Totus Tuus - To Jesus through Mary.

To impel the beauty of the new evangelization – this is the charism of the Heralds of the Gospel; Its founder, Monsignor João Dias explains."The Heralds of the Gospel is a private association of faithful with a very special charism based essentially on three points: the Eucharist, Mary and the Pope."

The Heralds of the Gospel are an International Association of the Faithful of Pontifical Right, the first to be established by the Holy See in the third millennium, during a ceremony which occurred during the feast of the Chair of St. Peter (February 22) in 2001.

The Heralds of the Gospel strive to be instruments of holiness in the Church by encouraging close unity between faith and life, and working to evangelize particularly through art and culture. Their apostolate, which differs depending upon the environments in which they work, gives pride of place to parish animation, evangelizing families, providing catechetical and cultural formation to young people, and disseminating religious Iiterature.



Tuesday 24 December 2013

The Heralds of the Gospel wish you and your families every Christmas Blessing.


When He came to us as man,
the Son of God scattered the darkness of this world,
and filled this holy night (day) with His glory.
May the God of inifinite goodness
scatter the darkness of sin
and brighten your hearts with holiness.

R. Amen!

God sent His angels to shepherds
to herald the great joy of our Saviour's birth.
May He fill you with joy
and make you heralds of His gospel.

R. Amen!

When the Word became man,
earth was joined to heaven.
May He give you His peace and good will,
and fellowship with all the heavenly host.

R. Amen!

May almighty God bless you,
the Father, and the Son, + and the Holy Spirit.

R. Amen!

A very blessed and happy Christmas from Westminster Cathedral



“Truth is sprung out of the earth…..” From Canon Christopher Tuckwell, Westminster Cathedral

“Truth is sprung out of the earth, for the Word was made flesh. And justice looked down from heaven, for every best gift, and every perfect gift is from above.”
These words, taken from St Augustine’s Sermon 185 were read last night and the night before at the Christmas Celebration. They point us to the very heart of what we are celebrating at Christmas, the wonderful gift to us of the Son of God, the Word made flesh, the Incarnate Word, who chose to take human flesh and enter into our world through the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, his mother. This Gift is the cause of our joy. Pope Francis, in a recent interview said: “Christmas is God’s meeting with his people. This is a beautiful thing.” A beautiful thing indeed, for which we are truly thankful. How shall we demonstrate our gratitude?

Two years ago I was privileged to lead a pilgrimage to Syria. One of my lasting memories of that visit was the number of children who ran to greet us every time we got down from our coach, not with hands outstretched expecting some coins, as in other places, but with hands reaching out in welcome. “Welcome to our country” and “Enjoy your stay” were greetings we heard everywhere.   Reflecting on the disaster that has overwhelmed Syria in recent months makes me wonder what has happened to those smiling, happy children. What has happened to the shopkeeper in Aleppo who welcomed us in with coffee and dates? The great covered market where he welcomed us is now a ruin, burnt to the ground. And what of the parishes and schools who received us so kindly? Bishops, priests and nuns have been kidnapped, Christian laypeople have been killed or driven out of their homes, millions are now living in squalor in refugee camps. 

This year in Westminster Cathedral we have a new Crib, purchased through your generous response to my request for funds. I hope you will like it and that you will find it a real help to your Christmas devotions, and that it will continue to inspire those who visit it for many years to come. When you kneel and pray before the figure of the Christ Child please pray for the people of Syria in their hour of suffering. Remember too the people of the Philippines recovering from the recent typhoon, the people of the Central African Republic and the Southern Sudan, and our fellow Christians throughout the Middle East. One way of showing our gratitude to God for the great gift of his Son to us is by raising our hands in heartfelt prayer for those who are denied the peace and goodwill that he came to bring. This is not only our privilege, it is our duty.

On behalf of my fellow Chaplains, may I wish you all a very blessed and happy Christmas.
Mass times at Westminster Cathedral on Christmas Eve:
7:00
Mass
7:40
Morning Prayer
8:00
Mass
10:30
Mass (Latin)
12:30
Mass
13:05
Mass
16:00
First Vespers of Christmas
18:00
First Mass of Christmas
23:15
Office of Readings
23:55
Midnight Mass




The Last Stage on the Journey to Bethlehem: Christmas Eve


If Advent preparations have been handled well, the house should be clean, work should be done, and things should be fresh and ready for 12 days of rejoicing! 

