Catholic Fire

1. Believe is one Christmas movie I am looking forward to viewing this year . It opens in theaters on Dec. 2. Here is a review from  Variety , Here is a brief synopsis from the website. For years, the small town of Grundy, Va. has relied on the Peyton family to provide the highlight of the year—the annual Christmas pageant. When Matthew Peyton (Ryan O’Quinn) inherits the family business, the responsibility of the Christmas pageant also falls on his shoulders. But as financial hardships fall on the town, Matthew finds himself overwhelmed. As his business profits plummet and his workers begin to strike, Matthew is forced to make a decision between selling the family business and cancelling the beloved pageant or sticking out hardships despite his rapidly declining popularity in the community. Through chance events, Matthew meets Clarence (Issac Ryan Brown), a boy who believes in miracles, and his mother Sharon (Danielle Nicolet). His newfound friends impact Matthew’s life in a ...

1. The word Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, which means "coming" or "arrival." 2. The Advent Season always begins four Sundays before Christmas; so it is rarely four full weeks long, but only between three and four weeks, depending on what weekday Dec. 25 happens to be in a certain year. 3. The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called "Gaudete Sunday" (from Latin, meaning "Rejoice!), because the "Entrance Antiphon" of this Sunday's Mass is taken from Paul's letter to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice! The Lord is near." (Phil 4:4+5b) 4. In the Roman Catholic Church, the official liturgical color for most of the Season of Advent is violet. Only on the Third Sunday of Advent is a rose (pink) colored candle lit, as a symbol of joy; the priest may also wear rose vestments on this Sunday. 5. Advent wreaths have their origins in the folk traditions of northern Europe, ...

The word Advent comes from the Latin word advenio, which means "to come to," and denotes the coming of Christ. Advent is a time to prepare our hearts and souls for the Savior’s three comings: (1) the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love at Christmas, (2) Christ’s coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and (3) His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world. In her inspirational book, Advent with St. Teresa of Calcutta: Daily Meditations , author Heidi Hess Saxton presents twenty-eight daily meditations based on the wisdom of St. Teresa of Calcutta as it relates to each day’s Scripture readings. With an Introduction written by Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle and a Foreword by Bishop Robert Barron, this beautiful devotional assists us in entering into the peace, joy, and love of this liturgical season. The book is divided into six sections: each of the four weeks of Advent, the Christmas week through Epiphany, and the feasts days a...

Saint Nicholas was born in the village of Patara in Asia Minor (now the southern coast of Turkey) about the middle of the third century. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Later he was ordained a priest, and when the bishop of his district died, he was made Bishop of Myra. Saint Nicholas is distinguished for his great faith. His faith was so great, that with his prayer he calmed a stormy sea while on a trip to the Holy Lands. For this reason sailors pay homage to him as their protector. He is particularly well known for his charity and his love for children. He used his great wealth to assist all who were in need: poor families, widows, and especially orphans and poor children. As Bishop, he established a poorhouse and a hospital. Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters, who were all hoping to...

The Advent season seems to go by so quickly that sometimes we don't have a chance to celebrate it the way we would like. In this Seven Quick Takes, I want to focus on ways to keep the Advent season a holy and peaceful one, while we wait patiently and contemplatively in joyful hope and anticipation for the coming of Our Lord, Jesus, at Christmas. 1. To start off, here are  Ten Tips for a Peace-Filled Advent. 2. Are you falling in love this Advent ? 3. This Advent is a very special one, as it takes place during the Extraordinary Jubilee of  Mercy. How can we make it a season of mercy? 4. Prayer is important during Advent. Here are two novenas to pray: one to Our Lady of Guadalupe and a Christmas novena. 5. Here are 15 Advent Prayers for you. 6. This Friday is the First Friday of the month and the feast of St. John Damascene, Patristic Father and Doctor of Christian Art. 7. Can you relate to this one? My mom made beautiful gingerbread houses from scratch and I ...

By Jean M. Heimann The season of Advent is a time of preparation. It is a time to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus. It is a time to make more room for him in our lives. During Advent, we wait patiently and prayerfully, with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in joyful hope and in anticipation of the miracle of the Incarnation. This year is remarkable in that Pope Francis has proclaimed it to be an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. During this Advent, then, we are called to come to Jesus and to seek out his merciful love which can heal all that is injured within us. He calls us out of the darkness into the light of His radiant and merciful love. For, his mercy has the power to free us of our fears, worries, and all the burdens that weigh us down.  It can heal us of the hurts that lie deep within and of the despair that accompanies our darkest sins. First and foremost, God invites to embrace his mercy, to repent and to be cleansed, to be made spotless and holy. This Adv...

