From all the Officers and Brother Knights at Council 4721, we pray that you all have a Happy New Year 2010. This past year, 2009, has seen some blessings for all of us as well as some sad moments as well. We hope that you will see the blessings in all that God has for you in the days and weeks to come.
Vivat Jesus!
Abortion was legalized in the United States 37 years ago this month. Since then over 50 million babies have lost their lives to abortion. Pray for an end to abortion and join Most Rev. Bishop Edward J. Slattery who will celebrate the Mass for Life at Holy Family Cathedral at 5:00pm on January 22, 2010. After Mass join Bishop Edward J. Slattery and participate in the 1st Tulsa March for Life. The March starts at Holy Family Cathedral and ends at 6th & Boston at the new Chapman Centennial Green where a rally will take place.
VATICAN CITY, 30 DEC 2009 (VIS) - Pope Benedict XVI's general prayer intention for January 2010 is: "That young people may learn to use modern means of social communication for their personal growth and to better prepare themselves to serve society".
His mission intention is: "That every believer in Christ may be conscious that unity among all Christians is a condition for more effective proclamation of the Gospel".
BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/JANUARY/... VIS 091230 (80
12/19/09
Dear Brother Knights and Ladies Auxiliary,
Our Madonna House drive was a great success!
Some of the many items collected (two truckloads worth) included diapers, formula, onesies, crib sheets, two bedding sets, lots of toys, pacifiers, car seats, a bassinet, blankets, washcloths, clothes, socks, bibs, wipes, a baby bathtub, brushes, combs, powder and bath items, baby food, etc., as well as $150 in cash.
![clip_image002[4]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/_DvDRIxdPa7o/Szf7oqbtgfI/AAAAAAAAIZc/8IeH7oL5_Us/clip_image002%5B4%5D_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800 "clip_image002[4]")
We delivered them on Saturday to Karen Guzman, the Project Coordinator for the Madonna House, and then took a fascinating tour of their new facilities on North Harvard. If you have not had a chance yet, please go and take a look at this beautiful new campus. It includes not only the Madonna House, but the various buildings of Catholic Charities. If you remember the old Catholic Charities buildings on Denver Avenue, these modern, comfortable and spacious facilities are an amazing improvement!
Many thanks to all of the Knights and Ladies who volunteered time and donated items for this drive! I especially want to thank Jim Williamson and Kay McAuliff for their help loading and transporting the donated items, Bob Caruso and Bill Hull for their support and help collecting monetary donations, and of course, to our Grand Knight Lon Unsell for his help and cheerful encouragement. But also, a very special thanks to Vickie Buckendorf; her endless energy, organization skills and leadership helped make this project a reality.
![clip_image002[7]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_DvDRIxdPa7o/Szf7qWLo6TI/AAAAAAAAIZw/xQTAIUn47b0/s1600-h/clip_image002%5B7%5D%5B4%5D.jpg "clip_image002[7]")
There is much work yet to do, however. For me personally, this was a tremendous learning experience about something I have never done before. And rest assured, I intend to get better!
![clip_image002[11]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_DvDRIxdPa7o/Szf7rIjdxLI/AAAAAAAAIZ8/koIaqyUBYYc/s1600-h/clip_image002%5B11%5D%5B2%5D.jpg "clip_image002[11]")
In our Pro-Life efforts, we are going to keep our focus on how to continue helping the Madonna House and other women’s organizations that need our support.
We intend to have a new drive at least every quarter of 2010, and the first one will be for Easter. The details are yet to be decided, but we will let everyone know soon and, whatever it is, we intend to make it bigger and better and with more participation than ever before.
Once again, many thanks to all!
![clip_image002[13]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_DvDRIxdPa7o/Szf7r2fTyKI/AAAAAAAAIaE/5KjTKf5rOik/s1600-h/clip_image002%5B13%5D%5B2%5D.jpg "clip_image002[13]")
Vivat Jesus!
David Bassler
Council 4721
In centuries past, Advent season began with Martinmas (the feast of St. Martin on November 11). Advent was "the little Lent" that prepared the faithful for the celebration of Christmas (Christ's Mass).
