Sunday, December 23, 2012

From WCU: Gospel for Today

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.  Indeed, the Lord is near.

Today is the third Sunday of Advent, traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday.  Gaudete is Latin for "rejoice," and the name comes from the opening word of the Entrance Antiphon of today's Mass.  Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete.  Dominus enim prope est.  Which means, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.  Indeed, the Lord is near."

This joyful theme is repeated in today's readings.  In the first reading from Zephaniah (Zep 3:14-18a) we are told, "Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!  Sing joyfully, O Israel! ... The Lord, your God, is in your midst."

In our responsorial psalm today we acclaim, "Cry out with joy and gladness, for among you is the great and Holy One of Israel."

In our second reading (Phil 4:4-7), St. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always.  I shall say it again: rejoice! ...  The Lord is near."

Today is a festive day indeed.  In the penitential season of Advent, a season of preparation, we pause and express our great joy and excitement for we know that the one we are preparing for is just around the corner.  His arrival is imminent.   In today's world, it is as if a family member you have not seen in a very long time sends you a text message saying, "the plane just landed, I'll be home soon."  His arrival is closer to being a reality.  It changes from something you simply long and hope for, to something you can actually see on the horizon.  Excitement and anxiety builds.  Last minute preparations are made.

What last minute preparations do we need to make for Christ's arrival?  That is the question put to John the Baptist in today's gospel (Lk 3:10-18).  His answer seems simple. If you have two cloaks, share with the person who has none.  To the tax collectors, he tells them to stop taking more from the people than the law asks for.  To soldiers, stop extorting people.  In other words, behave yourself.  These are lessons parents teach their children: share, be fair, play nice.  

The heart of John's message is this: be generous; be selfless; think of others before yourself.  Be satisfied with what you have.  

We prepare for Christ's coming by "being on our best behavior" because, as John describes it, Jesus is coming to clean house.  "His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

One may find it a bit unusual to read about burning in unquenchable fire on a Sunday that is supposed to be about rejoicing.  How is eternal punishment joyful?

We rejoice because we can avoid that fate.  This is John's message.  Repent, ask for forgiveness, and change your selfish ways.  Begin living for others, and you may save your own life.  For those suffering from oppression, hardship, and injustice, the coming Reign of Christ is indeed a cause for rejoicing, for all will be set right.  The wicked shall be punished, while the lowly and righteous shall be exalted.  

For those whose hearts are turned to God, today is a day for rejoicing.  St. Paul's tells us to have no anxiety at all.  In everything, give thanks to God.  "Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

John the Baptist tells the soldiers to be happy with their wages. St. Paul tells us to be thankful in all things.  Can we make those sentiments a reality in our lives?  As children, we look forward to Christmas often with more anticipation about the new toys we expect to get, than excitement over the birth of Christ.  Suddenly the games and gadgets we already have look tired and old.  They fail to satisfy us; we long for the new toys that Santa will bring.  Even as adults we are groomed by society to feel a certain amount of dissatisfaction this time of year.  As the year draws to a close we are expected to make "New Year's Resolutions" and think about how we can make things better for ourselves.  I want to get a raise next year.  I want to loose weight.  I want to make better grades.  

Improving ourselves is a noble goal, of course.  But the biggest improvement we can make is to be thankful for what we have now.  Do we recognize the gifts God has already given us in our lives?  Are we satisfied with them?  If we are, then, like St. Paul, we need feel no anxiety.  We know we are being cared for.  We know we are beloved of God.

So today, be joyful.  Be calm.  Be thankful.  And stand ready to accept the gift of God's peace that He longs to give you.  The Lord is near.  Gaudete!

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723


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From Davidson: CCM Bulletin week of December 10

Happy Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe! 


