Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathersby Marco Pappalardo. Introduction Mary’s 'yes' is the unique measure of all our 'yeses' to the Lord. Her adherence to God’s plan becomes the model for our participation in the divine plan for this world. Mary was the 'daughter of his Son,' as Dante calls her, and we will be reborn as children and renewed in his mercy if we live our daily lives in praise of the Most High and in service to our brothers and sisters. St. Augustine, Christ the Lord exists eternally without beginning with the Father, and yet today you can ask, 'What is it?' It is the Nativity. 'Whose?' The Lord’s. 'So the Lord has been born?' Yes. 'The Word who was in the beginning, God with God, has thus been born?' Yes. If he had not been born as a human being, we would never have attained divine rebirth. He was born so that we might be reborn. Christ is born: may no one hesitate to be reborn! He was generated, but not to be regenerated.... This is how his mercy was infused into …
Dec 21 Fourth Week of Advent, Sunday We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction 'I, Joseph, was walking yet stopped walking. I looked up in the air and saw it was struck with wonder; I looked toward the vault of the sky and saw it was still, and the birds of the sky were still; I looked at the earth and saw a trough on the ground and workers reclining with their hands in it, but those who were chewing stopped chewing, those who were getting their food did not lift it from the trough, and those who were bringing it to their mouths halted; all eyes were looking above. Dec 20 Alberta's education minister writes a much needed Christmas message The Education Minister of Alberta Demetrios Nicolaides in his Christmas message to parents offers a refreshing Christian example in today's …
The Education Minister of Alberta Demetrios Nicolaides in his Christmas message to parents offers a refreshing Christian example in today's secular world. We welcome the message. We're certain the parents and students of Alberta also appreciate the encouraging words of Christian hope, love and peace. We wish Minister Nicolaides a blessed Christmas. The short letter is worth quoting in its entirety. We share it with our readers. Dear parents, As the glorious Christmas season approaches, I want to wish you and your loved ones a joyful and blessed time. This is a special season to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the event that serves as a cornerstone of faith and brings the world a message of hope, peace, and love. It is a time to reflect on this profound gift and look forward with faith and optimism to the year ahead. I know the first part of this school year asked a lot of families, and I want to express my sincere appreciation for the commitment and care you devote to your …
Dec 20 Third Week of Advent, Saturday We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction If someone showed us a safe place to keep our treasure on this earth, we would not hesitate to follow him or her even if it was out of the way, and we would place our treasure there with great peace of mind. Well, it is no human being but God himself who offers this safety, and not in a desert, but in heaven; yet we do not want to listen to him. Dec 19 Third Week of Advent, Friday We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction In the age of GPS navigators, let’s keep in mind who is guiding …
Woke Watch Canada is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a one-time or recurring donation to show your support. By C.C. Harvey (This article originally appeared on The Cancelled Club Substack.) The extraordinary success of Anglo-Western civilization is not an accident. The Anglosphere resulted from a rare combination of forces: Judeo-Christian morality elevated the individual, restrained the powerful, and moralized truth-telling; English common law protected property, contracts, and personal rights; the scientific revolution prized empirical reasoning over dogma; culture emphasized literacy, self-discipline, and civic duty; the industrial revolution generated unprecedented wealth. The result was high-trust societies in which cooperation flourished, corruption remained low, innovation thrived, and economic growth became the norm. People from across the globe seek out Anglo-Western nations because they offer the greatest relative amount …
If one takes the Incarnation of the Son of God Jesus Christ seriously, one believes Almighty God chose the best possible time & place to send the Redeemer of mankind. And the Holy Spirit guided the Church. So it is NO ACCIDENT that "western" culture is built on Christendom and therefore superior to all non-Christian (pagan) societies. Sadly, the West is reaping the consequences of turning away from God to the self that began with the humanism of the 15th cent. to the Rationalism of the 17th, to the atheism of the 20th.
