Finding the treasure of Advent is the key to getting into the Christmas spirit. Even with Advent more than half over – or perhaps especially because of it – claiming the time to accept its graces will deepen both the joy and peace Christmas promises. St. John the Baptist, a paramount Advent figure, spent most of his ministry in the wilderness, a place far from the hustle and bustle of city life, “the voice crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord.” For 40 days and 40 nights before He began His public ministry, Jesus himself went into remote areas and would return there many times. Step one: withdraw from the crowd. This is the opposite of what we are being rushed into, but it is the wisdom of the world’s Savior.
Just when the Gospel is urging us to be still – to retreat from the noise and to get rid of clutter – practically everyone and everything around us is piling it on: eat more, buy more, drive more, hurry more. The pattern is almost a calculated set-up to keep us from getting in touch with ourselves and with the voice of God within our hearts, the invitation to the true Christmas that we did not – and cannot – make, in which God actually comes to us.
To accept the invitation to get into the true spirit of Advent, which is one of reflection, waiting, listening and letting go, is increasingly countercultural. If you even dare to attempt it, you may be plagued by voices guilting you for not doing more when there is so much to be done. Step two: don’t just do something; stand there. Advent is the permission needed to “take five” – or maybe 10 or 20 minutes – from the noise.
One very active and renowned clergyman relates how he had the pleasure of sharing a plane ride with Mother Teresa who asked him all about his important work. Delighted in her deep and sincere interest he told her about all of his projects, his writings and his talks, which took up a considerable amount of time. Then she sighed and just stopped cold for five minutes that seemed to the priest like an eternity. Finally, she said, “and Father, when do you pray?” Surprised by a question that seemed so easy at first, the priest realized that he could give only one honest answer. He admitted that he was so busy that he found it hard to find time. She responded, “Then you are too busy!”
One can hardly imagine a more active, “busy” person than Mother Teresa. Yet as a follower of the Rule of St. Benedict, she devoted at least one-third of each day to prayer. Being too busy to pray is to be living in the delusion that one can accomplish anything really without taking the time to pray. Or maybe it is not living at all.
What invariably happens during the experience of those who pray is that the prayer puts all the business into a more manageable perspective. What seems so important and indispensable finds a way – almost miraculously at times – to fall into place. Energy levels actually increase along with the ability to deal with what might otherwise be stressful and overwhelming. It is only when we empty ourselves of our illusions of being in control and at the center of a universe around us that we begin to be able to relax in the peace of Christ’s kingship in our lives. Step three: time “lost” in prayer is time gained. Take advantage of it.
Advent is also an excellent time to heed the call of the Lord to empty ourselves of anything that stands between us and Jesus. Whether that is excessive worry, lack of trust in God’s fidelity, resentment for past grievances and other grudges, pride, undeserved feelings of entitlement, judging other people’s motives (which we really cannot know), self-righteousness or even old-fashioned greediness. Jesus always asks His disciples to unburden themselves of their possessions. So it is a time to be charitable, but the real reason for giving generously of our time, talent and treasure is not so much that “the Church” needs it but that we need it for our spiritual growth.

by Bishop DiMarzio

A very beautiful Advent hymn that is known to many is “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Of course, “Emmanuel,” when translated to English, means, “God is with us.” That seems appropriate, because many of us today feel very much alone.

Why is it that we feel alienated? Increasingly in today’s society, human beings’ worth is determined by their productivity. We become cogs in a machine. Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, in an address to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, speaks about the work of the New Evangelization as helping “to dethrone modern idols, replacing individualism, materialistic consumerism and technocracy with a culture of fraternity and gratuity, and with mutual love.”

The season of Advent is an opportunity for you and for me to prepare for the second coming of Christ by entering into solidarity and communion with one another. Advent is a reminder that we are not alone. All too often, this preparation has been reduced to decorating the home and purchasing gifts. Those things which are precisely intended to foster deeper and longer lasting relationships very often today become a cause of anxiety and alienation.

In no way is that more clearly seen than the case of the new trend some take part in to shop at the end of Thanksgiving Day, when we should be taking the time to spend the day with our families and friends.

There was a beautiful short story by the American author O. Henry titled “The Gift of the Magi.” As most of you know, the story is about a very poor husband and wife who sacrifice what is most important to themselves in order to give a gift to the other. I think most families try to do that today. Despite the difficult economic conditions, many people go into debt in order to purchase gifts for loved ones.

