Blog by-the-Sea

Courage Anchored to a Solid Hope

In today's Mass for the celebration of Epiphany, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of globalization and the need for moderation in the use of global resources.  A full translation is available on the Vatican Radio website.  Asia News has an article.

He stated in his homily, "Today, we celebrate Christ, the light of the world, and his manifestation to all humanity."  With Christ, the blessing of Abraham is extended to all peoples, to the Universal Church which is the new Israel.

Today's globalization, he said, has prompted conflicts over access to energy resources, water, and primary materials, so that we need a greater hope to help us choose the common good over the good of a few and misery of many.  He quoted from the encyclical Spe Salvi (Section 31) in saying that "this great hope" can only be "the God who has a human face."  Concerning the need for moderation and a sober lifestyle, he said:

"Moderation therefore is not simply an ascetic rule, but also a path to salvation for humanity. By now it has become increasingly evident that only by choosing a sober lifestyle, accompanied by a serious commitment to an equal distribution of wealth, will a just and sustainable model of development be possible. This is why there is a need for men who nurture great hope and thus posses even greater courage. The courage of the Magi, who undertook a long journey, following a star, and who knew how to kneel before a child and offer him their precious gifts. We all need this courage anchored to a solid hope. That Mary may grant us as much, accompanying us on our earthly pilgrimage with her maternal protection."

Before praying the midday Angelus, the Holy Father spoke of the vocation of each Christian "to light up the steps for his fellowmen through his words and the testimony of his life."  Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and Papa Ratzinger Forum.  An article is available from Asia News.  Here is an excerpt:

"Every authentic believer is always on the path of his personal itinerary of faith, but at the same time, with the light he carries him, he can and should be of help to whoever is by his side, perhaps someone who is also trying to find the road that leads to Christ."

Christmas Midnight Mass Videos

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City:

Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem:

St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York:

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, France:

Stephansdom (St. Stephen's Cathedral), Vienna, Austria:

Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens, France:

Messe de Minuit 2007
Uploaded by CATHEDRALE_D_AMIENS

Pfarrei Herz Jesu (Heart of Jesus Parish), Pfersee (suburb of Augsburg in Bavaria), Germany:

Martyrs of the Nativity

December 26 through 28 are feast days of St. Stephen the Martyr, St. John the Apostle (who was willing to die for his faith but lived a long life), and  the Holy Innocents.  Thus, three days of the Octave of the Nativity remember different kinds of martyrs.

Interestingly, the best known blessed named for the Nativity in religious life was also a martyr, as was an Augustinian named for the Nativity whose cause for beatification is pending.

Blessed Dionysius of the Nativity (also called "Bl. Denis of the Nativity") was a Discalced Carmelite missionary who was tortured and martyred by Muslims in 1638 on the Malay archipelago (Sumatra, Indonesia).  The cause for his canonization is pending.  A Frenchman, he was born Pierre Berthelot.  His memorial is November 29.

Anthony of the Nativity, a contemporary of Bl. Dionysius of the Nativity, was one of the Mombasa Martyrs, Portuguese Augustinians who died in 1631 in what is now Kenya.  Their cause for beatification was opened soon after their deaths and is still pending.

Of course, not all blesseds named for the such mysteries are martyrs.  As an example, Bl. Marie of the Incarnation (also called "Bl. Mary of the Incarnation") was another contemporary of Bl. Dionysius of the Nativity.  She too was a French Discalced Carmelite, born Barbe Avillot.  A wife and mother of six, she became a lay Discalced Carmelite after her husband's death.  She died of natural causes in 1618 at the age of 52.  Her memorial is April 18.

Christmas Midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica

The Vatican's translation of Pope Benedict XVI's homily from midnight Mass today at St. Peter's Basilica is available on the Vatican website and Zenit.  At one point, he spoke of music in the liturgy:

"Liturgical song - still according to the Fathers - possesses its own peculiar dignity through the fact that it is sung together with the celestial choirs. It is the encounter with Jesus Christ that makes us capable of hearing the song of the angels, thus creating the real music that fades away when we lose this singing-with and hearing-with."

"In the stable at Bethlehem, Heaven and Earth meet. Heaven has come down to Earth. For this reason, a light shines from the stable for all times; for this reason joy is enkindled there; for this reason song is born there."

The Mass was broadcast live on EWTN.  The EWTN schedule for re-broadcasts includes three more airings on Christmas Day at 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.  A calendar of December television specials also shows dates and times of Christmas broadcasts.  Click here to watch live online.

The Pope's Urbi et Orbi Christmas Day Address (to the Church and the World) will be broadcast on ETWN on Christmas Day at 6:00 a.m. Eastern and rebroadcast at 10:00 p.m. Eastern that day.  It will also be rebroadcast at 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on December 26.  The text is included in an article from Asia News.  He spoke of Christ as the Light of the world amid the difficulties of warfare, poverty, injustice and discrimination.  Here is an his concluding Christmas wish and prayer:

"This is my earnest wish for you who are listening. A wish that grows into a humble and trustful prayer to the Child Jesus, that his light will dispel all darkness from your lives and fill you with love and peace. May the Lord, who has made his merciful face to shine in Christ, fill you with his happiness and make you messengers of his goodness. Happy Christmas!"

Please check the EWTN links and double check the time zone difference for your location on the world clock.

Picture: Madonna and Child with Musical Angels by Gherardo Starnina, about 1410, photo by me.  More information from museum website.

Let us adore Him in spirit and truth

"Christ said one day to the Samaritan woman that 'the Father seeks true adorers in spirit and truth.'  To give joy to His Heart, let us be these true adorers.  Let us adore Him in 'spirit,' that is, with our hearts and our thoughts fixed on Him, and our mind filled with His knowledge imparted by the light of faith.  Let us adore Him in 'truth,' that is, by our works for it is above all by our actions that we show we are true: this is to do always what is pleasing to the Father whose children we are.  And finally, let us 'adore in spirit and in truth,' that is, through Jesus Christ and with Jesus Christ, for He alone is the true Adorer in spirit and truth."

- Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, "Heaven in Faith," para. 33, from The Complete Works of Elizabeth of the Trinity, Vol. I, translated by Aletheia Kane, O.C.D., Copyright (c) 1984 by Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites ICS Publications 2131 Lincoln Road, N.E. Washington, DC 20002-1199 U.S.A., www.icspublications.org. 

Image: Madonna with child, with St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Jerome, and a donor, by Michelangelo di Pietro Membrini, photo by me.  More info on the museum website.

Schedules for Vatican Christmas Celebrations

The Vatican has published its schedule for Christmas Liturgical Celebrations for this year from Christmas Eve through January 13 (in Italian).  Zenit has a summary in English. 

EWTN's Special Programming schedule for December includes the schedule for broadcasts through December 31, in Eastern Time.  For Pacific Time, figure 3 hours earlier.  For the time in Rome, figure 6 hours later.  Watch online here.

Incarnation and the Nativity

In yesterday's post, The Nativity, the Incarnation and Devotion, the Incarnation (God become man) was linked to the Nativity (the birth of Christ).  That is not always the case, as Christ's humanity is also associated with His death on the Cross.  This morning, during my commute, I began to think about the distinction between the Incarnation and the Nativity, and it occurred to me that they do not occur simultaneously.  Rather, the Incarnation existed from the moment of conception, rather than from the moment of birth.  This post is the product of that reflection and a little further research done this evening.

In yesterday's post, St. Thomas Aquinas quoted the Preface for the Nativity in writing, "the humanity of Christ, according to the words of the Preface,"that through knowing God visibly, we may be caught up to the love of things invisible.'  Wherefore matters relating to Christ's humanity are the chief incentive to devotion, leading us thither as a guiding hand, although devotion itself has for its object matters concerning the Godhead."

There is a pro-life aspect to the Incarnation.  The Incarnation is traced to the moment of Christ's conception by the Holy Spirit.  In Matthew 1:20, we are told that an angel told St. Joseph, about the pregnant Virgin, "For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her."  Thus, God became man in Christ from the moment of conception, and not only from the moment of birth.  Our existing form of the Apostle's Creed says, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit." The Nicene Creed, in the Catholic Encyclopedia's literal translation of the Constantinopolitan form, similarly says of Jesus that He "for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man."

Pope John Paul II mentioned this in the General Audience of May 27, 1998, in these words:

"Jesus is linked with the Holy Spirit from the first moment of his existence in time, as the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed recalls: “Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine”. The Church’s faith in this mystery is based on the word of God: “The Holy Spirit”, the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary, “will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Lk 1:35). And Joseph is told: “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 1:20). 

"The Holy Spirit's direct intervention in the Incarnation brings about the supreme grace, the “grace of union”, in which human nature is united to the Person of the Word. This union is the source of every other grace, as St Thomas explains (S. Th. III, q. 2, a. 10-12; q. 6, a. 6; q. 7, a. 13)."

In the same Audience, John Paul II explains the connection of the Incarnation, from the moment of conception, with salvation and with God's love for people:

"If we ask ourselves what the Holy Spirit’s purpose was in bringing about the Incarnation event, the word of God gives us a succinct reply in the Second Letter of Peter, telling us that it happened so that we might become “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4). 'In fact', St Irenaeus of Lyons explains, 'this is   the reason why the Word became flesh and the Son of God became the Son of Man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God' (Adv. Haer. III, 19, 1). . .

"The mystery of the Incarnation reveals God’s astonishing love, whose highest personification is the Holy Spirit, since he is the Love of God in person, the Person-Love: 'In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him' (1 Jn 4:9). The glory of God is revealed in the Incarnation more than in any other work."

By comparison, the Nativity is associated with the Incarnation more specifically in its visible form, which takes place only from the birth of Christ.  Only then is Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, visible to the world.  So it is that the Preface of the Nativity prays "that through knowing God visibly, we may be caught up to the love of things invisible."  The essence of the Nativity is that the Incarnation becomes visible, and that in seeing the Word become flesh, we may be drawn toward God who is invisible.

Collosians 1:15-16 thus says of Jesus:

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through him and for him."

Being the "firstborn" of all creation is an aspect of birth, and yet in this context refers more specifically to Christ's being the Word of God by whom God created the world even before the Incarnation (John 1:1-2).  Only Christ's visibility to man, as the "image" of the invisible God, occurs from the time of His birth in the world, from the Nativity.

Speaking of creation and the Incarnation, St. John of the Cross wrote, "The son of God is, in the words of St. Paul, 'the brightness of His glory and the figure of His substance.'  God saw all things only in the face of His Son."  And, "For this cause the Son of God Himself said, 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all things to Myself.'"

Elsewhere, in the Scriptural account of the birth of Christ, an angel said to shepherds in the field, in Luke 2:11-12: "For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."

Speaking of Christ's birth as "a sign," as the angel said to the shepherds about the Nativity, Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily for this past Christmas Eve:

"God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendour. He comes as a baby – defenceless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him."

The Nativity is thus connected with the visibility of the Incarnation, in that we understand God through the newborn Jesus.  We can be drawn toward God, as Jesus said He would draw all things to Himself.  While the Incarnation involves God's love and salvation through Christ's death on the Cross, the Nativity involves making that love manifest in simplicity, the visible Word of God in human form.

The Nativity, the Incarnation and Devotion

"Like all genuine mystics, St. John sees that the Church itself and everything in it was instituted by Christ to bring us to our Heavenly Father, and to give Him the glory that is His due. The Incarnation itself had that end in view: 'ut dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus, per hunc in invisibilium amorem rapiamur.'"

- Father Gabriel Barry, O.C.D., "The Writings of St. John of the Cross"

"Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper, et ubique gratias agere: Domine sancte, Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus: Quia per incarnati Verbi mysterium, nova mentis nostrae fulsit: ut dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus, per hunc in invisibilium amorem rapiamur. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus, cumque omni militia caelestis exercitus, hymnum gloriae tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes:
SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS..."

