant with him stands firm.”
R. For ever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

 

 

Alleluia  

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O Radiant Dawn,
splendor of eternal light, sun of justice:
come and shine on those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 1:67-79

Zechariah his father, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied, saying:

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
for he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty Savior,
born of the house of his servant David.
Through his prophets he promised of old
that he would save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant.
This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to set us free from the hand of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear,
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

– – –

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

He Keeps His Promises

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I love this Gospel reading today. I really love praying the Liturgy of the Hours, also called the Divine Office. There’s a reason why thousands of lips utter these same words as Zechariah every morning:

Because He keeps His promises.

He promised Noah to show eternal mercy upon His creation after the flood.

He promised our father Abraham that He would be the father of countless generations.

He promised Moses that He would deliver His people out of slavery to the Promised Land.

Throughout the Old Testament, we have the words of the prophets echoing God’s promises to deliver us from our enemies, “free to worship Him without fear.”

In today’s First Reading, God speaks this reality to David, “I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you famous like the great ones of the earth. I will fix a place for my people Israel; I will plant them so that they may dwell in their place without further disturbance. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old.”

He swore that He would remember His covenant.

The most paramount promise He ever made was to the serpent in the Garden, when He swore that He would send One to rise up and crush his head.

That time is now, brothers and sisters.

Tonight, two thousand and twenty years ago, the Word of the Father became incarnate and walked among us. The Son of God came to save us.

Why? Because He always keeps His promises.

The world offers us many things to idolize: money, fame, glory, power, pleasure. But these things have proven, throughout the course of human history, to be false and fleeting. The only thing that has stood the test of time is the Word of God. This is the crux of our faith.

And that Word is still true and relevant today. Christ desires to enter into the mess of 2020, just as He entered into the mess of Bethlehem’s stable.

This has been a hard year. No one is denying that. It has been filled with political unrest, hatred, hunger, sickness, death, natural disasters, and grief. Above all, it has been filled with the unknown.

So we must hold on to what we do know. And what is that? That He is still coming. Because He said He would.

He is coming into the midst of a year bursting with suffering, wounds, traumas, fears, sin, brokenness, stress, irritations, heartbreak, and loss.

And that’s why we can celebrate. That is why this is the most wonderful time of the year. That is why the bells peal and the voices ring out in unison, “O Holy Night!”

This night is holy because it is the night that the world stopped turning on its axis. It is the night that forever changed the course of history – the night that reordered our count of years.

Zechariah’s Benedictus summarizes it well, “In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Right now, we are stuck dwelling in darkness, the shadow of death permeating our culture and our lives.

But tonight, the light is breaking for us. He is leading us and guiding us. He is giving us His peace. All because He keeps His promises.

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Sarah Rose hails from Long Island and graduated from Franciscan University in 2016 with a Bachelor’s in Theology & Catechetics. She is happily married to her college sweetheart John Paul. They welcomed their first child, Judah Zion, in 2019. She is passionate about her big V-vocation: motherhood, and her little v-vocation: bringing people to encounter Christ through the true, the good, and the beautiful. She loves fictional novels, true crime podcasts/documentaries, the saints (especially Blessed Chiara Luce Badano), & sharing conversation over a good cup of coffee. She is currently the Coordinator of Young Adult Ministry at St. Cecilia Church in Oakley, Cincinnati. You can find out more about her ministry here: https://eastsidefaith.org/young-adult OR at https://www.facebook.com/stceciliayam.

Feature Image Credit: Daphné Richard, https://unsplash.com/photos/99VLuQKiimQ

St. Adele: Saint of the Day for Thursday, December 24, 2020

St. Adele, Widow. A daughter of King Dagobert II of Germany, St. Adele became a nun upon the death of her husband, making provisions for her son, the future father of St. Gregory of Utrecht. She founded a convent at Palatiolum near Trier and became its first Abbess, ruling with holiness, prudence, and compassion. St. Adele seems to have been among the disciples of St. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, and a letter in his correspondence is addressed to her. After a devout life filled with good …

Christmas Prayer: Prayer of the Day for Thursday, December 24, 2020

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel’s song, for infant’s cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold his glory, and are bathed in its radiance.
Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, …

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent

Reading 1 MAL 3:1-4, 23-24

Thus says the Lord GOD:
Lo, I am sending my messenger
to prepare the way before me;
And suddenly there will come to the temple
the LORD whom you seek,
And the messenger of the covenant whom you desire.
Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.
Then the sacrifice of Judah and Jerusalem
will please the LORD,
as in the days of old, as in years gone by.