FAQ… Our Lady of Guadalupe

1531, Mary appeared to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac outside of Mexico City. (This same hill had previously witnessed the appearances of the serpent woman, a symbol of wisdom and peace for the native peoples of Mexico.) She spoke to Juan Diego in his native language, Nahuatl.
Juan Diego’s bishop was something of a skeptic when Juan Diego told him about Mary’s appearance, and told him to go ask for a miracle as proof. Juan Diego returned with his cloak filled with Castilian roses—not native to the barren hillside, and certainly unusual in mid-December. Mary’s image as a mestiza, a woman of Native American and European heritage, remained on Juan Diego’s cloak. Juan Diego’s cloak is enshrined in the Basilica of Our lady of Guadalupe in Mexico city, the most visited Marian shrine in the world.
Mary’s appearance as La Morenita, “the little brown one,” gave great dignity and holiness to the native and mestizo peoples of America. Mary appears as a pregnant woman, wearing the blue sash traditionally worn by expectant Aztec women, and clothed in a cloak in the color reserved for Aztec divinities. The image also reflects the Book of Revelation, a woman "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (12:1).
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico. Her feast day has many traditions associated with it, like the singing of las mananitas, the birthday song.
Juan Diego was beatified in 1990 and made a saint in 2002. His feast day is December 9th and he is the patron of indigenous peoples.
Adapted from 2012 Sourcebook, LTP.
___________________________
Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

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Monday, December 10, 2012

From WCU: Gospel For Today

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)

And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception, to discern what is of value, so that you may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ...  Phil 1:9-10

What do you want for Christmas?  That's what everyone asks this time of year, as we prepare for our holiday gift giving.  But among all of our holiday preparations, are we preparing ourselves to receive the only gift that matters?

In today's Gospel reading we encounter the figure of John the Baptist, whose role as the last great prophet was to prepare the people of Israel to receive Christ.  "Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.  Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.  The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Lk3:5-6).

Christ did not come to straighten out the hair pin curves on 107 between Cullowhee and Cashiers.  When John the Baptist is talking about making winding roads straight and filling in the valleys, he is talking about the roads and valleys of the human soul.  Are we prepared to receive Christ?  John may have been speaking to first century Jews at the time, but the message is still pertinent to us today.  Are we ready to receive Him?

I don't think the answer to that question can be a simple yes or no.  Preparing the way of the Lord in our hearts is not a one-time event, some activity we can do and then have it over with.  If we are not prepared, we need to get prepared.  And if we feel we are prepared for Him, we still need to continue working on it, making sure we stay that way.  It is an ongoing process.

I really like St. Paul's prayer in the second reading today, from his letter to the Philippians.  His prayer is that they may be prepared for "the day of Christ," which is to say His Second Coming.  He wants them to be pure and blameless when they meet Christ.  And the path he maps out for them is to increase in love, which will lead to more knowledge and better perception.  This love, knowledge, and perception will then allow them to "discern what is of value."

Discernment is a crucial aspect of our lives as Christians that often gets neglected.  Do we actively try to discern what is of value in our daily lives?  We participate in, and are influenced by so much each day.  Just think about what you see on Facebook, Youtube, on Pinterest, your email, your favorite blogs, television, what you hear on the radio, from your friends, your family, your professors, magazines, billboards, newspapers, movies, the list goes on and on.  Even beyond the media and the people in our lives, the general culture influences us.  From campus to the coffee shop, to the mall and museums, everything around us potentially molds and shapes our perceptions and thoughts.  

In the midst of all of this, we Christians have a great measure -- and that is Christ himself.  We have our very Maker, God Incarnate, Emmanuel (God is with us), the one who proclaimed boldly not the have the truth but to BE the Truth.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  He says, "Be not afraid," and also, "Come, follow me."  In Christ, and through His Church, we have a yard stick against which to measure every aspect of our lives.  If we increase in love of Him, as St. Paul prays, our eyes will be open so that we may "discern what is of value" amid everything we see and hear.

This does not, as some might fear, mean rejecting everything in the world.  It does mean, as Paul puts it in another letter, that we should "test everything; retain what is good" (1 Thes 5:21).  Everything can and should be tested against the mind of God, expressed in Christ, through His Church.  If it measures up, we should keep it.  If it fails to pass the test, it should be rejected as false and unworthy.  

