December 17, 2024, Class Update: Getting Close to Christmas

Greetings everyone!

After a wonderful presentation on La Señora de Guadalupe on December 10, we were back in class with great anticipation of the celebration of Christ's Birth.

In the week before the Solemnity of the Lord's Nativity on Christmas Day, the Church observes the days with greater focus and anticipation of Jesus Christ's birth, beginning on December 17 with O Antiphons.

In the spirit of looking ahead to Christmas Day, our opening prayer was the song "Be Born in Me" performed by Francesca Batistelli.  The lyrics speak to how we are called, as people of faith, to let God be born in us so we make Him known in the world.

Then we looked at the O Antiphons, which serve as the basis for the Advent hymn "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".  This webpage has videos for each of the 7 O Antiphons, similar to how we read about them in our class book.  Also in the book are stories about heralds who announced the coming of Jesus Christ.

During the time period from December 17-24, the Gospel readings are the stories preceding Jesus's birth in Matthew 1 and Luke 1.

We watched video clips from the movie The Nativity Story, one of my favorite movies, with two scenes from those readings, the Annunciation of Gabriel to the Blessed Mother Mary and Mary's visit to St. Elizabeth.  The visit story illustrates how we can experience joy just by anticipating the arrival of God into our lives, which is a major theme of the Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday.

December 17 is Pope Francis's birthday, and we celebrated in class.  He was present at World Youth Day 2019 in Panama, and the theme of that event was based on Mary's fiat, "Let it Be Done to Me according to Your Word".  We saw the international version of the theme song, with the refrain, "Here I am, the servant of the Lord. Speak Your Word in me and let Your Will be done".  (I actually visited some of the places shown in the video.)

Advent is a time that calls us to be more aware of God's presence, especially as He comes to us in the Eucharist.  We watched this short video from Relevant Radio's Eucharistic Encounters series, about a mysterious metal sound.

Our closing prayer was the concluding prayer of the Angelus.

Everyone wrote down that prayer on an index card, and I asked you to display it somewhere during these weeks we're on break.

When we return on January 7, we'll still be in the Christmas Season, and we'll explore its meaning.

At this holy time of year, I pray that you will be gladdened by the presence of Christ deep within you, Who fulfills the promise of Emmanuel, for God is truly with us.

We remain connected as One Church in Jesus Christ, Who was born for us:

All my relations.

And remember that you're not just lucky, you're blessed.

Like the song says, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

God's blessings,

Paul

Advent Wreath at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., with all its candles lit for the 4th Sunday of Advent

December 3, 2024, Class Update: Advent and God's Presence Among Us

Advent Greetings!

Advent has a threefold purpose of preparation: the celebration of Christ's first coming on the Feast of the Nativity on Christmas Day, His second coming at the end of time, and for us to welcome Him into our lives and hearts now.

The Advent wreath inside Ascension Church

Our opening prayer was the song "Even So, Come", which is about Christ's Second Coming with the ancient Near Eastern imagery of the bride waiting for her groom, just as we the church, the Bride of Christ, await the coming of our groom, Christ.

Then everyone had the chance to continue the spirit of Thanksgiving Day by creating a hand turkey and writing what they're thankful for.

On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state.  We had plenty of treats to celebrate Illinois's birthday.

In the spirit of Illinois history, we watched a WGN News report video on Holy Name Cathedral's 175th Anniversary, which was last month on November 18, also Cardinal Cupich's 10th anniversary of installation as Archbishop of Chicago.

A fellow Massgoer photographed me inside Holy Name Cathedral following the Mass held to launch its 175th Anniversary Year.

A special banner is on display near Holy Name Cathedral.

For a great capsule summary of Advent, we watched this Busted Halo video that summarizes Advent in 2 minutes.

One way we can be more aware of God's presence among us now is through the Eucharist.

We watched this mini-movie of about 7 minutes long, "The Veil Removed", which gives a more cosmic view of what happens at Mass.

To conclude class, as a preview of December 10, our closing prayer was the song "Las Apariciones de Guadalupana", sung in Spanish with English subtitles.  It tells the story of how the Blessed Mother as La Señora de Guadalupe appeared to San Juan Diego.

Here is an image of La Virgen de Guadalupe on display at Mass held at St. Cornelius Parish on the North Side of Chicago, where Paul was baptized.

December has two important Marian feasts, La Señora de Guadalupe on December 12. The other is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Patronal Feast Day of the United States.  Normally it is celebrated on December 8, which is a Sunday this year, so the Solemnity is moved to December 9.

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception--please see photo below--is a church dedicated to the patroness saint of the United States, Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception.

As an activity due by class time on December 10, please visit this link and follow the instructions to look at the virtual tour page of the Basilica.  Again, spending 5 minutes on this activity is sufficient. If you want to spend more time, that will be extra credit, and you can write in your submission if you look at more than one chapel space.

A big thank you to the class for contributing money to our class gift for the parish giving program.  The students raised $75 and I rounded it up to $100.

Also, thank you again for signing the note for Cardinal Cupich.  I personally handed it to him after a special Mass at Holy Name Cathedral for its 175th anniversary and he was delighted to receive it.

As a reminder, we are meeting at St. Edmund's during our usual class time on December 10 for a presentation on La Virgen de Guadalupe, with the high school teens and a special musical performer.

Please feel free, as usual, to contact me with any questions, feedback, etc.

We remain connected as One Church, the Bride of Christ, preparing ourselves to be ready to welcome the Groom, Christ, our Savior.

All my relations.

We're not lucky, we're blessed.

God's blessings as Advent continues,

Paul

P.S. I referred briefly to the 1789 and 1863 Presidential Thanksgiving proclamations. The language speaks about giving thanks to God as the source of all good gifts and calling upon Him for mercy, which is what we do at Mass.

God bless the USA!

Here is my family's 2024 Thanksgiving Day, which, this year, was also the anniversary of the day I moved with my family from the North Side of Chicago to Oak Park.