THE BABE DIVINE

The shades of eve were falling on a cold December day, Two travellers, tired and weary,
Passed along, they could not stay; The inns were full, they had to go until a Cave they found, the breath of oxen warmed the air, while the snow lay on the ground.

It was there that Mother Mary and dear St Joseph too, the shepherds and the Magi, they were the chosen few, Adored the Infant Saviour on that first Christmas morn, Hosanna in the highest The Babe Divine was born.

Could I only see that vision by the light of a shining star, I'd send my wish in simple song
To exiles near and far, across the seas to other lands wher'ere their footsteps stray,
While angels sing and joybells ring this Holy Christmas Day.
But the real joy of Christmas is a love that must endure, by helping one another and especially the poor,
For they are always with us and we pray while angels sing, may they find peace and comfort from the Cradle of the King.

[Poem by Patrick Mc Cormack, Kildare 1900-1974]

HOW TO BE HUMBLE

Humility is knowing what you are, and acting like it. To act humble for any other reason, save out of this self-knowledge, can be repugnant.
We live in that God-given gift of soul and body.  But we cannot even make it work without His continual power and protection. He must safeguard us from the millions of germs in the air about us;  He must keep that heart pumping blood throughout our bodies.  If our brain is seriously injured, we may suddenly become a nothing on the human scene.
Wherever we have arrived in our business, social, family, school, and religious life, we have arrived by God's gifts.
In His own words: "Without Me, you can do nothing.
In a sense, even a statue is more independent of its maker than we are of God. The artist can carve the statue and go home; his creation will stand there for years. But if the Artist Who made us ever went back, so to say, to His heaven, we would collapse dismally and completely.  Honestly, we can write out the word "gift" and hang it around our necks.  No wonder that St Paul, after taking a long look at ourselves could cry out:  "What hast thou, O man, that thou hast not received, and if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not?"

There is one exception in all this. God must power us for everything, and He does, but He still stands back when it comes to human sin.  Here we make our God-powered action a blank, negative thing.  We tear a hole in God's good cloth.  We slash across the beauty of God's plan for what our actions should be, and we are suddenly less than the beasts, for they, at least, do not sin.

"What shall you be?" Physically, a dead body, a mass of corruption which no one, even our most beloved, would want to, or be able to approach. In seventy-five or a hundred years they shall all forget how you talked, how you laughed, how you walked.  You are a quaint picture in somebody's album.  And spiritually what shall you be?  Even when the Son of God chose twelve, one failed Him, sold Him out, and damned himself. St Paul again strikes the warning note:
"He that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall."
So there, my friends, are we.  Not much to raise a statue to.  But there can be something mighty pleasant in walking about the cool, authentic landscape of humility.  We can sort of stop acting for a while, and get away from the horrible lie that is pride.  And pride is one pitiful lie.  Whom do we fool by strutting through life as though our gifts are our own?  We can hardly fool ourselves, unless pride has so blinded us that we practically think we are God, and have gifted ourselves.
(extract from How to be humble by Francis M. Lee, C.SS.R.)

WONDERFUL  CATS
Cats are my favourite animals, they are really beautiful creatures and I think they are undervalued, but then I would because I love them so much. Just some pictures and a poem about them.

HIS  AND  HERS
I bought a little kitten
As a present for my wife
It took less than a minute
To endear itself for life
Purring, with its tail held high
It trailed her all around.
This tiny, fluffy ball of fur
Climbed and leaped and clowned.

It somersaulted on the rug,
Pounced on paper scrap,
And when it was all tuckered out,
It curled up on her lap.
Now, since we've got equality,
You'll agree that it was fittin'
That I returned to that same store
And bought myself a kitten.

WORDS   OF   WISDOM
A sinner, unrepentant, cannot love God, any more than a man on dry land can swim.

......Most tragic of all modern souls are those self-imprisoned in their own minds...

The acceptance of death is thus a manifestation of our love of God.
           (Bishop Fulton Sheen)

ST MARIA GORETTI

St Maria Goretti was born on October 16th 1890 in Corinaldo, Ancona, Italy.  Her father moved the family to Ferrier di Conca, near Anzio, due to increased poverty.  When Maria was nine years old, her father died of malaria and the family had to share a house with another family (The Serenellis family).
Maria had to take over household duties from her mother, while her mother and the rest of her family worked in the fields.
On a hot afternoon in July 1902 Maria was sitting at the top of the stairs in the cottage, mending a shirt, she was not yet quite 12 years old.  A cart stopped outside and Alessandro Serenellis a young man of 18 years ran up the stairs. He beckoned Maria into the adjoining bedroom but she refused to go Alessandro seized hold of her, pulled her in and shut the door. Maria struggled and tried to call for help, but she was being half-strangled and could only protest hoarsely, gasping that she would be killed rather than submit to him because that would be a mortal sin.  He stabbed her 14 times and ran away. An ambulance fetched Maria to hospital, where it was seen at once she would not live.

