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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , December 25, 2015

‘Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her Lk 2:19 heart.’

Bishop da Cunha’s Christmas Message — page two

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December 25, 2015

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. Christmas Message 2015

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Welcoming the Prince of Peace

ne of the questions faced by humanity which theologians, Spiritual writers and thinkers throughout the centuries have tried to answer is: Why did God choose to save the world the way He did, by sending His only Son Jesus, to come and become one of us, to be subjected to the human condition, to suffering and death? Could God have done it differently, by the simple act of His Word? There is a passage in the third chapter of the Gospel of John which may shed some light on this question: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life” ( Jn 3:16).

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od knew that with only His Word we would not be convinced of His love and mercy; He knew we would need much more to change our lives and be converted in order to be saved. He knew we would need the presence of Jesus, we would need to see Jesus’ acceptance of God’s plan, Jesus’ willingness to empty Himself of His godliness and become one of us.

God knew we would need Jesus’ witnessing to the Father’s love and mercy for all of humanity to the point of giving His Son to die for us. As Pope Francis said when he announced the Jubilee Year of Mercy, “Jesus Christ is the Face of the Father’s mercy.”

Therefore, Jesus’ presence made all the difference.

lies, and our world. Then, once we accept His presence in our lives, we too become signs of His presence in the lives of others. In a time when individualism is emphasized, defended in every aspect of life and in every corner of the world, we need to recognize that none of us were made to be in isolation or to live for oneself.

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uring this year that is coming to an end, our world has seen

so much suffering, violence and pain.

We have witnessed terrorist attacks, endless wars, the shedding of innocent blood, loss of innocent lives, so many hopelessly leaving behind their homes, their land, their history and seeking a future as refugees. We have seen children, too young to understand what is happening to them and their families, losing their lives too early.

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hen Jesus was born, the angel appeared to the shepherds and told them: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests” (Lk 2:14). When we welcome Jesus, embrace Him, hear His Word, accept His teaching, and see His presence in our brothers and sisters, the peace that only God can give, will be truly ours.

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he importance and meaning of Christmas is the gift of Jesus’ presence.

First, we need to recognize His presence within ourselves, in our lives, our fami-

A Nativity scene and Christmas tree decorate the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

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y profound desire this Christmas and my wish to all my brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Fall River, is for the gift of the peace of Christ to reign in their homes, their hearts and their lives. My prayer is also for peace to prevail in our troubled and suffering world. My hope is that in 2016, all humanity may experience harmony and understanding regardless of race, color or religion. My wish is that there may be an end to racial discrimination and to religious persecution; that refugees find homes, orphans find families, the unemployed find jobs, and that we all find enduring peace.

Sincerely yours in the Lord,

Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha. S.D.V. Bishop of Fall River

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December 25, 2015

Mike Powers, center, manager of the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop, crouches outside the new storefront at 134 Main Street in Buzzards Bay with volunteers, from left, Carol Mazzarelli and Phyllis Cullinan.

The store has served a growing number of people in the area since relocating in October. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

Meeting the growing needs of the needy in Buzzards Bay

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff kensouza@anchornews.org BUZZARDS BAY — While many people were drawn to local shopping centers and strip malls during the last-minute Christmas rush, the parking lot of a previously vacant storefront on Main Street in Buzzards Bay was steadily filling with cars.

That this was a Thursday afternoon in the middle of the week wasn’t as surprising as the fact that the destination was the newly-relocated St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store, now prominently situated across the street from St. Margaret’s Church.

“To be honest, this is slow,” said store manager Mike Powers in between helping a volunteer price an item and cashing out a couple who hauled away a stack of dishes. “We’re doing a lot better here than we thought we would. We knew we’d do OK, but we’re exceeding all expectations.”

“We’ve been very busy since relocating here,” agreed volunteer Carol Mazzarelli. “I think there was just one day last week where I noticed there wasn’t anyone in the store since we opened. And two minutes later, a rush of people came in.”

Previously known as Count Your Blessings and located in a smaller storefront further down Main Street near the train bridge along the Cape Cod Canal, the newly-renamed St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store opened the doors of its expanded 4,000-square-foot location in October.

“This used to be a lumber store, and I think there was a furniture store here at one time,” Powers told The Anchor. “It’s a great location, right across the street from St. Margaret’s Church. It had been vacant for a couple of years before we moved in. The building we were in was small and in tough shape, so we started looking around and we saw this spot. We approached the landlord and he was able to save us a little money on the rent. He knows this is for a good cause, and he’s been really great to us.”

Store volunteer Phyllis Cullinan, who started working at the Count Your Blessings location more than three years ago, said the new site is “the perfect location.”

“We have a great group of volunteers who are all wonderful to be with and we’re helping our neighbors doing good things,” she said. “I like doing good things for other people, that’s the whole idea of it.”

Powers explained how the seeds for Count Your Blessings were first planted by Deacon Ralph Guerra and his wife Sandy several years earlier to support the charitable efforts of the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

That modest effort has since grown to include a small emergency food pantry and a busy thrift shop staffed by a group of 15 dedicated volunteers — most of whom are parishioners at St. Margaret’s.

“All the money generated through the store stays right here in the community … and

everything (we sell) has been donated,” Powers said. “Basically every dime that’s made in here, other than paying the overhead for rent, stays right in the community and it’s a nice organization in that respect.”

The thrift store sells a variety of affordable used items including everything from clothing and furniture to books, CDs and videos. Donations are welcomed and greatly appreciated, although Powers said they prefer things that are in good condition.

“I know some (St. Vincent de Paul Stores) are different, and a

lot of them get donations from retail outlets — but we rely on local donations and volunteer support,” Powers said. “When it comes to certain (furniture) items, if it’s cracked or chipped we don’t feel it’s fair to sell it to somebody. If it’s something that can be repaired, then yes; but if it’s really dinged or roughed up, we sometimes have to get rid of it. We just don’t have the manpower to have anyone here (repair it).”

Noting that similar agencies, like My Brother’s Keeper, have found willing volunteers to repair and fix damaged items, Powers said he would welcome the opportunity.

“That would be great,” he said. “Of course, we’d have to find a space for them to work here. Most of the time we’re so overwhelmed with donations, we can’t take any more. It doesn’t have anything to do with the condition of the items, we just need room to be able to work.

It doesn’t do us any good to have a pile of donations hanging around. That would slow us down and be counterproductive.”

Nestled at the back of the thrift store are shelves neatly stocked with non-perishable food items and canned goods.

Unlike other food pantries that have regularly scheduled pickup times, this one provides emergency supplies for those who reach out to the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

“We assist any people who need emergency type help,” Powers said. “It’s not a regular food pantry where you would

come in once a month to pick things up. But we do cater to quite a few people in need of food. A lot of people also need shelter, which the St. Vincent de Paul Society helps with as well.”

Sadly, at this time of year Powers said they see a noticeable uptick in the number of requests for assistance — especially those in need of food and shelter during the winter months.

“Housing is a big thing in the winter because of the cold weather,” he said. “We can put needy families up in a hotel for a week or so. We’ve had people come to us who have been laid off from work and can’t afford the rent. We have no problem with putting them up for a week and giving them food and clothes. Obviously, we can’t afford to continually do that, but we can help them for a week or two until they get back on their feet.”

Powers said it’s not uncommon for the St. Vincent de Paul Society to get between six and eight requests a day from people looking for assistance.

“It’s usually help with rent, heating or oil,” he said. “They might fall behind, and we’ll help them with that, or if they are homeless altogether, we can put them up in a hotel. We help anyone, regardless of faith. We don’t ask any questions, unless they want to tell us, and most of the times they do. We do ask them what they plan to do for themselves after a week or two.

We try to emphasize that they need to have a long-term plan, because we can’t support them Turn to page 12

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The International Church

December 25, 2015

Doing the Father’s Will: How Orthodox rabbis see common ground with Christians

Jerusalem, Israel (CNA/ EWTN News) — A recent statement from Orthodox rabbis calls for “fraternal partnership” between Christians and Jews, reflecting on their commonalities and on recent efforts by Catholics to improve relations with Jews.

“We Jews and Christians have more in common than what divides us: the ethical monotheism of Abraham; the relationship with the One Creator of Heaven and Earth, Who loves and cares for all of us; Jewish Sacred Scriptures; a belief in a binding tradition; and the values of life, family, compassionate righteousness, justice, inalienable freedom, universal love and ultimate world peace,” the statement said.

The statement did not minimize ongoing differences, but it said Jews and Christians must offer “models of service, unconditional love and holiness.”

The recent statement, titled “To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians,” was signed by more than 25 prominent Orthodox rabbis from Israel, the U.S., and Europe, and its authors have invited other Orthodox rabbis to sign it.

“Jews and Christians must be in the forefront of teaching basic moral values to the world,” said Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, a member of the Israeli Rabbin-

ate. He underlined the importance of the statement’s call for “fraternal partnership between Jewish and Christian religious leaders” while also “acknowledging the positive theological status of the Christian faith.”

The statement cited Jewish scholars such as Maimonides and Yehudah Halevi and acknowledged Christianity as “neither an accident nor an error, but the willed Divine outcome and gift to the nations.”

“In separating Judaism and Christianity, God willed a separation between partners with significant theological differences, not a separation between enemies,” it said.

Jesus “strengthened the Torah majestically” and spoke emphatically about its immutability, the rabbis said. According to the statement, Jesus removed idols from the nations, obligated the nations to follow the seven Commandments of Noah, and “instilled them firmly with moral traits.”

“Christians are congregations that work for the sake of Heaven who are destined to endure, whose intent is for the sake of Heaven and whose reward will not denied,” the statement said, citing Rabbi Jacob Emden. The statement acknowledged Christian acceptance of the Old Testament and of Divine providence.

“Jews and Christians have a common covenantal mission to perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty, so that all humanity will call on His name and abominations will be removed from the earth,” it continued.

“Now that the Catholic Church has acknowledged the eternal Covenant between God and Israel, we Jews can acknowledge the ongoing constructive validity of Christianity as our partner in world Redemption, without any fear that this will be exploited for missionary purposes.”

Rabbi Irving Greenberg, an Orthodox theologian, said there is room in traditional Judaism “to see Christianity as part of God’s covenantal plan for humanity, as a development out of Judaism that was willed by God.” The Jerusalem-based Rabbi David Rosen, international director of interreligious affairs at the American Jewish Committee, said Christians and Jews “need to work together to meet our common challenges: the assault of radical secularism, religious extremism and moral relativism on the heritage and dignity of humankind.”

The rabbis’ statement said the end of the Holocaust 70 years ago was “the warped climax to centuries of disrespect, oppression and rejection of Jews and the consequent enmity that developed between Jews and Christians.”

“In retrospect it is clear that the failure to break through this contempt and engage in constructive dialogue for the good of humankind weakened resistance to evil forces of antiSemitism that engulfed the world in murder and genocide,” the statement continued.

In the rabbis’ understanding, the Second Vatican Council declaration Nostra Aetate started the process of JewishChristian reconciliation. That document and other changes towards Judaism represent the unequivocal rejection of any form of anti-Semitism while affirming the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people. The Church rejects

the charge of deicide against Jews and stresses “the unique relationship” between Christians and Jews.

