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December 27, 2008 –  Saturday in Christmas Octave     DAILY LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION: John, the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, saw and believed UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S): Message to the Roman Curia: Pope's 'game plan' for 2009 SAINT OF THE DAY St. John the Apostle  GENERAL MARIOLOGY Mary and the Fathers of the Church Mary in the Ante-Nicene Period - The Apostolic Fathers DIVINE MERCY On Humility, Humiliation A Truly Happy Soul Is Humble  TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION: INSTRUCTION DIGNITAS PERSONAE ON CERTAIN BIOETHICAL QUESTIONS   Monthly Index

DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION

Saturday (12/27): John, the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, saw and believed Scripture: John 20:2-8 2 So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." 3 Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. 4 They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; 5 and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, 7 and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; Meditation: What was it like for those who encountered the Son of God in human form? John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, wrote his gospel as an eye-witness of  the Word of God who became flesh and dwelt among us, and who died and rose for our salvation. John was the first apostle to reach the tomb of Jesus on Easter Sunday morning. Like the other disciples, he was not ready to see an empty tomb and to hear the angel's message, Why do you seek the living among the dead (Luke 24:5)?  What did John see in the tomb that led him to believe in the resurrection of Jesus? It was certainly not a dead body. The dead body of Jesus would have disproven the resurrection and made his death a tragic conclusion to a glorious career as a great teacher and miracle worker. When John saw the empty tomb he must have recalled Jesus' prophecy that he would rise again after three days. Through the gift of faith John realized that no tomb on earth could contain the Lord and giver of life. John in his first epistle testifies: What we have seen, heard, and touched we proclaim as the word of life which existed "from the beginning" (1 John 1:1-4). John bears witness to what has existed from all eternity. This "word of life" is Jesus the word incarnate, but also Jesus as the word announced by the prophets and Jesus the word now preached throughout the Christian church for all ages to come. One thing is certain, if Jesus had not risen from the dead and appeared to his disciples, we would never have heard of him. Nothing else could have changed sad and despairing men and women into people radiant with joy and courage. The reality of the resurrection is the central fact of the Christian faith. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us "eyes of faith" to know him and the power of his resurrection. The greatest joy we can have is to encounter the living Christ and to know him personally as our Savior and Lord. "Lord Jesus Christ, you have triumphed over the grave and you have won new life for us. Give me the eyes of faith to see you in your glory. Help me to draw near to you and to grow in the knowledge of your great love and power." Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12 1 The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! 2 Clouds and thick darkness are round about him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory. 11 Light dawns for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!   RETURN TO TOP

UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS

Message to the Roman Curia: Pope's 'game plan' for 2009 Vatican, Dec. 22, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Each year before Christmas, the Pope holds an audience with officials of the Roman Curia, for an exchange of Christmas greetings. Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has used these annual occasions as an opportunity to reflect on what he considers the most important issues facing the Church. By looking backward across the events of the past year, the Holy Father gives his subordinates some insights into his plans for Vatican policies in the near future. With this year's talk Pope Benedict has signaled that his primary focus for 2009 will be the drive to proclaim the Gospel, energetically and unapologetically, throughout the world during the remainder of the Pauline Year, always relying confidently on the power of the Holy Spirit to guide the Church. In December 2005, at his first Christmas audience with the Curia, Pope Benedict let Vatican officials know that he was dedicated to implementing the teachings of Vatican II-- with the important caveat that a "hermeutic of continuity" should be used to see those teachings in the light of constant Church traditions. In 2006 the Pontiff offered a similar analysis, concentrating on the wisdom of Church teachings on such issues as war and peace, faith and reason, and priestly celibacy. Last year the Pope devoted most of his address to the Curia to a discussion of his trip to Brazil that year, and the need for a new impulse of evangelization in Latin America and throughout the Christian world. Pope Benedict expanded on that theme of evangelization during his December 22 meeting with curial officials. He picked up several key events of 2008: the inauguration of the Pauline Year in June, his apostolic trips to the US and to France, the World Youth Day celebration in Australia, and the Synod of Bishops in October. During the Synod, he recalled, the participating bishops were "again made aware of what God, through his Word, addresses to each of us." But that same theme was clear in each of the Pope's recollections about the events of 2008. The Gospel message is the single great hope of mankind, he said, explaining that "this Word has shaped a common history and wants to continue doing so." The Synod, the Pope continued, emphasized "the presence of the Word of God, God Himself, at this moment in history." That same sense of God's presence shaped his apostolic trips, he said-- just as it shaped the vision of St. Paul, whose teachings are the focus and inspiration for the Pauline Year. At World Youth Day, for example, the Word of God was active in the young participants, the Pope said. He told the curial officials that it is a mistake to think of the World Youth Day celebration as a "type of rock festival, with the Pope as its star." Nor is it accurate to think that the celebration can be accurately understood by the secular media. The more important reality, he said, it "a long exterior and interior journey" undertaken by participants, who attend World Youth Day for an encounter with God, to be enriched by the power of the Holy Spirit. That Creator Spirit, the Pope observed, helps Christians to understand "our responsibility toward the earth. It is not simply our property to be exploited according to our interests and desires. Rather, it is a gift of the Creator." However, he added, concern for God's creation cannot be limited to care for the natural environment-- although that is certainly a part of it. Far more important, he said, is the Church's mission to preserve what he called referred to as "something like an ecology of the human being, understood in the proper manner." In this context, the Pope said that the Church must teach clearly about the nature of the human person, to counteract the influence of secular ideologies that confuse and diminish human dignity. He spoke specifically about "gender ideology," insisting that God created man and woman as complementary, and the Church "demands that this order of creation be respected" by promotion of marriage and family life. In all her teaching, Pope Benedict said, the Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit. "The Holy Spirit is the breath of Christ," he said, and "makes the entire breadth of the Christian faith visible." RETURN TO TOP

DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT

December 27, 2008 St. John the Apostle   It is God who calls; human beings answer. The vocation of John and his brother James is stated very simply in the Gospels, along with that of Peter and his brother Andrew: Jesus called them; they followed. The absoluteness of their response is indicated by the account. James and John “were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him” (Matthew 4:21b-22). For the three former fishermen—Peter, James and John—that faith was to be rewarded by a special friendship with Jesus. They alone were privileged to be present at the Transfiguration, the raising of the daughter of Jairus and the agony in Gethsemane. But John’s friendship was even more special. Tradition assigns to him the Fourth Gospel, although most modern Scripture scholars think it unlikely that the apostle and the evangelist are the same person. John’s own Gospel refers to him as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2), the one who reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper, and the one to whom he gave the exquisite honor, as he stood beneath the cross, of caring for his mother. “Woman, behold your son....Behold, your mother” (John 19:26b, 27b). Because of the depth of his Gospel, John is usually thought of as the eagle of theology, soaring in high regions that other writers did not enter. But the ever-frank Gospels reveal some very human traits. Jesus gave James and John the nickname, “sons of thunder.” While it is difficult to know exactly what this meant, a clue is given in two incidents. In the first, as Matthew tells it, their mother asked that they might sit in the places of honor in Jesus’ kingdom—one on his right hand, one on his left. When Jesus asked them if they could drink the cup he would drink and be baptized with his baptism of pain, they blithely answered, “We can!” Jesus said that they would indeed share his cup, but that sitting at his right hand was not his to give. It was for those to whom it had been reserved by the Father. The other apostles were indignant at the mistaken ambition of the brothers, and Jesus took the occasion to teach them the true nature of authority: “...[W]hoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:27-28). On another occasion the “sons of thunder” asked Jesus if they should not call down fire from heaven upon the inhospitable Samaritans, who would not welcome Jesus because he was on his way to Jerusalem. But Jesus “turned and rebuked them” (see Luke 9:51-55). On the first Easter, Mary Magdalene “ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, ‘They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him’” (John 20:2). John recalls, perhaps with a smile, that he and Peter ran side by side, but then “the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first” (John 20:4b). He did not enter, but waited for Peter and let him go in first. “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed” (John 20:8). John was with Peter when the first great miracle after the Resurrection took place—the cure of the man crippled from birth—which led to their spending the night in jail together. The mysterious experience of the Resurrection is perhaps best contained in the words of Acts: “Observing the boldness of Peter and John and perceiving them to be uneducated, ordinary men, they [the questioners] were amazed, and they recognized them as the companions of Jesus” (Acts 4:13). The evangelist wrote the great Gospel, the letters and the Book of Revelation. His Gospel is a very personal account. He sees the glorious and divine Jesus already in the incidents of his mortal life. At the Last Supper, John’s Jesus speaks as if he were already in heaven. It is the Gospel of Jesus’ glory. Comment: It is a long way from being eager to sit on a throne of power or to call down fire from heaven to becoming the man who could write: “The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16). Quote: A persistent story has it that John's "parishioners" grew tired of his one sermon, which relentlessly emphasized: "Love one another." Whether the story is true or not, it has basis in John's writing. He wrote what may be called a summary of the Bible: "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him" (1 John 4:16). RETURN TO TOP