- The Preface for the Nativity of Our Lord, from the Extraordinary Form of the Mass

"Matters concerning the Godhead are, in themselves, the strongest incentive to love ['dilectio,' the interior act of charity; cf. 27] and consequently to devotion, because God is supremely lovable. Yet such is the weakness of the human mind that it needs a guiding hand, not only to the knowledge, but also to the love of Divine things by means of certain sensible objects known to us. Chief among these is the humanity of Christ, according to the words of the Preface [Preface for Christmastide], "that through knowing God visibly, we may be caught up to the love of things invisible." Wherefore matters relating to Christ's humanity are the chief incentive to devotion, leading us thither as a guiding hand, although devotion itself has for its object matters concerning the Godhead."

- St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae

"[I]f we are to please God and He is to grant us great favours, it is His will that this should be through His most sacred Humanity, in whom His Majesty said He is well pleased.  I have learnt this indeed by repeated experiences; the Lord has told it me.  I have clearly seen that it is by this door we must enter, if we wish His sovereign Majesty to reveal great secrets to us."

- The Life of St. Teresa of Avila.

"The son of God is, in the words of St. Paul, 'the brightness of His glory and the figure of His substance.'  God saw all things only in the face of His Son.  This was to give them their natural being, bestowing upon them many graces and natural gifts, making them perfect, as it is written in the book of Genesis: 'God saw all the things that He had made: and they were very good.'  To see all things very good was to make them very good in the Word, His Son. He not only gave them their being and their natural graces when He beheld them, but He also clothed them with beauty in the face of His Son, communicating to them a supernatural being when He made man, and exalted him to the beauty of God, and, by consequence, all creatures in him, because He united Himself to the nature of them all in man.  For this cause the Son of God Himself said, 'And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all things to Myself.'  And thus in this exaltation of the incarnation of His Son, and the glory of His resurrection according to the flesh, the Father not only made all things beautiful in part, but also, we may well say, clothed them wholly with beauty and dignity."

- St. John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle.

Father Cantalamessa's Christmas Reflections

Zenit is providing English translations of Father Raniero Cantalamessa's reflections on the readings for Christmas.  He is the Preacher of the Pontifical Household.  Here are links:

Why Did God Become Man? - Reflections on the readings for the liturgy for Christmas Day.

We Are Not Pursuing the Child's Good . . .  - Reflections on the readings for Sunday, December 31, the Feast of the Holy Family.

Mary Meditated on All These Things in Her Heart - Reflections on the readings for January 1, the Solemnity of Holy Mary, Mother of God.

We Celebrate Three Wondrous Events on This Holy Day - Reflections on the readings for Epiphany.

The Baptism of Christ and Our Own Baptism

Today, the last day of Christmas celebrations, Pope Benedict XVI baptized 13 newborn babies in the Sistine Chapel in a Mass to celebrate the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.  It is the second oldest feast of Christian tradition, following Easter.  Afterward, he again mentioned baptism in his meditation before praying the Angelus with a crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square.

In his homily, he spoke about the symbols of baptism, including water, a sign of maternity in many religions, and the fire of the Holy Spirit.  He distinguished the sacrament of baptism from magic.  In his meditation before the Angelus, he spoke about the effect of the sacrament of baptism.

An article about the homily is available from Asia News.  Full translations are available from the Vatican and Zenit.  Here is an excerpt from Asia News:

"In all religions, water is a sign of maternity. And for the Fathers of the Church, water became a symbol of the maternal womb of the Church.” In baptism, we are united “to the heavenly Father” in “God’s family” and this link with Him is expressed in the relationship with the Mother-Church: “In Baptism, we are adopted by the heavenly Father but in this family there is also a mother, the Mother Church."

An article about the Angelus is also available from Asia News.  Full translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum (scroll down).  Here is an excerpt from Teresa Benedetta's translation:

"There is a close relationship between the Baptism of Christ and our own Baptism. At the Jordan, the heavens opened (cfr Lk 3,21) to indicate that the Savior has opened to us the way of salvation and that we can walk along it, thanks precisely to our new birth 'in water and the Spirit" (Jn 3,5) which is realized in Baptism."

Picture: The Baptism of Christ, by Paolo Veronese, 1580-1588 (museum information).

The Mass and Angelus of Epiphany at the Vatican

This morning, Pope Benedict XVI presided at Mass for the Solemnity of the Epiphany in St. Peter's Basilica, followed by a further reflection before praying the Angelus with the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square.  The Mass will be rebroadcast by EWTN two times today, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (12:00 noon Eastern,  6:00 p.m. Rome) and 4:00 p.m. Pacific (7:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 a.m. tomorrow Rome).  To watch online, from the EWTN homepage, hold your cursor over "Television", choose "Live TV - English" and then choose Real Video or Windows Media.  For Live TV - Spanish, check the online schedule, which may include rebroadcasts at different hours of the day.

An article about the Pope's homily is available from Asia News.   Translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit, and Papa Ratzinger Forum.

An article about the Angelus is available from Asia News.  Translations are available from the Vatican,  Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

In his homily, the Pope spoke of the present day's Magi as the politicians, scientists, and leaders of non-Christian religions, in a world of globalization while justice and peace eludes us, and vast media expansion while the ability to synthesize the information is lacking.  He spoke of the need for world leaders to be the "promoters of order and peace", remembering that God alone can "incline hearts to renounce those evil passions which beget war and misfortune."  He called upon scientists to seek the truth and not make do with pragmatism.  He called upon religious leaders not to fear the message of Christ, who came to fulfill what God's hand has written in the religious history of civilization.  Lastly, he called on Christians to show Jesus to men and to remain united with Him, not allowing their message to be reduced to activism and sentimentalism.

Here is an excerpt from the homily translated by Asia News, addressed to men of thought and of science:

"Continue your search without tiring and without ever despairing of the truth. Recall the words of one of your great friends, St. Augustine: 'Let us seek with the desire to find, and find with the desire to seek still more.' Happy are those who, while possessing the truth, search more earnestly for it in order to renew it, deepen it and transmit it to others. Happy also are those who, not having found it, are working toward it with a sincere heart. May they seek the light of tomorrow with the light of today until they reach the fullness of light."