Once the sun goes down on Christmas Eve, the Yule log is lit in the fireplace. Back when homes had great fireplaces, fires were lit on Christmas Eve using logs so huge as to be able to burn for all the days of Christmas. These Yule logs now tend to be much smaller, but the traditions surrounding them remain: the fire on Christmas Eve should be lit using a piece of last year's Yule Log which has been stored under the bed of the mistress of the house, which folk belief says brings good fortune and prevents lightning strikes to the home. In Provence, the Yule log is lit with great ceremony. The Grandfather will pour sweet wine over it three times while saying:
Alègre! Alègre! Alègre! Que nostre Segne nous alègre!
S’un autre an sian pas mai, moun Dieu fugen pas men!
Which means:
Joy! Joy! Joy! May God bring us joy!
And if, in the year to come, we are not more, let us not be less!
Then he and the youngest child carry the log three times around the Christmas table before taking it to the fireplace. Alas, fireplaces are less common than they once were, but if you have no fireplace, a decorated log can be used as a centerpiece, as is done in Italy where the log is known as a "ceppo." 

While the Yule log burns, a candle is put in the window. This is an old Irish custom stemming from the Protestant persecutions: the candle signalled to priests that the home was a safe place for Mass to be offered, but when the English asked questions, they were told that it was a symbolic invitation to Joseph and Mary. 

The Christ candle -- a large white candle decorated with holly and such -- is lit for Christmas Eve Supper, replacing the Advent wreath. It is re-lit each night until the Epiphany to represent Christ's Light and in order to help guide the Magi to the manger. 1 The greenery of the Advent wreath itself is now decorated and hanged on the front door, remaining there throughout the Christmas season.

Foods
Christmas Eve (before the Vigil Mass) is a day of fasting and abstinence. The 1983 Code of Canon Law eliminated this fast altogether, but traditional Catholics still keep the fast, eating seafood (the Italians eat fish -- often seven of them!), noodles, other forms of pasta, etc. for the Christmas Eve Supper.

In any case, on both Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day, special dinners are served, some families beginning their Christmas Eve meals when a child sees the first star of the evening in the Noel sky. The table should be beautiful, with greenery and candles, especially the Christ Candle. Some families set a place setting for those who've died during the year or for those who are otherwise unable to attend, and then set a lit candle on it to burn throughout the meal. An Eastern European tradition is to use a white tablecoth to represent Christ's purity and His swaddling clothes, and to place underneath it a bit of hay to recall where he was born. In Provence, three white table cloths of different sizes are used, with the smallest on top.


Christmas Eve and Christmas Day foods vary from country to country, but Christmas Eve dinners are meatless, while Christmas Day is the day of unrestricted feasting, when Christmas candies, marzipan, oranges, apples, tangerines, nuts, and the cookies baked during Advent are all laid out. From a German tradition, the nuts are cracked open with a nutcracker (nussknacker) shaped like a soldier. E. T. A. Hoffmann's Christmastime story, "The Mouse King," written in 1816, uses this type of nutcracker as a character, and since Tchaikowsky wrote his famous "The Nutcracker" ballet based on this story, both the nutcracker itself and the ballet have become seasonal favorites (click to hear the ballet's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"). 

On Christmas Eve, the Poles have a beautiful custom that recalls the Eucharist: Oplatki ("oplatek" in the singular) -- very thin, crisp, large rectangular breads with the consistency of Communion wafers and impressed with religious designs -- are eaten on Christmas Eve (Wigilia) . They are laid at the center of the table this night, on a bed of straw. Just before supper, the father wishes all a holy Christmas and recalls those who've died during the year and brings to memory Christmas Eve suppers past. He takes an oplatek that's been blessed by a priest, and breaks off a piece to give to his wife. He places it in her mouth with a blessing such as, "May the Lord bless and keep you through this next year." The mother reciprocates and then hands a piece to the person next to her and blesses him. That person does the same to the one next to him, and so on, until all have received and given a piece. If it is more than just the immediate family present, the oldest person present will initiate by offering an Oplatek to another, and the two break off a piece between them, passing the remainder on to the next person. Oplatki are shared with the family's animals, too. So loved is this tradition that Poles will mail small oplatki inside Christmas cards to those who aren't present for Christmas Eve. Remaining pieces of oplatki are given to animals to bless them, too (note: the "L" in the word for this bread is pronounced as a "W")."

