Nativity of the Lord

We are a people of memory, and in the darkness of the night we have gathered to celebrate not just a memory but also an ongoing reality. Our celebration is very familiar. We have sung carols; we have made our crib and have placed the Christ child in the embrace of the manger. We have undertaken those little rituals particular to our own families. The drink left out for Father Christmas that my father always used to insist was a good tot of whisky! The slippers left on the hearth. Our senses over the last weeks have been assailed with familiar sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. We have gathered in our families and communities to feast and express our love for one another and if you’re anything like my family you will probably have a row as well. We have expended a lot of energy deciding whether Granddad would mind another set of hankies, and mum some perfume from the body shop, or queuing for the ‘must have’ toy of the moment. But in the midst of this frantic activity we have gathered to connect with the real reason for our feasting and gift giving. So relax, unwind, forget about the turkey and how long it will take to cook and immerse yourself in the total and passionate love that God has for you. For today we celebrate a concrete, consuming and enduring love

I can clearly remember the first time I was allowed to go to Midnight Mass. I was about 7 or 8, and to stay up that late for me was a great adventure. We came here to the Friars. It was a very cold night and we walked to the friary and our breaths made a fog in the night air. We heard the readings and sung the carols that we have sung and proclaimed today. That Christmas night was magical for me because when we came out of the church the landscape had been totally transformed. During Mass the countryside had been covered with a thick blanket of snow. As I rekindle that memory I realise that there is a lesson for us to learn here. Forget the familiar but think of what this feast really means. God breaks into our human story in a new and vibrant way. God becomes a human being. Not born in grandeur, but in a stable. Not warmed by a fine blanket, but by straw and the breath of cattle. When Mary becomes pregnant with Jesus and gives birth to him in Bethlehem the whole landscape of our future is changed. This is our story; it impacts on each one of us. And this, my friends, is the real message of Christmas and it is not comfortable, but challenging. God becomes human, he has our flesh, he is bones and blood and muscle and sinew. Why? Why did God find it necessary to do such a reckless thing? Look at the crib. There in the manger we begin to understand. God is revealed to us by coming in the lowliest of possible places.

The Good News of Christmas is here to bring us light in the midst of any darkness, poverty, rejection, emptiness, sinfulness we experience. By reminding us of where and how God comes, the Good News is also a revelation of who we are. We are the people who walk in darkness. We are people who experience parts of our lives as dry and unwelcoming as that hay. We are people who, on our own, not only fail to know and understand; we are capable of tremendous infidelity and stubborn independence.

We get our word ‘manger’ from the Latin root, which means simply ‘to eat’. Jesus comes, into the greatest place of our poverty, not only to be with us but to nourish us. The manger can be the place we go this Christmas to be fed with the acceptance, love and peace that we need. There is no place of darkness in which we need ever feel alone. There is no situation, no loss, or tragedy that need ever leave us empty. There is no sin, no matter how selfish that need ever leave us apart from God’s love.

We are living in times of uncertainty, our finances are uncertain, our job stability is uncertain, the ability of our young people to continue in education is uncertain. Our weather is very uncertain! We are now living life without certainties but some remain. In these times of bleak headlines, when our news updates seem to be but litanies of hopelessness, we are called to be different. We are called to be men and women of the good news, men and women of peace and reconciliation. We are called to be hopeful for our future and our Christian faith and the feast that we now celebrate give us the means of our hope, but this hope carries with it a responsibility. God becomes a human being in order that we might know what it means to be really human. God is with his people. He is Emmanuel. Jesus becomes human in order that we may know that we are precious in the eyes of God, and made in his image and likeness.

The attitudes of Jesus are to be our attitudes. This means that when people are isolated we must seek them out and include them in our community. When people are sick and in pain we must accompany them. When people lead lives of violence we must resist, not with a more ferocious violence, but with peace. The way of Jesus is a way of peace, a way of relationship. When God is most powerful in history it is when he is most vulnerable – the crib and the cross. If we want to celebrate this feast well let our hearts be changed by God’s love for us. What a gift this would be for our world. We would see one another with new eyes. The news of Great joy, that God loves his people passionately and intimately would be visible on our faces and in the way that we relate with one another. God is not a distant lover. God has taken the reckless step of loving us whom he has created and this love is ours for the taking. It is pure gift, undeserved and freely given by a generous lover. This is the cause of our joy. May Christ be born in each one of us this day. And may you all have a happy, holy and peace filled Christmas

Preparing for Advent

Prayer in the Days Before Advent

My brother, Jesus. It happens every year. I think that this will be the year that I have a reflective Advent.
I look forward to Sunday and this new season, Jesus. But all around me are the signs rushing me to Christmas and some kind of celebration that equates spending with love.