Her last hours were most touching - her concern for where her mother was going to sleep, her forgiveness of her murderer (and she now disclosed that she had long been going in fear of him but did not like to say anything lest she cause trouble with his family), after receiving Holy Communion 24 hours after the assault Maria Goretti died. Her mother, the parish priest of Nettuno, a spanish noblewoman and two nuns had watched by her bed all night.
Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years penal servitude. For a long time he was surly, brutal and unrepentant. Then one night he had a dream or vision in which he saw Maria gathering flowers and offering them to him.  From then on he was a changed man, and so exemplary a prisoner that at the end of 27 years he was released. His first act when free was to visit Maria' mother to beg her forgiveness, Maria's mother did forgive him.
Meanwhile the memory of his victim had become more and more revered. People prayed for her intercession in Heaven, answers even miracles, were attributed to her and the cause of her beatification was introduced.  On 27th April 1947 Maria Goretti was declared blessed by Pope Pius X11 when he afterwards appeared on the balcony of St Peters' he was accompanied by Maria's mother Assunta who was then 82 years old.
Three years later the same pope canonized St Maria Goretti in the piazza of St Peter's before the biggest crowd ever assembled for a canonization.  Her murderer was still alive, he had become a lay brother in a monastery eventually dying peacefully in 1970.

SAINT OLIVER PLUNKETT

The last catholic to die for his faith at Tyburn, Oliver Plunkett was born in 1629 at Loughcrew, in County Meath.  In 1647, he went to study for the priesthood in the Irish College in Rome.  On January 1st 1654 he was ordained priest. Due to religious persecution in his native land, it was not possible for him to return to Ireland.  St Oliver taught in Rome until 1669, when he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland.  Archbishop Plunkett soon established himself as a man of peace and, with religious fervor, set about visiting his people establishing schools, ordaining priests and confirming thousands.
1673 brought a renewal of religious persecution and bishops were banned by edict.  Archbishop Plunkett went into hiding, suffering a great deal from cold and hunger.  His many letters show his determination not to abandon his flock but to remain a faithful shepherd.  He thanked God "Who gave us the grace to suffer for the chair of Peter".  The persecution eased a little and he was able to move more openly among his people.

In December 1679 he was arrested and falsely charged with conspiring against the state.  St Oliver was imprisoned in Dublin Castle, where he remained until October 1680 when he was transferred to Newgate prison in London.  His time in Newgate was one of immense suffering.  From October 1680 until May 1681 he was kept in solitary confinement. It proved to be a time of purification, from which he emerged with new strength and courage. The charge against him was high treason.

His trial started on 8th June 1681.  It was a travesty of justice. He was accused of being a key player in the Popish Plot to stir up rebellion in Ireland.  The chief prosecution witnesses were three priests Hugh Duffy and John McMoyer(Franciscans) and Edmund Murphy a priest of his own diocese.  Oliver was found guilty on perjured evidence and sentenced to death.

A trusted friend of Oliver's, Father Taurus Corker wrote movingly of Oliver's last days:
   "He certainly knew God Almighty had chosen him for the crown and dignity of martyrdom, he continually studied how to divest himself of himself, and become more and more an entire pleasing and perfect holocaust"
Oliver went peacefully to the place of his execution, where he delivered a most moving speech.  He professed his innocence of all the charges against him, and forgave his enemies, especially the priests who had testified against him.
The sentence was carried out at Tyburn on 1st July 1681.  St Oliver Plunkett was beatified on 23rd May 1920 by Pope Benedict XV and canonized on October 12th 1975  by  Pope  Paul  V1.

      (Skull of St Oliver Plunkett)                         

Jesus misunderstood

Mark 3:20-21
" Jesus went home, and such a crowd collected that they could not even have a meal.  When his relatives heard of this, they set out to take charge of him, convinced he was out of his mind"

It would be easy to brush over today's short Gospel, but if we stop and reflect we can see that it challenges us in two ways.  Firstly, we can ponder the life of Jesus and try to realize how he was misunderstood: even his own family "went out to seize him, for people were saying, "He is beside himself"(verse 21). Secondly, we can reflect on the personal cost of following Jesus.

Jesus was considered by some to be mad. He healed the sick, he forgave sinners, he associated with the outcasts, he often spent all night praying, he went without meals, he had no home of his own, he claimed God was his Father, he challenged the religious leaders of his day. He taught people to love their enemies and to do good to those who hurt them, and to seek greatness by being last and serving others. The Gospels reveal how Jesus had an effect on those he met, whether they marvelled at him, knelt before him,were puzzled by him or plotted to kill him.

As we seek to follow Jesus, and by his Holy Spirit grow more like him, then we too can expect to be laughed at or to meet opposition.  This may already be our experience.  Jesus calls us to take the lowest place - in contrast, the world encourages us to strive for success and praise.  Jesus calls us to love and serve others even when this involves personal sacrifice - the world encourages us to seek comfort and indulge ourselves.  In these and in so many other ways Jesus' call to holiness and the qualities he seeks to form in us go against the world and expose us to ridicule.  Mother Teresa wrote:


We are looked down on by some because of our lack of culture and education, our inefficiency in our work for lack of proper qualifications, or because of our awkwardness.  Some do not understand our way of life or our charity to the poor and so they criticize us.  Even so Christ was despised.... so we are blessed again in sharing the same lot as Christ, though in a very small way.

"From the fear of being humiliated,  deliver me, Jesus.  From the fear of being criticized, deliver me, Jesus.  From the fear of being passed over, deliver me, Jesus.  O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like yours" [Adapted from a prayer by Rafael]

[ This extract was taken from Bible alive reading for 24th January 2015]