In his words before the Angelus, the Pope spoke of the importance of Epiphany as signifying the message of Christ to people of all nations and cultures.  Here is an excerpt from Teresa Benedetta's translation:

"Why is this event so important? Because with it begins the adherence of pagan peoples to faith in Christ, according to the promise made by God to Abraham, about which the Book of Genesis says: 'In you all the communities of the earth will find themselves blessed' (Gen 12,3).
 
"If Mary, Joseph and the shepherds of Bethlehem represent the people of Israel welcoming the Lord, the Magi are the first of the Gentiles called to be part of the Church, the new people of God, based no longer on ethnic, linguistic or cultural homogeneity, but only on common faith in Jesus, Son of God."

Picture:  Adoration of the Magi, by Andrea Mantegna, about 1495 to 1505 (museum information).

Broadcasts for Epiphany and the Baptism of Our Lord

The traditional observance of Epiphany is on January 6.  At the Vatican, Epiphany will be observed on January 6, and the Baptism of Our Lord will be observed on Sunday, January 7, with papal Masses both days.  On January 8, there will be the annual exchange of new year's greetings between the Pope and the members of the Diplomatic Corps to the Holy See.

In the U.S. and some other countries, Epiphany will be observed on January 7 in order to set the observance on Sunday.  The feast of the Baptism of Our Lord will then be moved to the following day, Monday, January 8 (It is not a holy day of obligation).

The "Twelve Days of Christmas" are the days from December 25 through January 5, with Epiphany following on January 6 under the traditional calendar.  Epiphany remembers the arrival of the Magi at the manger and the manifestation of Jesus as the Light to the Gentiles.

EWTN will broadcast both Saturday's and Sunday's Masses live from the Vatican, with a rebroadcast later in the day.  Vatican TV (CTV) (try also here) will also broadcast the Masses live, and Vatican Radio will broadcast the audio live with commentary in several languages (English, Italian, German, French and Spanish).  All can be accessed online by clicking on the links in this paragraph.

Here is the schedule for the live broadcasts:

Saturday, January 6: The Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City - homily by Pope Benedict XVI:

Broadcast live at 10:00 a.m. Rome,  4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 a.m.  Pacific.
Rebroadcast on EWTN at 12:00 noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific.
Rebroadcast on EWTN again at 7:00 p.m.  Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific

Sunday, January 7: The Holy Mass for the Feast of Baptism of Our Lord
Sistine Chapel, Vatican City - homily and baptisms by Pope Benedict XVI:

Broadcast live beginning at 9:50 a.m. in Rome on Vatican Radio and at
  10:00 a.m. in Rome on EWTN and CTV, 4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 a.m. Pacific
Rebroadcast on EWTN at 12:00 noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific
Rebroadcast on EWTN again at 12:00 midnight Eastern, 9:00 p.m. Pacific

The Holy Father's homilies will be posted on the Vatican's website in various languages as the translations are completed.  All through January 7 will be on the Vatican's Christmas page. 

The Catholic Encyclopedia has pages on the history and tradition of Christmas.  Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio has an article about the Feast of the Epiphany at Crossroads Initiative.  There is also information about Ephiphany from Catholic Culture and the Catholic Encyclopedia.  Popular customs of Epiphany sometimes include a blessing of homes, and it is the day when some people choose to put away their Christmas decorations.

Picture: Adoration of the Magi with St. Anthony, by an unknown Franco-Flemish artist, about 1390 to 1410 (museum information).

St. Francis de Sales: Yearly to Revive Your Good Resolutions

"Our earthly nature easily falls away from its higher tone by reason of the frailty and evil tendency of the flesh, oppressing and dragging down the soul, unless it is constantly rising up by means of a vigorous resolution, just as a bird would speedily fall to the ground if it did not maintain its flight by repeated strokes of its wings.  In order to this, my daughter, you need frequently to reiterate the good resolutions you have made to serve God, for fear that, failing to do so, you fall away, not only to your former condition, but lower still; since it is a characteristic of all spiritual falls that they invariably throw us lower than we were at the beginning.  There is no clock, however good, but must be continually wound up; and moreover, during the course of each year it will need taking to pieces, to cleanse away the rust which clogs it, to straighten bent works, and renew such as are worn.  Even so, any one who really cares for his heart’s devotion will wind it up to God night and morning, and examine into its condition, correcting and improving it; and at least once a year he will take the works to pieces and examine them carefully;—I mean his affections and passions,—so as to repair whatever may be amiss.  And just as the clockmaker applies a delicate oil to all the wheels and springs of a clock, so that it may work properly and be less liable to rust, so the devout soul, after thus taking the works of his heart to pieces, will lubricate them with the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist.  These exercises will repair the waste caused by time, will kindle your heart, revive your good resolutions, and cause the graces of your mind to flourish anew.

"The early Christians observed some such practice on the Anniversary of Our Lord's Baptism, when, as S. Gregory, Bishop of Nazianzen, tells us, they renewed the profession and promises made in that Sacrament.  It were well to do the like, my child, making due and earnest preparation, and setting very seriously to work."

- St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part V, Chapter 1.

The Most Hidden Depths of the Divine Charity in the Incarnation

"O Lord, make me worthy of seeing the depth of the charity which you communicated to us in your most holy incarnation.  O happy fault, which merited that we discover the most hidden depths of the divine charity until then hidden from us.  Oh, in truth, I cannot imagine anything greater to contemplate!  O most high, make me able to understand this most high and ineffable charity."

- Blessed Angela of Foligno, Instruction XXXV, from Angela of Foligno: Complete Works (Classics of Western Spirituality Series)

January 4 is the memorial of the Blessed Angela of Foligno.