Christmas was in turn followed by Childermas (the Mass of the Holy Innocents) and continued until Candlemas (the Mass of Blessed Candles), also known as the Feast of the Presentation. In ancient times, great celebration centered not around Christmas, but around the Feast of the Epiphany. Indeed, in the eastern churches, the Mass of the Nativity was celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany, for the earliest Christians said it was only fitting to celebrate God's revelation of His Son to the pagan Magi on the same day that His Son leapt out of the inner sanctuary of Mary's womb into the larger world itself.
Today, apart from Christmas, most of the "-mas" days have been forgotten. But there is one laudable custom which should be retained. As the song notes, there has long been a tradition of small gift-giving during the first twelve days of the Christmas season, the period between Christmas and Epiphany, Dec 25 and Jan 6.
Today is ChilderMas - a day to celebrate our children and honor the gift that God gave us in our children. God Bless you all!
J
This year, for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, Tulsa has had a White Christmas. Unfortunately, this has caused many of us to miss Mass. We did not have the Honor Guard at Holy Family last night. The good news is that those that would have attended did not get out in this weather and risk injury or death on the roads. The Officers and Council at 4721 pray that you have a safe Christmas celebration with your families and all return to your homes safely. It is the gift from our Creator of a helpless child, God Himself, that we remember today. This is not a “holiday” but the Holy Day that we recall this incredible miracle which led to hope and our very salvation.
Merry Christmas! and Vivat Jesus!
J.A. Arroyo, Deputy Grand Knight
In centuries past, Advent season began with Martinmas (the feast of St. Martin on November 11). Advent was "the little Lent" that prepared the faithful for the celebration of Christmas (Christ's Mass).
Christmas was in turn followed by Childermas (the Mass of the Holy Innocents) and continued until Candlemas (the Mass of Blessed Candles), also known as the Feast of the Presentation.
In ancient times, great celebration centered not around Christmas, but around the Feast of the Epiphany. Indeed, in the eastern churches, the Mass of the Nativity was celebrated on the Feast of the Epiphany, for the earliest Christians said it was only fitting to celebrate God's revelation of His Son to the pagan Magi on the same day that His Son leapt out of the inner sanctuary of Mary's womb into the larger world itself.
Today, apart from Christmas, most of the "-mas" days have been forgotten. But there is one laudable custom which should be retained.
As the song notes, there has long been a tradition of small gift-giving during the first twelve days of the Christmas season, the period between Christmas and Epiphany, Dec 25 and Jan 6.
This year, we would like to encourage you to give a gift to seminarians!
Vivat Jesus! Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Good morning, and welcome back to our reflection this week on how we can prepare our hearts to welcome the Child Jesus, and ask Him specifically for spiritual gifts that help us grow in holiness and grace. I am Fr. Jim Caldwell, pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church, and it is truly a blessing to share with you a faith filled experience of God’s presence and love in our lives.
St. Paul in his letter to Titus writes in Chapter 3, verses 6 and 7: “…whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” In St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews he also says: “…let us approach with a sincere heart and in absolute trust, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. And let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for He who made the promise is trustworthy.” (10:22-23)
Today’s gift to ask God for as we prepare for Christ Jesus to enter our lives is the gift of HOPE. This gift of hope can be a great source of happiness and strength because it motivates our hearts to anticipate and look forward to the promise of the Kingdom of God and to the promises that God has made and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
In a general way, if we have hope, we have life. Hope helps us look forward as well as challenges us to do well in life. It is the impetus in some ways of why we as a society are stuck in the mode of shopping for Christmas. We shop because we are anticipating the joy and happiness our family and friends will have when they open this gift that hopefully is the right gift for the right reasons. We look forward to this day, December 24th or 25th when in joy we can present our gifts to our family and friends to see their expression. We hope that they will appreciate and like the thoughtful gift that seems to express a love and concern for them.
We also hope for events and experiences that lead to positive experiences in life. We hope, for example, that a doctor’s report will indicate that the cancer is benign and not malignant. We hope that the exams we take help increase our wisdom and knowledge of the subjects we are studying. We hope that our Christmas celebrations will be with family we love, rather than family with whom we are estranged from. We hope that one day our family will be together to celebrate in joy the blessings of familial relationships. We hope that the sun will continue to shine and brighten our day.
