When I was a campus minister at Saint Mary’s student parish at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, I heard something in an Advent homily that always comes back to me during this time of the Church year.
The homilist shared what he was doing for Advent to help him appreciate the true meaning of the season.
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As the Christmas song goes: “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”
While Easter is the most important time of the year, Christmas ranks very close. And when we consider in the broader sense that Christmas and Easter are theologically linked, it is true to say that in many ways Christmas is indeed the most wonderful time of the year.
But first comes Advent — that time presently upon us of preparation for Christmas.
In the November 2013 issue of The Word Among Us, Scott Hahn is quoted as saying that an American priest went to Rome for a conference and a group meeting with Pope John Paul II. Before the meeting, the priest noticed a beggar on the steps of a church.
He recognized him as his former seminary classmate in Rome. They were ordained to the priesthood together. Now he was a beggar.
Q: My parents are in their late 70s and live in a rural community close by.
There are several siblings all involved in supporting mom and dad and we are all on the same page with regard to keeping them happy and living in their own home.
Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease about two years ago and mom has taken on more and more responsibility for the day-to-day household management.
Generally speaking, they are doing as well as could be expected and the family is always ready to help.
The problems is that one of my dad’s “hobbies” was to gamble. It was never anything extreme. Twice a month mom and dad would go to one of the casinos and he would gamble a certain amount of money.
It never got out of hand until recently. They still like to go because it is something they can do together but the last time they went he would not stop gambling. Mom had a very difficult time getting him out of there. He lost over $200. Mom was frightened and did not know what to do without causing a scene. She finally got him to leave by telling him they had to get back home because someone was coming for dinner. It really frightened her and she does not want to go back.
Dad is already asking to go back to the casino. Is there any safe way he could still do this without risking a behavioral melt-down and losing their savings? (from a son in Sun Prairie.)
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Queridos amigos:
El domingo pasado – nuestro segundo de Adviento – seguimos leyendo del profeta Isaías cuando anunció la venida de Jesús. Escuchamos sobre la venida del Mesías y cómo “el Espíritu del Señor vendrá sobre Él Is 11:2)” en la primera lectura. El Espíritu del Señor trae el Espíritu de la sabiduría y de inteligencia, de consejo, fortaleza, ciencia, piedad y temor de Dios.
Los que somos más viejos seguramente recordamos que estos son los siete dones del Espíritu Santo: que todos hemos recibido en nuestra Confirmación, también. Pero los que no son lo suficientemente mayores seguramente tuvieron que memorizarlos del Catecismo Baltimore. Los memorizamos porque eran (son) donde tremendamente esenciales para nosotros: sabiduría, inteligencia, consejo, fortaleza, ciencia, piedad y temor de Dios.
MILWAUKEE — School Sister of St. Francis Celia Schulte, who lived her religious vocation in education and administration for more than 50 years, died December 9, 2013, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sister was 84 years old.
The daughter of Henry and Anna Schulte, she was born June 13, 1929, in Jefferson City, Missouri. She was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis June 13, 1947; made her first profession of vows June 21, 1949; and final (perpetual) vows June 21, 1955.
SAUK CITY — All are invited to join in a grand celebration on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 at St. Aloysius Church, 115 Madison St., in Sauk City. On display will be a new life-sized framed canvas of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
MADISON — The Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) in Madison is getting ready to hold its second annual Radiothon fundraiser on Friday, Dec. 13, from 12 noon until 6 p.m. Funds raised during the event will allow the CMC to continue its history of offering services to the Madison community.
To the editor: […]
Franz Werfel wrote a popular book called The Song of Bernadette. The reason he wrote this book goes back to World War II.
As a controversial Jew in occupied France, he was on the Nazi hit list. He and Alma, his wife, fled from the Nazis who pursued them.
They sought shelter in Lourdes where the famous shrine of Mary is located. One night he went alone to the shrine.
In the darkness, he prayed, “God, I’m not a believer. I must be honest and say so. I am a Jew. But in my extreme need, on the chance that I could be wrong, I ask you to help me and my wife. If you see us safely to the United States, I promise to write a story of Lourdes for all the world to read.”