Time, Love and Attention

The reality is that what our children most need is not the most popular gaming systems or a hundred more Legos. Rather, it is the time spent with and the love of their parents. So too, most parents are not primarily concerned with the gift that a child could give. The parents are more interested in being an active part of their children’s life, even when the parents are elderly.

Most husbands and wives would much prefer the warmth and affection of their spouse to a beautiful watch or the newest accessory.

How then might we engage in preparation for this second coming of Christ? We start with rediscovering our own great dignity. Pope Benedict XVI frequently describes Advent as a purification of memories. Perhaps over the many years of life, the bruises that are inflicted upon us, as well as those that we may inflict upon others, are in need of forgiveness. For us as Catholics, this season may be the most appropriate time to take advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation.

Perhaps those moments when we have treated other people as though they are objects, or when we have allowed ourselves to be objectified can be healed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As we look around our Nation and the world today, the economic problems we all confront are daunting. Life seems much more expensive, employment more tenuous, and many find themselves living paycheck-to-paycheck just to get by.

It is tempting to allow ourselves, in the midst of these circumstances, to forget our great value and worth in the eyes of God. The Advent hymn continues, “O Come, O Wisdom from on high, who orders all things mightily, to us the path of knowledge show, and teach us in her ways to go.” Wisdom is seeing ourselves in the world as God sees us in the world, and resisting the Devil’s grip which obscures our sight and diminishes us and those around us.

As we put out in the deep this Advent, in this beautiful Year of Faith, my hope for you and your loved ones is that this season may be a time of profound joy and renewed peace.

For all the hype about the Mayan calendar doomsday prognostications, Christians will recall that, despite numerous attempts to engage Him in such speculations, Jesus was never tricked into predicting the day or the hour. In fact, he denied the “Son of Man” even had knowledge of it. Why assume the Mayans – or anyone else – would know more than Him?

One of the major differences between Christian and pagan eschatology – the word theologians use for discourse on the “end times” – is that fearful images and signs to describe the last days are not presented to scare us to death but rather to arouse our desire for the coming of Christ in glory. They are, in effect, a wake-up call for deliverance to the Promised Land where all we have been hoping and waiting for finally happens: the fulfillment of all our deepest longings.

It is an invitation to living to the full, not a harbinger of death and destruction. All that will be lost is what never could save us anyway and what in fact keeps us enslaved in fear. It is, in effect, a journey into freedom and eternal joy. Advent provides us with many opportunities to rehearse, so the speak, our journey to the Promised Land of every soul, our liberation from the sins and habits that enslave us in the ways of death.

The traditional Mexican celebration called Las Posadas – posadas are “shelters” – is an Advent retelling of the journey of Joseph and Mary on Christmas Eve. Joseph, Mary and a guardian angel travel in procession to three pre-arranged houses. Mary and Joseph ask for shelter through a song. Some of the participants sing along with them, asking the household for lodging. Others play the role of an innkeeper and reject them. At the third house, the household recognizes Mary and Joseph and welcomes them. A posada concludes with festivities of a piñata, songs and food.

Mary and Joseph’s journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in search for shelter brings to mind the struggles of immigrant workers. The Holy Family resounds with the plight of immigrants who are also in search of “shelter.” We are also mindful of the dislocation and severe personal hardships at this time, resulting not only from the recent natural disasters but also the global economic situation adversely affecting so many families. Although the celebration of our religious holidays brings the comforts of faith and friendship to many, the idealized memories of Christmases past do not always match the realities of the present.

Our Catholic family of faith is uniquely blessed and privileged to be able to welcome everyone, especially those who may feel distant from the warm embrace of God’s love. Our generosity of spirit can be expressed, first of all, in our willingness to make the sacrifice of time to prepare ourselves spiritually for the Lord’s coming. That means claiming the hour or so each Sunday at Mass, and even during the week, to listen to the Lord and the people around us.

We recommend a visit to the website of the U.S. Catholic Bishops (www.usccb.org) for some day-to-day advice on how to make the best of Advent. Just click the link: “Enter Fully into the Advent Season.” It will take you to a virtual Advent Calendar which contains prayer and action suggestions for each day.

We do not grow in any relationship without taking or responding to initiative. Advent is all about God coming to us and at the costly price of risking everything. During Advent, we should reflect on that one night God crossed all borders to make a home with humanity.

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

This past week, the pastors of the parishes most affected by Hurricane Sandy came together. FEMA and other government agencies, as well as diocesan offices, devoted much of the afternoon to a detailed briefing. Yet, it seemed to me that the most important aspect of coming together was the lunch we enjoyed and sharing in our common priestly fraternity.