In all these examples, the hope is for something in the future that will be long lasting and treasured in our hearts. Yet we know that at times, what we hope for often falls short of our desires. We know that when we place our hope in things of this world, we lose sight of the things in our life which matter, not material things, but experiences that connect our heart, mind, body and souls together. When we connect at these levels, the gift of hope increases because it requires that we actively pursue these goals and dreams in life that change our hearts. We can hope all we want to pass the exam, but if we do not put the effort into studying, we fail to put that hope into reality. We can hope that we will be remembered by others, but unless we act in a spirit of charity and love toward others, we will not achieve anything at all. In other words, our hope, if rooted in this world will falter quickly because we fail to assist ourselves and others to use hope as a catapult for happiness and peace that is internal.
Therefore, the gift of hope we are seeking is the gift which keeps us going day after day. It is the gift of hope that the life we live and experience draws us to do great things for the sake of the Kingdom of God. This is the higher realm of hope that truly sustains us and puts our actions, deeds and experiences in a new light. This deeper understanding of hope enables us to move beyond the worldly allurements and see that relationships with others take work. This hope enables us to see that having our hearts prepared to welcome the Child Jesus into our lives means we take time to assess how we are living and sharing the love God bestows on us with others.
This kind of hope enables us to put our motivations and aspirations into perspective as we begin to understand how God truly blesses us with many gifts and talents. With these gifts, we can utilize the endowment of hope to determine the course of action that roots us in being Disciples of Christ Jesus. We are promoting this virtue of Hope now, because the time is right to prioritize and put into perspective our vocation in life. When we hope in God, we discover a deeper sense of peace and joy because of the grace God bestows from this gift. When we open our hearts and accept this gift of hope, we realize that every single day is a new day to prepare for Christ to come. We do not have to wait until December 25th, or January 1, or your birthday, or the second Tuesday of next week. In hope, we experience the Child Jesus smashing our stony hearts and revealing how much He is with us every day.
In asking God for the gift of hope, we are asking for an increase in knowledge of who He is for us, why He has called us to do His will, and how we can succeed in growing in holiness and grace. We can use this gift of hope as a means to pray, live, love and learn. How does this hope manifest itself in our hearts and lives? It starts by first understanding that hope animates our inner thoughts and feelings to seek God and His love in our lives. Hope helps us not to be discouraged when the temporal world collapses around us. Hope sustains us during the times we feel abandoned or unloved. Hope becomes the life preserver that is tossed to us by God in order to lift us up and fill us with His love. Hope becomes the celebration of hearts prepared in love to welcome the Child Jesus into our hearts and lives. It is hope that stirs our passions to find and seek God in every action and experience in our lives. This hope is more than simply optimism. It is an anchor in God that keeps us afloat in the ups and downs of life.
One great way to increase this gift of Hope within our hearts is to mediate on the Our Father. This prayer, spoken by Jesus for us to pray is a great way to ask God. The power of the Lord’s Prayer is found in how it sums up for us our wants, needs and desires in life. It is a prayer of hope because as we voice in word and thought this prayer, we are drawn to the belief that through Jesus Christ, He will hear and answer our prayers and enkindle in our hearts the gift of hope. This prayer also challenges us to serve God in a spirit of faithfulness and love. We are called in hope to put into action the Gospel of Love. We are instructed by the prophets to prepare our hearts for Christ to come again.
Let us seek the gift of hope in our hearts and lives so as to understand that the spiritual gifts we desire far outweigh the material things of this world. Invite the Holy Spirit to enkindle this hope within our heart so as to love better, forgive more, serve others, and be Christ like in our lives. Confront in life the fears and addictions that dampen the hope of Christ to live in our hearts. Ponder the heavenly gift of the Kingdom of God that we hope to share in one day. Inspire others to achieve hope in God by preparing for God’s many blessings He willingly pours out for us. Continue to pray each day, petitioning the Lord to hear our prayers. Drawing on this petition for hope, we conclude with the prayer Jesus taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
May God continue to bless us and fill us with hope as we anticipate with joy Christ’s presence among us. May Almighty God bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Have a very blessed and hopeful day today.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Good morning. Father Jim Caldwell Pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Krebs with you to continue our meditation and reflection on preparing our hearts for Christ Jesus to enter and reside. Today’s theme is asking for the gift of faith in prayer.