This is true for small and large things. Every year around this season I hear some grumbling about "pagan" holiday traditions; things such as Christmas trees, wreathes, kissing under the mistletoe and yule logs are said to be of non-Christian pagan origins and therefore should not be endorsed.  Even the date of Dec. 25 is criticized as being the date of the pagan Roman festival to the God Saturn, celebrating the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun."  I say, so what?  We do not know the precise day of the year on which Jesus was born.  It is still an important enough occasion that we wish to celebrate it.  If people were used to celebrating the birthday of the Unconquerable Sun on Dec. 25, let's test that and retain what is good.  We retain the festival, the celebration, the joyful spirit; we reject the false Sun god and instead embrace the true Unconquerable Son, the Rising Star, Jesus Christ.  

The instruction to test everything and discern what is of value is even more important in our personal lives.  In choosing what it is we allow into our homes and into our minds, are we being discerning?  Are we testing everything against Christ and his love?  In choosing what we watch, what we read, the music we listen to; even the food we eat; even the friends we associate with; are we testing these things against what we know to be true in Christ? 

Only be doing so, by making Christ our rule and measure, can we begin to prepare the way for Him in our hearts, making straight the winding paths of our soul, and filling in the valleys.  The truly mystical thing about it all is that we need Christ in order to do this.  In order to prepare ourselves to receive Him worthily, we need to let Him into our hearts right now, as we are.  Christ is the end of the journey, but He is also the beginning.  He is the Alpha and the Omega.  He is the source and the summit.  He is the true Christmas gift.



--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723


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From Davidson: CCM bulletin week of December 3

However quietly we speak, God is so near that he will hear us;
we need no wings to go in search of God, but have only to find a place where we can be alone and look upon God present within us.
~St. Teresa of Avila



FAQ… What is Advent?

This whole time of year suffocates in the commercialism surrounding Christmas, and in the Spirit of Shopping we’ve collapsed the holidays so that the Christmas season effectively begins the day after Thanksgiving. So it’s not surprising that Advent has lost something of its mystery and meaning.

“Advent” means ‘to come’ or’ to arrive’; it’s a time of patient, persistent, hopeful, expectant waiting. So what are we waiting for? Well, like so much in Christianity, we’re waiting for several things at the same time. While we wait for Christmas, when we celebrate Jesus’ birth (in the past), we also prepare to receive him into our hearts and our lives (in the present), and we wait for his second coming at the end of time (in the future).

But we’re waiting…which is to say, Christmas doesn’t come till December 24/25, whatever else your radio station may be telling you. That’s why we don’t (or shouldn’t) sing Christmas carols during Advent; we sing Advent hymns and songs instead. Doesn’t matter how much you love them, like the presents under the tree, we save the Christmas carols for the Christmas season.

The Christmas season goes from Christmas Eve until the Sunday after Epiphany (when we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord), in January. That’s the 12 days of Christmas we’re always singing about (Christmas till Epiphany).  And speaking of trees, many Christians don’t even put up their Christmas trees till Christmas Eve—very liturgically proper!

Advent has penitential overtones. It’s a time of preparation, of purification, of making ourselves ready to welcome Christ into the world and into our hearts. The liturgical color is violet, often a bluer purple to distinguish it from Lent, whose penitential tone has a different focus than Advent’s. The third Sunday is called “Gaudete Sunday.” Gaudete means “rejoice”: in the 2nd reading, from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he says “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Often a pink candle will be used in the Advent wreath for that week, and sometimes the priest will wear rose-colored vestments.

Many families and churches observe the devotion of the Advent Wreath. Although some think that it had its origins in pre-Christian Germany, it was adopted by Christians in Germany during the Middle Ages (and so it is apparently common among Lutherans as well as Catholics). The wreath has all sorts of meaning attached to it. For example, its roundness signifies the eternity and oneness of God and the immortality of the soul; the evergreens symbolize life everlasting; and the candles, of course, represent each of the four weeks of Advent.

FAQ…What are Lessons and Carols?