“On this basis, Catholics and other Christian officials started an honest dialogue with Jews that has grown during the last five decades,” the rabbis said.

“Today Jews have experienced sincere love and respect from many Christians that have been expressed in many dialogue initiatives, meetings and conferences around the world.”

Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn, academic director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, reflected on the statement’s importance.

“This proclamation’s breakthrough is that influential Orthodox rabbis across all centers of Jewish life have finally acknowledged that Christianity and Judaism are no longer engaged in a theological duel to the death and that Christianity and Judaism have much in common Spiritually and practically,” Korn said. “Given our toxic history, this is unprecedented in Orthodoxy.”

He said there have been previous Jewish statements on Jewish-Christian relations and theology such as the year 2000 statement “Dabru Emet.” However, few Orthodox rabbis could agree with those statements’ theological and practical claims.

On December 10 the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, an office of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, issued a statement to mark the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate.

The non-magisterial document aimed at “looking back with gratitude on all that has been achieved over the last decades in the Jewish-Catholic relationship, providing at the same time a new stimulus for the future.” It said that Christians and Jews are “irrevocably interdependent” and dialogue between the two is a duty. The document discussed the tension between the universality of Salvation in Christ and God’s unrevoked covenant with the Jewish people.

People attend the lighting of the Christmas tree on Manger Square in Bethlehem, West Bank recently. Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal urged a more Spiritual celebration of Christmas this year and called for an end to the arms trade. (CNS photo/Abed Al Hashlamoun, EPA)

5 The Church in the U.S. Pope’s U.S. visit: Six full days in September and the impact continues December 25, 2015

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Pope Francis’ U.S. visit — September 22-27 — was so full, “each day was like a week,” said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Any one of his public events would have made the trip worthwhile, said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., but he noted that what will stand out the most from the visit were the pope’s “personal opportunities to be with people that are not the influential, but the forgotten.”

The archbishop, in a November 18 interview during the bishops’ fall meeting in Baltimore, said the pope brought Catholics together with a “sense of fervor and enthusiasm” that will continue to benefit the U.S. Church and the pope, who was “encouraged by his interaction with us.”

Pope Francis talked about how much he enjoyed the U.S. visit right away: during his September 27 return flight to Rome after six jampacked days in Washington, New York and Philadelphia on the heels of his four-day visit to Cuba. He told reporters he “was surprised by the warmth of the people” in the U.S. and how they were “so loving.”

There was certainly plenty of love on display for the pope in crowds that lined streets in Washington, New

York and Philadelphia just to catch a glimpse of him. And he returned the love right back, waving from the popemobile or the black Fiat and personally greeting bishops, schoolchildren, prisoners, the homeless and abuse victims or in celebrating Liturgies and addressing massive crowds or congressional leaders and U.N. officials.

It was his first visit to the United States and he introduced himself as a brother, a son of immigrants and a neighbor not far from our southern border. He reminded the country’s leaders of the nation’s founding principles and he urged them to protect families and the earth from an uncertain future.

During the whirlwind visit all attention was on the pontiff who had guarded with extremely tight security. His trip was covered by 8,000 credentialed reporters and also described in detail by tens of thousands through social media. According to the USCCB Communications Department, there were 5.1 billion impressions about the pope’s visit on Twitter with the hashtags #PopeinUS and #PapaEnUSA. Other numbers which stand out from the visit include the crowd sizes at major events: — One million people attended the closing Mass in Philadelphia, September 27.

A woman holds a credit-card-size plate with the signatures of St. Thomas More Cathedral School students, teachers, parishioners and Father Robert J. Rippy, cathedral rector, in this April 30 photo.

The plate was placed in a satellite built by students at the Arlington, Va., school and recently launched to the International Space Station.

(CNS photo/courtesy St. Thomas More)

— 80,000 tickets distributed to see the pope in New York’s Central Park, September 25.

— 50,000 were on U.S. Capitol grounds to see the pope, September 24.

— 25,000 people attended the canonization Mass for St. Junipero Serra at the Basilica of National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington September 23.

The theme of the visit was “Love is Our Mission” and in each U.S. stop the pope stressed the importance of reinvigorating one’s faith, serving others and living up to the founding ideals of the United States.

Pope Francis was welcomed to the White House and became the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress. He joined leaders of other religions in honoring the dead and comforting their surviving family members at Ground Zero in New York. He addressed the United Nations. And, in Philadelphia, using a lectern once used by Abraham Lincoln, he called for respect for religious freedom and ethnic and cultural differences.

He ended his visit by urging Catholics to continue their enthusiasm in the faith, welcoming newcomers and caring for creation.

“Do not let your enthusiasm for Jesus, His Church, our families, and the broader family of society run dry,” Pope Francis said at the Philadelphia International Airport before flying back to Rome.

The pope always stressed

that the purpose of his visit was to attend the World Meeting of Families, which took place in Philadelphia on the closing days of his U.S. visit. While there, he emphasized, in prepared text and unscripted remarks, the importance and grace-filled moments of family life.

The crowds, gathered at every turn of the pope’s visit and willing to wait for hours to get through security lines, reflected the pontiff ’s rockstar appeal but they also indicated something else, said Jonathan Lewis, director of young adult ministry and evangelization for the Archdiocese of Washington.

Lewis, who volunteered along the parade route near the White House September 23, said the pope’s appeal is also because “he points us to Christ.”

“This is a kickoff moment,” Lewis told Catholic News Service as the crowds around him vied for optimum viewing spots. “It’s easy to cheer for Francis; it takes more courage to walk with Francis.”

And after people put away their yellow and white Vatican flags or their pope buttons and T-shirts, they had the chance to put this zeal for the pope and what he stands for into action.

According to a recentlyreleased poll by the St. Leo University Polling Institute in St. Leo, Fla., 61 percent of Americans were motivated to donate the same amount or more to charities this year and 14.9 percent attributed this to the pope’s visit.

The survey of more than 1,000 people online from November 29-December 3, with a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points, showed that Catholics intended to increase their giving this year by 24.3 percent to environmental groups, places of worship, charities, refugee causes, Pro-Life organizations and human rights groups this year.

“People feel compelled to do something,” said Nancy Wood, St. Leo University, assistant professor of Human Services, “whether that is donating money or donating time and volunteering.”

She also said the pope’s message resonated with nonCatholics because it “translates into helping others.”

Since the pope’s visit, pastors in the Washington Archdiocese have said they have seen more outreach to the most vulnerable, said Susan Timoney, secretary of pastoral ministry and social concerns for the Archdiocese of Washington.

In a recent email to Catholic News Service, she said priests in the archdiocese also have noted that they have heard many people say during the Sacrament of Reconciliation that they were inspired by the pope’s visit to “come back to Church or begin to work on some of their Spiritual concerns.”

Returning to the Sacraments and helping the poor reflects what Timoney said is the most significant impact of the pope’s visit: “people’s desire to continue the conversation Pope Francis started.”

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December 25, 2015

Anchor Editorial

Mercy at Christmas

Since no one will receive this newspaper on the date listed on the masthead, we nonetheless wish you a blessed Christmas, whether you receive this edition a day early or during the “12 Days of Christmas” (which do not begin 12 days before December 25, regardless of what radio stations and other businesses claim).

What is the greatest gift we could give or receive for Christmas (or on any day)? Mercy would be a good answer, since mercy is tied in with love.

Pope Francis gave his Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia this Monday. These greetings by the Argentine pope have sometimes been like getting some coal in one’s stocking. However, the Holy Father explained that he offers them tied to God’s gift of mercy. “Last year, as a preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we spoke of certain temptations or maladies — the catalogue of curial diseases.” So, he didn’t offer criticisms so as to ruin their Christmas, but to make it better Spiritually.

For this year’s greetings, he said, “I would like to speak about ‘curial antibiotics’ — which could affect any Christian, curia, community, congregation, parish or ecclesial movement, diseases which call for prevention, vigilance, care and, sadly, in some cases, painful and prolonged interventions.” So, although he was speaking to the curia, his prescription could be good medicine for all of us.

The pope borrowed from an acrostic for the word “mercy” (misericordia) from Father Matteo Ricci, S.J., the famous evangelizer of China from the 1500s and 1600s. We share these points here for our own meditation.

“Missionary and pastoral spirit: faith is a gift, yet the measure of our faith is also seen by the extent to which we communicate it. All baptized persons are missionaries of the Good News, above all by their lives, their work and their witness of joy and conviction.

“Idoneity and sagacity: idoneity, or suitability, entails personal effort aimed at acquiring the necessary requisites for exercising as best we can our tasks and duties with intelligence and insight. Idoneity and sagacity also represent our human response to Divine grace, when we let ourselves follow the famous dictum: ‘Do everything as if God did not exist and then put it all in God’s hands as if you did not exist.’

“Spirituality and humanity: Spirituality is the backbone of all service in the Church and in the Christian life. It is what nourishes all our activity, sustaining and protecting it from human frailty and daily temptation. Humanity is what embodies the truthfulness of our faith; Humanity is what makes us different from machines and robots which feel nothing and are never moved.

“Example and fidelity: Blessed Paul VI reminded the curia — in 1963 — of ‘its calling to set an example.’ An example of avoiding scandals which harm souls and impair the credibility of our witness. Fidelity to our consecration, to our vocation, always mindful of the words of Christ, ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much’ (Lk 16:10).

“Reasonableness and gentleness: reasonableness helps avoid emotional excesses, while gentleness helps avoid an excess of bureaucracy, programs and planning. These qualities are necessary for a balanced personality: ‘The enemy — and forgive me for quoting St. Ignatius once again — pays careful heed to whether a soul is coarse or delicate; if it is delicate, he finds a way to OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER www.anchornews.org

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make it overly delicate, in order to cause it greater distress and confusion.’

Every excess is a symptom of some imbalance, be it an excess of reasoning or of delicateness.

“Innocuousness and determination: innocuousness makes us cautious in our judgments and capable of refraining from impulsive and hasty actions. It is the ability to bring out the best in ourselves, in others and in all kinds of situations by acting carefully and attentively. It consists of doing unto others what we would have them do to us (cf. Mt 7:12 and Lk 6:31). Determination is acting with a resolute will, clear vision, obedience to God and solely for the supreme law of the salus animarum (cf. CIC can. 1725).

“Charity and truth: two inseparable virtues of the Christian life, ‘speaking the truth in charity and practicing charity in truth’ (cf. Eph 4:15). To the point where charity without truth becomes a destructive ideology of complaisance and truth without charity becomes myopic legalism.

“Openness and maturity: openness is honesty and rectitude, consistency and absolute sincerity with regard to ourselves and to God. An honest and open person does not act virtuously only when he or she is being watched; honest persons have no fear of being caught, since they never betray the trust of others. Maturity is the quest to achieve balance and harmony in our physical, mental and Spiritual gifts.