During Advent, one Catholic tradition is to pray the St. Andrew Christmas novena. The feast of St. Andrew, which takes places on November 30, marks the end of the liturgical year and the beginning of a new year with the start of Advent. In fact, the Sunday that falls nearest to St. Andrew’s feast day is always the first Sunday of Advent. On the Feast of St. Andrew, November 30, this beautiful prayer is recited fifteen times a day until Christmas. It is a very meditative prayer that helps us focus on the real meaning of Christmas and aids us in preparing our hearts and souls for Christ's coming. Prayer Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.

1. Attend daily Mass and the sacrament of Reconciliation with your family as often as possible. 2. Attend fewer Christmas parties and spend more time in prayer. Pray the Rosary with the family or spend an hour each week in Eucharistic Adoration together. Light a candle for the Blessed Virgin Mary on her feast days. 3. Laugh. Find humor in the events of your everyday life. Watch classic comedies with clean humor. 3. Buy fewer Christmas presents for family. Instead teach them the real meaning of Christmas by giving more of your time, talents, and money to those who need it. Volunteer at the soup kitchen or the homeless shelter. Collect food, toys, coats, and other articles for the needy. 4. Use an Advent calendar and a wreath to mark this time of preparation. Pray Advent prayers with the family when you light up the candle on the wreath. Sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" throughout Advent. Pray the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at this time. 5. Take prayer...

By Jean M. Heimann “Prayer is nothing else than an intimate friendship, a frequent heart-to-heart conversation with Him, Who we know loves us.” ~ St. Teresa of Avila Are you simply going through the motions when you pray or are you on fire for your faith? Sometimes, as Catholics, we get into the rut of performing our spiritual practices out of habit without really thinking about what we’re doing.  We get into a certain routine that has become dull and we don’t know how to put the life back into it. Or we may fear that if we discontinue or alter our routine, God will punish us by distancing himself from us or by allowing bad things to happen in our lives. How can we get back on track and pump up our prayer life? We need to be able to pray with conviction. Our primary reason for prayer should be because we love God, who is our Creator and our Savior.  As such, He deserves our praise and we, in turn, desperately need his grace.  When we pray with conviction, we p...

The liturgical season of Advent begins on the First Sunday in Advent , November 30, 2014, opening a new year in our Church's Calendar. The word Advent is from the Latin adventus, which means "coming" and is associated with the four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Advent blends together a penitential spirit, very similar to Lent, a liturgical theme of preparation for the Second and Final Coming of the Lord, called the Parousia, and a joyful theme of getting ready for the birth of Christ. Advent is a season of waiting, a season filled with hope. Here are ten tips for making this Advent Season a holier one for you and your family: 1. Take the entire family, as often as possible, to daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, and to the sacrament of Reconciliation. On days when you are unable to attend Mass, read and reflect on the Scriptures for that day. 2. Use an Advent calendar and/or a wreath to mark this time of preparation. Pray Advent prayers with the fami...

Opening Prayer (for each day) Hail, and blessed be the hour and moment At which the Son of God was born Of a most pure Virgin At a stable at midnight in Bethlehem In the piercing cold At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, To hear my prayers and grant my desires (Mention your intentions here). Through Jesus Christ and His most Blessed Mother. December 16: O Shepherd that rulest Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep, come to guide and comfort us. Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory be. December 17: O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence! Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory be. December 18: O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai, come to redeem us with an outstretched arm! Recite one O...

By Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M.  For anyone who seeks out the real meaning of the holidays, the last few days before Christmas are the most powerful period of Advent and an intensely beautiful time of year. This weekend we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, with its spirit of joy and its rose liturgical vestments as an alternative to the season’s violet. The day takes its name from the opening words of the Introit at the beginning of Mass: Gaudete in Domino semper, or “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4,5).  And it’s followed just a few days later by the Octave before Christmas, Dec. 17-23, the time of the “O Antiphons.” In Christian worship, an antiphon is a special prayer recited or chanted before a psalm or canticle. The “O Antiphons” refer to the seven antiphons recited before the Magnificat during Vespers in the Liturgy of the Hours. They entered the Church’s liturgy as early as the fifth century. By the eighth century they were a regular part of Chri...