SSunday’s service will really be Lessons and Carols, not Vespers. Vespers refers to the Church’s evening liturgy of the hours and has a different format.
LLessons and Carols is a service that alternates scripture readings (“lessons”) with choir pieces (“carols”) and congregation hymns. It is typically a Christmas service, although Advent services are not uncommon, and I’ve been to a Lent variation. It’s rather like the Easter Vigil service, if you’ve ever attended that, where scripture readings alternate with psalms.
·      
Christmas Lessons and Carols originated in England, and were first used on Christmas Eve in 1880, by an Anglican priest in Cornwall (supposedly to try to keep the men out of the pubs!).  They were resurrected after the First World War at King’s College in Cambridge, to try to offer more imaginative worship. The service has been done there annually ever since, and has become quite famous. It is broadcast live on TV in England, and is usually broadcast by public radio stations in the United States.

There are nine lessons, or readings, tracing salvation history from Genesis through the birth of Jesus, and culminating with the Prologue of the Gospel of John (“In the beginning was the Word…”). The readings are done by members of the local community (not just by clergy or church-related people).

The carols may vary, but often include older folk carols that are no longer well known outside of the choral community (like “Lo A Rose E’er Blooming”). The hymns that the congregation sings are the well-known carols, like “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.”

If you ever have a chance to attend a Lessons and Carols service here at Davidson or wherever life takes you, I recommend it. It’s a beautiful way to observe Christmas.




___________________________
Karen Soos
Associate Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister
Davidson College
Campus Box 7196
Davidson NC 28035
704. 894. 2423

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Sunday, December 2, 2012

From WCU: Gospel For Today

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (C)

"Don't do drugs."  Everyone is told this message many times over growing up, from teachers, counselors, police officers and parents.  Let's imagine one students goes to a college with very low tolerance for drug use, where very few students abuse drugs, and it's not really part of the culture; so this student successful avoids drugs throughout their college years.  Another student attends a university known as a party school, where a large part of the student body abuses drugs on a regular basis as part of campus social life; this student also avoid using drugs, though they have to constantly and consistently resist temptation and say no to their peers.  

Both students have done good.  But which would you describe as more heroic?  Obviously the second student, who had to pluck up the courage to say no.  The first student is in a situation where it is easier to live a virtuous life.  This is the type of situation we would want to create for ourselves.  But the difficult situation faced by the second student is also an opportunity to increase in virtue.  That student is surrounded by sin and so must exercise greater discipline to remain pure.  Thus an occasion of difficulty and duress can be looked upon as an opportunity to exercise heroic virtue and thus draw closer to Gd.

In today's Gospel reading, Christ leaves his followers with a warning.  The situation sounds dire indeed...  "nations will be in dismay... people will die of fright."  Christ encourages them to "be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent..."  He is speaking of the situation on earth before his Second Coming.  But he could be speaking to any of us, any generation (for indeed, no one knows when the Lord may return).  Each generation has faced trials and tribulations, some more dire than others.  

But the Lord says, "when you see these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise your heads because your redemption is at hand."  Remaining pure and holy through times of trial is a great occasion to draw closer to God.  It is through difficulty that we are redeemed.  How can we do this?

We must first learn to rely on the Lord.  One of the reasons Jesus says it is so difficult for a rich man to enter heaven is because people who have easy lives are not used to relying on others and asking for help.  And that is precisely what we need to do to invite God into our lives -- rely on him and ask for his gracious help.  Difficult times can teach us this lesson.

When we ask the Lord to strengthen us in difficult times, how does he respond?  Not by making us cold and hard hearted, to protect us from being hurt.  No, he does the opposite.  He increases our capacity for love.  In his first letter to the Thessalonians (today's second reading) St. Paul prays, "May the Lord make you increase and about in love for one another and for all... so as to strengthen your hearts..."  Love makes us vulnerable, it is true, but it is the only path to true strength.  A Christian overcomes trials and difficulties by love.

What does love gain us?  In addition to strengthening our hearts, St. Paul says it will make us "blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones."  In short, love gains us God; which is to say, it gains us everything.  

