The Nativity of the Lord

December is the month dedicated to Advent and Christmas and the Immaculate Conception

Readings from the Rule of Saint Benedict for the Week: Ch 66 The Porter of the Monastery- Ch 72 The Good Zeal of Monks

A light will shine on us this day; the Lord is born for us.

MARY, CONCEIVED WITHOUT ORIGINAL SIN,

MARY, QUEEN OF PEACE,

SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL,

PRAY FOR US.

To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever.

Amen.

(Romans 16:27)

Welcome to a packed day and week. If life is full and busy and occupied with many things and you think that Christmas is here too soon it is no wonder since we don't even get four full weeks of Advent! Whew.  However, so goes it this year. And you can always keep in mind something Mother Teresa once explained to her nuns:

What did Mary do, after she heard that she was to bear the Savior? Did she stay at home and meditate on the great mystery? No, when she heard that her elderly cousin Elizabeth was also with child, she immediately got up to go on a long journey - a very long journey to help her. To wash the pots and pans and do whatever needed to be done.

(Mother Saint Teresa of Calcutta, 1910-1997)

So, we carry on united in faith and prayer and do whatever needs to be done while remembering some words of Saint Peter Canisius (1521-1597): "If you have too much to do, with God's help you will find time to do it." If still overwhelmed with all the things Our Lord and Savior is asking you to do, then ask His blessed Mother Mary to cover you in her protective veil as you respond with her, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). 

For our voices for the week, may we listen with the ear of our hearts. 

Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.

(From a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great, in Office of Readings, Christmas)

Whenever we are kept waiting a while for something we greatly long for, when what we love does come it seems sweeter to us. It is up to us then to follow the example of the holy Fathers and to recall their longings and so set our minds on fire with love of and desire for Christ.

(Aelred of Rievaulx, 1110-1167)

When the human spirit is ready, God enters without hesitation or waiting. You need not look either here or there. God is not farther away than the door of the heart.

(Meister Eckhart, 1260-1328)

No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God except by kneeling before the manger of Bethlehem and adoring Him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child.

(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 563)

It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the audacity to believe that God loves us, 

and the power to love Him back.

(Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153)

All the way to heaven is heaven.

(Servant of God Dorothy Day, 1897-1980)

Let us imitate blessed Stephen as far as God gives us the grace to do so. Let us not only love our friends but also our enemies, because there is nothing whereby we can so well redeem our sins, overcome the devil, and please God.

(Saint Caesarius of Arles, 468/470-542)

Our Lady stands before us in all her glory to show what marvels God will accomplish in us, what heights, what nearness to Himself, if we but give ourselves to Him as she did, and allow Him to work in us. She is God's most perfect design, the most perfect image of Christ Jesus ... God is in the simple, the routine, the uneventful, the drab things of life. It is there that we encounter Him and can, if we will, embrace Him as Mary did, for He is Emmanuel, God with us. Our task it to be with Him - always.

(Ruth Burrows, 1923-2023)

Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may He bring us all together to everlasting life.

(Rule of Saint Benedict, 72:11-12)

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL SAINTS,

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL APOSTLES,

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL MARTYRS,

MARY, QUEEN OF ALL EVANGELISTS,

SAINT STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR,

SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST,

SAINT THOMAS BECKET,

SAINT THOMAS MORE,

ELIJAH AND ELISHA,

SAINT THOMAS,

THE HOLY INNOCENTS,

PRAY FOR US.

Today's photo: Sunrise over Mt. Hood. Heaven drops dew from above. Let the earth open up and the Savior spring forth.

© Gertrude Feick 2023