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CatholicTV: December 2012
Every Friday on This is the Day we add letters from viewers into our prayer box. The prayers can be for the person who sent in the letter or for someone they know. When we thought about adding the prayer box, we weren't sure how many people would send in requests. The response has been overwhelming.
Every day, letters are delivered to my office to be included into the prayer box. The prayers requested can tug at your heart. There are prayers for young children suffering from difficult diseases. People ask for prayers because they are lonely or feel all alone. They write about their parents or their children. These are letters from individuals asking to be remembered in a special way.
You play an integral role in all of this. We are fortunate at CatholicTV to have a powerful prayer community. I know that there are many times that I have asked for prayers. It is comforting to know that I am not alone in my prayers and am joined by you and many others in lifting our voices to God. I am convinced that prayer works. I have learned that it is not always what we had hoped but it God’s will.
I ask today that you set aside a few moments from your busy day and ask God to remember all those who have sent in prayer requests. Thank you for all you do for our parish of the airwaves and please do not hesitate to send us any prayer request you may have. You can send them to us on Facebook or Twitter, or email them to thisistheday@catholictv.com.
I would like to wish all of you a happy and blessed Christmas. I have to be honest: I am sometimes overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of December. There are so many parties and presents that need to be bought... it seems there is never enought time in the day.
When Christmas is over, I take a deep breath and prepare to hunker down for the rest of the winter. With all that being said, there are several things I enjoy. I get to see my family more often. People seem to be in a better mood. Finally, it is a time when more people focus in on Jesus and what He has meant to their lives. There is one other "occasion" during the Christmas season that most of you may not be familiar with - it is the time of year when CatholiCTV gets the most donations.
I am asking you to consider a gift to CatholicTV this Christmas. I have set a personal goal of 4,000 donations for the month. Most of the people at CatholicTV think that this will be a difficult goal to achieve, but I trust in you! For years, you have supported the station and allowed us to bring Masses, The Rosary, and all our fine programs into the homes of so many people.
By donating online, you will help CatholicTV continue to change lives. What a gift you would be giving to those who need to hear the loving message of Jesus and know that they are not alone in this difficult world. I know 4,000 in a large number, but it all starts with one - and that could be you. Thank you for anything you can do, and know you are in my thoughts and prayers.
[Christ] is called Man... that by Himself He may sanctify humanity, and be as it were a leaven to the whole lump; and by uniting to Himself that which was condemned may release it from all condemnation, becoming for all men all things that we are, except sin; --body, soul, mind and all through which death reaches--and thus He became Man, who is the combination of all these; God in visible form, because He retained that which is perceived by mind alone. He is Son of Man, both on account of Adam, and of the Virgin from Whom He came; from the one as a forefather, from the other as His Mother, both in accordance with the law of generation, and apart from it. He is Christ, because of His Godhead. For this is the Anointing of His Manhood, and does not, as is the case with all other Anointed Ones, sanctify by its action, but by the Presence in His Fulness of the Anointing One; the effect of which is that That which anoints is called Man, and makes that which is anointed God. He is The Way, because He leads us through Himself.
-St. Gregory Nazienzen, Orations
For the past few days, the liturgical readings have been emphasizing a few important things:
1) Christ is truly human, and the meaning of the Incarnation is that the second person of the Trinity truly did assume human flesh, and not the appearance thereof. We see this especially in the geneology of Matthew heard on Monday (Matthew 1:1-17), which seeks to confirm the veracity of Christ's humanity.
2) That Christ is truly God-- we hear in today's readings the proclamations of the angel Gabriel announcing the conceptions of Samson and John, who are called "consecrated to God", and how this is distinct from Gabriel's annunciation of the conception of Jesus (in tomorrow's reading), who is called "Son of the Most High". We know that Jesus is no mere judge or prophet.
and
3) That though we are deserving of condemnation, the Incarnation--the true humanity of our God who is the Word made flesh--serves to remove the condemnation against us. On Sunday we heard the following from the prophet Zephaniah:
Shout for joy, daughter Zion! sing joyfully, Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, daughter Jerusalem!h 15 The LORD has removed the judgment against you. (Zep 3:14-15a)
Gregory Nazienzen's words, quoted above, remind us of how important it is to ponder the Incarnation, the means by which God descended to make Godself The Way for us, and in so doing sanctified all of humanity.
Christmas grows closer and closer as we near the end of the last full week of Advent. Join us at 8:30pm EST for the 3rd installment of Wait and See, a special Advent journey with Father Richard Erickson.
A few years ago I was enjoying a day off, and no matter where I went my four year old son Ethan was one step behind me. If I sat down, he would sit on my lap. If I went outside he was by my side. I went to brush my teeth and he stood next to me holding his toothbrush. I was tired and just wanted a little down time but Ethan was everywhere!
During this time his mom, Shirley, gave him a candy snack. I thought that maybe this would distract him and I would be able to sit alone and watch the news. I was wrong! He took the package, poured it in his hand and with a big smile said “here dad.” I looked down at him and didn’t say a word. I took the candy and he said, "that's what best buds do. They share.” It made me realize that Ethan’s need to be around someone he loved was more important than my need for free time.
Ultimately in life we are all seeking to be loved and sometimes we don’t see it right in front of us. As Catholics we are blessed with a God who loves us. He is always by our side and only waits for us to welcome Him into our lives. There are times in our lives when we want to be left alone and yet by doing this we can miss a great gift.
Ethan was not going to give up following me and I am grateful for his persistence because he taught me a valuable lesson. When love is involved nothing else is as important. Don’t miss the opportunity to receive God’s love because you're too busy. I know he will never give up on you.