Yesterday we spoke about the need for prayer in our lives in order to deepen our relationship with God and prepare our hearts. Part of praying to God is asking for the things we need in order to deepen our love for Him. Today’s gift is faith. Why is this gift so important? Without faith, we can do nothing. Without the gift of faith to trust in something greater than ourselves, we miss out on the ministry of service for others. We miss out on growing stronger in our relationship with God and we become sad and depressed.
What is faith? It is our personal devotion to God. It is also a personal and communal relationship with God assenting to the truth that God reveals Himself to us through Sacred Scripture and our lived experience of life and all it offers. Our faith life is both a gift and a grace that brings us into a personal and loving union with God. Faith seeks understanding through reason, is necessary for salvation, is a free act and believes with conviction in a message of truth. According to the Letter to the Hebrews 11:1 the author writes: “Faith is the realization of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.”
The message of faith as a gift is so important for us today because it is through our faith in God that we can come to know and believe in the power of love He bestows on us. Faith must be communal because we gain knowledge of our faith through interaction with others. This knowledge of faith is passed on to us through our parents. Our faith is mysterious because there is no level or gauge to tell us how much faith we actually have in our hearts. So the faith we believe, share and follow does indeed have intellectual value and weight. Yet the faith we follow also goes beyond our intellectual understanding to move our hearts and souls to act in a manner pleasing to God who is our Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So we are seeking the gift of faith from God during this season of Advent, of preparation for Jesus to come among us as a Child. We ask God to increase our understanding of faith in Jesus Christ who is the Savior of the world. This is vital to begin our faith journey in appreciating, knowing and serving God who invites us to prepare ourselves for His coming. The question remains is how strong is your faith in God to believe that anything is possible with Him? Jesus reminds us that all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed, and with His help, we are able to conquer anything and everything that comes our way in life.
How do we increase our faith in God? Through our prayer, asking for the grace and gift of faith. We also can increase our faith embracing the faith we have and make it our own. If we are floundering in our spiritual lives, if the world has power over us and drags us down into the abyss of selfishness and it seems we are powerless to change this attitude, then maybe it is time to bend our knees. Maybe it is time to open up Sacred Scripture and read how Abraham, Moses, and all the prophets had to journey from their way and belief to the direction and way God has called them.
One of the greatest gifts of faith is that when we embrace it with our heart, body, mind and soul, we become free. We become motivated; we become aware of just how much God loves us. We also begin to reach outside of ourselves and have the courage to profess and believe in God’s grace to change our stony hearts to hearts on fire for Him. When we live the life of faith, all our thoughts, actions and words point to God. All of who we are is then used by God to challenge and bring others to know, love and serve Him.
We can look to Mary and Joseph again as models of faith for us. In their experience of life and their journey toward Bethlehem, their faith was challenged. Their faith was put to the test because they lived in a world that was reverting back to pagan ways and a system that saw legalism as the proper method of faith. In other words, the faith they embraced was of the Spirit of the Law and not the letter of the Law. The only way this could happen is by God’s grace and assistance from others in their lives that demonstrated their faith and believe in God. While their lives were simple, their faith remains strong in professing and living God’s will in life.
Faith in God is a gift to ask for. It is a gift that calls us to grow in wisdom and knowledge of who God is for us. It also challenges us to look beyond intellect and embrace God’s love in a spirit of humility and service. It is a trust that helps us see how God reveals who He is for us in the whole of our lived experiences of life. It is also an ascent of our will to choose and live this faith in God in our lives. It cannot be forced on us, which is why when we embrace our faith, we are free to love, live and share in the presence of Christ who resides in us. Faith is foundational because it is the key to our obedience of the will of God for us.
It is in faith that we ask God to increase this gift with in us in order to prepare for Christ to come. It is in faith that we trust that while Jesus has come once already as a Man, He comes now to knock on our hearts and live within us. He comes to change our hearts and wants us to be prepared to be changed for the better. In doing so, our hearts and our lives will not rest until they are resting within the heart of Jesus.
