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Christmas
Message of
Pope Benedict XVI
By our
love, bring light to the world!
On his homily Pope Benedict XVI focuses on three points during
the Christmas Eve Mass which is also his first Christmas as Pope.
He focuses on Love, Charity and more importantly on Peace.
"God is light and in him is no darkness" (1 John 1:5).
The Pope explained first about the light as pervades in the whole
liturgy of the Mass before getting to the three keys: Love, Charity
and peace. Light means knowledge and truth; it gives life and shows
the way. The light is the source of life. However, light is the
source of heat also because of love. “Where there is love,
light shines forth in the world; where there is hatred, the world
remains in darkness,” the pope said. God love His people so
dearly that is why He send us His son to became Man to be one of
us and not only that, because He redeemed us from all our sins.
The second point is Charity, according to the pope if there is
faith, charity will spring up by act of forgiveness and having concern
for others especially to those who are suffering.
The Holy Father also asked for prayer for peace, which is the third
and last point that he stressed out on his homily. Jesus also is
the prince of Peace. This is the most important of all the points
that he mentioned. The light should shine so that it can deliver
peace to everyone. The Pope also said “God loves everyone,
because everyone is his creature. But some persons have closed their
hearts; there is no door by which his love can enter. They think
that they do not need God, nor do they want him. Other persons,
who, from a moral standpoint, are perhaps no less wretched and sinful,
at least experience a certain remorse. They are waiting for God.
They realize that they need His goodness, even if they have no clear
idea of what this means. Into their expectant hearts God’s
light can enter, and with it, His peace. God seeks persons who can
be vessels and heralds of his peace. Let us pray that He will not
find our hearts closed. Let us strive to be active heralds of His
peace -- in the world of today.”
In Pope’s Urbi et Orbi "to the City of Rome and to the
World", message He again emphasized on peace to be happened
on other parts of the world. He said that “May the God who
became man out of love for humanity strengthen all those in Africa
who work for peace, integral development and the prevention of fratricidal
conflicts, for the consolidation of the present, still fragile political
transitions, and the protection of the most elementary rights of
those experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in
Darfur and in other regions of central Africa. May he lead the peoples
of Latin America to live in peace and harmony. May he grant courage
to people of good will in the Holy Land, in Iraq, in Lebanon, where
signs of hope, which are not lacking, need to be confirmed by actions
inspired by fairness and wisdom; may he favor the process of dialogue
on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere in the countries of Asia,
so that, by
the settlement of dangerous disputes, consistent and peaceful conclusions
can be reached in a spirit of friendship, conclusions which their
peoples expectantly await.”
He mentioned most of the places that are affected or suffering because
of war, poverty and sickness and prays that on these places the
peace should be eventually seen and feel by the people.
Before the end of his Urbi et Orbi message he greeted
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year all the people in 33 different
languages.
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| LIVES
OF THE SAINTS |
MAY 1
ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER
This is St. Joseph's second feast day on the Church calendar of celebrations. We honor him also on March 19. St. Joseph is a very important saint. 
MAY 2
ST. ATHANASIUS
St. Athanasius was born around 297 in Alexandria, Egypt. He devoted his life to proving that Jesus is truly God.
MAY 3
ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES
Both of these saints were part of the original group of Jesus' twelve apostles.
MAY 4
BLESSED MARIE-LEONIE PARADIS
Blessed Marie-Elodie Paradis was born in the village of L'Acadie in Quebec, Canada. It was May 12, 1840.
MAY 5
ST. JUDITH OF PRUSSIA
St. Judith lived in the thirteenth century. She was born in Thuringia. This was in what is now central Germany. She wanted to model her life on the example of St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
MAY 6
BLESSED FRANCOIS DE MONTMORENCY LAVAL
Blessed Francois was the first bishop of Quebec City, Canada. He was born in 1623 in a small town in France.
MAY 7
BLESSED ROSE VENERINI
Blessed Rose was born in Viterbo, Italy, in 1656. Her father was a physician. Rose entered the convent but returned home after a few months.
MAY 8
BLESSED CATHERINE OF ST. AUGUSTINE
St. Catherine was born on May 3, 1632, in a little village in France. She was baptized the same day.
MAY 9
BLESSED NICHOLAS ALBERGATI
Blessed Nicholas was born in Bologna, Italy. Nicholas' family could afford to send him to the university where he began to study law.