In Denmark and Norway, a Christmas Eve requirement is a rice pudding, sometimes served with a raspberry or cherry sauce, and inside of which is a peeled almond. The lucky person who finds the almond wins a marzipan pig!

The after-Midnight Mass time (see below) is known as "le réveillon" (the "awakening") in France and French Canada. Foods from the Christmas Eve Supper are served up, and, depending on the region of France or Canada, crêpes, foie-gras, oysters, etc. are served, always ending with the fanciful, Yule Log-shaped Bûche de Noel cake. In Provence, seven meatless dishes are eaten for supper, and then, after Mass, thirteen desserts appear on the table and remain there for three days.
 
On Christmas Day, the English prefer gingerbread, plum puddings, and mincemeat pies. Mincemeat pies are baked in an oblong shape to recall Jesus' crib. To them were added cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to symbolize the gifts of the Magi. These pies were once made illegal by Puritan Oliver Cromwell, Lord Chancellor of England, because it was considered a "popish" dish (their loss!). An old bit of doggerel 2 that describes the anti-Catholic animus:
The high-shoe lords of Cromwell's making
Were not for dainties -- roasting, baking;
The chiefest food they found most good in,
Was rusty bacon and bag-pudding;
Plum-broth was popish, and mince-pie --
O that was flat idolatry!
Along with Christmas Day Feast's "popish foods," the English serve Christmas Crackers -- not a food, but a device invented
in 1844 by Thomas Smith. It is a tube filled with candy, trinkets, jokes, and a party hat, all wrapped in colorful paper and broken open by two people, one pulling and twisting at each end. A cracker is placed beside each dinner plate at the Christmas table, and guests pick them up in their right hand, cross their arms, and, with their free left hand, pull the cracker of their neighbor to the right. When the cracker breaks open, a bang is produced when two strips of cardboard treated with silver fulminate strike against each other. 

Italians have to have a wonderful Christmas bread called panettone; Germans have their stollen (also crib-shaped, like mincemeat pies, and then "swaddled" in powdered sugar); Americans tend to go for their grandmothers' recipes from the "Old Country." See this page for a few recipes for a classic Christmas.

-- and in all your feasting, don't forget God's other creatures! St. Francis of Assisi preached that animals should be well fed on Christmas, too. 3 He said If I could see the Emperor, I would implore him to issue a general decree that all people who are able to do so, shall throw grain and corn upon the streets, so that on this great feast day the birds might have enough to eat, especially our sisters, the larks.
Give your dog some cheese and your kitty a little saucer of cream in honor of this great Saint and the Christ Child!


Saturday 7 December 2013

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception



Immaculate Conception would normally fall on Sunday, December 8, 2013. However, since that is the Second Sunday in Advent 2013, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is transferred to the next day, Monday, December 9, 2013.