Today, let us offer our prayer asking for the gift of faith within our hearts. Let us seek this gift of faith and embrace it as we prepare to welcome Jesus into our hearts. In your moment of silence and prayers, amid the busyness of today, specifically ask God for the Spirit of faith to understand how we can better serve the Lord in thought, work, actions and deeds. Let this faith also increase in us our service to others who are less fortunate than we are.
Let us pray: God, we thank you for the gift of faith that challenges us to grow in holiness. Enkindle this gift in our hearts so we can see that what we do, say and are is truly a reflection of you in us. Help us prepare for your Son to live in our hearts and give us the courage to seek you out and embrace this gift of faith always. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
May Almighty God bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Good morning. Fr. Jim here with you this morning to help us focus our attention on preparing for the Child Jesus Christ to come and live with us in our hearts. Today is an important step in preparation because it will become for us the stepping stone to asking Jesus to fill our hearts with His gifts of faith, hope and love.
Jesus knows you from your mother’s womb, and He knows what will bring great joy and true happiness. Even the prophets knew that transforming our lives through prayer is a vital step in deepening our relationship with Jesus. Our preparation to welcome the Child Jesus into our hearts is through and in the mystery of the word prayer. What is prayer? How can this be an important component of our relationship with Jesus? What should we pray for?
Prayer in a word is “relationship.” It is time spent deepening our wisdom, knowledge and love of Jesus so that we can and will follow Him where ever he leads us. The more we engage in prayer, the more we see the awesome presence of God in every thought, word and action of our lives. We know some of the famous prayers that draw us to God: The Our Father, the Glory Be, and the Prayer before Meals. These prayers help us to focus on our needs, wants, and desires to give thanks to God for all the blessings He gives us.
While these prayers are great and call to mind our desire to know, love and serve God, they are not enough for us. We desire, we want and we believe in the need to have a friendship and personal relationship with God. The more we pray, the more we grow in holiness and grace. The more we speak to God in word and in silence, the deeper our relationship and friendship grows. It is the same way in any relationship. We need to keep it engaged in order to move beyond the surface level to a heartfelt connection.
This heartfelt connection takes daily practice and desire, and must be sustained through our diligence and discipline of taking time to pray in order to welcome Christ Jesus into our hearts. Sacred Scripture gives us countless stories of prayer that are joyful, sad, fearful, happy, questioning, wondering, discerning and many other themes which give us comfort and aid. We are preparing for Christ to come into our world, our lives, and our hearts, why not begin to pray for grace and wisdom to be present in our hearts?
Let us begin a new day in prayer, preparing our hearts for Christ to enter. The following method is only one way of many, but for starters, it is the easiest way to open our minds and hearts and engage with God in conversation. Are you ready?
First, being quiet is so important. Find a comfortable place to sit and listen intently to how you breathe. Slow your pace of breathing down by concentrating on inhaling and exhaling. Let your breathing be a great source of calmness in your life. Next, speak to God from your heart and tell Him that you love Him. Tell Him you are present to Him in these moments of silence. After saying I love you, simply clear your mind of any thoughts and let God grace you with His presence and love.
When you have tried to hear God love you—and this is very hard to do and takes many days of practice—begin to share your life with God. Tell Him all that is going on—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Speak to Him as if He is your best friend. Hold nothing back. He already knows this, and sometimes, when we share our hearts with another person and friend, we connect with them, and in our vulnerability, we develop a deep level of trust in them.
Another fantastic way to deepen our relationship with God is to focus on a passage in Sacred Scripture. Read for example in Matthew 14:22-33 about Jesus calling Peter to walk on the water toward Him, and see how Peter walks a little ways only to be afraid because of the wind and the storm, and he starts to sink into the water. He cries out to Jesus, and Jesus rescues him, chiding him for having little faith. Picture this scene in your mind. Identify with any and all the characters of the story. Who inspires you? Whom do you see yourself as in this story? Can there be similarities in this story with what is happening in your life? How can we connect with the living Scripture and make it appear real to us?