GENERAL MARIOLOGY

Mary and the Fathers of the Church  By Fr. Luigi Gambero, S.M.     The following article is an excerpt from the recently published Marian anthology, Mariology: A Guide for Priests, Deacons, Seminarians, and Consecrated Persons, Seat of Wisdom Books, A Division of Queenship, 2008. Fifteen international Mariology experts contributed to the text. The book features a foreword by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke and has 17 chapters divided into four parts: 1. Mary in Scripture and the Early Church; 2. Marian Dogma; 3. Marian Doctrine; and 4. Marian Liturgy and Devotion. The book is now available from Queenship Publications. To obtain a copy, visit queenship.org. Visit books.google.com and search on "Mariology: A Guide" to view the book in its entirety, or simply click here. Asst. Ed. Mary in the Ante-Nicene Period The patristic epoch embraces more or less the first eight centuries of our era. Usually it is divided into three periods: the origins, the golden age, and the times of decline. The period of the origins goes from the beginning of Christianity to the Council of Nicea I (325). It is the time of the earliest Christian writers, who did not always have clearly in mind whether there was a distinction between Holy Scripture and Tradition. According to their mentality, there was just one Christian teaching, whether it was written in the books of the Old and New Testaments or handed down orally by the apostles and their immediate disciples. In this time we may distinguish three different groups of Fathers of the Church and other Christian writers: the so-called "Apostolic Fathers," the Christian apologists and the Christian controversialists.   The Apostolic Fathers The Apostolic Fathers are the most ancient writers of the Church, and are named thus because their teachings directly echo the preaching of the apostles, which is contained especially in their letters. They lived between the end of the first century and the first half of the second. Their Mariological materials, in spite of their paucity, are of great value for later centuries, because the Fathers in this age seem to be the most qualified witnesses to the apostolic tradition, to which the teaching of the Church must in every age refer. These writers look at Mary as to a person present in the New Testament writings and in the proclamation of the Church (kerygma) in the apostolic and sub-apostolic age. This means that Mary was chiefly considered in relation to the mystery of the incarnate Word (7). We have clear examples in the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch (+c.115). This great bishop of the Syrian church presents some examples of professions of faith where the Virgin Mary is explicitly remembered. In his letter to the Ephesians (8) he calls Jesus "the one and only physician" and continues: Both, flesh and spirit; begotten and unbegotten; in man God, in death true life; both from Mary and from God; first passible and then impassible; Jesus Christ our Lord (9). We read in his letters three other similar texts: For our God Jesus the Christ was carried in the womb by Mary in accordance with the plan of God, of the seed of David and of the Holy Spirit; he was born and baptized in order to purify the water by the Passion (10). Be deaf, then, when anyone speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ, who was of the family of David, who was of Mary, who was truly born, ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died, while heavenly, earthly and subterranean beings looked on. He was also truly raised from the dead when his Father raised him up, as in similar fashion his Father will raise up in Christ Jesus, we who believe him, without whom we have no true life (11). Concerning our Lord that he is truly of the family of David as to the flesh, Son of God by God’s will and power, truly born of a Virgin, baptized by John so that all righteousness might be fulfilled by him; truly nailed for us in the flesh under Pontius Pilate and the tetrarch Herod (12). From these four texts it clearly appears that Ignatius is quoting some early creedal formulations. As J.H. Newman pointed out, we believe that when the ancient Fathers speak of the doctrine of faith, they speak of it as being universally held in the Church. Therefore, we receive the doctrines which they teach, not because they are great personalities, namely endowed with great talents and authority in the Church, but because they bear witness that all Christians everywhere held them (13). From the testimony of St. Ignatius we learn that the mystery of Christ’s birth from the Virgin entered not only the faith of the Christian people, but also the earliest liturgical tradition of the Church. In fact it has been demonstrated that creedal formulas were mostly used in liturgical celebrations, especially in the dispensing of baptism. In addition, we notice that the Virgin Mary is mentioned in all the four formulas, as if Christians considered it important, while professing their faith in Jesus Christ, to mention his birth from Our Lady. Certainly Ignatius also had a polemical reason to insist on the real birth of Jesus from the Virgin Mary: fighting against Gnosticism, which taught a Docetic theology of the Incarnation. Hence, according to St. Ignatius, Mary really gave birth to the incarnate Word and this birth was the result of an intervention of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the Incarnation is the redemption of mankind, according to the plan of God which Ignatius calls oikonomia, a word already known in the New Testament and that became common in the language of the Fathers. To the Ephesians, Ignatius also states that both Mary’s virginity and God’s Incarnation escaped the notice of the prince of this world, together with another mystery, namely the death of the Lord. He wrote: "Three mysteries worked in the stillness of God" (14). But he does not explain why these three mysteries had to be hidden from the Devil. Nonetheless, this statement shows an evangelical analogy: Jesus himself hid his own divine origin from the Devil. Ignatius does not say how God chose to keep these three mysteries hidden. Later authors who quoted this Ignatian text believed that the wedding of Mary and Joseph was the evident way chosen by God in order to keep secret the virginal birth of Christ. The witness of Ignatius of Antioch on Mary has to be evaluated as very significant. His language, with short and firm statements, without proofs and demonstrations, is in the typical style of the primitive kerygma (15). Besides, Ignatius possesses the doctrinal authority of a bishop and he is very conscious of this fact (16). Therefore, his testimony on Mary has a particular significance, even though it was not a direct Mariological announcement. In fact, the main concern of the preachers of the Gospel was to proclaim Jesus as God and Savior and not to preach Mary apart from Christ (17). Hence, the early kerygma of the Church was extremely concentrated in a few enunciations especially related to some basic truths, namely there is only one God who became incarnate in Jesus Christ, who is both Creator and Redeemer of the world. The reference to Mary was a way to demonstrate the reality of the Incarnation and the human nature of the Son of God. (to be continued)  RETURN TO TOP