Becoming Beacons of Light and Hope

In today's first general audience of the new year, choirs from around the world sang in different languages, including 5 choirs from the United States.  The Pope's spoke of the Gospel of St. John, which says that Jesus "pitched his tent among us", gathering people into one family.

An article is available from Asia News.  Translations are available from the Vatican and Papa Ratzinger Forum.

Here is an excerpt from the Vatican's translation:

"As in the past, the tragedy of the rejection of Christ unfortunately manifests and expresses itself also today in so many different ways. Perhaps even the most subtle and dangerous are the forms of the rejection of God in the contemporary era:  from a clear refusal to indifference, from scientific atheism to the presentation of a so-called modernized or better, post-modernized Jesus. A man Jesus, reduced in a different way to a mere man of his time, deprived of his divinity; or a Jesus so highly idealized that he seems at times like the character of a fable.

"Yet Jesus, the true Jesus of history, is true God and true man and never tires of proposing his Gospel to all, aware that he is a "sign of contradiction that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed", as the elderly Simeon would prophesy (cf. Lk 2: 32-35).

"Actually, it is only the Child lying in the manger who possesses the true secret of life. For this reason he asks us to welcome him, to make room for him within us, in our hearts, in our homes, in our cities and in our societies. The words of John's Prologue echo in our minds and hearts:  "To all who received him... he gave power to become children of God" (1: 12). Let us endeavour to be among those who welcome him. Before him one cannot remain indifferent. We too, dear friends, must continuously take sides. What will our response be? With what attitude will we welcome him? The simplicity of the shepherds and the seeking of the Magi who scrutinized the signs of God by means of the star come to our help. The docility of Mary and the wise prudence of Joseph serve as an example to us.

"The more than 2,000 years of Christian history are filled with examples of men and women, youth and adults, children and elderly people who believed in the mystery of Christmas, who opened their arms to the Emmanuel and with their lives became beacons of light and hope."

Tips on Keeping New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

There are some helpful suggestions for help in keeping New Year's Resolutions (and other decisions to change) are provided by University of California San Diego Medical Center, the American Psychiatric Association, and the 24 Hour Fitness websites.   Their suggestions include:

1.  Supportive people: If your family and friends are supportive, tell them about your goals.  Start or join a group to enlist support.
2.  Supportive home: Create a home environment that supports your goals.
3.  Self-assessment: Analyze your progress once every couple of weeks.
4.  Recovery from setbacks: Expect setbacks, try again, and don't get discouraged. Forgive yourself for failures, and congratulate yourself for successes.
5.  Realistic goals: Set your own goal, rather than having someone else set it for you, and set a goal that is realistic.  Don't set too many goals at the same time.

Depending on your goals for the coming year, you might also adapt the ideas of self-assessment and recovery from setbacks by adding to them regular confession.  You could also adapt the idea of  enlisting support by finding a Church-related organization or lay order that supports your commitment and shares your interest. 

Mary, Mother of God

Yesterday's Te Deum and Vespers of Thanksgiving at St. Peter's Basilica had much beautiful music.  If you did not have a chance to see it or to hear it on the radio, you can still find it online.   KTO has the video to watch any time with French commentary (click on "Regarder la video").  That website also has a video of a New Year's Eve Mass, begun at 11:00 p.m. last night, at the Church of Saint-Gervais, Paris, with the singing of the Monastic Fraternity of Jerusalem (in French).

A full translation of the Pope's homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, is available from the Vatican. A full translation of the first vespers homily is also available from the Vatican.  Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum also has English translations for both the Pope's homilies at the vespers and Mass (scroll down).

Asia News has an article about the Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and World Day of Peace.

In the homily for the Vespers and Te Deum, the Pope spoke about the Biblical basis for the description of Mary as "Mother of God' and, as the Orthodox use the Greek, "Theotokos", and of the history of the Church's defining the doctrine from the development of the term in the third century to the Council of Ephesus in 431.  Here is an excerpt:

"In the passage from the Letter to the Galatians, which we just heard, St. Paul says: 'God sent His Son, born of woman' (Gal 4,4). Origen comments: 'Note well how he did not say born through a woman, but born of woman' (Comment on the Letter to the Galatians,PG 14, 1298).

"This acute observation by that great exegete and ecclesiastical writer is important: In fact, if the Son of God had been born only 'through' a woman, he would not have truly assumed our humanity, which He did by partaking 'of' Mary's flesh.

"Mary's motherhood is truly and fully human. In the expression, "God sent His Son born of woman" is concentrated the fundamental truth abbout Jesus as a divine Person who assumed our human nature fully. He is the Son of God, begotten by Him, but at the same time, he is the son of a woman, Mary. He comes from her. He is both from God and from Mary. That is why the Mother of Jesus can and should be called Mother of God."

In his homily at today's Mass, the Pope spoke of today's liturgy, with readings that focus upon Messianic prophecies, Mary's virginity and maternity.  Speaking of the World Day of Peace, he commented upon his Message for the World Day of Peace, calling upon the international community to form an agreement for peace in the Holy Land based upon a recognition of the value of the human person and the natural basis for the rights of man.  Here is an excerpt:

"This is a task that is particularly incumbent on the Christian who is called on "to be a tireless operator for peace and a strneuous defender of the dignity of the human person and his inalienable rights" (Message, 16).
 
"Precisely because hs is created in the image and likeness of God (cfr Gen, 1,27), every individual person, without distinction of race, culture and religion, possesses the same dignity as a person. Therefore, he must be respected, and no reason can ever justify that disposing of him at pleasure almost as if he were an object."

After the Mass, the Pope offered a meditation before praying the Angelus.  Translations are available from the Vatican, Zenit and Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.  Here is an excerpt from Zenit's translation:

"Be at one with her [Mary] while she contemplates the newborn Child, wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in the manger. Like Mary, the Church also remains in silence, to receive and keep the interior resonances of the word made flesh and not waste the divine-human warmth that radiates in his presence. He is God's blessing! The Church, like the Virgin, does but show Jesus, the Savior, to all and reflects on each one the light of his face, splendor of goodness and truth."