“Respectfulness and humility: respectfulness is an endowment of those noble and tactful souls who always try to show genuine respect for others, for their own work, for their superiors and subordinates, for confidentiality and privacy, who can listen carefully and speak politely. Humility is the virtue of the saints and those godly persons who become all the more important as they come to realize that they are nothing, and can do nothing, apart from God’s grace (cf. Jn 15:8).

“Diligence and attentiveness: the more we trust in God and His providence, the more we grow in diligence and readiness to give of ourselves, in the knowledge that the more we give the more we receive. What good would it do to open all the Holy Doors of all the basilicas in the world if the doors of our own heart are closed to love, if our hands are closed to giving, if our homes are closed to hospitality and our churches to welcome and acceptance? Attentiveness is concern for the little things, for doing our best and never yielding to our vices and failings. St. Vincent de Paul used to pray: ‘Lord, help me to be always aware of those around me, those who are worried or dismayed, those suffering in silence, and those who feel alone and abandoned.’

“Intrepidness and alertness: being intrepid means fearlessness in the face of troubles, like Daniel in the den of lions, or David before Goliath. Alertness, on the other hand, is the ability to act freely and easily, without being attached to fleeting material things.

“Accountability and sobriety, finally: accountable and trustworthy persons are those who honor their commitments with seriousness and responsibility when they are being observed, but above all when they are alone; they radiate a sense of tranquility because they never betray a trust. Sobriety — the last virtue on this list, but not because it is least important — is the ability to renounce what is superfluous and to resist the dominant consumerist mentality. Sobriety is prudence, simplicity, straightforwardness, balance and temperance. Sobriety is seeing the world through God’s eyes and from the side of the poor.”

Please note that The Anchor will not publish on Jan. 1, 2016. The Anchor will return to your mailbox with the Jan. 8, 2016 edition.

December 25, 2015

E

cclesiastical holy years are meant to have an influence on everything the Church does.

Therefore the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy ought to make this year’s celebration of Christmas different from every other Christmas. Looking at Christ’s birth from the prism of God’s mercy will greatly enhance our understanding and appreciation of the great event of Bethlehem.

At Christmas Vigil Masses, Catholics will hear St. Matthew’s account of the Nativity in which the Boy to be born of Mary is given two names: Emmanuel, from Isaiah’s prophecy (Is 7:14) which means “God-with-us”; and Jesus, from the angel’s instructions, which means “God saves” (Mt 1:21). These are not just random sounds or empty monikers, but point to the way God wants us to understand and relate to Him in His Incarnation.

God is with us in order to save us from our sins. He has come as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He has come, in short, on a life-saving mission of mercy.

As Pope Francis said on Monday, “Christmas is truly the feast of God’s infinite mercy.”

This is a reality of which we’ll sing heartily on Christmas. So many of our great Christmas hymns are theology in poetry, but we have become so used to them that sometimes the words have lost their impact. It’s fitting this year that we pay attention to the way they mark the real Reason for the Season. “‘Hark!’ The Herald Angels sing glory to the newborn King!” we’ll bellow in our homes, churches and Christmas parties. “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” The sweet little Boy wrapped in swaddling clothes, being held by Mary and Joseph, is “mercy mild,” the In-

Anchor Columnist God and sinners reconciled carnate Reconciliation of have to grasp that God God and sinners. loved us so much that He “O Holy Child of Beth- Himself came to deliver lehem,” we’ll melodically us. He didn’t even send a pray to Jesus before crèches, legion of archangels. He actualizing the Christmas came personally, taking mystery, “descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enPutting Into ter in, be born in us the Deep today.” Jesus indeed comes to cleanse us

By Father from the inside out Roger J. Landry and make us His dwelling place, His manger. He comes not merely to be born in on our nature to pay the the world but in each of price of our sins and libus, lifting us by His birth erate us from the enslaveto true Spiritual rebirth. ment to which they led.

My favorite ChristThere’s no greater manimas hymn — from happy festation of Who God is service for a decade in and what our dignity is in parishes full of FrancoHis eyes.

Americans — is Minuit The whole purpose of Chrétien, from which the Advent is to prepare us English “O Holy Night” anew to meet Christ as derives. In the English, Emmanuel and Savior. we ponder, “Long lay the John the Baptist’s Advent world in sin and error pin- mission is to help us to ing till He appeared and prepare the way by calling the soul felt its worth.” us to profound conversion, As beautiful as the loose lowering the mountains translation is, the original and hills of our pride and French lyrics are so much vanity, filling in the valricher. Instead of the focus leys of a shallow prayer or on the “O Night Divine,” moral life, straightening there is a concentration the tortuous roads that on Jesus the Savior: in the distract and delay us from chills inducing climax we growth in holiness, and sing, “Noël! Noël! Voici le smoothing those paths Rédempteur!” (“Christmas! that remain rough and Christmas! Behold the Re- inconsistent. deemer!”) and rejoice that Our Advent hymns have our Redeemer has broken announced this need for all our shackles, liberating conversion and Divine the earth and opening for mercy. We’ve prayerfully us the doors of Heaven. sung, “Come, thou long The word “redeemer” expected Jesus, born to set means the one who has Thy people free, from our “paid the price,” “bought fears and sins release us, let us back,” “ransomed us,” us find our rest in Thee.” from slavery — real slavery We’ve chanted, “Then to sin — and set us free. cleansed be every heart With the shepherds, from sin, make straight Magi, and Mary and the way of God within, Joseph, we behold our prepare we in our hearts Rescuer. When we adore a home, where such a Christ in the presepio and mighty Guest may come.” on the altar, we’re worWe’ve turned to Him in shipping the One Who the original Latin lyrics of took on our nature so “O Come, O Come Emthat He might take our manuel,” and implored, “O place on death row, Who Come, O Come, King of loved us so much that He the Nations, Come Recame to die so that we deemer of all, to save Your might live forever. For our servants conscious of their soul to feel its worth, we sins against You.” We’ve

intoned, “O Flower Whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air, dispel with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere; true Man yet very God, from sin and death now save us and share our every load!”

The long-expected Jesus born to set His people free is coming to cleanse our hearts from sin. The King of the Nations is coming to dispel with glorious splendor the darkness of sin and death. The

7 Fruit of Mary’s womb is coming to change the world, to change our world, by His mercy. Let us, therefore, behold and adore our Redeemer, mercy mild, Who wants that mercy to be born in us on Christmas day. Let us come to receive that mercy. And filled with the forgiving love that restores our true dignity, let us go out to sing and share in all its depth this joy to the world!

Anchor columnist Father Landry can be contacted at fatherlandry@ catholicpreaching.com.

8 ives, be subordinate to your husbands, “W as is proper in the Lord” (Col

3:18). This line from St. Paul is one of the least favorite sentences in the Bible for many people (including priests and deacons, who wonder how they are going to preach with that set before the congregation).

The Church allows a few different options for the first and second readings this weekend, as well as for the responsorial psalm, so you might very well avoid hearing those words proclaimed. For the Lectionary in the United States (in English, that is) there is also a short form of the Colossians reading, ending just before that line.

In his 1979 Holy Thursday letter to priests, St. John Paul II brought up the topic of subordination, but applied it in an interesting (and challenging) way. He told priests, “We should add that our brothers and sisters joined by the Marriage bond have the right to expect from us, priests and pastors, good example and the witness of fidelity to one’s vocation until death, a fidelity to the vocation that we choose through the Sacrament of Holy Orders just as they choose it through the Sacrament of Matrimony.

December 25, 2015

The submission of the Holy Family

sonal dignity, endowing them Also in this sphere and in this with the inalienable rights sense we should understand and responsibilities proper to our ministerial priesthood as the human person. God then ‘subordination’ to the common manifests the dignity of women priesthood of all the faithful, in the highest form possible, of the laity, especially of those by assuming human flesh from who live in Marriage and form the Virgin Mary, whom the a family. In this way, we serve in ‘building up the Body of Christ’”(Eph 4:12). So here he told priests that they should subordinate Homily of the Week themselves, out of love, Feast of the to the needs of the laity, Holy Family and especially to the needs of married people.

By Richard In Familaris ConsorD. Wilson tio 22, St. John Paul’s 1981 exhortation on the Church honors as the Mother family, he wrote, “Above all it of God, calling her the new is important to underline the Eve and presenting her as the equal dignity and responsibilmodel of redeemed women. ity of women with men. This The sensitive respect of Jesus equality is realized in a unique towards the women that He manner in that reciprocal selfcalled to His following and His giving by each one to the other friendship, His appearing on and by both to the children Easter morning to a woman which is proper to Marriage before the other disciples, the and the family. What human mission entrusted to women reason intuitively perceives and to carry the good news of the acknowledges is fully revealed Resurrection to the Apostles — by the Word of God: the histhese are all signs that confirm tory of Salvation, in fact, is a the special esteem of the Lord continuous and luminous testiJesus for women.” mony of the dignity of women.

In the following paragraph “In creating the human race (No. 23), the Polish saint ‘male and female,’ God gives reminded us, “There is no man and woman an equal per-

doubt that the equal dignity and responsibility of men and women fully justifies women’s access to public functions. On the other hand the true advancement of women requires that clear recognition be given to the value of their maternal and family role, by comparison with all other public roles and all other professions. This will come about more easily if a renewed ‘theology of work’ can shed light upon and study in depth the meaning of work in the Christian life and determine the fundamental bond between work and the family, and therefore the original and irreplaceable meaning of work in the home and in rearing children.

Therefore the Church can and should help modern society by tirelessly insisting that the work of women in the home be recognized and respected by all in its irreplaceable value.

“Society must be structured in such a way that wives and mothers are not in practice compelled to work outside the home, and that their families can live and prosper in a dignified way even when they themselves devote their full time to

their own family. Furthermore, the mentality which honors women more for their work outside the home than for their work within the family must be overcome. This requires that men should truly esteem and love women with total respect for their personal dignity, and that society should create and develop conditions favoring work in the home.”

As we ponder the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph this weekend, we recall St. Joseph’s sharing of his trade with Jesus and the Blessed Mother’s sharing her example of service and meditation. They both had important, although different, roles in the life of their Boy (although we always point out that Joseph was not Jesus’ physical father, he was truly a father to Him, as Mary herself said in the temple when questioning her Son).

May St. Joseph, who subordinated his whole life to the needs and security of Mary and Jesus, help us to subordinate ourselves to God’s Will in our families.

Father Wilson is pastor of St. Vincent de Paul and St. John the Evangelist parishes in Attleboro, and executive editor of The Anchor.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Dec. 26, Acts 6:8-10;7:54-59; Mt 10:17-22. Sun. Dec. 27, feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Sir 3:2-6,12-14; Ps 128:1-5; Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17; Lk 2:41-52 or for Year C, 1 Sm 1:20-22,24-28; Ps 84:2-3,5-6,9-10; 1 Jn 3:1-2, 21-24; Lk 2:41-52. Mon. Dec. 28, feast of the Holy Innocents, 1 Jn 1:5–2:2; Mt 2:13-18. Tues. Dec. 29, 1 Jn 2:3-11; Lk 2:22-35. Wed. Dec. 30, 1 Jn 2:12-17; Lk 2:36-40. Thurs. Dec. 31, 1 Jn 2:18-21; Jn 1:1-18. Fri. Jan. 1, Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, Nm 6:22-27; Ps 67:2-3,5-6,8; Gal 4:4-7; Lk 2:16-21.

