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January 11, 2009 - Sunday - Baptism of the Lord      DAILY LITURGICAL/THEME MEDITATION: "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased" UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENT(S): Cardinal: Family Pillar of Mexican Society SAINT OF THE DAY Blessed William Carter  GENERAL MARIOLOGY The Mother of God History of the Dogma Following the Council of Ephesus DIVINE MERCY On Trust Jesus is Full of Mercy  TEACHING/TESTIMONY/CONVICTION: «The family, teacher in human and Christian values» The family, first educator of faith

DAILY LITURGICAL MEDITATION

Sunday (1/11): "You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased" Scripture: Mark 1:7-11 7 And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9. In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; 11 and a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." Meditation: Why did Jesus, the sinless one sent from the Father in heaven, submit himself to John’s baptism? John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). In this humble submission we see a foreshadowing of the “baptism” of Jesus bloody death upon the cross. Jesus’ baptism is the acceptance and the beginning of his mission as God’s suffering Servant (Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12). He allowed himself to be numbered among sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s will. Out of love he consented to this baptism of death for the remission of our sins. Do you know the joy of trust and submission to God? God the Father proclaimed his entire delight in his Son and spoke audibly for all to hear. The Holy Spirit, too, was present as he anointed Jesus for his ministry which began that day as he rose from the waters of the Jordan river. Jesus will be the source of the Spirit for all who come to believe in him. At his baptism the heavens were opened and the waters were sanctified by the descent of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, signifying the beginning of a new creation. How can we enter into the mystery of Jesus’ humble self-abasement and baptism? Gregory of Nazianzus, a seventh century church father tells us: “Let us be buried with Christ by baptism to rise with him; let us go down with him to be raised with him; and let us rise with him to be glorified with him." Do you want to see your life transformed by God's grace? And do you want to be an effective instrument of the gospel? Examine Jesus’ humility and ask the Holy Spirit to forge this same attitude in your heart. As you do, heaven will open for you as well and the Father will anoint you with his life-giving Spirit. The Lord is ever ready to renew us in his Holy Spirit and to anoint us for mission. We are called to be “light” and “salt” to those around us. The Lord wants his love and truth to shine through us that others may see the goodness and truth of God’s message of salvation. Ask the Lord to fill you with his Holy Spirit that you may radiate the joy of the gospel to those around you. "Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit and inflame my heart with the joy of the gospel. May I find joy in seeking to please you as you found joy in seeking to do the will of  your Father." Psalm 29:1-10 1 Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of his name; worship the LORD in holy array. 3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, upon many waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful, the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Si'rion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire. 8 The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness, the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the LORD makes the oaks to whirl, and strips the forests bare; and in his temple all cry, "Glory!" 10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king for ever.   RETURN TO TOP

UNIVERSAL CHURCH/WORLD EVENTS

Cardinal: Family Pillar of Mexican Society Presents VI World Meeting of Families   VATICAN CITY, JAN. 9, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Even though the institution of the family is experiencing a crisis all around the globe, it remains a pillar of Mexican society, according to the president of the Pontifical Council of the Family. Cardinal Ennio Antonelli commented today on the status of the family in Mexico ahead of the VI World Meeting of Families, which will take place Jan. 14-18 in the nation's capital. The meeting, which has as its theme "The Family as Educator in Human and Christian Virtues," will be attended by some 30 cardinals, 200 bishops and delegations of families from all continents. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's secretary of state, will attend as the Pope's legate and will preside at the closing Mass, to be held at the Marian shrine of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In presenting the meeting at a press conference in the Vatican, Cardinal Antonelli said that in Mexico the "family remains the principal institution of aid and solidarity." "Abortion, divorce, euthanasia, questions associated with bioethics, though far removed from popular culture and practices, are also penetrating the mentality of Mexicans," he continued. Speaking of the situation of families in general, he said, "Families today have to face [...] the challenge of an individualistic and consumerist culture." He noted the added challenge of the "absence of shared values." The Italian prelate also said that young people are often "misguided and parents unmotivated." Cardinal Antonelli also spoke of the need to educate children in the faith, and that belief isn't something "one automatically inherits." He also spoke of the family as a place to cultivate "virtue and the experience of feeling loved." In the family, the cardinal explained, one learns "the sense of solidarity, of the dignity of the person, of loyalty, of cooperation." He called family a "laboratory of civil coexistence." "Unfortunately," Cardinal Antonelli added, "we have a mistaken concept of freedom, which is understood as self-sufficient autonomy." He explained that with this "misguided mentality, laws often are passed -- without broad social consensus and under the influence of small but active pressure groups, highly ideological and with large economic resources -- that enable and facilitate abortion, rapid divorce and euthanasia." The cardinal said that the "Church is making great efforts of evangelization, supporting Christian families in their values and encouraging a wide-ranging strategy to promote and defend life from conception to natural death." "Thanks be to God," Cardinal Antonelli said, "over the last few years numerous initiatives, both ecclesial and civil, have come into being at the service of the family."   RETURN TO TOP