DIVINE MERCY

Dairy from St. Faustina On Humility, Humiliation A Truly Happy Soul Is Humble I will not offer explanations on my own behalf or seek to vindicate myself when criticized; I will let others judge me as they will (Diary, 504). O my Jesus, nothing is better for the soul than humiliations. In contempt is the secret of happiness, when the soul recognizes that, of itself, it is only wretchedness and nothingness, and that whatever it possesses of good is a gift of God (Diary, 593). If there is a truly happy soul upon earth, it can only be a truly humble soul (Diary, 593). RETURN TO TOP

CATHOLIC  TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH INSTRUCTION DIGNITAS PERSONAE ON CERTAIN BIOETHICAL QUESTIONS   INTRODUCTION   1. The dignity of a person must be recognized in every human being from conception to natural death. This fundamental principle expresses a great “yes” to human life and must be at the center of ethical reflection on biomedical research, which has an ever greater importance in today’s world. The Church’s Magisterium has frequently intervened to clarify and resolve moral questions in this area. The Instruction Donum vitae was particularly significant.[1] And now, twenty years after its publication, it is appropriate to bring it up to date. The teaching of Donum vitae remains completely valid, both with regard to the principles on which it is based and the moral evaluations which it expresses. However, new biomedical technologies which have been introduced in the critical area of human life and the family have given rise to further questions, in particular in the field of research on human embryos, the use of stem cells for therapeutic purposes, as well as in other areas of experimental medicine. These new questions require answers. The pace of scientific developments in this area and the publicity they have received have raised expectations and concerns in large sectors of public opinion. Legislative assemblies have been asked to make decisions on these questions in order to regulate them by law; at times, wider popular consultation has also taken place. These developments have led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to prepare a new doctrinal Instruction which addresses some recent questions in the light of the criteria expressed in the Instruction Donum vitae and which also examines some issues that were treated earlier, but are in need of additional clarification. 2. In undertaking this study, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has benefited from the analysis of the Pontifical Academy for Life and has consulted numerous experts with regard to the scientific aspects of these questions, in order to address them with the principles of Christian anthropology. The Encyclicals Veritatis splendor[2] and Evangelium vitae[3] of John Paul II, as well as other interventions of the Magisterium, offer clear indications with regard to both the method and the content of the examination of the problems under consideration. In the current multifaceted philosophical and scientific context, a considerable number of scientists and philosophers, in the spirit of the Hippocratic Oath, see in medical science a service to human fragility aimed at the cure of disease, the relief of suffering and the equitable extension of necessary care to all people. At the same time, however, there are also persons in the world of philosophy and science who view advances in biomedical technology from an essentially eugenic perspective. 3. In presenting principles and moral evaluations regarding biomedical research on human life, the Catholic Church draws upon the light both of reason and of faith and seeks to set forth an integral vision of man and his vocation, capable of incorporating everything that is good in human activity, as well as in various cultural and religious traditions which not infrequently demonstrate a great reverence for life. The Magisterium also seeks to offer a word of support and encouragement for the perspective on culture which considers science an invaluable service to the integral good of the life and dignity of every human being. The Church therefore views scientific research with hope and desires that many Christians will dedicate themselves to the progress of biomedicine and will bear witness to their faith in this field. She hopes moreover that the results of such research may also be made available in areas of the world that are poor and afflicted by disease, so that those who are most in need will receive humanitarian assistance. Finally, the Church seeks to draw near to every human being who is suffering, whether in body or in spirit, in order to bring not only comfort, but also light and hope. These give meaning to moments of sickness and to the experience of death, which indeed are part of human life and are present in the story of every person, opening that story to the mystery of the Resurrection. Truly, the gaze of the Church is full of trust because “Life will triumph: this is a sure hope for us. Yes, life will triumph because truth, goodness, joy and true progress are on the side of life. God, who loves life and gives it generously, is on the side of life”.[4] The present Instruction is addressed to the Catholic faithful and to all who seek the truth.[5]  It has three parts: the first recalls some anthropological, theological and ethical elements of fundamental importance; the second addresses new problems regarding procreation; the third examines new procedures involving the manipulation of embryos and the human genetic patrimony.   (to be continued)   RETURN TO TOP

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