Sat. Jan. 2, 1 Jn 2:22-28; Ps 98:1-4; Jn 1:19-28. Sun. Jan. 3, The Epiphany of the Lord, Is 60:1-6; Ps 72:1-2,7-8,10-13; Eph 3:2-3a,5-6; Mt 2:1-12. Mon. Jan. 4, 1 Jn 3:22—4:6; Ps 2:7bc-8,10-12a; Mt 4:12-17,23-25. Tues. Jan. 5, 1 Jn 4:7-10; Ps 72:1-4,7-8; Mk 6:34-44. Wed. Jan. 6, 1 Jn 4:11-18; Ps 72:1-2,10,12-13; Mk 6:45-52. Thurs.

Jan. 7, 1 Jn 4:19—5:4; Ps 72:1-2,14,15bc,17; Lk 4:14-22a. Fri. Jan. 8, 1 Jn 5:5-13; Ps 147:12-15,19-20; Lk 5:12-16.

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iblical scholars generally agree that Luke’s Gospel was written at least a generation later than Paul’s first letter to the Christians at Corinth. Yet whatever the dating, and irrespective of scholarly disputes about whether “Luke,” the author of the eponymous Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, and “Luke,” the companion of Paul mentioned in Acts and several Pauline letters, are the same person, First Corinthians and Luke-Acts are built on the same, deep theological insight: the Incarnation of the Son of God, and His birth, ministry, death, and Resurrection, turned the world upside-down.

So even if the Christmas story of the angelic announcement of the Nativity to the shepherds of Bethlehem (Lk 2:1-20) was written decades later than First Corinthians, Paul’s letter to those fractious Greeks give us a crucial interpretive key to Christmas.

Here is Paul, bringing some serious heat at the very beginning of a letter full of challenge to his

Christmas and a world upside-down converts in one of antiquity’s our righteousness and sanctificarowdiest towns: tion and redemption; therefore, “Has not God made foolish as it is written, ‘Let him who the wisdom of the world? For boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Cor since, in the wisdom of God, 1: 20b-31). the world did not know God Preachers at Christmas often, through wisdom, it pleased God and rightly, emphasize the through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

By George Weigel “For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were lowliness of the Christ Child’s of noble birth; but God chose birth and its first annunciation what is foolish in the world to to a gaggle of herders not highly shame the wise, God chose what esteemed by their countrymen. is weak in the world to shame the What St. Paul reminds us, in strong, God chose what is low First Corinthians, is that this and despised in the world, even pattern of inversion — turning things that are not, to bring to everything upside-down — connothing things that are, so that tinues throughout the public no human being might boast in ministry of the Lord Jesus and the presence of God. He is the reaches its dramatic climax in His source of your life in Christ Jesus, death and Resurrection.

Whom God made our wisdom, Jesus doesn’t evangelize the

The Catholic Difference

principalities and powers (although they, too, are welcome to listen and learn): he goes to the outcasts, including lepers and prostitutes, to announce and embody a Kingdom in which Israel’s God is King, not just of the people of Israel, but of the whole world.

The child “wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger” (Lk 2.7) will not establish God’s rule and Kingdom by political cunning, or by a display of worldly wisdom, or by knocking emperors and procurators off their thrones or judgment-seats: he will reign from a different throne, an instrument of torture — the cross. He will not be celebrated, like victorious Roman generals, with a “triumph,” a vast spectacle conducted in the capital of world empire: the signs of his “triumph” will be an empty tomb; the pierced hands and feet of a transfigured, glorified Body that defies time and space; burning

memories of a walk to Emmaus; a breakfast of grilled fish on the lakeshore; a commission to go and convert the world, issued to a group of nobodies.

It’s all inversion — all upsidedown — all the way.

Seeing the world with the world’s eyes gets the world out of focus. Seeing the world through the Gospels and their unique optic on reality helps bring what the world mistakenly calls “the real world” into clearer focus. That kind of “seeing” begins at Christmas.

It doesn’t end there, however.

For seeing clearly is journey and pilgrimage, during which swords will pierce hearts and the road will lead to the ultimate inversion of worldly logic, which is Calvary. But then comes Easter.

And then Christmas is fulfilled in a world that may seem upside-down to the world, but to the eyes of faith is finally right-side up, in perfect focus.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

December 25, 2015

Friday 25 December 2015 — Homeport: Falmouth Harbor — Christmas Day s we all know, El Niño is caused by rising water temperatures in the Pacific. El Niño normally occurs around Christmas.

The name means “little boy.”

And what “little Boy” is celebrated at this time of year but Jesus, the Divine Child?

The Divine Child is also known as Christkind (Austria, Belgium); Christkindle (Germany); Le Petit Jesus (France); Menino Jesus de Natal (Portugal); Babbo Natal (Italy); Jezisek (Czech Republic): Jouluvana (Estonia); Jezussek (Slovenia).

Everyone dreams of a little snow for Christmas.

When we do get a white Christmas, it’s a gift from El Niño, the weather pattern.

Who cares about the weather? It’s El Niño (the Divine Child) I contemplate on this holy day.

Perhaps the most popular El Niño image in the world is the Infant of Prague. Look at any statue of the Infant of Prague. Jesus is clearly not an Infant but a Toddler.

Jesus is shown standing.

Newborns and infants don’t stand on their own two feet; toddlers do (although I’ve never heard of anyone with a

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W

orking in higher education, I’ve learned a lot about privilege. I’ve had to confront my own position in the world as it relates to those around me. In fact, starting during my undergraduate career I began having the uncomfortable conversation of white privilege. From a racial standpoint, there are so many things I don’t consider as being part of my role as a privileged member of our society. I don’t have to think about the color makeup I might want to purchase, or if the Band-Aids I’ve selected match my skin tone.

I’ve never been followed in a grocery store, nor have I been pulled over because of the color of my skin. These are all things that situate me in a position of privilege, one that is often not considered as such, because it is simply not thought of that way. It makes me sad to say, but it’s uncomfortable to think about

Anchor Columnists El Niño Epiphany at a later date. devotion to the “Toddler of The two Nativity acPrague,” have you)? counts combined in our Why is Jesus shown as a child of say, two years of age, manger scenes originate in and not a newborn? The im- the Gospels of Luke and Matthew. Luke speaks of age of the Infant of Prague shepherds and angels; he springs from our Church observance of the Christmas makes no reference to Magi. season, but it’s obviously not Matthew speaks of gifts and Baby Jesus asleep in the hay. Magi; he does not mention The Infant of Prague is an EpiphThe Ship’s Log any figure. It shows Reflections of a Jesus receiving the Magi in audience. JeParish Priest sus holds, in His left

By Father Tim hand, a royal orb surGoldrick mounted by a cross.

He wears a bejeweled crown, as befits a shepherds. Strictly speakKing. His right hand, with ing, then, a Nativity scene two fingers extended in the according to Luke would classic fashion, bestows His Divine blessing on the visit- have no Magi; a Nativity scene according to Matthew ing Magi. would have no shepherds. In Our home and church Nativity scenes usually show order to tell the whole story of the birth of the Messiah, a tableau with Magi, shepwe simply show both scenes herds, sheep, camels, and together. It works for us. angels gathered together at There are also two clues the manger in Bethlehem hidden in the vocabulary on the night of Jesus’ birth. used by St. Matthew. Jesus Two Scriptural accounts was born in a stable (or have been conflated in time and space. The birth of Jesus cave) in Bethlehem, but the Magi, says Matthew, arrived and the visit of the Magi at “the house.” The stable were, according to Biblical was a temporary shelter for accounts, chronologically separate events. Liturgically, the Holy Family. That’s not where they lived. Jesus didn’t we celebrate the Nativity of live in a barn. He lived in a the Lord one day and the

house. Where was the residence of the Holy Family?

That would be Nazareth.

The Magi followed the star.

The star came to a standstill over Nazareth. It was in the house at Nazareth, then, that the Magi found the Christ Child with Mary His mother.

And here, dear readers, is the second clue. The word Matthew uses for “child” does not mean “infant.” The word means “a weaned child” as in “toddler.” And so, after a long and convoluted journey, we, like the Magi before us, have entered the presence of El Niño. Before us stands the image of the Divine Child, Jesus of Nazareth.

The story of the Divine Child of Prague begins with Maria, daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles I of Spain. Maria married Maximillian, son of Ferdinand I, monarch of the Kingdom of the Czechs.

Maria brought with her to Prague a wax statue of the Child Jesus. This is the Infant of Prague. Maximillian and Maria had a daughter named Polyzena. Maria gave the statue of the Infant

What you don’t realize you have privilege because you can’t think about that without thinking about those who don’t benefit from the same advantages. This semester it hit me that religious privilege is a reality among us as well.

On our campus we put up a holiday tree at the head of our quad.

It’s not called a Christmas tree, as to be inclusive of those on campus who don’t celebrate the holiday, however it’s caused some discussion. The tree, after all, looks like a Christmas tree, and for it to be a focal point of the campus, has some students wondering how and where they can demonstrate their own religious and holiday symbols.

After lots of conversation and deliberation, the university now has a holiday display policy, and an application in place, for students wishing to display symbols of their reli-

gion in designated spaces on campus. What a wonderful step in a progressive direction, right? Right! Except I challenge you to think about something. I challenge you to think about why this has to happen in the first place.

Radiate Your Faith

By Renee Bernier

Because so many students felt they didn’t have a voice, a way to represent their faith on our campus. A Menorah is not the go-to symbol for the season, nor is Happy Hanukkah the first expression of holiday tidings. There is rarely mention of Kwanza and there is in fact a Hindu celebration in December called Pancha Ganapati, celebrating the lord of culture and new beginnings.

For those who celebrate these faith traditions, they often go unrecognized in the wake of a Christian-focused society.

And I think as Catholics and Christians we often feel we get overlooked in the wake of commercialism.

Aren’t we important, more important than the presents under the tree and the newest, latest, greatest gadgets? What about Jesus being the reason for the season? Because we’re so busy looking at all the commercial signs of our faith plastered around us, we forget that we actually hold a privileged position in our society. Because when you push aside the candy canes and the ribbons and the bows, it’s easy to see our faith everywhere.

Merry Christmas is still the first expression of faith that comes to mind for the season, manger scenes are

9 of Prague to Polyzena on her wedding day. Unfortunately, the Marriage failed.

Polyzena re-gifted the Infant of Prague to a Carmelite monastery. Eventually, the Infant of Prague was placed in the Carmelite Church of Our Lady of Victories. Although the church is no longer under the care of the Carmelites, there the statue remains to this very day.

I once pastored a church that had been given a lovely carved wooden statue of the Infant of Prague, but the parishioners there had no particular devotion to the Divine Child. I, on the other hand, consider the Incarnation to be the bridge between God’s Salvation and all of human history. I relocated the statue of the Infant of Prague to a place of higher honor — a prominent shrine at the front entrance to the rectory. I claimed the Infant of Prague as the primary patron of the house.