Dec 19 Third Week of Advent, Friday We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction In the age of GPS navigators, let’s keep in mind who is guiding our lives, where our actions are directed, and which roads we need to take to reach our final goal. No technology can replace our conscience, but there are many ways to disorient and distract it. Dec 18 Shame on Canada for voting NO to removing SOGI from a UN resolution Shame on Canada for voting NO to removing SOGI, sexual orientation and gender identity, from a UN General Assembly resolution. The recent vote was 81 to 77 in support of its removal. Of course the vote was taken under the deceptive language of rights of the disabled. How could anyone vote NO? Canada once again betrayed Canadians. Surely, this positive outcome was made …
We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathersby Marco Pappalardo. Introduction A true friend is ready to do anything for his or her friend. The greatest gift that can be given in a friendship is making way for the other by taking a step back at the right time. John the Baptist, described as a solitary man of the desert, fully understood this relationship and how a spiritual bond cannot be neglected. He stepped back at the appropriate time, indicating the true Teacher for his disciples; however, he did not step back from the presence of this quintessential Friend—the Bridegroom—at the time of the Baptism in the Jordan. From that moment on, he remained his witness to the point of martyrdom.Augustine, You have often heard it said, and are thus perfectly aware, that the more John the Baptist stood out among all those …
Professor James Tour from Rice University, in Houston, Texas, is internationally known and respected among organic chemists. In the interview linked below, he talks to Carlson about the theory evolution that is commonplace thinking and taught in our educational institutions. Except that he thinks it's a myth. He also talks about super human beings, the dangers of genetic engineering and how little we know about the complexities and origin of life. What I found most interesting is that Tour as a respected scientist isn't afraid to share his belief in God. He's a Christian but was born in a Jewish family. He believes that science supports the idea of a creator. Science and faith are not mutually exclusive. Science can help answer the questions of faith. In fact, Tour argues that science provides much evidence for belief. Amway, watch the interview and come to your own conclusion. From the Gospel of St. John 1:1-14: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word …
In their latest message, Real Women of Canada offer a sober analysis about abortion in Canada. It's titled, "Changes in the Pro-Life Landscape." We post it here with permission. Those who are strongly opposed to abortion on moral grounds in Canada may not be aware that the ground is slowly shifting on this issue. It is easy to miss these subtle changes taking place since we are barraged daily by the mainstream media which presents abortion as an absolute entitlement and permits no debate on the issue. According to the woke left-wing aristocracy of the Liberal government, and feminists, there is only one position recognized in Canada – that abortion be readily available for any reason. The following is a clear-eyed analysis of the current pro-life landscape. The Media Cone of Silence on Abortion is Broken Due to the enormous funding given only to feminist groups by the federal and provincial governments over the past fifty years, feminism has prospered with the result that its perspective …
Dec 17 Third Week od Advent, Wednesday We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction There is no time other than this life for the fulfillment of God’s dream of happiness for us. We are free to choose the path of life or the path of death, not just physically, but above all spiritually. Both dimensions are connected and will be condemned or sanctified together, just as salvation has been granted us through Jesus, who became man, died, and rose from the dead for us. Dec 16 It's time to stop with the Land Acknowledgement statement in Ontario's public schools Yes, it's time to stop with the Land Acknowledgement statement in Ontario's public schools. Schools run by the Toronto Catholic District School Board, this generally applies to schools across the province of Ontario, the school …
I am sick to my stomach with all this crap. Why don't we acknowledge the Goths, the Vandals, the Huns and others who once lived in Europe. This is ant-Catholic paganism.