From: Catholic Answers

The Immaculate Conception
 It’s important to understand what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is and what it is not. Some people think the term refers to Christ’s conception in Mary’s womb without the intervention of a human father; but that is the Virgin Birth. Others think the Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived "by the power of the Holy Spirit," in the way Jesus was, but that, too, is incorrect. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin or its stain—that’s what "immaculate" means: without stain. The essence of original sin consists in the deprivation of sanctifying grace, and its stain is a corrupt nature. Mary was preserved from these defects by God’s grace; from the first instant of her existence she was in the state of sanctifying grace and was free from the corrupt nature original sin brings. 
When discussing the Immaculate Conception, an implicit reference may be found in the angel’s greeting to Mary. The angel Gabriel said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). The phrase "full of grace" is a translation of the Greek word kecharitomene. It therefore expresses a characteristic quality of Mary. 
The traditional translation, "full of grace," is better than the one found in many recent versions of the New Testament, which give something along the lines of "highly favored daughter." Mary was indeed a highly favored daughter of God, but the Greek implies more than that (and it never mentions the word for "daughter"). The grace given to Mary is at once permanent and of a unique kind.Kecharitomene is a perfect passive participle of charitoo, meaning "to fill or endow with grace." Since this term is in the perfect tense, it indicates that Mary was graced in the past but with continuing effects in the present. So, the grace Mary enjoyed was not a result of the angel’s visit. In fact, Catholics hold, it extended over the whole of her life, from conception onward. She was in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence. 
Objections
(The) chief reason for objecting to the Immaculate Conception and Mary’s consequent sinlessness is that we are told that "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23). Besides, they say, Mary said her "spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Luke 1:47), and only a sinner needs a Savior. 
Let’s take the second citation first. Mary, too, required a Savior. Like all other descendants of Adam, she was subject to the necessity of contracting original sin. But by a special intervention of God, undertaken at the instant she was conceived, she was preserved from the stain of original sin and its consequences. She was therefore redeemed by the grace of Christ, but in a special way—by anticipation. 
Consider an analogy: Suppose a man falls into a deep pit, and someone reaches down to pull him out. The man has been "saved" from the pit. Now imagine a woman walking along, and she too is about to topple into the pit, but at the very moment that she is to fall in, someone holds her back and prevents her. She too has been saved from the pit, but in an even better way: She was not simply taken out of the pit, she was prevented from getting stained by the mud in the first place. This is the illustration Christians have used for a thousand years to explain how Mary was saved by Christ. By receiving Christ’s grace at her conception, she had his grace applied to her before she was able to become mired in original sin and its stain. 
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that she was "redeemed in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son" (CCC 492). She has more reason to call God her Savior than we do, because he saved her in an even more glorious manner! 
But what about Romans 3:23, "all have sinned"? Have all people committed actual sins? Consider a child below the age of reason. By definition he can’t sin, since sinning requires the ability to reason and the ability to intend to sin. This is indicated by Paul later in the letter to the Romans when he speaks of the time when Jacob and Esau were unborn babies as a time when they "had done nothing either good or bad" (Rom. 9:11). 
We also know of another very prominent exception to the rule: Jesus (Heb. 4:15). So if Paul’s statement in Romans 3 includes an exception for the New Adam (Jesus), one may argue that an exception for the New Eve (Mary) can also be made. 
Paul’s comment seems to have one of two meanings. It might be that it refers not to absolutely everyone, but just to the mass of mankind (which means young children and other special cases, like Jesus and Mary, would be excluded without having to be singled out). If not that, then it would mean that everyone, without exception, is subject to original sin, which is true for a young child, for the unborn, even for Mary—but she, though due to be subject to it, was preserved by God from it and its stain. 
The objection is also raised that if Mary were without sin, she would be equal to God. In the beginning, God created Adam, Eve, and the angels without sin, but none were equal to God. Most of the angels never sinned, and all souls in heaven are without sin. This does not detract from the glory of God, but manifests it by the work he has done in sanctifying his creation. Sinning does not make one human. On the contrary, it is when man is without sin that he is most fully what God intends him to be. 
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was officially defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854. When (it is claimed) claim that the doctrine was "invented" at this time, they misunderstand both the history of dogmas and what prompts the Church to issue, from time to time, definitive pronouncements regarding faith or morals. They are under the impression that no doctrine is believed until the pope or an ecumenical council issues a formal statement about it. 
Actually, doctrines are defined formally only when there is a controversy that needs to be cleared up or when the magisterium (the Church in its office as teacher; cf. Matt. 28:18–20; 1 Tim. 3:15, 4:11) thinks the faithful can be helped by particular emphasis being drawn to some already-existing belief. The definition of the Immaculate Conception was prompted by the latter motive; it did not come about because there were widespread doubts about the doctrine. In fact, the Vatican was deluged with requests from people desiring the doctrine to be officially proclaimed. Pope Pius IX, who was highly devoted to the Blessed Virgin, hoped the definition would inspire others in their devotion to her. 
