Month: December 2023

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Why do we celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Family?

The Son of God has come into the world from the Virgin whose name was Mary; He was born in Bethlehem and grew up in Nazareth under the protection of a righteous man named Joseph.

Jesus was from the beginning the center of his great love, full of concern and affection; It was his great vocation; was his inspiration; It was the great mystery of his life. In the house of Nazareth: He “grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). He was obedient and submissive, as a son should be with his parents. This Nazarene obedience of Jesus to Mary and Joseph occupies almost all the years that He lived on earth, and constitutes, therefore, the longest period of that total and uninterrupted obedience that He has paid to the heavenly Father. There are not many years that Jesus dedicated to the service of the Good News and finally to the Sacrifice of the Cross.

Thus, an important part of that divine mystery belongs to the Holy Family, the fruit of which is the redemption of the world.

On the solemnity of the Holy Family of Nazareth, the Church, through the liturgy of the day, expresses the best and most fervent wishes to all the families of the world. Let us remember from Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians only these two phrases so rich in meaning: “the peace of Christ reign in your hearts” (Colossians 3:15).

Indeed, peace is a sign of love, it is its confirmation in the life of the family. Peace is the joy of hearts; It is consolation in daily fatigue. Peace is the support you offer. wife and husband reciprocally, and that children find in their parents and parents in their children.

All families in the world welcome the wish for this peace.

Also accept another desire, which is spoken of below in the same Letter of Saint Paul to the Colossians: “the word of Christ may dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16).

The Word is a manifestation of thought and a means of reciprocal understanding. Parents begin their educational work by teaching their child the words. They reveal understanding and soul, and open before the new man the paths of knowledge of the world, of men and of God.

The Word is a fundamental means of education and development for every man.

Today, let all the families of the world welcome the desires for good and peace that spring from the richness of the Word of Christ, so that, through faith in it, the children of men may find that force of life that He has transmitted to them with His birth. 

John Paul II, “Angelus”, Castelgandolfo, Vatican City, 30 December 1979, translated from https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/es/angelus/1979/documents/hf_jp-ii_ang_19791230.html

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How should we receive Christmas?

The first coming of Jesus Christ into the world is that one prophesied from the beginning of time (Genesis 3:15) to save mankind from death from sin, because God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Our Lord Jesus Christ was to come into this world as a man, because, just as Adam’s trespass brought condemnation for people, so also through the obedience of Jesus Christ makes all men righteous that they may have life (Romans 5:18-19).

The evangelist tells us that Mary “gave birth to her firstborn, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). The Son of God, coming into this world, finds a place where the animals feed. Hay became the first bed for the One who will reveal Himself as “the bread that came down from heaven” (John 6:41). Saint Augustine, with other Church Fathers, was impressed by this symbolism: “Laid in a manger, he became our food” (Sermon 189:4). 1

Jesus through his ministry tells us that we are to be prepared for his second coming. The season of Advent gives us an example of how we can prepare.

During Advent we prepare the nativity scene, cleaning the dust accumulated in each figurine because it has been stored for almost a year, we make a space in our home to assemble it so that it looks beautiful, and then we keep the manger empty to place baby Jesus in it on the last hours of Christmas Eve. Thus we must also prepare ourselves to receive Jesus,  cleansing our souls of those sins we have committed, making room for mercy in our hearts, and just as the manger receives Jesus, let us also receive his body which is the bread of eternal life (John 6:35) every time we partake of the Holy Eucharist.

Let us always celebrate Christmas with the perfect banquet, that banquet that Jesus Christ himself has prepared for us, that banquet that gives us eternal life consecrated on the altar, so that the grace, love and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ may always be with us.

1 Francis, “Admirabile signum” Apostolic Letter § 2, Greccio, 1 December 2019, https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2019/12/01/191201b.html

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Why is it important to participate in mass?

Although as Catholics we have the obligation to attend Mass every Sunday (Canon 1247), this obligation is not only to attend but to fully participate, in the prayers, the songs, the liturgical responses and, if we are prepared, in the Sacred Communion.

This participation is extremely important because it is enough for each one to declare with his mouth that Jesus is Lord and to believe in his heart that God raised him from the dead, so that he can be saved (Romans 10:9). No one who believes in Him will be disappointed, splendid with all those who call on Him, for everyone who calls on the Lord as His God will be saved by Him. (Romans 10:11,13).

Our participation is not only to fulfill a social duty, but because we believe wholeheartedly in the salvation of our soul through the sacrifice made by our Lord Jesus Christ, which we remember in the Holy Eucharist.

Remembering the words of Saint Paul: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” (Romans 10:14-15)

We must attend and participate in mass to be able to nourish ourselves with the word of God and fulfill the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ himself, to go and announce the gospel to everyone (Mark 16:15).

Let us faithfully attend mass, fully participate in the Eucharist, proclaim with our words and actions the wonders of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let us bring the good news to everyone.

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Why is baptism important?

All human beings, as descendants of Adam, we all carry the stain of original sin at our birth, as Saint Paul tells us, “as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” (Romans 5:12)

It is therefore that, through baptism, we die to a life of sin and are resurrected in Christ to a new life, as children of God (CCC 1213) and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The baptism of our Lord in the Jordan by Saint John the Baptist was necessary, not because of His sins, because He did not have them, but because he made it possible for the material of baptism, water, to be made worthy of being able to cleanse our sins through said sacrament.

Just as Jesus Christ begins his ministry after his baptism (Matthew 3:13), with our baptism we begin the reception of the sacraments and our Christian life, we begin to form the body of Christ and we become more united to Him when we receive the sacrament of confirmation and communion.

The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation (John 3:5). He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them (Matthew 28:19-20). Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament (Mark 16:16). The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism (CCC 1257)

Let us always remember and evoke our baptismal promises, renounce sin and embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.