I need your help. I want to slow my world down. This year, more than ever, I need Advent, these weeks of reflection and longing for hope in the darkness.

Jesus, this year, help me to have that longing. Help me to feel it in my heart and be aware of the hunger and thirst in my own soul. Deep down, I know there is something missing in my life, but I can’t quite reach for it. I can’t get what is missing.

I know it is about you, Jesus. You are not missing from my life, but I might be missing the awareness of all of the places you are present there.

Be with me, my dear friend. Guide me in these weeks to what you want to show me this Advent. Help me to be vulnerable enough to ask you to lead me to the place of my own weakness, the very place where I will find you the most deeply embedded in my heart, loving me without limits.

The Key to Happiness

More than half of Britons believe helping others in the UK and abroad is important to achieving happiness, a new poll has revealed.

On the eve of the release of a new report into human wellbeing, the survey found that 75% of those asked believe helping people in the UK is key to happiness, with 54% citing helping those abroad as important to happiness. Nearly 90% of people said that living in a world where the environment is protected and where poverty does not exist is important.

The poll, by aid agencies CAFOD and Tearfund, and think-tank Theos, asked British adults to identify what makes them happy. The top priority for 97% of people was spending time with friends and family, while having an interesting job was important for 92%. A high income was a much lower priority at 64%.

Tearfund Chief Executive Matthew Frost said: “It’s interesting that in this time of economic uncertainty, when we might have expected people to prioritise income over all else, we have instead found that people look outwards to the state of the environment, world poverty and personal relationships with others as their measures of happiness.

“It is hugely important to people to enjoy interesting and productive work, and to have healthy relationships and friendships – people measure happiness by what they give to others and what they gain in return. Of course a level of financial security is essential, but it’s clear that British people recognise that the people in our lives come first.”

The poll was conducted to coincide with the launch, on 13 October, of Wholly Living, a report by Catholic aid agency CAFOD, Christian relief and development agency Tearfund and the public theology think-tank Theos. The report examines human wellbeing in the context of both the UK and international development. It invites the UK government, as well as people of all faiths and none, to enter the debate on how best to create an environment in which to engender human flourishing. Examples taken from the UK and the developing world indicate that people are most fulfilled when they are productive, creative and have strong relationships with others.

CAFOD director Chris Bain said: ”Society is more than its economy and this new report shows that human beings, whether in rich or poor countries, thrive when they have more than just material goods. Real happiness is difficult to define and is different for different peoples and cultures, but what is clear is that community and caring inter-relationships with other people and with our environment are vital for wellbeing.

“It is time for the UK government to reflect this vision in its policy decisions to shape a new sustainable market system that puts people and our environment right at its heart. The present economic downturn has been catastrophic for many of the poorest across the world and in the UK. We must not make the same mistakes again – just patching-up the tears in this self-centred market system could lead to wider devastation and bigger financial losses when the next crash comes.”

Wholly Living calls for a holistic approach that recognises that economic growth is an important – but not the only – driver towards human fulfilment and that unless growth is sustainable, it can do more harm than good. It argues that people flourish most when they are able to fulfil their potential and live in healthy relationships with others. Drawing on academic and theological understandings of flourishing, it calls for the UK government to consider a range of policy ideas in the areas of economics, environment and governance. In particular, it calls for:

A high profile Prime Ministerial Commission to look at wellbeing (human flourishing) to review current research in this area, consider how to apply a human flourishing approach to policy decisions and to assess potential new indicators for measuring progress – a Human Flourishing Index.

Accountability and transparency of British businesses operating worldwide through appropriate legislation.

The UK and other countries to lead the way in radically cutting carbon emissions, so that developing countries have enough environmental space to develop in a way that benefits poor communities.

The UK to help achieve greater equity at a global level, for example, ensuring that the voices of developing countries are given parity within global bodies such as the World Bank and the IMF, to help tackle the current sense of disempowerment in poorer parts of the world.

Paul Woolley, director of Theos, said: “This report is the product of a year-long research project into what constitutes human flourishing. Wholly Living highlights the inadequacy of traditional indices of development and sets out a more holistic approach. State action can't make people more productive, creative or relational, but it can remove obstacles that impede these qualities and encourage a change in attitudes. We hope that UK policy will be re-shaped accordingly.

“While the theory of human flourishing outlined in Wholly Living draws on a Christian understanding of humanity, the resulting recommendations are profoundly relevant for all people.”