Picture: Madonna and Child with a male saint, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and a donor, by Michelangelo di Pietro Membrini, around 1500, at the Getty.

St. Athanasius: "Mary, Bearer of God"

"Now the scope and character of Holy Scripture, as we have often said, is this,—it contains a double account of the Saviour; that He was ever God, and is the Son, being the Father’s Word and Radiance and Wisdom; and that afterwards for us He took flesh of a Virgin, Mary Bearer of God , and was made man.  And this scope is to be found throughout inspired Scripture, as the Lord Himself has said, ‘Search the Scriptures, for they are they which testify of Me.’ [John 5:39]  But lest I should exceed in writing, by bringing together all the passages on the subject, let it suffice to mention as a specimen, first John saying, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by Him, and without Him was made not one thing;’ [John 1:1-3]  next, ‘And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of one Only-begotten from the Father;’ [John 1:14]  and next Paul writing, ‘Who being in the form of God, thought it not a prize to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion like a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross .’ [Phil. 2:6-8]  Any one, beginning with these passages and going through the  whole of the Scripture upon the interpretation which they suggest, will perceive how in the beginning the Father said to Him, ‘Let there be light,’ and ‘Let there be a firmament,’ and ‘Let us make man ;’ [Gen. 1:3, 6, 26]  but in fulness of the ages, He sent Him into the world, not that He might judge the world, but that the world by Him might be saved, and how it is written ‘Behold, the Virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call his Name Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.’ [Matt. 1:23]"

- St. Athanasius, Against the Arians, Discourse III:29, from Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Picture: Madonna and Child in Window, by Martin Schongauer, around 1489-1490, at the Getty.

The Holy Family

In his reflections before praying the Angelus, on this Sunday during Christmas, the Pope spoke of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Today is the Feast of the Holy Family, and the day's readings of the liturgy are about families.  He spoke about the Gospel accounts of Jesus and his family when he was a child, calling them "the prototype of every Christian family," and speaking of what families of today can learn from them.

Asia News has an article about the Pope's reflections.  Full translations are available from Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

Here is an excerpt from Papa Ratzinger Forum:

"Mary and Joseph educated Jesus, above all, through their example. From His parents, He learned all about the beauty of faith, of love for God and His Law, as well as the demands of justice which find fulfillment in love (cfr Rom 13,10)."

Picture:  The Family of St. John the Baptist Visits the Holy Family, by Julius Schnoor von Carolsfeld, 1817, at the Getty.  (For a page of the same artist's woodcut print illustrations of the Bible, see this site.) 

A New Year's Week-End Remembering that This Is Still Christmas

Abbot Joseph has a reminder today at Word Incarnate that we are still in the liturgical season of Christmas.  "Don’t stop singing and playing Christmas carols, don’t take your tree down, and continue in meditation on this great and divine mystery at least for the 'twelve days of Christmas.'"   With that in mind, he offers a collection of liturgical texts for meditation and beauty.  From his collection, this one most resonated with my own thinking at this time:

"You have come, O Resurrection of the nations, to bring back the nature of man from its wanderings, leading it from the hills of the wilderness to a pasture rich in flowers. Destroy the violent strength of the murderer of man, O You who in your providence have appeared as man and God."

For those of you snow bound in Denver and elsewhere this week-end, I hope you have a warm fire in the fireplace, a good book for reading slowly under a comfortable blanket, and good prayer and conversation.  For those of you who, like me, are in warmer climates, some of my best New Year's Eve memories are of quiet, reflective times spent thinking about the past year and the coming year; an evening organ recital, Mass on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, a hike through a coastal forest on the morning of New Year's Day, or early morning ski runs after a night of freshly fallen snow. 

I don't mean to reject the enjoyment of friends and celebrations, as long as they do not lead to occasions for sin, temptations regretted later.  I have done that too and have good memories of such parties, especially when I have spent Advent fasting or giving up certain foods that limited my enjoyment of "Christmas" parties that actually fall within Advent.  Even then, there is also time for other hours of reflection on the year that has passed, the year to come, and the value of that time seen in the light of the Incarnation, the quiet simplicity of a baby sleeping in a manger, as the Holy Father mentioned on Christmas Eve:

"God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendour. He comes as a baby – defenceless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into his feelings, his thoughts and his will – we learn to live with him and to practise with him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love. God made himself small so that we could understand him, welcome him, and love him."

Turning toward New Year's Day, which is also the World Day of Peace and Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, I also found interesting the Carmelites of Indianapolis School of Prayer topic "Call to Peace and Integrity", appropriate to the peace of Christmas and the World Day of Peace.  The carol comes to mind, along with Christmas trees with colorful lights after the presents have been opened and put away, a flickering fire in the fireplace, and meditations for both Christmas and New Year's Day:

Silent night Holy night
All is calm all is bright
'Round yon virgin Mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace

Liturgical Celebrations for December 31 and January 1

The Vatican's calendar of Liturgical Celebrations for the Season of Christmas in which the Holy Father will preside is decorated with an interesting collection of artwork.  The celebrations for December 31 and January 1 include the First Vespers of the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, on Sunday, December 31 at 6:00 p.m., and the celebration of the same feast on Monday, January 1, at 10:00 a.m.  The First Vespers service on December 31 is also called the First Vespers of Thanksgiving for the past year.  January 1 also marks the World Day of Peace and the Octave of Christmas. 

EWTN will broadcast Sunday's First Vespers live on December 31 at noon Eastern Time, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.  On Monday, EWTN's grid schedule for the week shows that EWTN will broadcast January 1's Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, live from Rome at 4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 a.m. Pacific time, with a re-broadcast on January 1 at noon Eastern, 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.  To watch online, start from the EWTN home page, hold your cursor over "Television", choose "Live TV - English" or "Live TV - Spanish" and then choose either Real Player or Windows Media.

The Vatican Television Center's schedule through December 31 includes the Angelus on December 31 at noon and First Vespers on December 31 at 6:00 p.m. (9:00 a.m. Pacific Time).  Although the schedule for January 1 is not yet posted on that page, Vatican Television will surely include the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on January 1.  To watch Vatican TV online, go to this page and choose Real Player, Windows Media, or another option.

