YouTube - Let there be Peace on Earth (Vince Gill)

Pope On the Birth of Christ (cont.)

ZENIT - On the Birth of Christ

Dear friends, in these days of preparation leading up to Christmas the prayer of the Church intensifies, so that the hopes for peace, salvation, justice, and all that the world urgently needs, be made a reality. We ask God that violence be defeated by the power of love, that opposition be replaced by reconciliation, that the desire to dominate be transformed into desires for forgiveness, justice and peace.

May the wishes of kindness and love that we exchange in these days reach all sectors of our daily lives. May peace be in our hearts, so that we can be open to the action of God's mercy. May peace live in all families and may they spend Christmas united before the crib and the tree decorated with lights. May the Christmas message of solidarity and welcome contribute to create a deeper sensibility toward old and new types of poverty, and toward the common good that we are all called to share.

May all family members, especially the children and the elderly -- the weakest ones -- feel the warmth of this feast, and may that warmth spread out through every day of the year. May Christmas be a celebration of peace and joy: joy for the birth of the Savior, Prince of peace. Like the shepherds, we hasten our steps toward Bethlehem. In the heart of the Holy Night we will be able to contemplate the "infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger," together with Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:12,16).

We ask the Lord to open our soul, so that we can enter the mystery of his birth. May Mary, who gave her virginal womb to the Word of God, who contemplated the child between her arms, and who offers him to everyone as the Redeemer of the world, help us make next Christmas a moment of growth in the knowledge and love of Christ. This is the wish that I warmly extend to you all, to your families and your dear ones.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Universalis: Office of Readings

Universalis: Office of Readings:

"For this reason, when our Lord was born of the Virgin, the message of the angelic voices was: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to men of good will.

For how could there be peace on earth unless Truth has arisen from the earth, that is, unless Christ were born of our flesh? And he is our peace who made the two into one: that we might be men of good will, sweetly linked by the bond of unity.

Let us then rejoice in this grace, so that our glorying may bear witness to our good conscience by which we glory, not in ourselves, but in the Lord. That is why Scripture says: He is my glory, the one who lifts up my head. For what greater grace could God have made to dawn on us than to make his only Son become the son of man, so that a son of man might in his turn become son of God?

Ask if this were merited; ask for its reason, for its justification, and see whether you will find any other answer but sheer grace."

---from A sermon of St Augustine

USCCB - (NAB) - December 24, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 24, 2007:

"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.”"

Today's Prayer: May peace dwell within each one of us, within our families and friends, within our parishes...within our world.

Let your glory fall (video)

Pope On the Birth of Christ

ZENIT - On the Birth of Christ:

"It is therefore very important that we are true believers, and as believers, that we reaffirm forcefully, with our lives, the mystery of salvation that comes with the celebration of Christ's birth! In Bethlehem, the Light which illumines our life was made manifest to the world; the Way which leads to the fullness of our humanity was revealed to us. What sense does it make to celebrate Christmas if we don't acknowledge that God has become man? The celebration becomes empty.
Before all else, we Christians have to reassert with deep and heartfelt conviction the truth of Christ's birth in order to bear witness before all the awareness of an unparalleled gift that enriches not only us, but everyone.

---taken from reflection on Christmas that Benedict XVI delivered on December 19th at the general audience "

Jesus is Key!

Intercessors Of The Lamb
"In Acts 4:12 we read, “There is no salvation, for there is no other name in the whole world given to men by which we are saved, except by the name of Jesus.” In other words, there is no salvation, there is no covenant love, except in Jesus. Jesus is the key. He is not an option. He is absolutely essential. He was trying to say that in the Martha and Mary Scripture. “She has chosen the better part.” This is the one thing necessary – this union, this covenant love, this God coming to His people, is a major theme in the Old Testament, but it definitely, totally takes over the New. In Luke 1 the whole theme is all about God coming to His people in that beautiful Benedictus, particularly verse 72 which says through the mouth of Isaiah, “God is showing mercy to our fathers because He’s remembering His holy covenant.” He is getting ready, now, to establish the New Covenant. Of course John was chosen to prepare the way. In God’s mercy He is doing it again with His very self, His own Son."

Universalis: Office of Readings

Universalis: Office of Readings:

"Who will climb the mountain of the Lord? Who will stand in his holy place?
The one who is innocent of wrongdoing and pure of heart,
who has not given himself to vanities or sworn falsely.
He will receive the blessing of the Lord and be justified by God his saviour.
This is the way of those who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob."

Praise You Father, for sending us Your Son so that we all may climb to Your holy dwelling...left on our own, none of us would make it.

USCCB - (NAB) - December 23, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 23, 2007:

"Through him we have received the grace of apostleship,
to bring about the obedience of faith,
for the sake of his name, among all the Gentiles,
among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;
to all the beloved of God in Rome, called to be holy.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ."

Prayer for today: The call to be holy and to belong to Jesus Christ is going out, may more hearts then ever before turn to Him now!

The Little Drummer Boy (video)

The Pearl Necklace

The Pearl Necklace


The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!"

Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma."

As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick dandelions for ten cents.

On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite."

"That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then give me your pearls."

"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my babydoll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver,she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you."

With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny.

He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her genuine treasure.

What are you hanging on to?

