Amici, Americani, Compatriotae,
Today is the Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas. The daily Scripture readings include the following:
- Obeying Jesus' Commandments in 1st John 2:3-11
- Praise to God Who Comes in Judgment in Psalm 96:1-6
- Jesus' Presentation in the Temple in Luke 2:22-35
This post will cover the following:
- Today's Homily by Fr. Kirby at Our Lady of Grace
- Loving Our Brother in St. John's Admonition
- The Feast of St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury
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| Christmas Store Shelves |
Fr. Kirby related how he went to a department store yesterday and saw all the main shelves cleared of Christmas decorations. They had been moved to a discount area and the main shelves were now full of items for celebration of St. Valentine's Day. The world had already moved on. Christmas was done and over with. The shopping was finished and the account books were tabulated and closed. Now begins preparation for sales in anticipation of the next great holiday.
However, for us Christians the Christmas Season does not end on the day after Christmas. Rather, it continues for eight days through what is called the Octave of Christmas, and beyond to Epiphany - the time when the Three Magi visited the Christ Child which we will celebrate on January 8th. The miracle of the Incarnation of God as man cannot be distilled into one small day. We need time to reflect upon the gift of God's miracle in salvation history. Therefore, as Christians we still say "Merry Christmas" to each other.
LOVING OUR BROTHER
Yesterday afternoon I went to the gym in the development where my wife and I live in order to exercise some of the calories off that I had consumed over the holiday vacation. There was a white haired man already exercising on the treadmill, then the elliptical trainer, watching the news on the TV. Having already walked a mile or so from my house to the gym, I intended to lift weights only. This man and I began talking. Eventually he led the conversation to politics. It became all too apparent and quite rapidly too that we were not going to agree. Three times I had to ask him that we not discuss politics since we were not going to agree. On the third request he relented. I was very upset by that time and tried not to show my discomfort, simply referring to him as sir. Finally and thankfully the conversation was steered toward more mundane topics: our work out routines, our wives, where we lived before coming to the area, our prior work experiences, etc. We also talked about Church - he attends Mass at St. Matthews and I at Our Lady of Grace. He did try one more time to steer the discussion in a political direction, but thankfully that petered out. When I left the gym to walk the mile back home, I made it a point to shake his hand before I left and wished him well.
The truth is this, amici. I have low (almost non-existent) tolerance for those on the other side of the political spectrum. I have to force myself to remember what St. John wrote in his first epistle that we read today:
Whoever says he is in the light,
yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness.
Whoever loves his brother remains in the light,
and there is nothing in him to cause a fall.
Whoever hates his brother is in darkness;
he walks in darkness
and does not know where he is going
because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
This man at the gym is not just a fellow Christian, but a fellow Catholic. So today when I heard the Epistle reading from the pulpit at Our Lady of Grace I was reminded of what had happened yesterday at the gym. We have been through a raucous and horrible election season. Everyone's nerves are still on edge. We therefore - especially myself - need to go back to St. John's words: whoever hates his brother is in darkness. I spent 10 years of my youth in the darkness of the "ISM" (I, Self and Me) of alcohol-ISM. I don't need to rent any more space in my head to resentment and hatred, especially given what Psalm 146:3-4 says:
Put no trust in princes,
in children of Adam powerless to save.
Who breathing his last, returns to the earth;
that day all his planning comes to nothing.
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| The Murder of St. Thomas Becket |
St. Thomas Becket lived from AD 1118 to 1170 in England. He was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. St. Thomas opposed King Henry II's encroachments on the authority of the Church in England. Because of this the King was heard to have said, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?" St. Thomas was then killed by four followers of the King on December 29, 1170. He was subsequently canonized as a Saint in 1173. A shrine to his memory was built in Canterbury, but was later destroyed by order of Henry VIII who sadly succeeded in the 16th century where his predecessor Henry II had failed in the 12th, and thus was born the Church of England out of defiance towards Pope Clement VII's prohibition against unlawfully divorcing Catherine of Aragon. The readings for the Feast Day of St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury include the following:
- A Worker Approved by God in 2 Timothy 2:8-13; 3:10-12
- Praise for Deliverance from Trouble in Psalm 34:2-9
- The Cross and Self-Denial in Matthew 16:24-27
Additionally, the following excerpt is from a letter which St. Thomas had written:
If we who are called bishops desire to understand the meaning of our calling and to be worthy of it, we must strive to keep our eyes on him whom God appointed high priest for ever, and to follow in his footsteps. For our sake he offered himself to the Father upon the altar of the cross. He now looks down from heaven on our actions and secret thoughts, and one day he will give each of us the reward his deeds deserve.
As successors of the apostles, we hold the highest rank in our churches; we have accepted the responsibility of acting as Christ's representatives on earth; we receive the honor belonging to that office, and enjoy the temporal benefits of our spiritual labors. It must therefore be our endeavor to destroy the reign of sin and death, and by nurturing faith and uprightness of life, to build up the Church of Christ into a holy temple in the Lord.
There are a great many bishops in the Church, but would to God we were the zealous teachers and pastors that we promised to be at our consecration, and still make profession of being. The harvest is good and one reaper or even several would not suffice to gather all of it into the granary of the Lord. Yet the Roman Church remains the head of all the churches and the source of Catholic teaching. Of this there can be no doubt. Everyone knows that the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given to Peter. Upon his faith and teaching the whole fabric of the Church will continue to be built until we all reach full maturity in Christ and attain to unity in faith and knowledge of the Son of God.
Of course many are needed to plant and many to water now that the faith has spread so far and the population become so great. Even in ancient times when the people of God had only one altar, many teachers were needed; how much more now for an assembly of nations which Lebanon itself could not provide with fuel for sacrifice, and which neither Lebanon nor the whole of Judea could supply with beasts for burnt offerings! Nevertheless, no matter who plants or waters, God gives no harvest unless what he plants is the faith of Peter, and unless he himself assents to Peter's teaching. All important questions that arise among God's people are referred to the judgment of Peter in the person of the Roman Pontiff. Under him the ministers of Mother Church exercise the powers committed to them, each in his own sphere of responsibility.
Remember then how our fathers worked out their salvation; remember the sufferings through which the Church has grown, and the storms the ship of Peter has weathered because it has Christ on board. Remember how the crown was attained by those whose sufferings gave new radiance to their faith. The whole company of saints bears witness to the unfailing truth that without real effort no one wins the crown.
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