As I looked around the table, I could not help but notice that these priests were under similar, if not more intense pressures, as the people they serve. Some continue to live in rectories with no electricity or heat, while others were forced to seek shelter elsewhere. Some of those impacted are elderly, others young. Some are healthy, others seriously ill. The shock at the extent of devastation cannot be underestimated.

I am proud of these men, some of whom braved the storm to be with their people and others who have been with their people night and day in these weeks during the recovery. They are icons of Christ who poured Himself out for all of us.

An image that is seared into my mind is visiting a young mother and father who were burying their two small children lost in the hurricane. Gazing upon their two small bodies in one coffin at their wake stirred up emotions hard to describe. Celebrating the funeral Mass for one of our beloved school teachers who died in the midst of the storm, and seeking to make sense of such suffering for her family and for us all, required a great deal of prayer and reflection.

For many of us who are New Yorkers, we cannot help but think back to Sept. 11 and the profound scar it left upon our city. I cannot help but think this is especially the case for the people of Belle Harbor. In a special way, I am grateful to Msgr. John Brown, pastor of St. Francis de Sales, for his leadership. His parish has become the epicenter for major recovery efforts in the Rockaways. That is no small challenge, especially when so many of his own parishioners, very understandably, are desperate to have life get back to some sense of normalcy.

The parallels with the lasting impact of Hurricane Katrina upon New Orleans and the Gulf region were inevitable. One thing is clear to me, the cost of human life can never be calculated. We were extraordinarily fortunate that there were not many more deaths.

Recently, we in the Diocese of Brooklyn took up a collection to alleviate the suffering of those who were impacted in our diocese. Thus far, we have collected just about $600,000. Perhaps a measure of just how this has affected our Diocese, we in Brooklyn alone were able to raise over $1.4 million for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Still, for well over 300,000 families whose homes were damaged and over 265,000 businesses that were impacted, the storm was nothing less then catastrophic. We as a Church need to help our neighbors here in Brooklyn and Queens rebuild their lives. We must help bridge the gap in resources, to the extent we are able, for those many middle-class families who are already stretched so thin. These are the people who, week after week, have supported our parishes and schools. The diocese will give a block grant of $25,000 to our affected parishes for distribution to parishioners as an initial step of trying to get immediate resources to those families most in need.

Catholic Charities is trying to put together a $1 million fund to give direct assistance to those in need. Our diocese, as well as other dioceses throughout the country, will assist with this fund. But much more is needed.

At the same time, we cannot forget the profound impact of this hurricane upon the undocumented, many of whom are ineligible for FEMA funding. Father Fulgencio Gutierrez, pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea in Far Rockaway, passionately made the case for the undocumented to our elected officials present at the meeting we had.

We must do more for the people who are suffering throughout our diocese. We must not leave anyone behind or alone. I am calling upon our pastors to preach about the real human cost of this hurricane on so many of our families. As in years past, the second collection at Christmas is for Catholic Charities. It is my hope is that we will be able to raise considerable resources to assist our own in need. All monies donated over the base collection from the past year ($362,900) will be distributed to those with hardships related to Hurricane Sandy here in Brooklyn and Queens.

So many of our families are not simply in need of $250 or $500, they are in need of thousands of dollars to help rebuild their lives. We must do better. Every little bit helps. Let us each do our part to make sure no one in Brooklyn and Queens is left behind.

As we put out into the deep during this Advent season, let us remember that charity has its roots in the Latin word caritas, meaning love. It seems reasonable that a measure of our love is our charity toward those in need. As is often said, charity begins at home. Following Sept. 11, 2001, many of us wore sweatshirts and hats with the phrase “Never Forget.” Hopefully, the people throughout our diocese who were scarred 11 years ago and are suffering so greatly today will not be forgotten.

by Msgr. Joseph Calise

If you were to ask most people in my age group who they considered to be the greatest mystery writer of all time, no doubt most of us would answer, “Alfred Hitchcock.”

We would be able to support our answer with such movies as Psycho, North by Northwest, The Birds, or any of the more than 50 films he directed in the almost 60-year span of his career.

Further proof could be found in almost any episode of his television series, Alfred Hitchcock Presents. However, there would be one voice that would strongly disagree – his own.

I remember an interview with Hitchcock in which he strongly made the point that his work was not “mystery” but “suspense” and “thrill.” Mystery, he explained, is a genre in which something occurs and you try to figure out who, what and why. Thrill and suspense bring the audience much more into the action.

