Urbi et Orbi of John Paul II

This ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the city and to the world) address of Pope Saint John Paul II from 2002 has lost none of its significance.  The world fifteen years on is much the same as it was back then, if we can think of the beginning of the millennium as ‘back then’.  May the holy Pontiff, now enjoying eternal beatitude, pray for all of us, especially in this Christmastide.  

1. “To us a child is born,
to us a son is given” (Is 9:5).
Today the mystery of Christmas is renewed:
this Child who brings salvation to the world
is also born for the men and women of our own time,
bringing joy and peace for all.
We approach the crib with emotion;
together with Mary we go to meet
the Long-Awaited of the Nations, the Redeemer of humanity.

Cum Maria contemplemur Christi vultum.
With Mary let us contemplate the face of Christ:
in that Child, wrapped in swaddling cloths
and laid in the manger (cf. Lk 2:7),
it is God himself who comes to visit us,
to guide our feet in the way of peace (cf. Lk 1:79).
Mary watches him, caresses him and keeps him warm,
pondering the meaning of the wondrous signs
which surround the mystery of Christmas.

2. Christmas is a mystery of joy!
The Angels sang in the night:
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased” (Lk 2:14).
To the shepherds they described the event
as “a great joy for all the people” (cf. Lk 2:10).
Joy, despite distance from home,
the poverty of the manger,
people’s indifference,
the hostility of power.
A mystery of joy nonetheless,
for in the City of David
“to you is born this day a Saviour” (Lk 2:11).
The Church shares in this same joy,
surrounded today by the light of the Son of God:
the darkness can never obscure it.
It is the glory of the Eternal Word,
who out of love has become one of us.

3. Christmas is a mystery of love!
The love of the Father, who has sent into the world
his only-begotten Son,
to bestow on us the gift of his own life (cf. 1 Jn 4:8-9).
The love of “God-with-us”, Emmanuel,
who came to earth in order to die on the Cross.
In the cold stable, wrapped in silence,
the Virgin Mother, with prophetic intuition,
already tastes the violent drama of Calvary,
the traumatic struggle between darkness and light,
between death and life, between hatred and love.
The Prince of Peace, born today in Bethlehem,
will give his life on Golgotha,
so that love may reign on earth.

4. Christmas is a mystery of peace!
From the cave of Bethlehem
there rises today an urgent appeal
to the world not to yield
to mistrust, suspicion and discouragement,
even though the tragic reality of terrorism
feeds uncertainties and fears.
Believers of all religions,
together with men and women of good will,
by outlawing all forms of intolerance and discrimination,
are called to build peace:
in the Holy Land, above all, to put an end once and for all
to the senseless spiral of blind violence, and in the Middle East,
to extinguish the ominous smouldering of a conflict
which, with the joint efforts of all, can be avoided;
in Africa too, where devastating famines and tragic internal conflicts
are aggravating the already precarious conditions of entire peoples,
although here and there signs of hope are present;
in Latin America, in Asia, in other parts of the world,
where political, economic and social crises
disturb the serenity of many families and nations.
May humanity accept the Christmas message of peace!

5. Adorable mystery of the Incarnate Word!
Together with you, O Virgin Mother, may we stop and reflect
at the manger where the Child lies,
to share your own amazement
at the immense “condescension” of God.
Grant us your own eyes, O Mary,
that we may understand the mystery
hidden within the frail limbs of your Son.
Teach us to recognize his face
in the children of every race and culture.
Help us to be credible witnesses
of his message of peace and love,
so that the men and women of our own time,
still torn by conflicts and unspeakable violence,
may also recognize in the Child
cradled in your arms
the one Saviour of the world,
the endless source of that true peace
for which every heart profoundly yearns.

Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk

(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→

My Name is Bernadette

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→

Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy

HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER  MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000   1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→

Divine Mercy Sunday – An Echo of Every Mass

Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe’…  ‘My Lord and my God!’ (Jn. 20:18)). Today is Divine Mercy Sunday, and as we celebrate the end of the Easter Octave, we contemplate the wounded side of our Saviour, the Church’s source of life. On Good Friday in the[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→

First Holy Communion: Sermon from May 16, 1943

 Here is a sermon from the good old days by +Rev. Msgr. Vincent Nicholas Foy (August 14, 1915 – March 13, 2017), from 1943. Readers may recall that Pope Saint Pius X, by the decree Quam Singulari in 1910, lowered the customary age of reception of Holy Communion – after the rigours of the plague[…]Continue reading→

In the Glorious Light of Easter, Alleluia!

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory (Col. 3:3-4). The Resurrection of Our Lord and Saviour[…]Continue reading→

An Ancient Homily for Holy Saturday

The time between Good Friday and Easter Sunday is one of waiting, in silence, as the world wonders – anticipates – what will happen, after the death of Christ. We re-live this time each year in the anamnesis of our liturgy, and in turn look forward to the glorious re-creation of all things at the[…]Continue reading→

Europe’s Long Descent

(As we meditate on this day on Christ’s burial, and His descent into hell, it is fitting to ponder here with contributor Peter Marcus how the world seems to be heading there as well. The difference is that, although God cannot ‘redeem’ hell, nor those therein, He can and did redeem the world. There is[…]Continue reading→