--- Author Unknown ---

Universalis: Office of Readings

Universalis: Office of Readings:
Isaiah 49:14 - 50:1
"Look round about you, look,
all are assembling, coming to you.
By my life – it is the Lord who speaks –
you will wear these as your jewels,
they will adorn you as brides are adorned;
for your desolate places and your ruins
and your devastated country
will now be too small for all your inhabitants,
now that your devourers are far away."

Praise You Lord for all that You give us!

USCCB - (NAB) - December 22, 2007

USCCB - (NAB) - December 22, 2007:

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.”"

Prayer for Today: Lord help us to remember that it all belongs to You anyways. May all the gifts that You have given to us (and even the suffering and temptations that You have allowed) be used to glorify You.

Ora Pro Nobis!

Ora Pro Nobis! Custom Designed and Personalized Holy Cards for All Your Special Days

This was just brought to my attention and I think it is an awesome idea.

Christ within others

Spirit Daily - Daily spiritual news from around the world:

"View others as you want God to view you, and you will break through to love. Receive the blessing of blessing others."

Today: Let us not only acknowledge that Christ is within us but that He is also within those that we come in contact with.

O Little Town Of Bethlehem

O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight

For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may his His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel

Come to Bethlehem

Intercessors Of The Lamb

Bethlehem is a contemplative type of prayer. There are not any words really; it’s an experience. Anytime we go there, the experience will be different. So St. Ignatius says to try to just let go of the thinking process in these meditations this coming week and become totally immersed in the scene—be there. This is where we want to use all five senses. Try to see the scene and the persons. Try to hear. You’re going to hear Mary and Joseph speaking. Are you going to hear the angels singing? Are you going to hear a baby’s noises? Are you coming to hear the animals? See what you hear. Are you going to hear the wind at night? Try to smell. It had to be very odorous there. Try to smell the smells because it makes it real. You’re there then. Try to smell the hay in the manger. Try to taste the sweetness of the moment of the mystery, of this tremendous gift of God in flesh—not only in flesh, but in baby flesh. You might find that the Spirit’s going to let you to experience the tremendous poverty of this child. Jesus was extremely rich. He’s God. He had everything in Heaven. He left it all when He descended. The last sense to use is touch. Try to touch something in the mysteries that you’ll be gazing upon. Maybe touch the straw at Bethlehem. Maybe hold the Baby, maybe touch Mary’s hand, maybe experience how hard the ground that Mary and Joseph were on was.

To conclude, this whole scene might lead you to an awareness that this is actually taking place within me. There’s a new birthing now within me. The child Jesus is being born now within me. The beautiful mystery of the rosary, “Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple”, might be your experience as you find them deep within yourself. So the week will be one of quietness. It will be one of revelation. It will primarily be one of experience. Contemplation is an experience. It’s the experience of the truth. It might be the experience more of the Incarnation itself.

Teresa of Avila said one of the greatest mystical graces a soul can receive is the experience of Incarnational spirituality—to really know that that Child now lives within me, that Child now has taken on my flesh. This is where it will ultimately lead me. That’s Incarnational spirituality: we become one with Jesus. He became one with me. The Word now has become enfleshed in me. So you want to have the experience. The Spirit will lead, and ultimately your prayer might end up just being lost in the mystery and wonderment because it’s so beyond the human mind. This is what contemplation ultimately comes to: being lost in the mystery, gazing at the beauty, and being lost in the goodness of God and that He has done this for me.

Excerpt from Mother Nadine’s “Heart- to-heart Listening: Experiencing Jesus Intimately,”March 13, 2000.

The Lord Magnified in us

Universalis: Office of Readings:

"Blessed are you,” said Elizabeth, “who believed”.
You too, my people, are blessed, you who have heard and who believe. Every soul that believes — that soul both conceives and gives birth to the Word of God and recognises his works.

Let the soul of Mary be in each one of you, to proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Let the spirit of Mary be in each one of you, to rejoice in God. According to the flesh only one woman can be the mother of Christ but in the world of faith Christ is the fruit of all of us. For every soul can receive the Word of God if only it is pure and preserves itself in chastity and modesty.

The soul that has been able to reach this state proclaims the greatness of the Lord just as Mary did and rejoices in God its saviour just like her.
The Lord’s greatness is proclaimed, as you have read elsewhere, where it says Join me in magnifying the Lord. This does not mean that anything can be added to the Lord’s greatness by human words, but that he is magnified in us. Christ is the image of God and so any good or religious act that a soul performs magnifies that image of God in that soul, the God in whose likeness the soul itself was made. And thus the soul itself has some share in his greatness and is ennobled."

---from St Ambrose's commentary on St Luke's Gospel

Universalis: Office of Readings

Universalis: Office of Readings:
Isaiah 48:12 - 49:13

"Thus says the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is good for you,
I lead you in the way that you must go.
If only you had been alert to my commandments,
your happiness would have been like a river,
your integrity like the waves of the sea.
Your children would have been numbered like the sand,
your descendants as many as its grains.
Never would your name have been cut off or blotted out before me."

Blessed are you...

USCCB - (NAB) - December 21, 2007:

"Blessed are you who believed
that what was spoken to you by the Lord
would be fulfilled.”"

Prayer for Today: As soon as Mary Got the word that her cousin Elizabeth was with child, she believed and set out to go to her. May we too act on the word that we are receiving daily from You Lord. May we in turn reach out to others with great love and not only be a blessing to others but be blessed ourselves.