Advent is a season of expectation.  The name Advent means "coming."  We look forward to Christmas when we celebrate the first coming of our Lord at his birth over 2000 years ago.  That first coming is an historical fact.  So too will be his Second Coming.  Our entire lives should be a season of advent as we wait in joyful and loving expectation for that day.  There will be difficult times between that day and now.  Jesus assures us of this.  It will be hard.  But if we stay close to God, if we live our lives full of love and humility, joy and courage, we will remain close to him and by our heroic witness do glory to his holy name on that day.  Come, Lord Jesus!

--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723


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From WCU: Weekly Update from CCM

Dear Students,

I trust you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I hope each of you had an opportunity to relax and spend time with family and friends during the break.  It's time for that final push through to the end of the semester!  

A TIME FOR EVERY SEASON
Contrary to what some might lead you to believe, it is not Christmas yet.  It's not even Advent (that won't start until this Sunday).  But look around you and you'll probably find that "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..."  Every year, as Halloween approaches, you can count on retail stores putting away their pumpkins and getting out the Christmas wreathes, red bows, and artificial trees.  People complain that "it's not even Thanksgiving yet!" but the retailers at least have an excuse.  They are trying to sell products.  If people want to have holiday decorations for their home, the stores have to have them available well before the holiday.  And for many in today's society, Christmas begins the day after Thanksgiving, or before!

I saw my first Christmas tree glimmering in a neighbor's window ten days before Thanksgiving this year.  That's a new record for me.  Many families I know put up their Christmas tree the Friday after Thanksgiving.  The "Christmas Season" begins when they see Santa in the Macy's Parade, and ends with a grand celebration on Christmas Day.  But they have it wrong.  The Christmas season does not end on Dec. 25th -- that's when it begins.  We've been celebrating Christmas earlier and earlier in recent years.  Many people I know in their 60s and 70s have fond memories of setting up the Christmas tree with their families on Christmas Eve, before heading out to Midnight Mass.  One friend told me that he didn't even see a Christmas tree in his house until he come downstairs on Christmas morning to find his living room magically transformed into a holiday wonderland!  (Mom and Dad must have been busy that night).

Of course holiday traditions change over time, and my family does not wait until Christmas Eve to put up our tree.  I'm no Scrooge!  But we certainly don't celebrate Thanksgiving as if it were "Christmas Part I."  There is a whole liturgical season between now and Christmas called Advent, and we like to celebrate that with due reverence.  Our practice has been to decorate our home for the holidays gradually over the Advent season, with our home getting more festive as we approach the day of our Lord's birth.  We'll begin this Sunday with a simple Advent wreath, and by Dec. 25th we'll be in full Christmas mode!

However you mark the holidays in your homes, I encourage you to give each special time its due and not to rush ahead to the next celebration.  The problem with starting our Christmas too early is that we miss the grace and joy that Advent has to offer; and when Christmas finally rolls around we are tired of it.  The Church has a rich liturgical calendar full of special feasts and seasons; we should take care to live in the present, to enjoy the time that we are in and what it has to teach us.

This Sunday begins a new year in the Church.  The two grandest celebrations in the Church year are Easter and Christmas, marking the Resurrection of our Lord, and His birth in Bethlehem.   These celebrations are so important that we don't just mark them with a single day, but a whole season.  Christmas begins on Dec. 25, and lasts until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which this year will be on January 13.  (I remember one year wishing a woman "Merry Christmas" the week after New Year and she looked at me like I lost my mind!)  The Easter season runs seven full weeks through Pentecost.  Each of these festival seasons is preceded by a more somber season of penance and preparation, Advent and Lent.  The rest of the Church's year is filled with other minor and major celebrations marking events in the life of Christ, and celebrating the lives of the saints.  It is important that we give each time and season its due.

As we begin a new Church year this Sunday, I encourage you to explore the spirit and traditions of Advent.  Mark this special time in its own way.  Keep the Christmas spirit as a spirit of anticipation, like you are looking forward to the arrival of a very special guest.  Advent is indeed a time of preparation and anticipation.  I have found in my time that the best way to guarantee a Merry Christmas is with a prayerful Advent.

God bless all of you!
Matt



--
WCU Catholic Campus Ministry
Matthew Newsome, MTh, campus minister
  
(828)293-9374  |   POB 2766, Cullowhee NC 28723


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