Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Sea of Galilee at Sunrise

Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Christmas 2024, A Time to Be Merry

Christmas 2024 is a time to be merry, to take a break from the problems and distress of the last twelve months. It’s a time to gather with relatives and friends and celebrate that God did not desert us but came among us to fill our hearts with hope. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year! To add to your merriment, here is a collection of Christmas cartoons.

But first, here is a poem about “merry”:

For a darling video of children telling the Christmas story while adults enact it, click on the link here and the one that appears under it.

http://youtu.be/suowe2czxcA

Do you recall a humorous story about one of your Christmases? I invite you to share it in the comment section.

Women Cherished by Jesus, Prayer, and Scripture

This week I am sharing with you a Webinar, a discussion Joe Paprocki from Loyola Press and I had about my latest book, Cherished by Jesus: A Daily Devotional for Women. It is almost an hour long and covers times Jesus interacted with women in a radical way and how to nurture a personal relationship with him. May it enrich your Advent. Of course, the first woman God regarded as special was the Virgin Mary. Enjoy!

The book is available from Amazon as a paperback ($19.95) or for Kindle ($16.95). Click on its cover in the sidebar to view it.

Snow and Snowflakes, Icicles, Praise the Lord, Winter Wonders

A winter wonderland of snow

Recently we in the northeast have been blasted by blizzardly events that deposited more than three feet of snow in some places. I live in the snowbelt of Geauga County in Ohio, and since our convent is the highest point, we’re known as the buckle of that belt. We are accustomed to snow, snowflakes, and icicles.

What a marvelous creation snow is! Certainly our God is a genius. As snowflakes fall from the heavens, they can look like gentle feathers drifting down, making us feel like we’re inside a snow globe. Staring out a window from inside a warm home is peaceful and enjoyable. On the other hand, driving through a snowstorm that blocks your view and clogs your wheels is another story. So are cleaning off your car and shoveling the sidewalk and driveway. I pray for those valiant people who snowplow our streets in bitter cold and at times early in the morning.

The Creation of Snow and Snowflakes

When you think of it, God could have made snow purple or brown. Instead, it is a pure, sparkling white so that we use it as a simile: Santa’s beard was “white as snow.” Even the Lord says in Scripture “Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

When snow coats trees and bushes, it increases their beauty. Snow-blanketed landscapes are silent and conducive to contemplation. The snow on sky-piercing mountaintops adds to their beauty.

Sisters who visit us from warm countries like Vietnam and Kenya are fascinated by their first encounter with snow. We introduce them to making snow angels. Because Jesus was from Israel, where snowfall is rare, he probably didn’t experience snow. That is sad.

The Intricacy of Snowflakes

A snowflake is an ice crystal made of water droplets that freeze on a particle. There are at least 80 variations, but each is so different that it’s said no two snowflakes are alike. They are six-sided and symmetrical. There are different classifications of snowflakes. Some snowflakes collide and combine.

Some people are so fascinated by the beauty of a snowflake that they have a hobby of photographing them.

Playing with Snow and Snowflakes

Fun with snow

God provided his children with a multi-use plaything when he invented snow. On snow we ski down slopes or go cross-country skiing. We go sledding and tobogganing. Children build snowmen, snow families, and forts, engage in snowball fights, and play King of the Mountain on drifts. They find it fun to catch snowflakes on their tongues.

My grandmother made ice cream out of snow. Here is one recipe.

We sing of a Winter Wonderland and about Frosty the Snowman. We dream of having a White Christmas.

There are cartoons and comics about snowmen on one of my previous blogs.

Praying about Snow

Students (and maybe some adults) pray that snow will give them a free day. However, there are other prayers centered on snow:

Daniel 3:68:

Bless the Lord, dews and falling snow;
    sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
69 Bless the Lord, ice and cold;
    sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
70 Bless the Lord, frosts and snows;
    sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. 

Psalm 148:7

Praise the Lord from the earth,

you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds,

My Prayer

St. Francis of Assisi calls on all created things to praise God in his “Canticle of Creation.” I would add a verse:

Praise be to you, O Lord, for Sister Snow,

Who enchants us as it falls from the sky

and blankets our earth with glistening beauty.

Other prayers are on the Internet.