Another wonderful story that fits well with Advent is the whole story of Mary and Joseph. Take their journey to Bethlehem. We know this story because we celebrate this story every Christmas—which we are preparing for. Yet do we really know the story? Can we identify with Mary all the feelings she is embracing as she goes to a foreign land? What about Joseph, her husband, do we know what it feels like to love and care for a spouse who is with child? How does this Holy Family remind us of our families? How are we called to deepen our trust and love in God as Mary and Joseph did?
When we place ourselves in the scene, as an observer, or as a participant, suddenly the experience comes alive and floods our heart with new insights into the life of Jesus and ours and how we can connect with Him and grow in a relationship with Him. In this process, we discover how well we are succeeding in growing with God. We can also see that we need more time to develop the friendship with God we desire. Our prayer with God cannot be just once a week, or once a year. This relationship requires that we turn to God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit daily in order to gain wisdom and knowledge. Our relationship with the Trinity needs our cooperation with His grace to experience a trust, a love, a conversion of our hearts to turn from the temporal world of material things, hatred, bigotry, injustice and pain. When we are ready to engage in a relationship with God through prayer, we are ready to be awed by how gentle, loving and merciful He is. We are amazed at what we can share with Him: our very selves because He knows us so well.
Part of our prayer to God, as we prepare to welcome the Child Jesus into our hearts can be a prayer of petition. This petition can be simply asking for a particular grace to help in a current situation we are in. It can also be a petition for wisdom, love, understanding, courage, fear of God, counsel, right judgment, healing or countless other needs we express to Him.
Our prayer time, our relationship with God who loves us and will come among us as a Child, should not be taken for granted or ignored. This is why it is so important to begin today to nurture our relationship with God through prayer. This is why we need to prepare our hearts and have them ready for Christ to enter and live in our lives. In doing so, we grow deeper in love with God; we place our lives in His hand, and trust He will lead us where He wants us to go.
As we begin this Advent Season of preparing our hearts through prayer, what gifts can we ask God for? What spiritual gifts do we need in order to grow in holiness? Tune in tomorrow as we continue our journey preparing for Christ to enter our hearts.
Let us pray: Good and gracious God, fill our hearts with a desire to be in a relationship with you in prayer. Help us to love, trust and believe in your presence with us. Prepare our hearts to pray with fervor for the gift of your Son to enter into our lives. Fill our hearts so we grow in holiness and love. Hear these prayers we present to you today and answer them according to Your will. We ask this through Jesus, your Son, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. May Almighty God Bless You: In the name of the Father, and of Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Monday, December 7, 2009
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Good Morning, my name is Father Jim Caldwell, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Krebs, and this week, we will be spending our time together, reflecting on Advent and how we are called to celebrate together, with the Church, a new year which is calling us to prepare our hearts for our Lord and King to enter in and change our lives. Please pray and ponder with me on this great opportunity to prepare ourselves for the Birth of Christ Jesus.
In the Gospel of Mark, the author writes in chapter 1, verse 2: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way. A voice of one crying in the desert: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.” The herald being spoken of here is John the Baptist who helps us prepare our hearts for Christ to come. The Season of Advent is this great time in which can prepare to welcome Christ with joy. Preparation is so important for us because it is at the root and heart of who we are as people of God. So our reflection today will invite us to prepare for Christ to come.
Ponder for a moment how a baby is brought into the world. Ponder the fact that in all of creation, having a baby requires that for nine months, the child is growing in the womb of the mother. The child needs this time to grow and develop in order to enter into a world first as a helpless creature. Then aided by a personal encounter with others, the child grows and matures into an adult.
So the first step is preparing for the birth of a child, in this case Jesus. For the last eight months, we have watched as the baby grows and forms in the womb of Mary, and as the day of birth grows closer, we are anticipating with joy the day when He will arrive. In doing so, we make preparations for Him: buying the crib, the clothes the diapers, the bottles and all other material things that are necessary to help Jesus grow and mature. There is a spring in our step, there is joy and love abounding as well as a little bit of fear: what will He be like? How tall will He be? What color hair will He have? What kind of temperament will He have? What will He be when He grows up?