(Vatican Radio) Preparing for Christmas, we would do well to take a moment of silence to listed to God who speaks to us with the tenderness of a father and of a mother. That was the message of Pope Francis at the morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, on the second Thursday of Advent. Beginning with the reading from the Prophet Isaiah, the Pope emphasized not only “what the Lord says” but “how He says it.” God speaks to as a father or a mother speaks to their children: “When the child has a bad dream, he wakes up, cries . . . the father goes and says, ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, I’m here.’ That’s how the Lord speaks to us. ‘Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you maggot Israel’ (Isaiah 41,13). The Lord has this way of speaking to us: He is near . . . When we look at a father or a mother who speaks to their little child, we see that they become little and speak with a voice of a child and with the manners of children. Someone looking in from the outside think, ‘This is ridiculous!’ Th...

Have you ever thought it was ironic during this time of the year that all we hear on TV is "Buy! Buy! Buy! The holidays are near!," while in Church what we hear in our lectionary readings is closer to "Repent! Repent! Repent!  The end is near!" Scripture puts forth this striking parallel between the coming of Jesus at Christmas and the end of the world.  Why?  Because, in a sense, the Incarnation does bring about the destruction of this world and the ushering in of the Kingdom of God.  Advent is a time to prepare ourselves to be in God's presence. By entering into the world, God is inaugurating a process of judgment, in which humanity, both in history and today, is called upon to compare itself with the model and matrix of all creation - Jesus Christ.  Does this sound anything like judgment day to you?  It does to me.  At the second coming of Jesus, the truth of all things will be laid bare in the presence of the Risen Savior and we will be jud...

With Christmas just around the corner, there's a new Advent calendar to help prepare for the holidays. But this isn't your average calendar. It is high-tech, and it can be seen through a website or a smartphone. It was launched by the Archdiocese of Sydney and it's called the 'Xt3 Advent calendar'. It truly is an online journey towards Christmas. Every day, a door virtually opens so that users from all over the world can have a unique yet shared experience. The website includes all kinds of interactive material like daily reflections, podcasts and even videos like this one, featuring children talking about the true meaning of Christmas. And all the way from Australia, it will also share Cardinal Pell's message for the holidays and a special surprise for Pope Francis' birthday on December 17th. It's the fifth year the Archdiocese launches this project, and it's also available for iPhone and Android. A new way to count the days for Christmas i...

Are you ready to meet Jesus? Fr. James Kubicki reflects on the Second Coming of Jesus, which we prepare for during the Advent Season.

During his daily morning Mass at the Vatican, the Pope talked about how Christians should prepare for Christmas. Reflecting on today's Gospel, where a Roman officer, asks Jesus to save his servant, Pope Francis said it's not enough to seek out Christ. One must also be willing to be found by Him. POPE FRANCIS "Christmas is an encounter! It's a journey to encounter Him, to find Him through our hearts and our lives. To find the living God and to find Him through faith. It's not easy to live with faith. In today's Gospel, the Lord was struck by the faith of this centurion. He was moved by his faith. He had embarked on a journey to encounter the Lord, but it was a journey of faith. So, he not only found the Lord, but he also felt the joy of being found by the Lord. This is precisely the encounter we seek. An encounter of faith.” And to actually have an encounter with Jesus, the Pope highlighted three points. He said one must pray more, increase charity and...

Vatican City, Dec 1, 2013 / 09:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope’s Sunday Angelus message for the start of Advent focused on the importance of hope during the liturgical season dedicated to preparing for Christmas. “For the great human family it is necessary to renew always the common horizon toward which we are journeying. The horizon of hope! This is the horizon that makes a good journey,” Pope Francis said on Dec. 1 to the crowds in St. Peter’s Square. “The time of Advent that we begin again today returns us to the horizon of hope, a hope that does not disappoint because it is founded on the Word of God. A hope that does not disappoint, simply because the Lord never disappoints! He is faithful!” the Pope emphasized. The time of Advent that the Church celebrates in preparation for Christmas, explained the Pontiff, is “a new journey of the People of God with Jesus Christ, our Shepherd, who guides us in history towards the completion of the Kingdom of God.” “Let us rediscove...

Vatican City, (VIS) – Pope Francis' general prayer intention for December is: "That children who are victims of abandonment or violence may find the love and protection they need". His mission intention is: "That Christians, enlightened by the Word incarnate, may prepare humanity for the Savior's coming".