DAILY LITURGICAL SAINT

January 11, 2009 Blessed William Carter (d. 1584)   Born in London, William Carter entered the printing business at an early age. For many years he served as apprentice to well-known Catholic printers, one of whom served a prison sentence for persisting in the Catholic faith. William himself served time in prison following his arrest for "printing lewd [i.e., Catholic] pamphlets" as well as possessing books upholding Catholicism. But even more, he offended public officials by publishing works that aimed to keep Catholics firm in their faith. Officials who searched his house found various vestments and suspect books, and even managed to extract information from William's distraught wife. Over the next 18 months William remained in prison, suffering torture and learning of his wife's death. He was eventually charged with printing and publishing the Treatise of Schisme, which allegedly incited violence by Catholics and which was said to have been written by a traitor and addressed to traitors. While William calmly placed his trust in God, the jury met for only 15 minutes before reaching a verdict of "guilty." William, who made his final confession to a priest who was being tried alongside him, was hanged, drawn and quartered the following day: January 11, 1584. He was beatified in 1987. Comment: It didn’t pay to be Catholic in Elizabeth I’s realm. In an age when religious diversity did not yet seem possible, it was high treason, and practicing the faith was dangerous. William gave his life for his efforts to encourage his brothers and sisters to keep up the struggle. These days, our brothers and sisters also need encouragement—not because their lives are at risk, but because many other factors besiege their faith. They look to us.   RETURN TO TOP