For example: In a mystery movie, you might see a plane explode and have to figure out who did it and why. In a suspense film, you see a black-gloved hand place a bomb on a plane and then watch the plane take off – wondering when. You know what is going to happen and are drawn deeper into the action by that knowledge.

We Know What Happened

On this First Sunday of Advent, we already know what has happened. Although the birth of Christ is enveloped in spiritual mystery, we know that it happened in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago as a once-in-salvation-history moment that does not need to be repeated.

Another baby does not have to be born for us in the City of David this coming Christmas Day. No one is wondering if it will be a boy or a girl or what his or her name might be.

The Christmas Incarnation happened once and for always so what we prepare for during this liturgical season is the known – the coming of God into the world as man. Yet, the season does not end there because the historical presence left us with a promise, the promise of a return that would bring all together into the kingdom. Therein lies the suspense.

If we believe in Jesus of Nazareth, we accept His promise that one day He will come back “in power and with great glory,” as it says in today’s Gospel, to take us with Him. If we believe in Jesus’ message, we know that someday we will be together with Him, but we do not know when.

The suspense of the season is in knowing that just as the faithful over two millennia ago received the fulfillment of a promise – so too will we see the fulfillment of a promise given us.

The challenge, of course, is in being prepared, a message heard not only today but time after time in the Scriptures. So, if we believe in the events of Bethlehem, accepting Jesus of history as Our Messiah, and await the fulfillment of His promise to return, we are drawn into the celebration of the season of Advent, an opportunity to recall the full significance of a critical moment in the history of the world.

Not If, But When

The suspense is not found in whether or not the Messiah will come – He already has. Nor is it in whether or not He will come again – as people of faith, that promise determines who we are. The suspense is not “if” but “when” it will happen and whether or not we will be ready. St. Paul comes to the rescue.

In writing to the Thessalonians, St. Paul encourages them to a constant growth in love, a love which will make them “blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones.”

If we live lives of love now, as best as we can one day at a time, we will be ready to meet Jesus face to face whenever He comes in glory. And, of course, the most powerful way to live a life of love now, is to remain close to Jesus in the Eucharist, the presence that links Bethlehem and the kingdom.

As we begin the Advent season, may we celebrate the events of Christmas past as we await the Christmas yet to come by living fully Christ present in the Word, the Eucharist and in Love.

Readings for the First Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Psalm 25: 4-5, 8-9, 10, 14

1 Thessalonians 3:12 – 4:2

Luke 21:25-28, 34-36

Each Advent, exhortations come from Christian pulpits to “slow down.” Just when every other force and fury around us is screaming, “hurry up!” the Church is out there being its counter-cultural self, ever the “sign of contradiction” in the world. And with good reason. Our message is one of liberation, freedom from what ties us down and suppresses our true humanity. No surprise then to hear the call: Take back Advent and stop rushing Christmas!

It’s always nice to see the sparkling lights popping up through our darkest winter nights. Pagan societies were the first to start the practice, for they had no “light” or “fire” other than what they could conjure up themselves. Christians, on the other hand, believe it is the light that comes to us — a gift, not a product or a spell we must conjure.

No law says the Christmas tree must go up the day after Thanksgiving. Chances are any living pine or spruce that goes up now is a goner by Christmas, the last bit of sap in its sagging arms having parched in the sauna-like dryness of domestic heat.

Even if the tree can wait, shopping hardly stands a chance. According to a fresh poll from “Think Finance,” 45 percent of Americans would rather “skip Christmas.” Doubtless that “Christmas” here means the commerce of Christmas, an expression of stress and strain from the time and financial burdens. To manage this, some families have opted for a simpler “Kris Kringle” — at least for the adults.

Prayer and Preparation

Families in our diocese have many wonderful Advent traditions. Advent is, after all, a season of prayer and preparation. Even cards and Christmas cookies can be agents of grace. Our Latino communities have the beautiful custom of the Posada, observing this tradition of visiting one another’s homes and sharing Scripture, faith and food as a commemoration of events before the birth of Jesus. The custom of “Lessons and Carols” has been a mainstay in many English-speaking communities, though the tradition of Christmas carols and Nativity scenes seems actually to have originated in Italy.

Speaking of Nativity scenes, Pope Benedict XVI has just released a book — the third and last volume of a biography of Jesus — that contains some interesting observations. As we have come to expect, unfortunately, press reviews are not uniformly reliable. To hear some reports, the Holy Father would make proclamations to ban animals from Nativity sets and to wipe the name of Jesus off the calendar on Dec. 25.

