His Righteousness

Dear friend,

This is probably one of the busiest times of the year and I hope you are able to cope through it all. Something that helps me cope is spending time with the Lord. I especially love attending Mass whenever I can, devoting an hour a week in our beautiful Adoration Chapel and pretty much whenever I feel the need to pray which has been a lot these days.

This past Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Advent, in preparation for Christmas and our Lord’s birth the readings were from the Book of the Prophet Micah: 5:1-4^a, Psalm 80, the Letter to the Hebrews 10: 5-10 and from the Gospel according to Luke 1:39-45.These are beautiful readings to help with Advent preparations and centering our souls to dwell on the true importance of Christmas.

My belief is that when we put too much preparation in to buying gifts, Christmas decorations, table trimmings and lavish dinners and party treats, we lose sight of what Christmas is really all about.

One of my family’s favorite Christmas movies is Miracle on 34th Street and one of the all time best quotes from the movie is spoken by Alfred, Macy’s janitor:

“Yeah, there’s a lot of bad ‘isms’ floatin’ around this world, but one of the worst is commercialism. Make a buck, make a buck. Even in Brooklyn it’s the same – don’t care what Christmas stands for, just make a buck, make a buck.”

So I wonder, what is meant by the line ‘what Christmas stands for’? Perhaps it’s best described in another of our favorite movies, A Charlie Brown Christmas. You may remember Linus’ speech on stage during rehearsal for their Christmas play where he recites:

⁸ And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; ¹¹ for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!”^[a] Luke 2: 8-14

Friend, it’s a true fact that our world desperately needs peace among men, women and children. For peace to happen, please hold our Lord in your heart not only during this time of year but all year long by glorifying Him throughout your day.

Prayer: Heavenly and almighty God, please fill our hearts and minds with your love and your desire for all of us to live in peace and harmony. Thank you for sending your Son to live among us bringing us love, and the truth and light of your Word. Help us to live your Word out throughout our daily lives, to calm down and spend more time with you in your Word or to merely sit and listen for your presence to be felt in our hearts and souls. Help us to keep the true spirit and meaning of Christmas alive in our lives all year long. We ask this in your Son’s name, Jesus Christ our Savior.

May God be with you and may He continue to protect and guide you and yours!

Peace, love, joy and a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Marie Antoinette

ALL LIFE MATTERS – FROM CONCEPTION ON!