Today, as the light shines in the darkness, may the blessings of the Divine Child (whatever you choose to call Him) shine in your heart.

Anchor columnist Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

proudly displayed on lawns, and angels are hung on tops of trees. We can see our religion everywhere we look, and this is beautiful and a reminder that in a season during which we are called to be humbled by the birth of our Christ, our Heart, the One Who died for our sins, that somewhere else someone is honoring their faith tradition and may not always have the freedom to do so in a society that accepts them.

That being said, I challenge you all this Christmas to recognize the privilege it is to be Catholic and Christian, to love your God with all your heart, and to admire those around us that do the same in their own way.

Anchor columnist Renee Bernier graduated from Stonehill College and is a graduate student in the College Student Personnel Program at James Madison University in Harrison, Va.

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December 25, 2015

The Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican is seen as Pope Francis greets the crowd during a recent general audience.

(CNS photo/Paul Haring)

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December 25, 2015

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The Four Musketeers come to town

hey were awaiting me as I pulled up to Terminal One at the Kalaupapa Airport. There they were, four sturdy young men who could be mistaken for army recruits but

Moon Over Molokai

By Father Patrick Killilea, SS.CC.

in actuality are candidates for religious life and the priesthood.

They had been granted a “reprieve” from their novitiate “boot camp” in order to spend a week’s retreat here on Molokai. They are Bill Gural from Massachusetts, Saia Fainga’a from Tonga, Eric Cruz from the Philippines and Darius Amansec also from the Philippines. My classmate, Father Bill Petrie SS.CC., pastor of St. Damien on Topside Molokai, who would preach their retreat flew in later. One for all and all for one!

That afternoon we all boarded the “Paddy Wagon” and set out for Kalawao, the site of the original Hansen’s disease settlement, which was abandoned in 1932 in favor of Kalaupapa. There at St. Philomena Church, built by St. Damien, Father Bill celebrated Mass for us and gave us his usual rousing and inspiring sermon.

He was like the second coming of Bishop Fulton Sheen of happy memory. Even Kalawao, the resident cat and self-appointed church greeter voiced his approval. The celebration of Mass was also greatly enhanced by the powerful voices of the magnificent four. After Mass was ended we returned to Kalaupapa as the sun had already disappeared behind those majestic Kalawao Pali.

In the following days Father Bill helped these young men on their journey toward profession as Sacred Hearts Brothers and they lent their voices in praise of the Lord at our 5:45 a.m. Mass each morning. We have many young men and women of college age and younger who visit here in the course of the year and we hope that they will contemplate following the example of these four young men as recruits for the mission fields of the Lord. One for all and all for the Lord!

On the final day of their stay in Kalaupapa we visited the Landing Place in Kalawao’s Judd Park and reflected on the fate of those many patients who were put ashore and left to make their homes there in the shadow of the great Pali. On the way back

to Kalaupapa town we hiked up to the Kauhako crater, a place Sacred to many. The next morning we journeyed to St. Joseph’s Church in Kamalo on Topside Molokai, built by St. Damien, and closed out the retreat with group picture taking, readings from Gavan Daws’ “Holy Man,” and the singing of “Damien The Blessed.” Then it was on to Ranch Camp, the Sacred Hearts residence, for lunch and fellowship. It was one for all and all for fun. Aloha and have a blessed Christmas.

Anchor columnist Father Killilea is pastor of St. Francis Parish in Kalaupapa, Hawaii.

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December 25, 2015

It’s official! Mother Teresa is going to be canonized

Vatican City (CNA/ EWTN News — After months of anticipation, the miracle allowing for the canonization of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta has officially been approved by the Vatican, though as of now no specific date for the event has been given.

Rumors of the canonization have been building for months.

However, the Vatican made it official in a recent communique, which also recognized the heroic virtue of Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, giving him the title “Venerable.”

Though Pope Francis met with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, mere days ago to advance several causes of canonization, including an American, he met with the cardinal again in a private audience on his birthday, December 17.

In the course of the meeting the pope accepted the miracle

attributed to Mother Teresa which has been being studied, namely, the healing of a Brazilian man inexplicably cured of brain abscesses.

Although no plans are official, Cardinal Amato has previously suggested Sept. 4, 2016 — which is being observed as a jubilee day for workers and volunteers of mercy — as a possible canonization date, since it is close to September 5, the nun’s feast day and the anniversary of her death.

In September, Father Caetano Rizzi, the Vicar for Canonic affairs in the Brazilian diocese of Santos and the Promoter of Justice for the miracle, told CNA that the pope was interested in canonizing Mother Teresa during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which runs from Dec. 8,

2015-Nov. 20, 2016.

In his December 17 meeting with Cardinal Amato, Pope Francis also approved

of the heroic virtue of Father Adolfo of the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools, as well as that of layman Enrico Hahn.

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia.

The youngest of three children, she attended a youth group run by a Jesuit priest called Sodality, which eventually opened her to the call of service as a missionary nun.

She joined the Sisters of Loretto at age 17 and was sent to Calcutta, where she taught at a high school. After contracting tuberculosis, she was sent to rest in Darjeeling, and it was on the way that she felt what she called “an order” from God to leave the convent and live among the poor.

The Vatican granted her permission to leave the Sisters of Loretto and to live her new call under the guidance of the Archbishop of Calcutta.

After she left her convent, Mother Teresa began working in the slums, teaching poor children, and treating the sick in

their homes. A year later, some of her former students joined her, and together they took in men, women and children who were dying in the gutters along the streets.

In 1950, the Missionaries of Charity were born as a congregation of the Diocese of Calcutta. In 1952, the government granted them a house from which to continue their mission of serving Calcutta’s poor and forgotten.

The congregation quickly grew from a single house for the dying and unwanted to nearly 500 houses around the world.

Mother Teresa set up homes for prostitutes, battered women, orphanages for poor children and houses for those suffering from AIDS. She was a fierce defender of the unborn, and is known to have said, “If you hear of some woman who does not want to keep her child and wants to have an abortion, try to persuade her to bring him to me. I will love that child, seeing in him the sign of God’s love.”

She died Sept. 5, 1997, and was beatified just six years later by St. John Paul II Oct. 19, 2003.

Helping the needy in Buzzards Bay continued from page three

for long periods of time. We’d love to, but we just don’t have the money. It’s not a handout, it’s a hand up.”

Carol Duchnowski, who has been volunteering with the St. Vincent de Paul Society for the past six months, said she recently was able to help a friend get some much-needed furniture from the thrift store.

“She just took on the challenge of raising her niece and her nephew and it’s been a struggle for her and we were able to get her a couch and some lamps and small stuff and it just made her day,” Duchnowski said. “We brought them all to her apartment and now they have some decent furniture. It’s great that people can be able to come in here and just get the basics.”

Situated along the Cape Cod Canal, Powers said there’s a misconception that the area is somehow more affluent and devoid of poverty.

“I don’t think people realize there are just as many needy people here on Cape Cod as anywhere else,” he said. “I know I never did until I started volunteering here. There are a lot

of people in a lot of tough situations out there — and it’s not just being homeless. You might have someone who was doing well a year ago, but they might have gotten divorced or lost their job and just can’t keep up with the rent or mortgage and now they’re trying to start over.

There’s a lot of that here.”

That’s where he hopes the St. Vincent de Paul Society and the money raised from its thrift store can be put to good use.

“At this time of year, people think about getting gifts, but I think it’s nicer to give,” Powers said. “And I know people who come here are really appreciative of the help we give them.

Sometimes it’s the littlest thing you help them out with. I get a real sense of satisfaction working here.”

The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store is located at 134 Main Street in Buzzards Bay, directly across the street from St. Margaret’s Church. They are open everyday, except Sunday and Monday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information or to volunteer, call 508-759-7171 or email countyourblessings95@ verizon.net.

December 25, 2015

News From the Vatican

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Animated characters Theodore, Alvin and Simon appear in the movie “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Fox)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by Catholic News Service.

“Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip” (Fox) When the talent manager who has become their unofficial adoptive dad ( Jason Lee) takes a trip to Florida with his surgeon girlfriend (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), the singing brothers of the title (voices of Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney) fear he intends to propose to her. It’s not the prospect of the doctor becoming their stepmother that troubles the warbling rodents, but the idea of her bullying teen son ( Josh Green) joining the family. Since this acerbic lad turns out to be just as anxious as they are to thwart the match, the four join forces and set out on a cross-country journey to put the kibosh on any question popping. Despite a simplistic and recycled plot, director Walt Becker’s lighthearted blend of animation and live action will likely satisfy its diminutive target audience.

As for their accompanying elders, they’ll be pleased by a generally

positive — though not unblemished — message about family as well as by a lesson about the vulnerability that often lies behind aggressive behavior. Some mild potty humor, a single slightly crass term.

The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

“Sisters” (Universal) Upset that their parents ( James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) are selling their childhood home, two grown but immature siblings (Amy Poehler and Tina Fey) try to relive their glory years by holding a wild party for their friends from high school in the now-emptied house.

While one revives her feud with an old enemy (Maya Rudolph), the other, a divorcee, yearns for romance with a neighbor (Ike Barinholtz). Director Jason Moore’s patchy comedy aims to make a point about the need to grow up.

But, as Fey’s character fondly recalls her teen-age promiscuity, a married couple has concealed public sex and hunk Barinholtz suffers a slapstick accident that might require the attention of a proctologist, the strained proceedings fail to eke out either laughs or enlightenment. Misguided values, including a benign view of casual sex, drug use and artificial contraception, a nongraphic scene of aberrant sexual activity, much sexual and some scatological humor, several uses of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language, obscene gestures.

Bishop’s TV Christmas Mass Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., will be the principal celebrant of the Christmas Mass to be televised on ABC Channel 6 (WLNE-TV) at noon on Christmas Day. The hour-long Mass will be a delayed broadcast of the Christmas Vigil Mass celebrated at 4 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River.

The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted.

Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (Disney) After a 10-year hiatus, the iconic science-fiction franchise is rejuvenated courtesy of a lucid plot, abundant humor and the introduction of two dynamic new heroes: a young scavenger (Daisy Ridley) and a disaffected foot soldier ( John Boyega) of the Dark Side. Together, they help Jedi warrior Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his sister and ally General Leia (Carrie Fisher) battle a fascistic army (commanded

by Andy Serkis). Director and cowriter J.J. Abrams brings a steady hand, if not much technical innovation or visual flair, to this seventh installment of the intergalactic saga. Just enabling the duo of newcomers to deliver such compelling performances, however, turns out to be the key to revitalizing the blockbuster series. Much stylized fantasy violence. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, Dec. 27, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Kevin A. Cook, pastor of Holy Family Parish in East Taunton.

Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Michael S. Racine, pastor of St. Bernard’s Parish in Assonet.

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December 25, 2015

Father Edward J. Burns, 88

By Father Richard D. Wilson Executive Editor

FALL RIVER — Father Edward J. Burns died December 14 at the Catholic Memorial Home in Fall River. He was 88.

Father Burns was the son of the late Edward J. and Ann (Reilly) Burns. He was the brother of the late M. Dolores Burns, Nathan Burns, and Ann (Burns) Hoversen. He is survived by nieces and nephews.

