This year has been a trial for all of humanity.  There have been catastrophes, natural and man-made.  Sometimes charity is shown to the injured, but often it is not.  There are so many injured, and not all injured are the cute kids that adorn the front pages of the daily press. Many are horribly mangled in soul and body.  Sadly the popular press, part of the entertainment, political  and advertising industries, reduces the facts of suffering to mere numbers, when they report anything at all about a war or disaster.  As one of my instructors used to say  "numbers do not  scream,  bleed, or die."

Additionally there is the problem that it is easier to face the reality of a natural disaster or of war than the results of neglect by one's own nation.   Nature is a mindless force.  No one is responsible for what it does: there was a storm, but God was not in it. [1 Kings 19]   War tends to be indiscriminate in who it harms.  Yet the neglect of a nation which allows, even creates situations where people lose their incomes and have to choose between food or medical care is hard to accept because we know that someone is making conscious decisions that permit these conditions to exist.

God the Son came into this world without loss or diminution of His Divine nature, but, out of His boundless love and charity, He took on the fullness of our humanity, living as the least of us.   In His first day of life on earth, He
knew the poverty  that most of humanity experiences: He slept in an animals' feed bin because there was no room at the inn.   He willingly accepted that life of sorrows even unto death on the Cross to make up for our deficiencies.  This aspect of Christ's Incarnation is no surprise to Christians, but then again, how many Christians actually think along Christ-like lines?

Christ Himself gives us the food of His Body and Blood.  He opened Heaven to us even though we continuously turn away from Him. He clothes us in the righteousness His Death bought.  He  heals our sins.  He came into this world  to free us from the prison of our sins.  He expects us to do the same for others both in a spiritual and material sense. "For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me  in: Naked, and you covered me: sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me."
(St. Matthew, chapter 25).

In our age, charity is guided by expedience.  Many acts of giving are just photo opportunities. The "greats" occasionally give aid to one but their greedy  corrupt life styles  leave so many others in want.  So their
charity is mere hypocritical posturing.  This is why Christians are told to be secretive in our giving. Charity done for public praise merits nothing in Heaven because it has already received its reward in this world.

This is why Jesus came as a thief in the night: His Birth was proclaimed to the least of all people, and
by obscure signs to the magi.   The king of Jesus' own nation stood in bewilderment, in fact rage, when he was informed.  Those who are great in the imagination of their hearts never can abide the Lord God, Whose Justice is Mercy.  They have to create an idol that is as twisted as they are: whose mercy is fleeting and expedient.  It is because of them that there will always be poor.    God's mercy is eternal and enriches those who accept it with eternal gifts.

As Christians, we are commanded, not suggested,  to show Charity.  Otherwise we are empty in spirit.

May the fullness of the Blessing of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, our King be upon you all.

+Maelruain, Cele De

The movie "Hotel Rwanda" has not come to our local theatre yet, but some people have said that this is the greatest movie they have ever seen.  At the time of the great massacre in Rwanda, our press was not reporting much on it.  In 2005, when it seems that again, the color of skin matters if press coverage is present and unbiased, help is given to the needy, or even if there is a fair and equal chance to vote with properly working equipment; this movie tells a piece of modern history that should awaken those who call themselves Christian.
Deaconess Elizabeth Dowling, Cele De

From the Dec 27/Jan 9 The Feast of St. John the Apostle and the Installation of St. James, the Brother of Our Lord:

Saints James and Jude were the sons of Saint Joseph and were the much older half brothers to Jesus.  Irish Biblical Apocrypha tell of their questioning the Magi who demanded entry into the house to worship the baby Jesus. Saint James is called the Brother of our Lord, but St. Jude is only called the brother of James because James was willing to share his inheritance with the newborn Jesus while Jude refused.   He later preached concerning Christ in the Temple at Jerusalem where he was assassinated by the Jewish hierarchy. 

In the Liturgy of this feast we find:

91 9B (The rest of the Psalm, for St. James) Why, O Lord, hast Thou retired afar off? Why dost Thou slight us in our wants, in the time of trouble? Whilst the wicked man is proud, the poor is set on fire: they are caught in the counsels which they devise. For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul: and the unjust man is blessed. The sinner hath provoked the Lord: according to the multitude of his wrath he will not seek him: God is not before his eyes: his ways are filthy at all times. Thy judgments are removed from his sight: he shall rule over all his enemies. For he hath said in his heart: I shall not be moved from generation to generation, and shall be without evil. His mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of deceit: under his tongue are labor and sorrow. He sitteth in ambush with the rich in private places, that he may kill the innocent. His eyes are upon the poor man: he lieth in wait in secret like a lion in his den. He lieth in ambush that he may catch the poor man: to catch the poor, whilst he draweth him to him. In his net he will bring him down: he will crouch and fall, when he shall have power over the poor. For he hath said in his heart: God hath forgotten: he hath turned away His face not to see to the end. Arise, O Lord God, let Thy hand be exalted: forget not the poor. Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God? For he hath said in his heart: He will not require it: Thou seest it, for Thou considerest labor and sorrow: that Thou mayest deliver them into Thy hands. To Thee is the poor man left: Thou wilt be a helper to the orphan. Break Thou the arm of the sinner and of the malignant: his sin shall be sought, and shall not be found. The Lord shall reign to eternity, yea, for ever and ever: ye Gentiles shall perish from His land. The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor: Thy ear hath heard the preparation of their heart. To judge for the fatherless and for the humble, that man may no more presume to magnify himself upon earth.

 Psalm 130 for St. James: Alleluia. Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty. Neither have I walked in great matters: nor in wonderful things above me. If I was not humbly minded; but exalted my soul: As a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul. Let Israel hope in the Lord: from henceforth now and for ever. Alleluia.

Concerning the authorship of pattern of Eucharistic worship we use:

Ad Pacem
O Eternal Lord Who wast pleased to bestow the Mystery of Redemption to Thy Holy Apostles James and John so that by the glorious example of their suffering, James set forth and John perfected it among the blessed flocks so that James set forth all the devotions and John perfected them. Have mercy and hear our prayers and grant the we may be able to hold the Faith through the examples of Thy martyrs and Apostles with which they were crowned, and so that we may be able to learn from their leadership the charity they were taught. Through Thyself O Jesus Christ, our Lord Who reigneth with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout all ages of ages. Amen.