GENERAL MARIOLOGY

The Mother of God  By Fr. Manfred Hauke    The following article is an excerpt from a chapter in 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. (continued)   History of the Dogma Following the Council of Ephesus With the Council of Ephesus we already have the essence of Catholic dogma about the Mother of God. The doctrine is maintained as a precious treasure in the years following the council. A good summary of the Fathers’ doctrine can be found in the systematic presentation of St. John Damascene at the end of the patristic period: Moreover we proclaim the holy Virgin to be in strict truth the Mother of God. For inasmuch as he who was born of her was true God, she who bore the true God incarnate is the true Mother of God. For we hold that God was born of her, not implying that the divinity of the Word received from her the beginning of its being, but meaning that God the Word himself, who was begotten of the Father timelessly before the ages, and was with the Father and the Spirit without beginning through eternity, took up his abode in these last days for the sake of our salvation in the Virgin’s womb, and was without change made flesh and born of her. For the holy Virgin did not give birth to mere man but to true God: and not only God but God incarnate who did not bring down his body from heaven, nor simply passed through the Virgin as a channel, but received flesh from her, of like essence to our own and subsisting in himself. For if the body had come down from heaven and had not partaken of our nature, what would have been the use of his becoming man? For the purpose of God the Word becoming man was that the very same nature, which had sinned and fallen and become corrupted, should triumph over the deceiving tyrant and so be freed from corruption. For John of Damascus, the word Theotókos expresses the whole mystery of the work of salvation (oikonomia), because it reveals the one divine hypostasis of the Son in two natures (73). In the Middle Ages, the divine maternity is most often presented in the systematic context of the Incarnation (74). Thomas Aquinas, for instance, treats the whole figure of Mary in his Summa Theologiae between the questions about the mediation of Christ, God and man, and his birth (75). The treatment is integrated into the beginning of the redemptive work of Christ (76). In order to prove the divine maternity of Mary, the doctor angelicus uses the analogy of ordinary human birth. Our parents do not generate our soul, which is given directly by God, but only our body. Nevertheless, they are called our father and mother. Since every woman is called "mother" because her child has taken his body from her, then the Blessed Virgin can also be called "Mother of God" because the Son of God has taken his body from her. Who professes that the Son of God has assumed human nature in the unity of his divine person, must also recognize that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God (77). Another important deepening of the understanding of the doctrine regards the concept of the person. Motherhood, as such, is related not to nature, but to person. Conception and birth are attributed to the person, according to the nature in which the person is conceived or born. A human mother gives birth to a person, not a nature. When the divine person of the Word assumes human nature, it is clear that the Son of God has been conceived and was born by the Virgin. For this reason she must be called truly "Mother of God" (78). Thomas Aquinas states that the Son of God has been eternally generated by the Father and has been temporally born by the Blessed Virgin. Thus, in Jesus Christ we find two sonships, but there is only one Son. As in God there is no change through the Incarnation, the relation between Mary and her Son is real in Mary (because it constitutes a new reality), but not in the divine Son. There is a real temporal relation of the Son with his Mother only regarding his humanity (79). This ontological clarification underlines the divine transcendence of the person of Christ and the situation of Mary as a creature. Other important contributions arrive with Francis Suarez, who speaks of Mary’s place in the hypostatic order: the Blessed Virgin cannot be separated from the Son of God who has assumed human nature in his hypostatic union. Mary does not belong to the hypostatic union, but is strictly related to the hypostasis (person) of her Son: she makes part of the "hypostatic order" (80). The most outstanding theological contribution of the nineteenth century comes from Matthias Joseph Scheeben, who speaks about the "personal character" and the "bridal motherhood" of Mary (81). Among the magisterial documents, special mention should be made of the Encyclical Lux Veritatis of Pius XI, written on the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus (December 25, 1931) (82). The Holy Father gave an extensive description of the doctrinal importance of this Marian dogma, which should be noted also today. Against recent attempts to rehabilitate Nestorius, Pope Pius XI underlined the traditional verdict: The Church … protests against this futile and temerarious attempt; for she has at all times acknowledged the condemnation of Nestorius as rightly and deservedly decreed; and has regarded the doctrine of Cyril as orthodox; and has counted the Council of Ephesus among the ecumenical synods, celebrated under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and has held it in veneration (83). Pope Pius XI also explained the pastoral ramifications of the divine motherhood of Mary. He noted, for instance, the veneration of Mary’s dignity as virginal Mother of God outside the Catholic Church, even among Protestants, and expressed the hope that these Christians would return to the one flock of Christ guided by his vicar on earth; the Blessed Virgin embraces all her erring children with motherly love and sustains the prayer for unity with her intercession (84). Second Vatican Council and the Contemporary Magisterium In the Second Vatican Council, the divine motherhood of Mary is treated in the mystery of Christ and the Church. As the "Council of the Church about the Church," this ecumenical synod accentuates the similarity between the Mother of God, who as a Virgin has born the Son of God, and the Church. Mary, according to an expression of St. Ambrose, is "type of the Church" (typus Ecclesiae). The Church becomes "mother" through the believing reception of the divine Word. She bears her children, conceived by the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Gospel, and through baptism. She is also Virgin because she maintains the promise given to her divine bridegroom, virginally professing an integral faith, a solid hope and a sincere love (85). The reform of the liturgical calendar in 1969 introduced the solemnity of Most Holy Mary Mother of God, to be celebrated on January 1. It replaced the feast of divine maternity, introduced by Pius XI in 1931 and collocated on October 11. This date of January 1, which places the feast of Mary Mother of God in relation to the Christmas mystery is well-chosen and corresponds to the most ancient tradition. In the Byzantine Church, the solemn feast of the Theotókos appears on December 26 (86). Pope John Paul II, in his Encyclical Redemptoris Mater (1987), records that "the dogma of the divine motherhood of Mary was for the Council of Ephesus and is for the Church like a confirmation of the dogma of the Incarnation, in which the Word truly assumes human nature into the unity of his person, without canceling out that nature" (87). In his Apostolic Letter on the dignity of woman in the light of Mary (Mulieris Dignitatem, 1988), the Holy Father shows the relation of divine motherhood with the vocation of every woman. The mystery of the Incarnation implies the faithful response of Mary, which is a full participation for her as person and as woman (88). The Pope also insisted on the perpetual importance of the title Theotókos in his Apostolic Letter on the occasion of the 1600th anniversary of the First Council of Constantinople and the 1550th anniversary of the Council of Ephesus (1991) (89). John Paul II, in a general audience, criticized the proposal of some theologians (which renews the old heresies of Arius or Nestorius) to speak of Jesus as a human person; in this case Mary would not be the Mother of God (90). Last but not least, the divine maternity was underlined in the preparation of the 2000th anniversary of the Incarnation at the Jubilee of the year 2000: The Blessed Virgin who will be as it were "indirectly" present in the whole preparatory phase, will be contemplated in this first year especially in the mystery of her divine motherhood. It was in her womb that the Word became flesh! The affirmation of the central place of Christ cannot therefore be separated from the recognition of the role played by his Most Holy Mother. Veneration of her, when properly understood, can in no way take away from "the dignity and efficacy of Christ the one Mediator" (Lumen Gentium 62). Mary in fact constantly points to her divine Son and she is proposed to all believers as the model of faith which is put into practice. "Devotedly meditating on her and contemplating her in the light of the Word made man, the Church with reverence enters more intimately into the supreme mystery of the Incarnation and becomes ever increasingly like her Spouse" (Lumen Gentium 65) (91). (to be continued)  RETURN TO TOP