 An associated Dogma:The Assumption
The doctrine of the Assumption says that at the end of her life on earth Mary was assumed, body and soul, into heaven, just as Enoch, Elijah, and perhaps others had been before her. It’s also necessary to keep in mind what the Assumption is not. Some people think Catholics believe Mary "ascended" into heaven. That’s not correct. Christ, by his own power, ascended into heaven. Mary was assumed or taken up into heaven by God. She didn’t do it under her own power. 
The Church has never formally defined whether she died or not, and the integrity of the doctrine of the Assumption would not be impaired if she did not in fact die, but the almost universal consensus is that she did die. Pope Pius XII, in Munificentissimus Deus (1950), defined that Mary, "after the completion of her earthly life" (note the silence regarding her death), "was assumed body and soul into the glory of heaven." 
The possibility of a bodily assumption before the Second Coming is suggested by Matthew 27:52–53: "[T]he tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many." Did all these Old Testament saints die and have to be buried all over again? There is no record of that, but it is recorded by early Church writers that they were assumed into heaven, or at least into that temporary state of rest and happiness often called "paradise," where the righteous people from the Old Testament era waited until Christ’s resurrection (cf. Luke 16:22, 23:43; Heb. 11:1–40; 1 Pet. 4:6), after which they were brought into the eternal bliss of heaven. 
 No Remains
There is also what might be called the negative historical proof for Mary’s Assumption. It is easy to document that, from the first, Christians gave homage to saints, including many about whom we now know little or nothing. Cities vied for the title of the last resting place of the most famous saints. Rome, for example, houses the tombs of Peter and Paul, Peter’s tomb being under the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In the early Christian centuries relics of saints were zealously guarded and highly prized. The bones of those martyred in the Coliseum, for instance, were quickly gathered up and preserved—there are many accounts of this in the biographies of those who gave their lives for the faith. 
It is agreed upon that Mary ended her life in Jerusalem, or perhaps in Ephesus. However, neither those cities nor any other claimed her remains, though there are claims about possessing her (temporary) tomb. And why did no city claim the bones of Mary? Apparently because there weren’t any bones to claim, and people knew it. Here was Mary, certainly the most privileged of all the saints, certainly the most saintly, but we have no record of her bodily remains being venerated anywhere. 
 Complement to the Immaculate Conception
Over the centuries, the Fathers and the Doctors of the Church spoke often about the fittingness of the privilege of Mary’s Assumption. The speculative grounds considered include Mary’s freedom from sin, her Motherhood of God, her perpetual virginity, and—the key—her union with the salvific work of Christ. 
The dogma is especially fitting when one examines the honor that was given to the ark of the covenant. It contained the manna (bread from heaven), stone tablets of the ten commandments (the word of God), and the staff of Aaron (a symbol of Israel’s high priesthood). Because of its contents, it was made of incorruptible wood, and Psalm 132:8 said, "Arise, O Lord, and go to thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy might." If this vessel was given such honor, how much more should Mary be kept from corruption, since she is the new ark—who carried the real bread from heaven, the Word of God, and the high priest of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ. 
Some argue that the new ark is not Mary, but the body of Jesus. Even if this were the case, it is worth noting that 1 Chronicles 15:14 records that the persons who bore the ark were to be sanctified. There would be no sense in sanctifying men who carried a box, and not sanctifying the womb who carried God himself! After all, wisdom will not dwell "in a body under debt of sin" (Wis. 1:4 NAB). 
But there is more than just fittingness. After all, if Mary is immaculately conceived, then it would follow that she would not suffer the corruption in the grave, which is a consequence of sin [Gen. 3:17, 19]. 
 Mary’s Cooperation
Mary freely and actively cooperated in a unique way with God’s plan of salvation (Luke 1:38; Gal. 4:4). Like any mother, she was never separated from the suffering of her Son (Luke 2:35), and Scripture promises that those who share in the sufferings of Christ will share in his glory (Rom. 8:17). Since she suffered a unique interior martyrdom, it is appropriate that Jesus would honor her with a unique glory. 
All Christians believe that one day we will all be raised in a glorious form and then caught up and rendered immaculate to be with Jesus forever (1 Thess. 4:17; Rev. 21:27). As the first person to say "yes" to the good news of Jesus (Luke 1:38), Mary is in a sense the prototypical Christian, and received early the blessings we will all one day be given. 
 The Bible Only?
Since the Immaculate Conception and Assumption are not explicit in Scripture, Fundamentalists conclude that the doctrines are false. Here, of course, we get into an entirely separate matter, the question of sola scriptura, or the Protestant "Bible only" theory. There is no room in this tract to consider that idea. Let it just be said that if the position of the Catholic Church is true, then the notion of sola scriptura is false. There is then no problem with the Church officially defining a doctrine which is not explicitly in Scripture, so long as it is not in contradiction to Scripture. 
The Catholic Church was commissioned by Christ to teach all nations and to teach them infallibly—guided, as he promised, by the Holy Spirit until the end of the world (John 14:26, 16:13). The mere fact that the Church teaches that something is definitely true is a guarantee that it is true (cf. Matt. 28:18-20, Luke 10:16, 1 Tim. 3:15). 
NIHIL OBSTAT: I have concluded that the materials
presented in this work are free of doctrinal or moral errors.
Bernadeane Carr, STL, Censor Librorum, August 10, 2004
IMPRIMATUR: In accord with 1983 CIC 827
permission to publish this work is hereby granted.
+Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego, August 10, 2004