Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the serenity You offer to us if we let go and let You guide our lives.

Pope: Celebration of Birth Of Jesus Gives Hopes Amidst the World’s Sufferings

“Pope Benedict XVI said that the questions raised by 2011’s tragedies were answered when Jesus was born at Christmas to radically renew and free mankind”.

A recent Catholic News Agency article,  reporting on the Holy Father’s message as he presided over the first vespers for the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God in Saint Peter’s Basilica, quoted the Pope’s words of encouragement, “Since the Savior came down from heaven, man has ceased to be the slave of time that passes to no avail, marked by toil, sadness and pain. Man is son of a God who has entered time so as to redeem it from meaninglessness and negativity, a God who has redeemed all humanity, giving it everlasting love as a new perspective of life.”

To access the CNA article, with the full text of the Pope’s message, please visit:

CNA: Pope: God responded to 2011’s sufferings with Jesus’ birth (31 DEC 11)

Reflection Starter from Benjamin Franklin

"Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." - Benjamin Franklin

Pope Benedict’s Message for the 2012 World Day of Peace

“The beginning of a new year, God’s gift to humanity, prompts me to extend to all, with great confidence and affection, my heartfelt good wishes that this time now before us may be marked concretely by justice and peace.

“With what attitude should we look to the New Year? We find a very beautiful image in Psalm 130. The Psalmist says that people of faith wait for the Lord ‘more than those who watch for the morning’ (v. 6); they wait for him with firm hope because they know that he will bring light, mercy, salvation. This waiting was born of the experience of the Chosen People, who realized that God taught them to look at the world in its truth and not to be overwhelmed by tribulation. I invite you to look to 2012 with this attitude of confident trust. It is true that the year now ending has been marked by a rising sense of frustration at the crisis looming over society, the world of labor and the economy, a crisis whose roots are primarily cultural and anthropological. It seems as if a shadow has fallen over our time, preventing us from clearly seeing the light of day.

“In this shadow, however, human hearts continue to wait for the dawn of which the Psalmist speaks. Because this expectation is particularly powerful and evident in young people, my thoughts turn to them and to the contribution which they can and must make to society. I would like therefore to devote this message for the XLV World Day of Peace to the theme of education: ‘Educating Young People in Justice and Peace’, in the conviction that the young, with their enthusiasm and idealism, can offer new hope to the world.

“My Message is also addressed to parents, families and all those involved in the area of education and formation, as well as to leaders in the various spheres of religious, social, political, economic and cultural life and in the media. Attentiveness to young people and their concerns, the ability to listen to them and appreciate them, is not merely something expedient; it represents a primary duty for society as a whole, for the sake of building a future of justice and peace.

“It is a matter of communicating to young people an appreciation for the positive value of life and of awakening in them a desire to spend their lives in the service of the Good. This is a task which engages each of us personally.

“The concerns expressed in recent times by many young people around the world demonstrate that they desire to look to the future with solid hope. At the present time, they are experiencing apprehension about many things: they want to receive an education which prepares them more fully to deal with the real world, they see how difficult it is to form a family and to find stable employment; they wonder if they can really contribute to political, cultural and economic life in order to build a society with a more human and fraternal face.

“It is important that this unease and its underlying idealism receive due attention at every level of society. The Church looks to young people with hope and confidence; she encourages them to seek truth, to defend the common good, to be open to the world around them and willing to see ‘new things’ (Is 42:9; 48:6).”

Today, the Church is celebrating the 45th World Day of Peace. Pope Benedict’s message for this year’s celebration is entitled “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace.”

To access Pope Benedict’s complete message for this observance, please visit:

Message of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, 1 January 2012: Educating Young People in Justice and Peace

Reflections for the New Year

Here are a few good reflections that were recently offered for the new year:

A Concord Pastor Comments: 2012 is coming: one day at a time . . . (31 DEC 11)

Rev. James Martin, S.J.: 12 Really Stupid Things I Never Want To Do Again (29 DEC 11)

Burlington Free Press: UVM prof has New Year resolution tip: Keep at it (31 DEC 11)

Bonus reflection starter:

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." - Edith Lovejoy Pierce

(Thank you, Pastor Tim Davis)

"The Lord Bless You and Keep You"

As our Sunday celebration continues, I offer this version of John Rutter's "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" (and I ask this blessing for you):

The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Today the Church celebrates the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. The assigned readings are Numbers 6:22-27, Galatians 4:4-7, and Luke 2:16-21. The Responsorial Psalm is Psalm 67 (Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8).

The Gospel reading is as follows:

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Reflections related to these readings and this feast day:

Oblates of St. Francis de Sales: Sundays Salesian: Mary, Mother of God (January 1, 2012)

Msgr. Charles Pope: A Journey to the Heavenly Father on Feast of Mother Mary, And Carried There in Her Very Arms. (31 DEC 11)

Dr. Scott Hahn: Children of God (January 1st, 2012 - Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God)

Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio: Mary, the Mother of God?

Dominican Daily: Word to Life: Sirius XM Radio: December 29, 2011

Holiday Train Display at Fire Museum in Portland, CT

The Connecticut Cellar Savers Fire Museum in Portland, CT, sponsors an annual holiday model train layout. The train display, consisting of several separate model train layouts, is open free of charge to the public and all donations go directly to the upkeep and programs of the Connecticut Cellar Savers Fire Museum.

The museum, located in the former Company 2 fire station at 634 Main Street, is open from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays through 15 January.

Media reports:

Middletown Press: Fire museum in Portland features holiday train display (31 DEC 11)

YouTube: Holiday Toy Train Display- CT Cellar Savers Fire Museum, Portland, CT

Background information:

Connecticut Cellar Savers

Recipe for a New Year

“Take twelve fine, full-grown months; see that these are thoroughly free from old memories of bitterness, rancor and hate, cleanse them completely from every clinging spite; pick off all specks of pettiness and littleness; in short, see that these months are freed from all the past - have them fresh and clean as when they first came from the great storehouse of Time. Cut these months into thirty or thirty-one equal parts. Do not attempt to make up the whole batch at one time (so many persons spoil the entire lot this way), but prepare one day at a time.

“Into each day put equal parts of faith, patience, courage, work (some people omit this ingredient and so spoil the flavor of the rest), hope, fidelity, liberality, kindness, rest (leaving this out is like leaving the oil out of the salad dressing - don’t do it), prayer, meditation, and one well-selected resolution. Put in about one teaspoonful of good spirits, a dash of fun, a pinch of folly, a sprinkling of play, and a heaping cupful of good humor.”

- Source Unknown

Thank You, Lord

Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of this new year and all that You have planned for us throughout this year.

Thomas Woods on the Church's Contributions to Western Civilization

"About the least fashionable thing one can do these days is utter a kind word about the Catholic Church. The idea that the church has been an obstacle to human progress has been elevated to the level of something everybody thinks he knows. But to the contrary, it is to the Catholic Church more than to any other institution that we owe so many of the treasures of Western civilization. Knowingly or not, scholars operated for two centuries under an Enlightenment prejudice that assumes all progress to come from religious skeptics, and that whatever the church touches is backward, superstitious, even barbaric."

In a recent commentary, Thomas E. Woods reflected on the Church's contributions, over the centuries, to science and to other components of Western civilization.

To access this article, please visit:

Deseret News: Commentary: History shows contributions of Catholic Church to Western civilization (28 DEC 11)

Reflection Starter from Henry Ward Beecher

"Every man should be born again on the first day of January.  Start with a fresh page.  Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past." - Henry Ward Beecher