(Gen 1:14-18) And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth, and it was so done. And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and The stars. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth. And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
IN THE NEWS: A Celestial Trifecta on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Dec. 21, we will hit the celestial trifecta with three red-letter events on the same date. It begins with the first total lunar eclipse since 2008, and the last visible here (weather permitting) until 2014. The period of totality begins at 2:40 a.m. EST and ends at 3:54 a.m.
In mid-eclipse, at 3:14 a.m., the moon will be full – a moon known to some as the Long Night Moon. And about 15 hours later, at 6:42 p.m., we’ll mark the winter solstice, and the official start of winter.
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FROM THE MAILBAG
REFLECTION by Father Ted – December 18, 2010
My dearest Lord Jesus, as we begin our final preparations for the celebration of Your birth, You reveal to us how desirous You are for us to experience the depth of You Divine love for each one of us.
You truly want us to know within the heart the incredible peace You have come to offer to us on Christmas Day.
You know that so many of us are not aware of Your love nor of Your peace. And so You approach us in diverse ways to exhort us to ask You for a sign – a sign which will enable us to begin to respond to Your love and to begin to experience Your peace.
Some You approach through others - sent by You as You did to King Ahaz through Your prophet Isaiah. You tell us – ask for a sign.
Yet like King Ahaz so many of us ignore Your request.
None the less, You give us signs as You did to King Ahaz. He did not grasp the significance of the sign. And sad to say he did not change his way of life.
May we recognize the signs that You give to us, Lord. May we be willing to change so that we can experience both Your love for us and Your peace.
Help us to become more like Saint Joseph who, when he learned of the pregnancy of Mary, his young wife, through the Holy Spirit, was initially puzzled how to respond to such a sign.
Without a doubt he truly felt most unworthy to be the husband of the woman who conceived You through the power of Your Most Holy Spirit.
Yet when You spoke to him in a dream through one of Your archangels, he realized that his relationship to Mary as her beloved husband was so essential for Your well-being; and he simply obeyed.
He had a most important mission as the husband of Mary, as the foster-father of You – a mission of incredible love and service. He fulfilled that mission – that he why You have made him the Patron of Your Church.
Help us, especially this week, dearest Jesus, as we prepare for Your Birth, to become more and more like Saint Joseph.
For many times we do not grasp the importance of nor the significance of the mission that You have offered to us. We do not understand – and thank God we do not have to understand.
What You want from us and for us is to live like Saint Joseph – open to Your signs and always willing to do whatever You ask of us.
Come Lord Jesus! Come; set us free by the power of Your love. You truly are the Prince of Peace – the Lamb of God who has taken away our sins. Alleluia!
CNA: Pope looks to St. Joseph's example of faith as Christmas approaches
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 27- "On holy stillness of body and soul"
17. The monk is an earthly image of an angel who, with the paper of love and letters of zeal, has freed his prayer from sloth and negligence. The monk is he who openly declares: O God, ready is my heart (Ps 61:10). The monk is he who says: I sleep, but my heart waketh (Song 5:2).
Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
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