| | |
Third Sunday of Advent, December 12, 2004
"A" Readings:
Isa. 35:1-6, 10 • James 5:7-10 • Matt. 11:2-11
• Advent Homily:
John the Baptist as Our Advent Guide by Rev. Jeffrey Lawrence
| Today, we meet St. John the Baptist in his prison cell. The ancient Jewish historian,
Josephus, writes that the Baptist was locked up in a place called Machaerus, King Herod's
fortress on the dreary and isolated hills east of the Dead Sea. ...
• Advent Reflection:
"The Perfect Faith of the Blessed Virgin" by Carl E. Olson |
God has a mother and she was chosen before the beginning of time. This is an amazing belief,
one that is sometimes mocked and often misunderstood, and misrepresented, sometimes even by
Catholics. Yet this truth is at the heart of Advent and Christmas - as well as at the heart of
the entire Christian Faith. ...
•
"Advent with Jean Daniélou" by Carl E. Olson | Fr. Jean Daniélou's
The Advent of Salvation, originally published simply as Advent in 1950, may be the
best $3.00 purchase I've ever made. The out-of-print book is a classic work on the meaning of Advent.
Here are a few of Daniélou's thoughts about this wonderful but often overlooked season. ...
•
"Food for St. Lucy’s Feast", an excerpt from A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz
| St. Lucy’s Day marks a moment of festivity in Advent. In Sweden in particular, her feast is
celebrated with customs hundreds of years old. The eldest daughter of a household, wearing a white
dress with a crimson sash, and a whortleberry or lingonberry crown, set with lighted candles, wakes
the members of the family, and serves them special buns or a cake and coffee. ...
• "The Advent Wreath",
an excerpt from Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany in the Domestic Church by by Peter & Catherine Fournier
| Every season of Advent is a new
reminder of the promise of eternity. (CCC 1020 - 1029) Thus, Advent wreaths are made of evergreens
to symbolize God's "everlastingness" and our immortality. (Purple is the liturgical color for Advent,
green in the wreath symbolizes hope and new life.) Four candles--three purple or violet that represent
penance, sorrow, and longing expectation and one rose or pink that represents the hope and coming joy--are
used to represent the four weeks of Advent. ...
• Selected
Ignatius Press books and music for Advent and Christmas. Books
for the entire family, including Fiona French's beautifully illustrated
Bethlehem, books by theologian John Saward, and classic Catholic Christmas
carols. ...
The page for the first week of Advent is
here. The second week can be
found here.
| | |
|
|
|
Joseph Pearce is the prolific author of several acclaimed biographies of major Catholic literary
figures, including G. K. Chesterton, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Hilaire Belloc, as
well as several other works. He is a Writer in Residence and Professor of
Literature at Ave Maria University in Florida, Editor-in-Chief of Ave Maria University
Communications and Sapientia Press, as well as Co-Editor of the The Saint Austin Review (or StAR), an international review of Christian culture,
literature, and ideas published in England (St. Austin Press) and the United
States (Sapientia Press). Pearce's most recent book is
The Quest for Shakespeare. He is also
editor of the Ignatius
Critical Editions, a tradition-oriented alternative to popular textbook series such as
the Norton Critical Editions or Oxford World Classics, designed to concentrate on traditional readings of the Classics
of world literature. Visit his Ignatius Insight author page for further information.
|
A Kindly Providence: An Alaskan Missionary's Story
by Louis Renner, S.J.
This comprehensive and illustrated volume is both a rich history of the Catholic Church in Alaska, and the autobiography of Fr. Louis Renner, S.J., who was a dedicated missionary in Alaska for 40 years. He tells
here a compelling story of a full and fascinating life in service of the people and the Church of Alaska amid the incredible natural beauties, challenging elements and vast regions of the Great Land. Beautifully
interweaving the history of the people and Church in Alaska, Fr. Renner tells his story of a dedicated missionary priest who loved the people he served. A scholar, a teacher, and always a Jesuit priest, he
taught German and Latin at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, edited the Catholic newsletter The Alaskan Shepherd, and ran missions at two different Indian villages on the Yukon River. This pastoral priest
became a friend to people in all sectors of Alaskan society. Tony Knows, the governor of Alaska, even presented him with the "Governor's Award for Friend of the Humanities".
Read an Ignatius Insight interview with Fr. Renner about his book, his life as a priest, and his time in Alaska.
|
|
| |