MAY 10
ST. ANTONINUS
St. Antoninus lived in the fifteenth century. Even as a boy he showed that he had good sense and will power.
MAY 11
ST. IGNATIUS OF LACONI
St. Ignatius was the son of a poor farmer in Laconi, Italy. He was born on December 17, 1701.
MAY 12
ST. NEREUS, ST. ACHILLEUS AND ST. PANCRAS
Sts. Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers who died around 304. They were probably Praetorian guards under Emperor Trajan. We know little else about them.
MAY 13
ST. ANDREW FOURNET
St. Andrew Fournet was born on December 6, 1752. He was from Maille, a little town near Poitiers, in France. Andrew's parents were religious people.
MAY 14
ST. MATTHIAS
St. Matthias was one of Our Lord's seventy-two disciples.
MAY 15
ST. ISIDORE THE FARMER
Saint Isidore was born in 1070, in Madrid, Spain. His parents were deeply religious. They named their son after the great St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville, Spain.
MAY 16
ST. UBALD
St. Ubald lived in twelfth-century Italy. He was an orphan raised by his uncle, a bishop. Ubald was given a good education.
MAY 17
ST. PASCHAL BAYLON
St. Paschal, a Spanish saint, was born in 1540. From the time he was seven, he worked as a shepherd. He never had the opportunity to go to school.
MAY 18
ST. JOHN I
St. John I was a priest of Rome. He became pope after the death of Pope St. Hormisdas in 523. At that time, Italy's ruler, Theodoric the Goth, was an Arian.
MAY 19
ST. CELESTINE V
Peter di Morone was the eleventh of twelve children. He was born around 1210 in Isernia, Italy. His father died when he was small.
MAY 20
ST. BERNARDINE OF SIENA
St. Bernardine of Siena was born in 1380 in a town near Siena, Italy. He was the son of an Italian governor.
MAY 21
BLESSED EUGENE DE MAZENOD
Blessed Eugene was born in France in 1782. He became a priest in 1811. Father Eugene was sensitive to the needs of the poor and he ministered to them.
MAY 22
ST. RITA OF CASCIA
St. Rita was born in 1381 in a little Italian village. Her parents were older. They had begged God to send them a child. They brought Rita up well.
MAY 23
ST. JOHN BAPTIST ROSSI
St. John Baptist Rossi was born in 1698 in a village near Genoa, Italy. His family loved him. They were proud when a wealthy couple visiting their town offered to educate him. His parents knew the couple and trusted them.
MAY 24
ST. DAVID I OF SCOTLAND
St. David was born in 1080. He was the youngest son of St. Margaret, queen of Scotland, and her good husband, King Malcom.
MAY 25
VENERABLE BEDE
Venerable Bede, the English priest, was famous as a saint, a priest, a monk, a teacher and a writer of history. He was born in England in 673.
MAY 26
ST. PHILIP NERI
St. Philip Neri was born in Florence, Italy, in 1515. As a child, his nickname was "Good little Phil." He was always so jolly and friendly that everyone he met loved him.
MAY 27
ST. AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY
St. Augustine was the abbot of St. Andrew's monastery in Rome. Pope St. Gregory the Great chose him and forty other monks for a mission dear to his heart.
MAY 28
BLESSED MARGARET POLE
Blessed Margaret was born in 1471. She was the niece of two English kings, Edward IV and Richard III. Henry VII arranged her marriage to Sir Reginald Pole.
MAY 29
ST. MAXIMINIUS
St. Maximinius was a bishop who lived in the fourth century. It is believed that he was born in Poitiers, France. As a young man, he heard of a saintly bishop of Trier, in Gaul.
MAY 30
ST. JOAN OF ARC
St. Joan was born in 1412. Her hometown was Domremy, a little village in France. Jacques d'Arc, her father, was a hard working farmer.
MAY 31
THE VISITATION OF MARY
Visitation means "visit." The Archangel Gabriel told the Blessed Virgin Mary that her cousin Elizabeth was going to have a baby.
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PHOTO OF THE MONTH |
Tour
of the Relics of the Passion
(International Center
for Holy Relics)
www.HolyRelics.org
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| REFLECTIONS |
 “Jesus’
Baptism”
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?
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