All of these questions and many more are part of the process of preparing for the birth of Jesus. Yet there is more, especially for us as we know some of the answers to these questions from Sacred Scripture. So the bigger directive and direction for us to ponder is what are we preparing for? If Christ has already come into the world as a child, what is left? The answer lies deep within our hearts. We are preparing our hearts to welcome Him with joy. We are evaluating our lives today, here and now, to contemplate what we need to do in order to be aware of Christ in our lives.
Unfortunately, we are living in a world that has lost sight of the reason for the season of Advent and Christmas. We believe that this time is to increase our material possessions and buy things that can help dull the boredom and the pain in our lives. Society teaches us that material things are far better than any kind of reconciliation or spiritual growth. Besides, God does not exist, society says. Only material things can provide us with happiness and wealth. Most of us know this is not the case, but nevertheless, we get caught up in this false sense of preparation and hype.
What John the Baptist is encouraging us to do is to look inwardly at our hearts. How do we reflect the love of a new born child in our hearts? How do we reflect the awesome power of forgiveness, compassion, care and concern for others? If someone knocks on our heart, are we ready to shower them with love? How do we know if we are prepared to love others?
Preparation requires a couple of things. It requires us to have the tools necessary to mix, blend, fold, stir and mold the experiences of life together in order to carve the way to God for others. Preparation requires that we begin to read the directions that are written for us, and to follow the recipe of love that Jesus has set for us. Preparation demands that our hearts be set on the spiritual gifts that truly make us happy and joyful people: love, forgiveness, hope, faith, wisdom, knowledge, understanding and courage. It expects us to look beyond the material possessions in life in order to possess these spiritual gifts which ground us in the true meaning of life. Preparation means that each of us takes a good look at our heart to discover what we truly need, and then seek this in and through the Child Jesus who wants to be in our hearts and lives. It means keeping the Christ in Christmas, which is the whole reason and season for our joy and cheerfulness.
In the season of Advent, we are preparing for Christ to come amidst the burning desire to be part of the parade of life. We need this time of anticipation in order to know that our time is short before the Child Jesus arrives. Our time to learn how to love and be loved is today. The prophets of yesterday and today are challenging us to prepare a place for Jesus to come and live. Learning how to be happy and joyful in life is part of our preparation for each day. Jesus is calling us to be His disciples and as He calls us, He also prepares us to do His work: to make the path of life easier for those around us by what we do, say and act.
What preparations are required for today? What are we preparing for in life? Thinking about this question challenges us to put into perspective our lives in order to draw attention to that which matters the most. Are you preparing to welcome the Child Jesus into life? Are you assisting others in discovering Jesus’ presence in our world today? Are you willing to redirect your thoughts and focus on being Jesus for others? This is why Advent is an appropriate time of our lives: to remind us of the presence of Christ among us and the call to live, breathe and be Christ to each other.
Being Christ for each other is one step toward sharing Him with others in a spirit of charity and love. While there are many other steps that can help us live with and in Christ, there is one important step that binds all the ingredients together. Tune in tomorrow morning, as we meditate further on how to prepare our hearts for Christ to enter in and help us keep the reason for the season alive.
Let us Pray:
Good and gracious God, we are seeking your Child Jesus to enter our hearts. Help us to prepare our hearts to welcome Him with joy. Give us the courage to address and change those circumstances and issues that have prevented us from being Christ to others. Most importantly, help us to redirect our thoughts and actions to you so that what we do, say and act may in fact open our hearts to your love and mercy. Prepare our hearts to see and welcome your presence in life through the Child Jesus and give us courage and hope to live in your love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. And may almighty God Bless You in the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grand Knight’s Report:
Chaplain’s Report:
The Chaplain was not present. Hopefully we will have an email report for this month.
Financial Secretary’s Report
It is That time of year! The membership dues bills are ready! Please, we want to keep you all as members so we can continue the great work we are trying to do.
Program Director’s Report:
Bill Hull: Blood Drive – Gratitude to all who could donate blood this time around. We did have a lot who were unable to donate. We did not have as many as previously. The following donated the gift of life:
District Deputy’s Report:
4th Degree News:
New Business:
Knight of the Month:
Family of the Month:
Pot of Gold
Carmen Rugeri – who was not present to win
Father McGivney Burse - $25
Good of the Order
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