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Hope for the World
The time before Christmas is a good period to rediscover the hope that Christ brought to human history, which can “change one’s life,” said Pope Benedict XVI on the first Sunday of Advent.
He said he wrote his second encyclical, “Spe Salvi” (on Christian hope), for the entire Church and for all people of good will.
The pope said the essence of Christian hope was an awareness of God and “the discovery that he has the heart of a good and merciful father.” Christ’s life and death gave God’s love a human face, he said.
He goes on to say that while modern science holds out much that is good, it “cannot redeem humanity.”
“The development of modern science has increasingly confined faith and hope to a private and individual sphere, in such a way that today it is clear, sometimes dramatically clear, that man and the world need God — the real God – and otherwise remain without hope,” he said.
Certainly, Advent, our period of preparation for Christmas, is an ideal time to think more about the virtue of hope. The Holy Father emphasizes that hope is not something that is “vague and illusory.” Rather it is something very concrete. It is embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
The days leading up to Christmas can be a time of spiritual reawakening. Again, the pope reminds us that Christ “does not stop knocking at our door.”
We can be distracted during this season by all the secular trappings of the holidays. There’s shopping and decorations and special visits here and there. These are all good if they help us better understand the unique opportunity that Advent brings as a chance for renewal.
The pope has tried to make clear in his encyclical that Christianity brought something new to the pagan societies of old, but he added that it also spoke to the “paganism of our days.”
Contemporary paganism, the pope said, is a “nihilism that corrodes hope in the human heart, leading the person to think that nothingness reigns inside and outside of himself: nothing before birth, nothing after death.”
That nihilism can be encouraged by falling into the trap that all the secular trimmings are all that there is to Christmas.
The Christian perspective, on the contrary, is that hope makes sense as the human response to a loving God.
“What else moves the world forward, if not the trust that God has in man?” he asks rhetorically.
“This trust is reflected in the hearts of little ones, of the humble, when despite everyday problems and trials they try to do their best and accomplish that little bit of good which, however, in the eyes of God is a great deal: in the family, the workplace, in school and in various sectors of society,” he said.
Which is why children and the poor play such an important role in our celebration of Christmas. Jesus was born for everyone. He came to help us realize that we all have inherent dignity. Rich or poor, young or old, we all have been saved because Jesus was born into the world.
This message is best seen in the eyes of wonder that belong to a child on Christmas morning. They convey hope and a joy for living.
As we prepare for Christmas, Advent offers us the time to realize and recognize the wonder. We can start by reading the pope’s encyclical. (Internet address is on Page 3.) That’s the first step this year for getting ready to welcome the Savior on Christmas Day.
Mary, Our Patroness
While some may find it to be inconvenient to attend Mass twice this weekend, it is only right and fitting that we do so.
Today, Dec. 8, the date of publication for this edition, is a holy day of obligation. It is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Not only is Mary as the Immaculate Conception the patroness of this country, but she also is the patroness of this diocese.
As such, the Mother of God is not only a protector of our country and diocese, but she also reigns as a shining example for all to emulate in our daily living as Christians.
The dogma of the Immaculate Conception defined the Church’s belief that Mary was born free of the stain of Original Sin. It is not to be confused with the concept of the virgin birth, as so many people believe it to be.
Mary, the purest of the pure, was chosen to give birth to the Savior of all men and women. As such, she may be a tough role model. Free from sin, Mary certainly had a distinct advantage over the rest of us as we attempt to plod through our day-to-day existence with all the flaws of being a human being.
But Mary should be our model. She is who we all strive to be. Her closeness to Our Lord is where we all would like to be. It is the goal of our daily living.
As a diocesan Church, we move together with Mary as we provide an example of the Lord’s presence in the world. We pray that Mary, the Immaculate Conception, guide us in our efforts and that she be with us every step of our journey.
Next April, Bishop DiMarzio will lead a diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes, where Mary showed herself as the Immaculate Conception. What better way to celebrate this title of Mary than to be along on the pilgrimage!
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