Perfect Advent Exercise

In reality, Pope Benedict, as an outstanding theologian, does a historical fact check, calling attention to the real meaning of Christmas. A reading of the book would be a perfect Advent exercise, at once intellectually stimulating and spiritually enriching.

Over two millennia of history, Christians have developed many creative traditions and customs to celebrate the birth of Jesus, not all of them referenced in the Bible. Long before the pope’s book, many scholars surmised that Jesus was not born on Dec. 25, indeed several years earlier than 1 A.D., and not with cattle breathing on him. Nor were Northern pine or spruce trees in the vicinity. Our most splendid Christmas paintings tell us as much about the landscape of artisans from Tuscany and the Netherlands than they do about Christ’s Bethlehem.

None of this changes the Christmas message: The all-high God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, becomes incarnate in the womb of the virgin Mary, is born nine months later and given the name Jesus to be our Savior, to die and to rise that we might live eternally.

Why not resist the temptation to be stifled by demands imposed from a world focused less on its Savior than instant gratification? Why not reclaim Advent and let Christmas come to us?

By Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,

Regina Pacis Basilica

As we begin Advent and start to celebrate in earnest the Year of Faith, we recognize two of the special intentions that are of particular importance during this year: prayers for the New Evangelization and prayers for vocations, especially for those to the priesthood and religious life.

The New Evangelization cannot be accomplished without authentic and renewed conversion and recourse to the Lord of the Harvest, who will send laborers into the vineyard according to His own will. Priests, religious sisters and brothers are needed to assist the laity, who, through living daily in a secularized world, are truly the new evangelizers. Because of their call to the New Evangelization, they need solid, foundational formation to be able to effectively undertake the new paths to this calling.

At the recent meeting of the U.S. Bishops, the latest statistical analysis of participation of Catholics in the life of the Church was presented. It was estimated that in our country today, there are almost 97 million baptized Catholics out of 320 million people in the U.S. population. This is much more than has been estimated in the past.

However, approximately only one-third of these baptized Catholics consider themselves “practicing Catholics” who attend the celebration of the Eucharist on a weekly basis. Another third are those who attend Mass infrequently. It has been suggested that the New Evangelization in its outreach to non-practicing Catholics begins with those who have some affiliation to the Church and who, for one reason or another, do not practice the faith on a regular basis.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated on Dec. 8 and reminds us that Mary was conceived without sin. No stain of Original Sin touched Mary, so that she could be the sinless Mother of God, given her virginal birth of Jesus Christ. Our great devotion as Catholics to Mary stems from the fact that our Heavenly Mother shows maternal care to her children who call upon her. There is hardly a Catholic who cannot recite the Hail Mary, a term that now has become popular in the game of football as a last-minute attempt to save a game, or which has now been extended to any emergency attempt to rectify a failing situation.

How true it is that we call upon Mary, our Mother, in those moments of need and at the hour of our death. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception gives us an opportunity to recognize her being chosen from the first moment of her conception to be the Mother of God.

One happy event in the midst of the difficulties which the diocese experienced in Hurricane Sandy is the recent announcement by the Holy See of the designation of the Church of Regina Pacis, Bensonhurst, as a Minor Basilica. This designation is afforded to only 74 churches in the U.S. and over 1,600 around the world, outside of the City of Rome where the four Major Basilicas – St. Peter, St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. John Lateran and St. Mary Major – are considered to be the Holy Father’s special churches.

We are fortunate to now have a third basilica in addition to the Cathedral-Basilica of St. James, Downtown Brooklyn, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sunset Park.

The history of Regina Pacis is an interesting one. The church was built in response to a vow taken by the parishioners, who asked the Blessed Mother to safely bring back all of the sons of the parish who were deployed in World War II.

The fulfillment of that promise made to the Queen of Peace was the magnificent and beautiful church which rose on 65th St. In a special way, the church has attracted those seeking Mary’s intercession in child birth. Since 1989, the former baptistry has become a chapel to Mary, Mother of the Unborn, and is adorned by photographs of children born through the intercession of the Blessed Mother. Mary, the new Eve, the mother of all of the living as we venerate her, continues to shower favors upon all who seek her intercession.

The waters of Hurricane Sandy continue to force us to put out into the deep in our Diocese in Brooklyn and Queens. The superstorm rushed in upon us and made us stop to count our blessings as many of the material things we took for granted were taken away.

As we begin Advent, pray with me that this Christmas will bring the spiritual relief that so many need.