Source: CAFOD

Falling in love with God

Falling in Love With God. Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.
- Pedro Arrupe, SJ

FEAST OF ST THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS AND THE HOLY FACE

Preface of St Therese of the Child Jesus, (Carmelite Missal.)

Father, all powerful and everliving God,
we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks.

You reveal the secrets of your kingdom
to those who become like little children.
Among them you chose Saint Therese, hidden in Christ,
to proclaim the good news of your merciful love.
Your Holy Spirit moved her
to make her life a loving oblation
of prayer and self denial
for the salvation of all mankind
through Christ and his Church.

Now with the saints and all the angels,
we praise you forever

Blessed Chiara Badano

Chiara Badano, a young member of the Focolare movement, who died of bone cancer in 1990, at the age of 18, was beatified on the 25th September by Archbishop Angelo Amato, at the Shrine of Divine Love in Rome.

At the Mass, Archbishop Amato said Chiara was a missionary of Jesus "who invites us to rediscover the freshness and enthusiasm of the faith."

Even as she suffered through her illness, she shared her faith and God's love with the dozens of people who would visit her each day, he said.

"Her last gift was her corneas, the only organs that were still transplantable" because they were not damaged by the cancer that had spread throughout her body, the archbishop said. "They were given to two young people who can see today thanks to her."

Vatican Radio reported that Charia's parents, Teresa and Ruggero, attended the Beatification Mass.

Her mother said that when Chiara became ill, "She taught us how to do God's will, like she did, because you don't just say 'yes' when everything is going well."

After the Mass, around 8,000 young Focolare members gathered in the Vatican audience hall for a celebration of Blessed Badano's life with readings and singing.

Speaking to pilgrims in St Peter's Square after the Angelus, Pope Benedict said that Chiara witnessed to the world the fact that God's love is stronger than suffering and death.

"Only Love with a capital L gives true happiness," and that's what Blessed Badano showed her family, her friends and her fellow members of the Focolare Movement,

Pope Benedict said young people can find in Blessed Badano "an example of Christian consistency," because she was certain of God's love and trusted in that love even as she was dying.

"We give praise to God because his love is stronger than evil and death; and we give thanks to the Virgin Mary who leads young people, even in the midst of difficulty and suffering, to fall in love with Jesus and discover the beauty of life," the Holy Father said.

For more information about Blessed Chiara Badano, see: www.chiaralucebadano.it/



Source: VIS/www.chiaralucebadano/Vatican Radio

Papal Visit Editorials

With an expectation-surpassing UK Papal visit in the books and this recovery week at its end, British Catholicism's twin pillars of the ecclesial conversation have sent up their impressions of the surprising, memorable, triumphant four-day trek in their leading articles.

In that light, as we did in the run-up to B16's unprecedented state visit, let's take a look at both weeklies' top editorials.

First, today's leader from an elated Catholic Herald:

Benedict XVI exposed the heart of the Catholic faith
We owe him our deepest gratitude. His visit was as great a success as that of John Paul II in 1982

The first reaction of Catholics to the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to these shores must be to thank God for its extraordinary success. By the end of the triumphant first day in Scotland, it was clear that the British people were in a mood to listen to the Pope, and that excitement at his presence was bursting out in the most unlikely places. As our guest flew to London, Catholics prayed that the momentum could be sustained. In the event, it was not just sustained but continued to build. Every occasion added new significance to the visit.

In Westminster Hall, the Holy Father asked searching questions that exposed the emptiness of secularism. In Westminster Abbey, his presence seemed to revitalise that ancient building – and his Anglican listeners, too, as they realised how much their Christian witness is valued by the successor of St Peter. In Westminster Cathedral, the Pope acknowledged clearly and with shame the dreadful acts committed by clergy and religious against children; he had done so before, but his decision to do so in the context of a solemn liturgy underlined the abominable insult to the sacrifice of Christ represented by those crimes. In Hyde Park, the Pope literally exposed the heart of the Catholic faith to crowds of thousands and a television audience of millions: very deliberately, he directed our attention away from himself and towards the Blessed Sacrament. In Birmingham, he beatified John Henry Newman, personally raising to the altars a son of the Church for the first time in his pontificate. In doing so, he quoted Blessed Cardinal Newman: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it.”

By this visit Benedict XVI equipped us to become that laity. He was an example to priests, too, in showing how the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite can be gloriously celebrated. How fitting it would be if, from now on, priests everywhere were to follow the Holy Father’s example of facing a crucifix at Mass, thus properly orientating the celebrant towards Calvary. And, crucially, the Pope set a further example to non-believers, of a great religious leader who radiated love, communicated by his winning little smile as well as by his words. From now on, militant secularists will find it very hard to sustain their odious caricature of Joseph Ratzinger: these were a terrible four days for anti-Catholicism.