Father Burns was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1954, by the Bishop James L. Connolly.

Following his ordination, he served as curate of St. Joseph Parish, St. Louis Parish, and St. William Parish, all in Fall River.

In 1972, he was appointed administrator of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Swansea. He also served as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Fall River, St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Provincetown, and St. Mark’s Parish in Attleboro Falls.

He retired from St. Mark’s Parish on June 26, 1996.

His funeral was celebrated by Bishop Edgar da Cunha, S.D.V., on December 19 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River.

Twenty-one priests and four deacons also participated in the Mass.

Father Paul A. Caron, V.F., dean of New Bedford, preached the Mass. In his homily he began with a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Protestant cleric who was killed by the Nazis. Bonhoeffer said, “There is nothing that can replace the absence of someone dear to us, and one should not even attempt to do so.

One must simply hold out and endure it. At first that sounds very hard, but at the same time it is also a great comfort. For to the extent the emptiness truly remains unfilled one remains connected to the other person through it. It is wrong to say that God fills the emptiness. God in no way fills it but much more leaves it precisely unfilled and thus helps us preserve — even in pain — the authentic

relationship.”

Father Caron then explained that as priests “our death and the death of the Lord is always before us.

Even in the face of death, there is always hope. The readings point out that even in darkness, there is light.”

Following Father Burns’ practice of referring to every reading in a homily, Father Caron applied each of the them (Lamentations 3:17-26, Romans 6:3-4, 8-9, and John 14:1-6) to his old friend’s priesthood.

He said that Father Ted loved the passage in Romans where St. Paul links our Baptisms to eternal life and that John 14 was one of his favorite Gospels, where Jesus tells the Apostles to have hope and to follow Him. Father Caron quoted from the exhortation to priests at their ordinations, where they are told to “apply your duties” to teaching in “Christ, the true Teacher.” He remembered how Father Burns would quiz altar servers before Mass about “religion or world capitals, several of which he had visited.” He also discussed his friend’s prayer life, spending an hour in prayer after Mass, after having prayed the Liturgy of the Hours beforehand.

Father Caron recalled that Father Burns would often quote at the end of his funeral homilies an Orthodox prayer: “Blessed is the road on which you go today because during your life you were one of Christ’s friends.”

During the Orthodox Liturgy the “royal doors” leading to where the Eucharist is celebrated are opened at certain points of the ceremony. Linking that to the passing of Father Burns, Father Caron quoted Eugene Trubetskoy, a Russian Orthodox prince and a religious philosopher, who cried out before dying, “The royal doors are opening! The great Liturgy is about to begin.” This was the celestial Liturgy that Father Burns awaited with great anticipation.

Religious leaders recently gathered at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Matt Hadro/CNA)

We won’t respond to violence with hatred, religious leaders say

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — Religious leaders recently responded to global violence and terrorism with solidarity and prayer in Washington, D.C. “We will stand together, strengthened by the faith of each one in this room and the solidarity we share, simply because we know how to answer the question ‘Who is my neighbor?’” stated Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., preaching on the Parable of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke at a Dec. 16 interfaith prayer service.

“Let us never forget, we are each other’s neighbor,” he added.

The “Interfaith Gathering for Solidarity, Understanding, and Peace” took place at Georgetown University on December 16, featuring prayers, readings, and reflections from Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Jewish leaders.

The purpose of the gathering was to give public witness to values of solidarity and tolerance in the wake of recent global and domestic violence, and subsequent animosity shown towards certain religions. Leaders of different faiths gathered to “realize the shared resources of our traditions,” as Georgetown University’s president John DeGioia stated in his opening remarks.

We must never let violence and terror change how we see innocent persons, Cardinal Wuerl insisted.

“Much has changed, beginning with the 9/11 attacks and with the terrorism abroad and now here in our land,” he acknowledged, but he added that “the actions of a few must never change all of us.”

Evil thrives when bad actions are met with silence, he explained. “Today we’re addressing the silence. We’re standing together, all saying this is simply not us,” he said. “We will not be changed because of the violence and the hatred of others.”

Vice President Joe Biden was in attendance and addressed the audience just before the service ended.

Turning to Cardinal Wuerl, he remarked, “You said it best when you said ‘we receive that Spiritual power to participate in the transformation of the world, or at least our small part of it, the transformation into something wonderful.’ This service is something wonderful.”

Man, created “in the image of God, in the likeness of God,” possesses “free will” and the ability to “discern,” said Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig, a senior rabbi at the Washington Hebrew Congregation, in a reflection on Genesis 1:26-27.

“Let this gathering be our promise: that we will choose love over hate. Peace over violence. That we will endeavor to live as God’s children bringing compassion and tolerance and building for our children and our children’s children a world better than ours,” he continued.

“May we act as if we were worthy, worthy of being created in God’s image. This is our prayer. This is our hope.”

Man has a two-fold identity, human and religious, said Talib M. Shareef, imam and president of The Nation’s Mosque. He explained how in the Koran, Adam is considered father of the human community and “gives us our human identity,” and Abraham is also

called “Father” and “gives us our religious identity.”

“If you come out of these identities and begin to devour each other, call each other names,” he added, “then you begin to lose not just religious identity but human identity,” and this can be considered “inhumane.”

In his concluding prayer, Metropolitan Tikhon, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America, asked for sacrificial love and for an “uprooting” of all “indifference, suspicion, cowardice, and hypocrisy.”

“Enable us to love others with a sacrificial and self-emptying love that we see in your Servant Jesus Christ, Who comes to us in extreme humility,” he prayed.

“All-compassionate Lord, establish in us Your Love, that we may truly love not only our brothers, sisters and friends, but our enemies as well, and do good to those who hate us.”

To subscribe to The Anchor, or give it as a gift, contact Mary Chase at 508-675-7151 or Email marychase@ anchornews. org

15

December 25, 2015

Reflections on children’s gifts Now is the time of year when we are making our gift lists and checking them twice.

We want to be sure that what we choose does not promote violence and so we offer the following to you.

KEEP THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS — Author Unknown When you do your Christmas shopping And you’re picking out the toys Please remember that your choices Will be building girls and boys.

Tools and science sets and paints And books of other lands Should now replace the things of war In all our children’s hands.

Give them blocks for building peace; Our youth can make it true.

And toys that make a game of war Should never come from you!

War’s too grim a thing for fun And much too sad for play.

So give our youth constructive toys As promise of a better day.

As we reflect on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Tragedy, let us look for ways to cherish all life , work for justice and create a more peaceful world for all.

Pax Christi group at National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette , John Flynn, Jane Griffin, Liz Johanson, Linda Johnston, Elaine L’Etoile, Sheila Matthews, Father John P. Sullivan, and Mike Warenda EXECUTIVE EDITOR RESPONDS: I am sorry that I did not get this letter in beforehand, but it is a good thought for upcoming giftshopping for late Christmas gifts, birthdays, etc. I’m sure you will miss Father Sullivan (please see article on page 19 about him).

We need turth In the December 4 edition of The Anchor, Father Landry and George Weigel wrote about a similar problem in the Church.

Father Landry lamented the distortions of Vatican II and that “Catholics basically treated as refuse what the Church had previously considered Sacred.”

I believe the cause of this was

Our readers respond

the Church allowing opinions, guesses, falsehoods and, for some, wishful thinking to prevail in place of teaching. He also mentions that dioceses, parishes, Catholic schools and universities, the pope, bishops and priests did nothing to correct those errors, when they had the opportunity, by either reporting or pronouncing on the results of the symposia for the 50th anniversary of Vatican II. With the recently completed Synod On The Family this obfuscation seems to be taking hold once again. George Weigel’s message is that the unavailability of the synod’s final report “has led to all sorts of spinning about its contents, and thus to no small amount of confusion, even consternation.”

If the faithful are to evangelize then we need to know what it is we, as Catholics, believe. We need truth to know why we need mercy.

Michael Aiello Forestdale EXECUTIVE EDITOR RESPONDS: Pope Francis, speaking to the bishops of Malawi on Nov. 6, 2014, said, “Do not hesitate to offer [youth] the truths of our faith and to show them the joy of living out the moral demands of the Gospel. Preach Christ with conviction and love, thus promoting the stability of family life and contributing to a more just and virtuous culture.” So, the pope himself thinks that we should not obfuscate what we believe, what the Church truly teaches.

In a joint declaration with the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople on May 25, 2014, he wrote, “We affirm together that our faithfulness to the Lord demands fraternal encounter and true dialogue.

Such a common pursuit does not lead us away from the truth; rather, through an exchange of gifts, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, it will lead us into all truth” (cf.

Jn 16:13). As Jesus said, “The truth will set you free” ( Jn. 8:32). May we not be afraid of it.

Vision, conversation and commitment In his most recent column for The Anchor, entitled, “The Universal Call to Spiritual Heroism,” Father Roger Landry writes, “To prepare people for martyrdom is still the purpose of the Church and the goal of

all her formation today.”

Did he hear Pope Francis in “The Joy of the Gospel” suggest, “We need souls with jeans and tennis shoes. We need saints that go to the movies, that listen to music, that hang out with their friends”?

Or, Pope Francis saying, “Instead of imposing new obligations, Christians should appear as people who wish to share their joy, who point to a horizon of beauty, and who invite others to a delicious banquet” or “Before all else, the Gospel invites us to respond to the God of Love who saves us, to see God in others, and to go forth from ourselves to see the good of others.”

Isn’t this Jesus’ message, ”Love God and love your neighbor”?

At Youth Day in 2013, Pope Francis said, “We need saints without cassocks, we need saints for the 21st century with a Spirituality appropriate to our time.”

Martyrdom? Who in the world joins a Church with martyrdom as the goal of its faith formation!

What exactly is Faith Formation? We, in the pews, who volunteer to be catechists, treasure our faith and ask ourselves how best to share Jesus’ message of love. Is it in the CCD classes we teach, in retreats, or missions, or is it in our homes? Is it our example as parents that creates Faith Formation?

It’s more than Scripture and Liturgy. It’s vision, conversation, and commitment.

We know it’s a new world — a world of refugees, wandering immigrants, food pantries, shelters for the homeless, and drug overdoses.

God be with us.

Mary Worden Mattapoisett EXECUTIVE EDITOR RESPONDS: As readers of these answers know, Mary and I are old friends (she was a great volunteer back when I was in New Bedford). I don’t understand the negative interpretation you’ve given to Father Landry’s column on martyrdom. Pope Francis on March 4, 2014 at daily Mass issued the challenge: “Let us consider: am I ready to carry the cross like Jesus? To endure persecution in order to bear witness to Jesus like our many brothers and sisters today who are humiliated and persecuted? Considering this will

do us all good.” So, the Holy Father does not consider preaching the Gospel with joy to be antithetical to preparing for a possible martyrdom.

In the same homily he said, “I tell you that today there are more martyrs than in the early times of the Church.

Many of our brothers and sisters who bear witness to Jesus are persecuted for it.

They are condemned for having a Bible. They cannot wear the sign of the cross. [This is] the path that Jesus trod, but

it is a joyous path because the Lord never allows us to be tried beyond what we are able to bear.”