Lo, I will send you
Elijah, the prophet,
Before the day of the LORD comes,
the great and terrible day,
To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children,
and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike
the land with doom.
 

Responsorial Psalm PS 25:4-5AB, 8-9, 10 AND 14

R. (see Luke 21:28)  Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Your ways, O LORD, make known to me;
teach me your paths,
Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my savior.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
Good and upright is the LORD;
thus he shows sinners the way.
He guides the humble to justice,
he teaches the humble his way.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.
All the paths of the LORD are kindness and constancy
toward those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
The friendship of the LORD is with those who fear him,
and his covenant, for their instruction.
R. Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.

 

 

Alleluia  

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church:
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 1:57-66

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son. 
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her. 
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
“No. He will be called John.” 
But they answered her,
“There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” 
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. 
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,”
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
“What, then, will this child be?”
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.

– – –

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

A Catholic’s Guide to the End of the World

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“But who will endure the day of His coming?”

Are you prepared for The End? It’s during a year like 2020 when talk of the end of the world ramps up. People are stocking canned peas. Ammo sales are up. People are buying enough toilet paper to feed a family of chronic toilet paper eaters. Panic sets in and people lie awake at night, wondering if they prepared adequately. It’s in movies and it’s been lived out with the arrival of a disease earlier this year.

We all know that the world is hurling towards an impending…well…end. Jesus himself told us this. When doesn’t matter. Everyone wants to talk about “when,” but it has little to no importance. The only ones who should be afraid of The End are those who only have assets in this world.

There’s only one way to prep for the end of the world and it involves the state of our souls. This is real. If you’re scared or have any worries, these are the only questions that matter.

What small vices are hard to let go of? How have you grown accustomed to sin? (It’s the small little sins that can be hardest to let go of.)

  • Gossiping
  • Gluttony
  • Watching movies/shows with evil content
  • Thinking we’re better than others who are struggling with sin
  • No daily prayer time because we’re “too busy”
  • Failing to learn about our faith
  • Blaming others for our own mistakes

How have we not given our will to God? Have you charged forward with your own plans for life, ignoring what God is trying to show you?

  • Chasing money instead of Christ
  • Pleasing others instead of Christ
  • Putting work before children and/or spouse

I’m sure there are many more, but I’ll let you figure them out.

If none of these questions surface some good confession material you may suffer from moral blindness. If the greatest saints saw themselves as lowly sinners, it shouldn’t be too hard to find something to repent of. (C.S. Lewis has some really interesting things to say about Pride, I encourage you to read “Mere Christianity.”)

Although it would be far more beneficial, National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers wouldn’t be as interesting if it was about people caring for the state of their souls.

Let’s all get to Confession and ask our Lord to help us to see the sins on our heart!

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Patrick produces YouTube content for young Catholics on Catholic Late Night and Overt TV. He loves using humor to share the Truth of the Catholic faith with anyone who will listen. He resides currently in Chattanooga, TN and is a parishioner at The Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Patrick graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a degree in Communication Arts and a Minor in Marketing.

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St. John of Kanty: Saint of the Day for Wednesday, December 23, 2020

The people of Olkusz in Bohemia in 1431 had every reason to be suspicious of their new pastor. They knew what a Cracow professor would think of their small rural town. But even more insulting, their town was once again being used as a dumping ground for a priest who was “in disgrace.” John had indeed been kicked out of his university position — unjustly. Rivals who resented John’s popularity with the students had cooked up a false charge against him. John was not even allowed to …