Odsúdenie hongkonského katolíckeho vydavateľa Jimmyho Laiho opäť odhalilo cenu dohody medzi Čínou a Vatikánom. Kým vlády a organizácie za ľudské práva odsúdili tento proces ako politický a nespravodlivý, všetky vatikánske médiá a Svätá stolica zostali úplne ticho. Riccardo Cascioli komentuje: „Toto je ďalší zvrátený dôsledok tajnej dohody medzi Čínou a Vatikánom: v mene politickej účelovosti sú katolíci ponechaní na milosť a nemilosť svojich prenasledovateľov.“
We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction 'How sad, my children! Most Christians do nothing other than work to satisfy this ‘corpse’ that will soon decay in the earth, with no regard for their poor souls destined for happiness or unhappiness in all eternity. Their lack of spirit and good sense is chilling!' These words of the Holy Curé of Ars are truly powerful and bear all the suffering of a spiritual father and a tireless confessor. How wonderful it would be to reread them with a converted heart, replacing its key words with their opposites: 'joyful,' 'achieve the eternal fate of happiness we build while on this earth,' 'commitment to the soul,' 'lively and hopeful spirit,' and 'serene and inspired minds.'Basil the Great, Learn from the [gospel] example of the virgins. Indeed, having no oil left in their lamps, yet …
Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers Introduction The proclamation of John the Baptist, fulfilled in the coming of Christ, reechoes throughout the time of Advent as an uninterrupted voice travelling from nation to nation and heart to heart. Hearing alone is insufficient to accept the invitation to prepare the way of the Lord; rather, an inner listening is necessary for the invitation to be effective in our lives and in the lives of others. Let us make time each day for an encounter with Christ so he will not run into the obstacles of boredom, sadness, sin, anxiety, superficiality, possessiveness, and greed.Origen, We find this passage from the Old Testament in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: 'A voice cries out: / In the desert prepare the way of the Lord! / Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!' (Is 40:3). The Lord seeks to find in you a pathway to enter your soul and complete his journey; thus, prepare for him that path of which it has been written to 'make …
Dec 14 Third Sunday of Advent We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction Let us recognize the Son of God in the Child of Bethlehem. Let us recognize him just as he revealed himself to the world through the eyes of faith: the faith with which Mary received him into her womb, the elderly Simeon saw him, and the widow Anna honored him. Let us recognize Jesus, true God and true man, through the gospel accounts, the apostolic tradition, the teachings of the Church, and the words and lives of the saints. St. Dec 13 One city in Canada gets the celebration of Christmas right The City of Vaughan, Ontario, gets it right as the councillors voted to display a Nativity Scene at the Vaughan City Hall. The idea is to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. That's good news, especially when …
The City of Vaughan, Ontario, gets it right as the councillors voted to display a Nativity Scene at the Vaughan City Hall. The idea is to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. That's good news, especially when one considers that the majority of the Vaughan community is Christian. The Nativity Scene was officially opened for public viewing on December 10th with remarks from the mayor, music and a blessing from Bishop John A. Boissonneau, the Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto. Mayor Steven Del Duca made these remarks, “Christmas is a significant time for Christians in Vaughan and around the world. That is why I am pleased to honour this meaningful occasion further with a nativity scene displayed at Vaughan City Hall each year. The nativity scene symbolizes the story of the birth of Jesus Christ and celebrates the true meaning of Christmas. Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the new display. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Regional Auxiliary Bishop John …
We continue posting daily Advent reflections by the Church Fathers. It's a good way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. The reflections and quotations come from the book titled, Advent and Christmas with the Church Fathers by Marco Pappalardo. Introduction What still astounds us is also what helps us to live each day with new eyes. On Christmas night in Bethlehem, many people must have experienced a wonder that rejuvenated them, drawing them outside of themselves and away from their concerns to follow the star, to seek a king, and to listen to the angels’ song. What a special night that Christmas must have been! Now it is up to us to let ourselves still be amazed by the Father’s grand gesture of love; it is up to us to believe in the Incarnation of the Son without a doubt, to be convinced of it, and to give witness to it by the strength of the Holy Spirit. Ephrem the Syrian, Hymn for the Birth of Christ, A man is overcome by great awe when he considers the miracle of God descending,…