Youth Pages

16

December 25, 2015

Kindergarten students at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield took a break from reading and writing to decorate gingerbread houses.

Student volunteers helped at the recent annual St. John the Evangelist Family Christmas Celebration in Pocasset.

The Kindergarten students at Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford had a chance to “travel” to Mexico as one of the stops during their Christmas Around the World unit. They learned about Our Lady of Guadalupe and the legend of the poinsettia plant.

There was even a muchacho to serve tortilla chips on the “plane.”

The two second-grade classes at St. Mary-Sacred Heart school in Attleboro, taught by Anne Sullivan and Patricia Diamond, made nutcrackers. Here the students displayed their handmade nutcrackers.

The Jubilation Ringers and Bell Choir from St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro recently brought their talents to Madonna Manor in North Attleboro. The students performed Christmas music and sang for the residents.

The Junior Rosary Sodality of St. Stanislaus School in Fall River recently sponsored an Advent toy drive in the school and parish. The toys were distributed to the clients of Marie’s Place, a free clothing distribution center in Fall River, and is named after Blessed Marie Poussepin.

December 25, 2015

A

t Mass for Christmas Eve we will hear four little words from the Gospel of Matthew that sum up what the Christmas celebration is all about: “God is with us.” The announcement of the birth of the Lord brought great hope and joy to the people. They had been struggling in many ways.

There were great economic difficulties, there was an occupying army and political oppression.

We heard the people a couple of weeks ago ask John the Baptist “what should we do,” suggesting a great Spiritual hunger that was within the people of the time. The coming of Christ into the world didn’t end the economic or political issues, but it provided a great Spiritual relief.

In the years to come, Christ’s preaching would lead the people to a deeper love and understanding of God, not just as the Creator, but as the Heavenly Father Who desired that humanity live in union with Him. This relationship would be the foundation that would prevent people from being swept away by the political and economic storms that occur in life.

Through Christ’s preaching and living among us He taught us how to live as children of God and how to persevere in our relationship with Him regardless of what was happening in the world around us. He showed us how we could live in joy and peace. Throughout the centuries we have been gifted by the example and inspiration of so many, namely the saints, who have showed us practically how we can remain true to God in the ordinary circumstances of life. The Lord continues to reach

Youth Pages We fulfill His promise Good News that “God is with out to us through the Church us.” As Catholics we bear that and the Sacraments to give us message in everything we do. the graces we need to continue This discernment involves to grow in relationship with identifying our gifts and Him. talents, our interests and There is more than a Gospel reading at Mass though. The first reading at the Christmas Eve Mass is from the prophet Isaiah and opens with the words “For Zion’s sake

By Father I will not be silent, for David C. Frederici Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth strengths. It involves personal like the dawn and her victory reflection, but also conversalike a burning torch” (Is 62:1).

We who have been so blessed tion with family and friends, those who know us best. to be recipients of the Lord’s Finally, it needs to include the love and graces and who are One Who knows us better able to live in joy with the knowledge God is with us are meant to share those graces and love with others. The world needs to know that God is with us, even in the darkest times of our lives. At our Baptism, our parents and godparents were given a lighted candle. They were told that it represented the light of Christ and that light was meant to be kept burning brightly in the heart of the newly baptized. We are reminded as we grow in our relationship with the Lord that the light is also meant to be shared. When we share the light of Christ with others it burns brighter.

So we look with the eyes of faith for those opportunities to share His love with others.

We recognize when we need to point out His presence for others to see. It also means that when we discern a career and vocation in life we ask ourselves how we can best share the

The Student Council at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth recently sponsored a food drive to provide dinners for Market Ministries in New Bedford as well as food baskets for St. Vincent’s Home in Fall River. This year the Student Council was able to put together 20 baskets and feed more than 100 families.

Be Not Afraid

than anyone, including ourselves: God. When that light of Christ burns brightly, we are guided by the light and live the joy promised by God. Discernment is not just for those who are asking themselves what their vocation in life is. It should be a lifelong process as well.

Within my vocation and my career, how can I give God glory?

How can I let others know that God is with us? How can I best live according to my identity as a child of God? This continuing identity requires that we spend time in prayer, participate in the Sacramental life of the Church and seek to grow in a deeper

17 knowledge and understanding of God. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to discover that there is still a lot of darkness in our world. So many live in fear and anxiety, some even in despair.

Violence, addiction, poverty, hunger (physical and Spiritual) and homelessness are found everywhere, in every community, in every family. The Lord has promised us that He will never abandon His people. It is through us that He fulfills this promise.

Anchor columnist Father Frederici is pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pocasset and diocesan director of Campus Ministry and Chaplain at UMass Dartmouth and Bristol Community College.

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth. If schools, parish Religious Education programs, or home-schoolers have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: schools@an chornews.org

The feast of the Immaculate Conception was celebrated at Coyle and Cassidy High School in Taunton with a very moving toy offertory. The weekend following the holy day, the school’s National Honor Society and Student Council provided area residents with a very unique and special Christmas shopping experience. Children were treated to time with Santa, different craft projects and treats while their parents shopped and had their items personally wrapped.

18

December 25, 2015

Religious leaders decry notion of limiting Muslim immigration to U.S.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — In response to suggestions made by some Republican presidential candidates in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., that the United States refuse entry to Muslim refugees or that U.S. mosques be surveillance targets, several religious leaders have rejected the idea.

“We underplay the fact that the pregnant Mary and her husband, Joseph, were turned away from the inn. We forget the slaughter of the Holy Innocents — and that the Infant Jesus was spared their fate only through the

hurried flight into Egypt where the Holy Family lived for years as what today we would call ‘political refugees,’” said Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami in an op-ed article in the Miami Herald.

“Today there are more than 60 million refugees and internally displaced persons living in our world — the greatest number since the end of World War II. Close to one-third of these people are from Syria and Iraq.

And most are surviving in desperate circumstances. And, truth be told, many fail to survive at all,” Archbishop Wenski added.

Around the Diocese

The 18th annual Cathedral Carol Sing will be held December 27 at 2:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral, corner of Spring and Second streets in Fall River. Familiar carols for all to sing will be on the program, with choral selections performed by the Holy Cross Chapel Choir, directed by Monica Ventura; the Cathedral Hispanic Choir, directed by Waldemar Rivera; and the Cathedral Choir, directed by Madeleine Grace. All are welcome and a free-will offering to benefit the Cathedral Organ Fund will be accepted.

St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 71 Linden Street in Attleboro, invites all to its First Friday and First Saturday devotions. On the First Friday (New Year’s Day), there will be Confessions offered at 7:30 p.m., followed by Mass at 8 p.m. and Eucharistic Adoration (with devotions such as the Rosary) until 12 midnight. On the First Saturday, the Eucharist will be exposed for Adoration from 6 to 9 a.m., with Confessions offered at 8:30 a.m. and Mass at 9 a.m. First Friday devotions are offered in response to Christ’s invitation to St. Margaret Mary, to whom He said, “I promise you in the excessive mercy of My Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance.” The First Saturday devotion was presented by Our Lady of Fatima to Sister Lucia. Bishop José Correia da Silva, the first Bishop of Fatima, gave a summary of Our Lady’s requests concerning the five First Saturdays: “It consists in going to Confession, receiving Communion, reciting five decades of the Rosary and meditating for a quarter of an hour on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of five consecutive months.”

The Cape Cod Bus for Life is once again sponsoring a trip to Washington, D.C. for the National Pro-Life March on Jan. 22, 2016. Bus transportation leaves January 21 and returns January 23. Cost is $350 per adult or $260 per student.

Included in the cost of the trip is a two-night stay at the Hampton Inn in D.C. For more information, call Kevin Ward at 508-291-0949 or email fkw194722@ yahoo.com.

Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River is searching for missing alumni as the school plans for its 50th anniversary to take place during the 2015-2016 school year. If you or someone you know is an alumnus of Bishop Connolly High School and is not receiving communications from the school, please send your contact information by email to Anthony Ciampanelli in the Alumni Office by phone at 508-676-1071 extension 333; at aciampanelli@bishopconnolly.com; via the school’s website at www.bishopconnolly.com; or mail the school at 373 Elsbree Street, Fall River, Mass. 02720. Provide the graduate’s name (including maiden name if appropriate), complete mailing address, telephone number, email address, and the year of graduation.

The Diocesan Marriage Preparation Program is looking for married couples who would like to enrich their Marriage while helping engaged couples prepare for their lifetime together. There is also a Re-Marriage Prep Program for couples entering their second Marriages. If you are interested in sharing the joys and challenges of married life, please contact your pastor or the Diocesan Office of Faith Formation at 508-678-2828 or email cmcmanus@dfrcs.org.

“Yet, in spite of this profound human suffering, many here in our country would shut our doors in the faces of those looking for a safe haven. We cannot give in to our fear and retreat into the mindset of a ‘fortress America,’” he said.

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Dec. 27 Rev. Thomas J. Stapleton, Pastor, Corpus Christi, East Sandwich, 1956 Rev. Msgr. Armand Levasseur, Retired Pastor, St. Anne, New Bedford, 1970 Rev. Manuel Andrade, Former Pastor, Our Lady of Health, Fall River, 1995 Dec. 28 Rev. Charles R. Smith, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1955 Rev. Edward J. Sharpe, Pastor, St. Patrick, Somerset, 1987 Rev. Clement Paquet, O.P., Assistant, St. Anne, Fall River, 1987 Dec. 29 Rev. Rafeal Flammia, SS.CC., Retired Pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption, New Bedford, 1993 Dec. 30 Rev. Thomas C. Mayhew, Pastor, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Seekonk, 1991 Jan. 1 Rev. Jose Valeiro, Pastor, St. Elizabeth, Fall River, 1955 Rev. Antonio M. Fortuna, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, New Bedford, 1956 Rev. Francis R. Connerton, SS. STD., St. John’s Seminary, Plymouth, Mich., 1968 Rev. Leo T. Sullivan, Pastor, Holy Name, New Bedford, 1975 Jan. 4 Rev. Eugene L. Dion, Pastor, Blessed Sacrament, Fall River, 1961 Rev. Joseph L. Powers, Founder, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, North Falmouth, 1999 Rev. Francis B. Connors, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Victory, Centerville, 2003 Jan. 5 Rev. William McClenahan, SS.CC., Former Pastor, Holy Redeemer, Chatham, 1994 Jan. 6 Rev. James F. Roach, Founder, Immaculate Conception, Taunton, 1906 Rev. Rene G. Gauthier, Pastor, St. Jean Baptiste, Fall River, 1997 Permanent Deacon Antonio Da Cruz, 2009 Jan. 7 Rev. Alfred R. Forni, Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi, New Bedford, 1970 Rev. Gustave Gosselin, M.S., La Salette Shrine, Attleboro, 1989 Rev. Raymond A. Robida, 2003 Rev. Jude Morgan, SS.CC., Former Pastor, Our Lady of Lourdes, Wellfleet, 2003 Jan. 8 Rev. John Kelly, Founder, St. Patrick, Fall River, 1885 Rev. Alfred J. Carrier, Founder, St. Jacques, Taunton, 1940 Rev. Arthur C. Lenaghan, USA Chaplain, Killed in Action, 1944 Rev. Evaristo Tavares, Retired, Our Lady of the Angels, Fall River, 2000 Rev. Louis Joseph, U.S. Air Force, 2000

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ASSONET — Beginning September 14, St. Bernard’s Parish will have Eucharistic Adoration every Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the altar at the conclusion of 9 a.m. Mass and the church will be open all day, concluding with evening prayer and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the Adoration Chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adoration in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

ATTLEBORO — There is a weekly time of Eucharistic Adoration Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church on North Main Street.

Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 to 8 a.m.; and every first Friday from noon to 8 a.m. on Saturday.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at 11:30 a.m. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

Fall River — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic Adoration on Mondays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucharistic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel.

A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday following the 7 a.m. Mass, with Benediction at 4:30 p.m.

HYANNIS — St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis, 347 South Street, Hyannis, has Eucharistic Adoration from noon to 3 p.m., daily Monday through Friday.

MANSFIELD — St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Benediction at 5:45 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m.

Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening. Please use the side entrance.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel Fridays from 7:30-11:45 a.m. ending with a simple Benediction NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Wednesday following 8:00 a.m. Mass and concludes with Benediction at 5 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration also takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

NORTH EASTON — A Holy Hour for Families including Eucharistic Adoration is held every Friday from 3-4 p.m. at The Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street.

ORLEANS — St. Joan of Arc Parish, 61 Canal Road, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday starting after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending with Benediction at 11:45 a.m. The Sacrament of the Sick is also available immediately after the 8 a.m. Mass.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

Taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m.

Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church begins each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ends on Friday night at midnight. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall. ~ PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION ~ East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich. Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

NEW BEDFORD — Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street, offers Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day. For information call 508-996-8274.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

19

December 25, 2015

Attleboro priest settling in as shrine director in Enfield, N.H.

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff beckyaubut@anchornews.org

ENFIELD, N.H. — After spending 11 years at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro, Father John Patrick Sullivan, M.S., is settling into his new role as shrine director at the La Salette Shrine in Enfield, N.H. “They were wonderful years,” said Father Sullivan as he reminisced about his years at the Attleboro shrine. “This time of year, especially, I was so touched by so many families who come and see the shrine and tell me about how it’s a multigenerational activity [seeing the lights]. I just think it’s so beautiful to bring people an awareness of what Christmas is about in the religious context.”

Growing up in Boston, Father Sullivan’s time in Attleboro gave him the opportunity to visit his two married sisters and their children, and provided “something wonderful, [I had] both my La Salette family and biological family. But I got a call from Father René Butler, M.S., who is now our provincial of the whole La Salette community in the United States, and he had been director of the shrine in Enfield for the past few years. Now that he became provincial, he asked if I

would take over being director of Enfield.”

Father Sullivan said he thought about it for a few days and “because I think very highly of him, and I think he’s going to be a very good provincial because he’s a man of prayer and vision, I couldn’t say no to him.”

He joked that at his new residence in Enfield, he needs a pair of boots and a cowboy hat, but he is happily settling into his routine.

“It’s definitely much more rural than Attleboro; we’re about a two-and-a-half hour drive from Attleboro, and we’re between Lebanon and Dartmouth, N.H. We do have a festival of lights,” said Father Sullivan, who put up some of the lights himself. “They start on the weekend of Thanksgiving and continue to the end of December. They’re not as spectacular as Attleboro, in the sense it’s not as many lights seen by thousands of people, but there’s something beautiful about it. You can see all the lights as soon as you drive on the property because it’s on a hillside, so you see them all in one glance. It’s very attractive.

“It’s a mixture of feelings.

I was sad to leave because I made some good friendships in Attleboro, and it was hard

to say goodbye. I do feel that God is calling me here. I feel God’s blessing, and I have a lot of hope.”

Inside the chapel at Enfield there are 500 crèches from 50

Father John Patrick Sullivan, M.S.

countries on display, which “is very nice to stand in there to see the different crèches. They’re very nicely displayed. The children can write a little birthday wish to Jesus in the chapel,” said Father Sullivan.

Enfield may not be as big as the shrine in Attleboro or see as many visitors “but we do OK. We have our volunteers” but because it’s done on a smaller scale “it’s approachable.

You can talk to the people, spend time with them, and ask

them where they’re from. It’s prayerful, like Attleboro.”

Enfield was the first shrine to have lights with Attleboro following suit, said Father Sullivan. As the only priest at Enfield, he will be spending Christmas at the shrine, celebrating Mass on Christmas Eve. He may not have the opportunity to see his family “but that’s OK. They can see my gratitude in what I experience, and so I feel that I have a lot of experience to bring to Enfield.”

Father Sullivan said he appreciates that he still has his health at 72 years old, and looks forward to taking advantage of what New Hampshire has to offer: “It’s a beautiful place. I can look out my window and see Lake Mascoma and the hills all around. I look forward to skiing after Christmas and hiking and swimming in the summertime.”

He is excited to introduce some new initiatives to Enfield, and he hopes to do some of the same things that he did at Attleboro, like working with inter-faith groups. He also hopes to continue Pope Francis’ message.

“With the Year of Divine Mercy, I hope to encourage more people to go to Confession and bring in more

programs on how to celebrate God’s forgiveness,” said Father Sullivan.

Always active in the Hispanic ministry in Attleboro, Father Sullivan is also trying to reach out to the Spanishspeaking population in Enfield. Though the Hispanic population may not be as large as in Attleboro, Father Sullivan hopes that his friend in Manchester, Deacon Ramon Andrade, who is from Puerto Rico, will be a good resource.

“I hope to make it more ethnically diverse,” said Father Sullivan. “I don’t want to take away from what they have in Attleboro, but I think I’ll be able to do things in my own way.

There’s a lot of poverty up here, and I want to hear the voice of the poor, and doing what we can to educate people. I love the Holy Father and he keeps telling us to take care of the poor.”

“I just want to extend to all those who are reading The Anchor a wonderful Christmas and hope in the new year they can take the challenge of Pope Francis and be more forgiving and letting go of resentments that might be blocking us from celebrating our faith every day,” said Father Sullivan, adding he hopes everyone embraces the new year with an “attitude of gratitude.”

Want to find God? Seek Him in the most needy, Pope Francis says

Rome (CNA/EWTN News) — Speaking at a Rome homeless shelter, Pope Francis has said the humility of Jesus Christ’s birth shows that mankind can find God in poverty.

The pope was at the shelter to open a special Holy Door for the homeless during the Year of Mercy.

“This is the door of the Lord,” the pope said December 18 as he opened the Holy Door.

“Open the gates of justice. For Your great mercy will enter into Your house, O Lord.”

The pope then paused in prayer and proceeded in to celebrate Mass at the homeless shelter in Rome’s Termini — John Paul II train station. About 200 people were in the congregation, representing all the Caritas centers in Rome.

In his impromptu homily, the pope stressed that Jesus was not born to a princess in a palace.

Rather, He came in humility to a simple young girl who lived on the outskirts of the Roman Empire.

There is a lesson here on

where to find God, Pope Francis said.

“If you want to find God, look for Him in humility, look for Him in poverty. Seek Him where He is hidden: in the most needy, the sick, the hungry, the imprisoned,” he said, according to Vatican Radio.

“This is not luxury, this is not the way of great wealth, this is not is the way of power. This is the way of humility,” he continued.

“Today we pray for Rome, for all the inhabitants of Rome, for everyone, starting with me, because the Lord give us the grace to feel ourselves rejected, because we do not have any merit: only He gives us mercy and grace,” he said. “To get closer to that grace, we must approach the rejected, the poor, to those who need it most.”

He also voiced his desire for a Spiritual renewal at Christmas.

“This Christmas I wish that the Lord is born in the heart of each of us, hidden so that no one realizes,” Pope Francis said.

The homeless shelter is

named for the 20th century Italian priest Don Luigi di Liegro, who founded the Rome diocese’s Caritas organization.

The Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year of Mercy began December 8. Pope Francis declared the event to help encourage acts of faith, charity, and mercy.

The Holy Doors of the Rome diocese are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

Four Holy Doors have been opened in the Rome diocese, including the homeless shelter’s door. Pope Francis opened the Holy Doors at St. Peter’s Basilica and the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. American Cardinal James Harvey opened the Holy Door at St. Paul’s Outside-the-Walls. On January 1 Pope Francis will open the Holy Door at St. Mary Major Basilica.

The pope has asked the Catholic bishops of the world to designate Holy Doors at churches in their dioceses.

Pope Francis opens a Door of Mercy during a visit to a Caritas center for the homeless near the Termini rail station in Rome December 18.

(CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano, handout)

20

December 25, 2015

I

Did you know?

can’t think of any occaMary, did you know that your sion that has evoked more Baby Boy would one day walk on books, movies and songs than water?

Christmas. In all genres of enterMary, did you know that your tainment, the list of ChristmasBaby Boy would save our sons and themed works is endless. daughters?

With all those “works of Did you know that your Baby art,” there are bound to be some Boy has come to make you new? clunkers — and there are. Some This Child that you delivered of the movies, books and songs will soon deliver you. are down right inane, silly, irMary, did you know that your reverent, and pointless — from a Baby Boy will give sight to a blind Christian point of view. For those man? who view Christmas in a purely Mary, did you know that your secular light, these “Christmas” Baby Boy will calm the storm with pieces are highly-regarded.

His hand?

But it’s the works inspired by Did you know that your Baby the true meaning of Christmas Boy has walked where angels trod? that warm the heart and soul.

When you kiss your little Baby I have a couple of absolute favorites. Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol,” is

By Dave Jolivet spot-on with its message, and the story has been made into a plethora of you kissed the face of God? movies, most of which hold true Mary did you know? to the theme of redemption and The blind will see. kindness to our fellow man.

The deaf will hear.

My favorite song is by far The dead will live again.

Franz Gruber’s “Silent Night.”

The lame will leap.

Again, this masterpiece has been The dumb will speak the praises recorded hundreds of times, and of The Lamb. very few of the versions miss the Mary, did you know that your mark.

Baby Boy is Lord of all Creation?

Many of the classic Christmas Mary, did you know that your carols are inspirational and capBaby Boy would one day rule the ture the wonderful event of Our nations?

Savior’s birth.

Did you know that your Baby But there’s a fairly contemBoy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb? porary song whose words and The sleeping Child you’re holding melody affect me as much as the is the Great, I Am. standards. The song, “Mary Did I wish all those who read this You Know,” by Mark Lowry column a very blessed Christmas and Buddy Greene was written season and all good things and in 1991, and hasn’t garnered all peace for 2016. that much attention. I heard Thanks for your kind letters it for the first time this year, and support through this past a heart-warming version by Pen- year, and I pray and ask for your tatonix. I share the lyrics with prayers, that The Anchor may you now and hope they touch continue its wonderful work for your soul on this, the birthday of years to come. the Christ Child. davejolivet@anchornews.org.

My View From the Stands