Blessed Christmas!

As my Christmas greeting to all, I'd like to share this lovely video link of the phenomenal 18-year old Filipina Charice Pempengco, singing at Rockefeller, with David Foster at the piano. This is to remind us that yes, Christmas is for children, but also for grown-ups too... listen closely to the words.

Speaking of Christmas, it is beautiful to know that Christmas is being celebrated still in many parts of the world and with much gusto! Having said this, though, I'd also like to be reminded that there are some areas in the world where this can't be done because of various factors such as lack of security and religious persecution. This reminds me of my very special experience of Christmas last year in Taipei, Taiwan, in the midst of the Chinese people, but not only; guess what, in the pew infront of me was a lovely 2 year-old Iraqi girl with her parents! When the parish priest called out the different groups of people to come up the altar and be greeted by the assembly (and vice-versa), the whole "tribe" of middle eastern people including this family came up!

While we rejoice then this Christmas, let us remember those who cannot express this same joy openly and ask the Christchild to visit them in a special way with his light and grace! In the same vein, let us pray for those who are bearing so much pain and sadness and have no one to share this with. May they be given the grace to encounter someone who will be the "ears, mouth, hand, face" of Christ, Saviour and Light of the world, for them!

Blessed Christmas to all!

Gaudete!

“Rejoice!” is the message of the Third Sunday of Advent, that’s why it is called Gaudete Sunday. How do you rejoice when you suffer? Take to heart this lesson from the Letter of St. James which is actually the Second Reading of the liturgy.
Here are some excerpts from Pope Benedict’s short commentary on this reading during his Angelus address yesterday. (See this site for complete version)
Pope Benedict XVI explained: "He who has sown seeds in the field has before him some months of patient and constant expectation, but he knows that in the meantime the seed goes through its cycle thanks to the autumn and spring rains. The farmer is not a fatalist, but is the model of a mentality that unites faith and reason in a balanced way because, on one hand, he knows the laws of nature and does his work well, and, on the other hand, he trusts in Providence, because certain basic things are not in his hands but in God's hands. (…) "Patience and constancy are precisely the synthesis between human effort and trust in God."
What’smore, the Pope suggest a “compass” for finding our way in this difficult times. He pointed to the Word of God as an aid in strengthening our hearts. "If the vicissitudes of life make us feel lost and every certainty seems to crumble, we have a compass for finding direction, we need not fear being adrift. The prophet finds his joy and his strength in the power of the Lord's Word and, while men often seek happiness along paths that turn out to be mistaken, he announces the true hope, the one that doesn't delude because it is founded on the fidelity of God."
In this regard, let me share with you a beautiful gift which someone sent me today: one-page bible!

Happy Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception!

On this day of Mary's Immaculate Conception, one of the most delightful messages I received aside from the beautiful readings on the liturgy is this creative retelling of God's non-ending call to repentance and salvation narrated by a little girl.
Enjoy this and learn how to love as God loves!

Light of the World

Sharing with a priest friend my latest discovery of the fourth paragraph of Newman's Lead, Kindly Light, I came to know that it was not really by Newman (as I suspected) but a later addition done by Edward H. Bickersteth Jr. More research on this later.

Interestingly, the webpage that I read mentioned another musical composition of this prayer-poem, interpreted by the famous Libera boys choir from England. You can watch/contemplate it here.
Still the musical composition of John B. Dykes remains the best for me. And you will marvel how many versions there are in youtube. See one here sung by priests (the pipe organ is awesome!) and another, which gives it a Christmas interpretation!

The theme of "light" is all over the place in the Advent liturgy. It is present again in the readings today, especially in the responsorial psalm (Psalm 27) but also "symbolically" in the Gospel reading - Mt 9:27-31: light restored to the eyes of 2 blind men through their faith in Jesus, the Light of the World.

Speaking of this theme, I'm encouraging everyone to read the latest book on Pope Benedict XVI entitled Light of the World by Peter Seewald. I've finished the first chapter. For those who want to gain insight into the person of this great and humble man and the way he is carrying his "cross/ministry" in peace, with all the intelligence of the faith and love received from the Lord, this is a "must-read" book. I should say perhaps this is also his personal contribution to his latest project of "new evangelization" especially here in the European continent.