DIVINE MERCY

Dairy from St. Faustina On Trust Jesus is Full of Mercy When my soul is in anguish, I think only in this way: Jesus is good and full of mercy, and even if the ground were to give way under my feet, I would not cease to trust in Him (Diary, 1192). All for You, Jesus. I desire to adore Your mercy with every beat of my heart, to the extent that I am able, to encourage souls to trust in that mercy, as You Yourself have commanded me, O Lord (Diary, 1234). RETURN TO TOP

CATHOLIC  TEACHING/CONVICTION/TESTIMONY

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE FAMILY PREPARATORY CATECHESIS FOR THE SIXTH WORLD ENCOUNTER OF FAMILIES (Mexico, D.F., 16-18 January 2009) «The family, teacher in human and Christian values»   INDEX The family, first educator of faith The family, educator of the truth of man: marriage and family The family, educator of dignity and respect for all human person The family, transmitter of human virtues and values The family, open to God and fellow men The family, former of the strict moral conscience The family, first experience of Church Collaborators of the family: parish and school The family and the model of the family of Nazareth The family, recipient and agent of the new evangelization   STRUCTURE OF EACH ASSEMBLY Opening hymn Reciting the Lord’s Prayer Bible Reading Reading of the Teachings of the Church Reflection by the Preacher Dialogue Commitments Community Prayer Prayer for Family Final Hymn First Catechesis The family, first educator of faith   Opening hymn Reciting the Lord’s Prayer Bible Reading: Acts 16, 22-34 Reading the Teachings of the Church 1. God wants all men to know and accept His salvation plan, revealed and realized in Christ (1 Ti 1, 15-16). God spoke in many ways to our parents (Heb 1, 1; all OT). With the completion of the time (Ga 4, 4) He spoke fully and definitively in and for Christ (Heb 1, 2-4): the Father has no other Word to give us, because he gave us the one and only Word in Christ (Jn 1, 1 ss). 2. The Church has received the mandate to announce this great news to all men: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28, 19).The Apostles understood it so and carried it out from Pentecost, filling Jerusalem with the announcement of Christ Dead and Resurrected (Ac Ch 1-5) and all the known world of the time (Book of Acts and Letters). 3. The Christian family, the domestic Church, participates in this mission. Furthermore, the first and main recipients of this missionary announcement for the family are their children and relatives, as is attested in Paul's Pastoral Letters and the following praxis. The saintly marriages and Christian parents of all times have thus lived it (father of Saint Teresa of Jesus, father of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus; so many parents of today). In the light of the joyful experience of the Church in the Christian societies of Europe (when family performed this teaching mission with its children) and also in the light of the very serious negative repercussions witnessed today (due to abandoning or neglecting this mission), the family must once again be the first teacher of faith in these nations – which are indeed no longer Christian – in which the faith is being strengthened and where the Church is being implanted. The parents' most important missionary preaching has to be in their own family bosom, because it would be a grave and poor example to try to evangelize others while neglecting the evangelization of our own. Parents transmit the faith to their children with the testimony of their Christian life and word. 4. The core aspect of this education in the faith is the joyful and vibrant announcement of Christ, Dead and Resurrected for our sins. The other truths contained in the Apostles Creed, the sacraments and the Ten Commandments are in intimate connection with this core. Human and Christian virtues form part of the integral education of the faith. (This fundamental background can now almost never be assumed, not even in so-called “Christian” countries and in the cases when the parents ask for the initiation sacraments for their children, given the parents’ crass religious ignorance and scarce religious practice). Reflection by the preacher Dialogue Commitments Community prayer Prayer for Family Final hymn   RETURN TO TOP

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