Vatican Radio is sure to broadcast these events live with commentary in different languages on different channels.

KTO has the video of the First Vespers and Te Deum, which can be viewed online at any time (with French commentary) (updated 12/31).

Concelebrating with the Holy Father on January 1 will be Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State; Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, President of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace and of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants; Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, the Titular Archbishop of Cittanova, Substitute of State; Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,   Titular Archbishop of Sagona, Secretary for Relations with States; and Bishop  Giampaolo Crepaldi, Titular Bishop of Bisarcio, Secretary of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace.

The Pope's Message for the World Day of Peace this year is titled "The Human Person, The Heart of Peace". 

Rachel weeping for her children

Picture: The Rest on the Flight Into Egypt with St. John the Baptist, by Fra Bartolommeo, 1509, at the Getty.

December 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents, the remembrance of the children slaughtered when Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus.  The Gospel reading for the day's Mass, Matthew 2:13-18, tells what happened and tells how Jesus, Mary and Joseph were warned and fled to Egypt, escaping the massacre:

Now when they [the Magi] had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."  and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."  And he rose and took the child and his mother by night, and departed to Egypt,

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.   Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they were no more." (RSV)

The reference to Rachel comes from Jeremiah 31:15.  In Genesis 30:1, Rachel is said to have been jealous of her sister because Rachel had no children, and she said "Give me children or I shall die!"   In Genesis 35, Rachel died shortly after giving birth to her son Benjamin.   She was buried in Ramah, near Bethlehem.  The prophet Jeremiah describes her weeping for the loss of a later generation. Ramah was the place where Jews were placed in chains before they were taken to Babylon (Jeremiah 40:1).  St. Matthew's Gospel explains Jeremiah as speaking of Herod's slaughter of the children in that place and the Holy Family's exile into Egypt until the king's death.

From last year: A post about the Coventry Carol, a medieval carol about Herod's slaughter of the Holy Innocents.

Michelle Fair, a 15 year old singer from Ann Arbor, Michigan, provides a beautiful mp3 down-loadable recording of the Coventry Carol (for that and more from Michelle Fair, see this page).

The Incarnation Is the Fruit of God's Love for Humanity

Here is the Vatican's summary of the Pope's words at today's General Audience, including catechesis about the history and meaning of the Gloria:

"Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our Audience today is filled with the joy of Christmas, the mystery of God’s eternal Word made flesh for our salvation. Down the centuries Christians have contemplated this mystery of light, seeking to understand more fully why God chose to become man. An answer to this question can be found in the joyful song of the angels on the first Christmas: "Glory to God in the highest, and peace among those whom he favours!" (Lk 2:14). God’s glory, shining on the face of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 4:6), brings that peace which is the crowning of his messianic gifts. Saint Irenaeus tells us that the Word became flesh in order to give us a share in God’s glory: "The glory of God is the living man, and the life of man consists in the vision of God" (Adv. Haer., 20,5,7). Ultimately, the Incarnation is the fruit of God’s infinite love for humanity; it reveals, in von Balthasar’s insightful phrase, that God is not primarily absolute power, but absolute love, a love revealed in the complete gift of himself. May the song of the angels inspire us to give "glory to God" and to build "peace on earth", by humbly receiving the gift that God gives us at Christmas: the gift of his love, the gift of his Son.

"I offer a very cordial welcome to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, especially the groups from Ireland and the United States of America. May your visit to Rome in these holy days be a source of spiritual joy and deepened faith in the Word made flesh. Upon you and your families I invoke the grace and peace of the New-born Saviour. Happy Christmas!"

Asia News has an article with quotations.  Full translations are available from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum and Zenit.

St. Stephen and the white robed army of martyrs

Pope Benedict remembered the persecuted Church of China and Viet Nam today at the praying of the Angelus on the memorial of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose death is recorded in sixth and seventh chapters of the Acts of the Apostles.

Asia News has an article.  Full translations are available from Zenit and from Teresa Benedetta at Papa Ratzinger Forum.

Here is an excerpt from Asia News, remembering that all of the saints from the first four centuries of the Church were martyrs:

"It is an innumerable group that the liturgy calls martyrum candidatus exercitus, the ‘candid crowd of martyrs’. Their death did not strike fear or cause sadness but spiritual enthusiasm amongst new Christians. For believers, the day of death and even more so they day of martyrdom is not the end of everything but rather a “transition” to eternal life; it is the day of one’s final birth, in Latin one’s dies natalis. It is understandable that there is a link between Christ’s and Saint Stephen ‘dies natalis’. If Jesus had not come to earth, men could not be born to the Heaven. Christ was born so that we may be ‘reborn’!”

The meaning of the  phrase "martyrum candidatus exercitus" is explained in the Catholic Encyclopedia under "Te Deum" and "Massa Candida".  The  phrase as found in the Te Deum ("Martyrum candidatus laudat exercitus") is translated "The white robed army of martyrs praise Thee."  The Massa Candida is the remembrance of the deaths of 300 Christians in fourth century Carthage), who St. Augustine called the "white mass of Utica", the crowd in white raiment.  The poet Prudentius wrote about it: ""Whiteness [candor] possesses their bodies; purity [candor] bears their minds [or, souls] to heaven. Hence it [the 'head-long swarm' to which the poet has referred in a preceding line] has merited to be forever called the Massa Candida."

The phrase is derived from the Bible's description of the martyrs in Heaven, in Revelation 7:9-17 (NAB):

After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.  All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: "Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, "Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?" I said to him, "My lord, you are the one who knows." He said to me, "These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  

 

Thank You to All of Our Priests and Bishops

Thank you for all of your work, and for your patience, during the Advent, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we have just completed.  It must have been more difficult this year than usual, especially with the Fourth Sunday of Advent coming on the same day as Christmas Eve, and with a shorter Advent this year for Advent activities.