Our Lady of the Snow

A miracle is connected with the origin of St. Mary Major basilica in Rome. You can find out how Mary received the title Our Lady of the Snow here: https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/our-lady-of-the-snows.html

Icicles

Melting snow creates icicles. These can cause injury when they fall, and they can damage buildings. But they are lovely to look at.

Then too, there is the condensation on windows that forms delicate patterns.

Winter masterpiece on my window

When I was a child, this song sung by Rosemary Clooney was popular. When I played it at a Christmas singalong, few people were familiar with it. Here it is:

  • What is your favorite part of winter?
  • What memory do you have of playing in the snow?

Waiting for God in Advent: How to Do It

An Advent wreath to mark time waiting for God

It seems like we blinked and already we’re in Advent, the season of waiting, waiting for God. We don’t like to wait. Red lights, long lines at the checkout counter, and lengthy downloads are frustrating.

The Israelites waited centuries for salvation from Egypt. They waited centuries for salvation by the Messiah. Now we await the Messiah’s second coming at the end of time. Bombarded with bad news from around the globe, more than ever we need the coming of Jesus and his kingdom of peace and justice in this “weary world. We might feel like praying with the psalmist, “How long, O God?” (Ps. 13) How long before we enjoy your kingdom of peace and justice?  But remember that Scripture says that a thousand years are as a single day to the eternal God. (Ps. 90)

The Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin encouraged us to “trust in the slow work of God.” So during Advent we are “eagerly waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Cor. 1:7). But apparently we need to “wait for it patiently” (Romans 8:25).

Meaning in the Waiting for God

Poet R.J. Thomas observed, “The meaning is in the waiting.” How do we find meaning in our Advent waiting? We can wait like Mary did. As any expectant mother, she went about preparing for her newborn son, sewing baby blankets and clothes, and thinking about how she would act as a mother. We can prepare gifts for others and prepare our houses for hosting Christmas gatherings, and most of all we can prepare our hearts for welcoming our Savior.

Mary’s heart must have been filled with awe and gratitude for the great mystery she shared in. Her days must have been drenched in prayer. During Advent we can spend extra time in prayer pondering the wonder of salvation.

Mary waiting for God

While pregnant, Mary hurried to help her older cousin Elizabeth in her pregnancy, about a 90-mile journey. We can assist those in need more than usual.

During this Advent, like Mary we may be asked to do surprising things. We might become involved in stressful situations, cope with unexpected problems, come down with the flu or other disease, face an uncertain future, and be taken out of our comfort zone. Whatever these weeks hold, we can look to Mary to understand and to be a model and support.

So what are we waiting for? As we “await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ,” let’s make our Advent a season not only of anticipation, but of preparation, prayer, and presents for the poor. Then let us continue these practices after Advent, for as Thomas Merton pointed out, “Life is a perpetual Advent”!

As we wait for God, God waits for us too.

Christ Coming Now

Let’s think about Christ’s coming in the present, in fact every day of our lives. Like a conscientious watchman, may we be on the alert to see him come to us in unexpected ways each day. He might come in the form of a stranger or as a phone call, an e-mail, a letter, a smile, or an offer to help. A good Advent practice for the evening is scanning the day for an occurrence that would be Christ acting in our life, giving us little love-gifts. Another practice is exercising patience standing in line at the post office, being caught in stalled traffic, and similar situations.

Gifts from God

Jesus also surprises us with gifts today and every day. For example, we are reunited with an old friend in an unlikely place. We’re searching for a Christmas gift for a person and it appears in an ad…and for sale! We want to know where a Scripture quotation is, and the Bible falls open to the exact page where it is located. For those who have eyes to see, events like these are God’s finger acting in our lives.

Sometimes Jesus comes to us when we least expect it. We might be driving, reading a book, listening to music, vacuuming, or quietly sitting and suddenly we are overtaken by a sense of God’s presence and love for us.

The Eucharist

A daily coming of God

Certainly the most impressive way that Jesus comes to us in this “in between time” is in the Eucharist. At Christmas we celebrate that God took on flesh and became a human being. That is incredible enough. But every day at Mass he stoops to take on the forms of inanimate things: bread and wine. This truly is a stunning mystery. Yes, God so loved the world that he sent his only Son. God also so loved the world that he becomes food and drink and shares his very life with us.