We offer our heartfelt thanks to the Catholic organizers of the visit, and also to the Queen and her Government for their hospitality: given the immense difficulties that threatened to derail everything, truly we can say that victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat. But the person who deserves our deepest gratitude is Pope Benedict, who ensured that this visit was – albeit in a very different way – as great a success as that of Pope John Paul II in 1982. Holy Father, we are missing you already.
...and the first line from tomorrow's edition of a no-less-pleased Tablet:
Visit lays a new foundation
To say of Pope Benedict XVI that “he came, he saw, he conquered” would be true, even spectacularly so – but still only part of the truth. For he was conquered too during his state visit to Britain, as he seemed to admit in his Wednesday general audience this week when he spoke of “the intense and very beautiful four days” in which he found the Christian faith strong in every level of society.

The visit had been preceded by vehement and sometimes malicious personal attacks, and while Pope Benedict spoke politely during the plane trip from Rome of Britain as a tolerant society, there was a nervousness in the Vatican about what was perceived as its aggressive secularism – as Cardinal Walter Kasper so dramatically articulated in a German magazine just before the visit.

What the Pope and his entourage actually found is well reflected in the figures confirmed by the Metropolitan Police after Saturday’s events in London. The enthusiastic crowds who lined the streets to watch him pass on his way down the flag-lined Mall grew to 200,000 while there were 6,000 on the anti-papal march to Downing Street, although the organisers claimed that it was several times that figure. Even those parts of the national media that had been most critical of the visit beforehand, had changed their tune by the time he left.

The Pope’s response to Britain has been greatly influenced by Britain’s response to him and that was due in no small part to his preparation for the visit, as well as his demeanour. While there had been apprehension about the country, Pope Benedict turned his formidable intellect to the question of what makes Britain tick, and the subtle and complex nuances of British society and history were both understood and appreciated and in many respects applauded. It was recognition of this that earned his address in Westminster Hall, arguably the centre piece of the entire visit, such a warm reception. The questions he raised were real and telling, and stood at the heart of political debate. He was asking for a new and constructive way for faith and secular society to work together, which he called a conversation. It struck the right note. It threatened nobody’s rights and privileges. It was plausible, even, to begin to see how the Pope might take Britain as a template for the rest of Europe, as to how faith and reason, Church and State, secularism and religion, might after all be good for one another.

At the Hyde Park rally British Catholicism set out its stall, saying simply, “Here we are, this is what we do.” It displayed its diversity, its contributions to the common good through its care for disabled and elderly people and for the education and welfare for young people, its inclusive concern for immigrants, strangers and refugees, its commitment to international development and to protecting the environment. This is precisely what the Pope, writing as Cardinal Ratzinger, once called a “creative minority”; and it is, as Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks said afterwards, a display of post-Constantinian Catholicism that eschews political power in order to stand, as the prophets of old had stood, alongside the powerless.

What happens locally also happens internationally. The Pope’s visit to Britain came on the eve of the summit in New York where world leaders are assembled to discuss progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a project to which successive British governments (and successive Popes) have been fully committed. Britain is already one of the largest sources of international aid and development, proportionately larger than any other G8 nation, and will be the first of that group to reach the longstanding target 0.7 per cent of GDP, in 2013. Italy managed only 0.15 per cent. Those same British Governments have recognised in the Holy See a key partner on the international stage on issues such as the MDGs, not because of wealth or might but because of its wisdom and influence. Pope Benedict said at his general audience on Wednesday that the state visit marked an important new phase in relations between Britain and the Holy See. Those relations matter not just to the people of Britain but to the poor of the world for whom the MDGs are designed to help secure a safer, sustainable and better educated future.
Not to be missed from the journal of record's pages: the wrap-up of the paper's venerable Rome correspondent, Robert Mickens, who covered the days from within the Vatican press-pool.

Among other nuggets in Hammersmith's 56-page commemorative issue: a report that the UK church's hotline for inquiries to convert was flooded with "hundreds" of calls and e.mails during and since the visit... and what's more, such are the hopes of the "Benedict bounce" that the Scottish bishops are already eyeing a potential reopening of Scotus College -- the last seminary on Northern soil until it closed its doors last year.

To mark the first observance of the feast of the country's newly-Blessed "kindly light," Archbishop Vincent Nichols will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for the visit's success in Westminster Cathedral on the freshly-decreed Newmanmas, 9 October.