A word of thanks also to all church musicians -- choirmasters, organists, singers, and others -- who helped to make Advent and Christmas a beautiful time of worship. 

I hope that each of you will have a quiet time of rest and relaxation for the next few days, and that you will know how much your work has been appreciated by those of us who are your parishioners.

Merry Christmas!

The Papal Midnight Mass Homily and Urbi et Orbi Blessing

EWTN will re-broadcast last night's Midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica this afternoon.  Although this afternoon's re-broadcast is not listed on their December television specials page, it does appear on this week's program grid for today at 4:00 p.m. Pacific time, 7:00 Eastern Time.  To watch online, from the EWTN home page, hold your cursor over "Television", select "Live TV - English" or "Live TV - Spanish" and then choose Real Video or Windows Media.  EWTN will also re-broadcast the Urbi et Orbi blessing at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 10:00 Eastern Time.

KTO TV has archived videos of Midnight Mass and the Urbi et Orbi Blessing that you can watch at any time, with French commentary.  Click on "Regarder la Video" in the little green box to watch.

Vatican Radio has an English translation of the Holy Father's homily from Midnight Mass, and you can click on the speaker, on the same page, to listen to the homily online (in Italian).  The Vatican translation is also available from Zenit and the Vatican.  Sandro Magister at www.chiesa also has the homily (Magister's website is now available in English, Spanish, Italian and French).  The Pope spoke of how the Word of God became "brief" and "small" when Christ was born as a baby, brief and small in the form of a baby in need of help, in shepherds who saw nothing miraculous there but a baby lying in a manger, in the "deeper simplicity and unity" of God's Word -- the Logos who became a child so that God's Word could be grasped by us in the simplicity and unity of its summarization in the command to love God and others -- and in the humble appearance of the host of the Eucharist.  Here is an excerpt from the homily:

"Among the many gifts that we buy and receive, let us not forget the true gift: to give each other something of ourselves, to give each other something of our time, to open our time to God. In this way anxiety disappears, joy is born, and the feast is created." 

The Vatican's English translation of the text of the Urbi et Orbi blessing is available from Vatican Radio Zenit, and the Vatican.  The Vatican Radio page also lets you click on the speaker to listen to the Urbi et Orbi blessing online.  In it, the Pope spoke of how the people of our time are in need of a Saviour.  Here is an excerpt:

"How can we not hear, from the very depths of this humanity, at once joyful and anguished, a heart-rending cry for help? It is Christmas: today “the true light that enlightens every man” (Jn 1:9) came into the world. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14), proclaims the Evangelist John. Today, this very day, Christ comes once more “unto his own”, and to those who receive him he gives “the power to become children of God”; in a word, he offers them the opportunity to see God’s glory and to share the joy of that Love which became incarnate for us in Bethlehem. Today “our Saviour is born to the world”, for he knows that even today we need him. Despite humanity’s many advances, man has always been the same: a freedom poised between good and evil, between life and death. It is there, in the very depths of his being, in what the Bible calls his “heart”, that man always needs to be “saved”. And, in this post-modern age, perhaps he needs a Saviour all the more, since the society in which he lives has become more complex and the threats to his personal and moral integrity have become more insidious. Who can defend him, if not the One who loves him to the point of sacrificing on the Cross his only-begotten Son as the Saviour of the world?"

Advent and Christmas Events and Broadcasts

Caution:  This is a 2006 post.  A 2007 schedule will be posted later.

Expanded, with Schedule below in Pacific Time:

Vatican Radio's schedule of special broadcasts includes the Holy Father's audience to the Cardinals and members of the Roman Curia on Friday, December 22 at 11:00 a.m. (Rome's time zone), Midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica (broadcast begins at 11:50 p.m., Rome's time zone, on Sunday December 24), the Urbi et Orbi message on December 25, and the General Audience on December 27.  The broadcast of Midnight Mass is available with commentary in Italian, French, German, Chinese and Spanish on different channels.  (Find your channel here and then click on that channel here.)

Vatican Television's schedule includes the Angelus at noon on December 24, Midnight Mass for Christmas, and the Urbi et Orbi blessing on Christmas Day.  From this link, you can choose to watch the broadcasts online via Real Player, Windows Media, QuickTime, and 2 other options. 

EWTN's U.S. schedule of December special broadcasts (which can be seen by internet) provides the dates and times of its broadcasts for Christmas, including Midnight Mass from St. Peter's Basilica, the Urbi et Orbi Christmas message from St. Peter's Square, and the Christmas meditation and vigil Mass from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.  Other December special broadcasts include documentaries about the Holy Land and Christmas music specials.  EWTN's international schedules and Spanish language onlin broadcasts also include Christmas specials.

The Vatican has an Advent page where the Pope's homilies and addresses will be collected as translations into various languages become available.  There is also a Christmas Page, with links to music, papal Christmas greetings, Christmas homilies, and other links from Christmas from the year 2000.  There is a Vatican collection of mp3 recordings and lyrics for Advent and Christmas online, from the Capella Musicale Pontificia Sistina.  A different collection from the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music includes formularies for Advent and Christmas, and a collection of classical and sacred music.  The calendar of celebrations over which the Holy Father will preside includes Christmas Midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica and the annual Urbi et Orbi Blessing on Christmas Day.

KTO (French Catholic TV) is planning a Christmas Eve broadcast from Lebanon, a symbolic effort, which can be viewed online beginning at 8:50 p.m. in France, 9:50 p.m. in Lebanon (11:50 a.m. Pacific Time on Christmas Eve in the U.S.).

From Radio Notre Dame, Christmas choral music followed by Midnight Mass at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris will be broadcast by radio, available over the internet.  From this page, click on "en direct" to listen to the broadcast live. 

BBC's "Choral Evensong" for December 27 will include plainsong introit, hymn, and antiphon, and the hymn "Of the Father's Heart Begotten" (Divinum Mysterium) from the 2006 Festival of Music Within the Liturgy at Priory Church, Edington.  The BBC Classical Music Archives</