Sit with the Lord. Spend quiet, uninterrupted time listening for his voice. Open your heart and be ready to receive all the blessings he has ready for you. Take this step towards becoming more purposeful in your daily life. A holy life is not found only in busyness. A busy life is not the same as a meaningful life. A holy, purposeful life is found in God.

 • What does Advent mean to you?

• How can you make your Advent less busy and more meaningful?

• How has Jesus come to you lately?

This is a haunting Advent song I used to teach my high school freshmen: “Long Is Our Winter”

https://youtu.be/5nkrq5iXtX4?si=aLYEMvmAYs0OKP3

The Kingdom of God and Christ the King

Christ, King of the Universe

On Sunday we celebrated the great feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the Church year. Pope Pius XI established this feast in 1925 to counteract the growing secularism and ultra-nationalism. Times haven’t changed much, have they? This feast reminds us that temporal rulers come and go, but Jesus reigns forever. Moreover, he is king of the universe. It’s up to us to promote the Kingdom of God.

What Is the Kingdom of God?

The expression Kingdom of God is mentioned often in the Bible. It is mysterious: This kingdom is in our midst and still to come, here and not yet. Essentially this kingdom is not a place, but the spiritual reign of God where he is obeyed. As Jesus told Pilate, it is not “of the world” like a territorial kingdom. It was present in the person of Jesus. Therefore, John the Baptist and Jesus declared the kingdom was “at hand.”

Jesus taught us to pray “thy kingdom come” in the Our Father. He told parables to teach what the kingdom was like:  a fine pearl or a treasure found buried in a field, both worth trading everything for; yeast kneaded into dough; a tiny seed that becomes a large bush. Still, the idea of this kingdom is hard to grasp.

The Kingdom Now

Gerald Darring of St. Louis University’s Center for Liturgy clarified the concept of the Kingdom of God in a beautiful way that I could understand:

“The Kingdom of God is a space. It exists in every home where parents and children love each other. It exists in every region and country that cares for its weak and vulnerable. It exists in every parish that reaches out to the needy.

A parish promoting the Kingdom of God

The Kingdom of God is a time. It happens whenever someone feeds a hungry person, or shelters a homeless person, or shows care to a neglected person. It happens whenever we overturn an unjust law, or correct an injustice, or avert a war. It happens whenever people join in the struggle to overcome poverty, to erase ignorance, to pass on the Faith.

The Kingdom of God is in the past (in the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth); it is in the present (in the work of the Church and in the efforts of many others to create a world of goodness and justice); it is in the future (reaching its completion in the age to come).

The Kingdom of God is a condition. Its symptoms are love, justice, and peace…”

The Need for the Kingdom of God Here and Now

Essentially this is how we continue Christ’s work of building the kingdom. In these days when there is strife and division in the world, our Church, our country, and families, we yearn for God’s kingdom. How fervently we must pray “thy kingdom come”! and do our part to make it a reality.

You may also long to have God’s Kingdom established in your heart. We pray, “Come, Prince of Peace.”

Inspiring Emails

Ceramic for the Kingdom of God email post

I found the above explanation of the Kingdom of God in an email that appears in my inbox every day. Each post opens with the Gospel of the day. Then there is a reflection on the Gospel along with a related piece of art. The posts are the work of Patrick van der Vorst, a Roman Catholic priest for the Diocese of Westminster, London, and a former Director of Sotheby’s London.

Go to https://christian.art/ to subscribe to this feature. It will enrich your faith and teach you interesting things about art—all forms of it and from all times.

Kingdom of God Songs

My community’s version of “Christus Vincit” that we sang each year on the Feast of Christ the King appears at the end of this post: https://kathleenglavich.org/4099-2/ It is a glorious, powerful hymn with stunning harmony.

The following peaceful Taize song is meant to be repeated over and over:

• A kingdom person has the characteristics of a member of God’s kingdom. Who is a kingdom person you know? What qualities does he or she have that makes you think so?

• Is there another site you would recommend for a daily inspiration boost?

• What can you do to usher in Christ’s reign?

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Meet Sr. Kathleen

Jesus depends on us to spread the Good News of God’s love, offering the world hope and joy. Mary Kathleen, a Sister of Notre Dame from Chardon, Ohio, responds through writing, speaking, giving retreats, and teaching. Her motto, adopted from Eddie Doherty’s gravesite, is “All my words for the Word.”

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