Keep
your eyes open!...
Christmas, 2020
THE TRIB TIMES WILL RETURN IN MID JANUARY 2021, GOD
WILLING (James 4:15).
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL FROM THE ZAMBRANO GRANDDAUGHTERS! BLESSINGS FOR A JOYOUS NEW YEAR!
CNA: First known nativity scene figurines can now be seen in St. Mary Major Basilica
UNHERD: The myth of ‘pagan’ Christmas
NCR: Christmas Around the World- A look at Christmas traditions in India, Hong Kong, Germany, Egypt and Mexico.
ALETEIA: 12 Songs of Christmas (from all around the world)
NCR MEDITATION EXCERPT: The Everlasting Light of Christmas
The shepherds reveal to us four essential lessons we need to live Christmas well.
The first is vigilance. They were on watch. They heard the message
proclaimed by the angels because they were awake in a state of Advent
waiting. They were ready for what God would reveal through the angel.
Second, they were prompt in responding to God’s messengers. As soon as
the angelic choirs had departed, they said, “Let us go, then, to
Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place that the Lord has made
known to us,” and “they went in haste.” They didn’t wait until the
morning or take time to check their calendars. They went immediately.
Pope Benedict asked in his book on the infancy narratives in his Jesus
of Nazareth trilogy, “How many Christians make haste today where the
things of God are concerned?” In his 2012 Christmas midnight Mass
homily, he added, “God does not feature among the things that require
haste. The things of God can wait, we think and we say. And yet he is
the most important thing, ultimately the one truly important thing.”
The shepherds show us how to prioritize God.
Third, they teach us that to encounter the Lord as he wants, we have to
move. By God’s design, the Holy Family could have been directed to the
cave where the shepherds were dwelling so that the shepherds didn’t
have to move. Yet even though the eternal Son of God traveled the
distance from heaven to earth to be with them, he was born a short
distance away, so that the shepherds would have to get up and journey.
Likewise, Bethlehem is not going to come to us on our La-Z-Boy. We need
to be willing to make a pilgrimage, to overcome spiritual inertia, to
go beyond our comfort zones.
Lastly, the shepherds show us how the encounter with Christ is meant to
change us. St. Luke tells us that, after the shepherds adored Jesus,
they returned, “glorifying and praise God for all they had heard and
seen.” They became evangelizers, like new angels, taking the good news
of great joy that the angels had announced to them, and the means of
peace on earth, out to others. That’s what the Lord hopes Christmas
will do for us.
EXCERPT THE TABLET: Hope Is the Purpose of Christmas
Hope is the purpose of Christmas itself. The Savior comes to bring new
hope and joy to the world. He restores hope to a world in darkness. He
is the Light of the World. As Benedict XVI put it in his encyclical,
“We are saved in hope.” The Savior gives us hope. Hope can be like a
dream. In a dream, we are not quite sure what we saw. But scripture
tells us we hope for what we do not see. Yes, hope is for an unknown
future that we face today in our world. We do hope this pandemic will
end soon, but we do not know. There are still, unfortunately, people
who will suffer from this virus, and those who may die from it. What do
we do? Do we give up? How do we hope?
Let us look at the Christmas scene that is
before us. What happened there? Mary and Joseph are there, and yes, a
Child was born there. But why all the commotion? Why do the shepherds
come? Why do they hear angels? Why, at some point, will Wise Men come?
Something special, obviously, has happened. Somebody was born Who will
make a difference in the world. How can Mary and Joseph describe it?
They, too, live in the hope that someday they will comprehend the
miraculous circumstances of the birth of this Child.
We cannot forget that Christ was born on
Christmas and is born spiritually not only on each Christmas but each
time we celebrate the Eucharist. He becomes present to us as He was
present to Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the Wise Men. It is that
same Jesus, Who, under the form of bread and wine, becomes our hope for
the future. To restore hope is what we need. It is the ultimate
redemption that we deeply desire.
Sometimes the Christmas Spirit escapes us.
We may be depressed. We may be mourning the death of a loved one. Many
circumstances make it difficult to have the so-called Christmas Spirit.
But what is the Christmas Spirit? In essence, it is the spirit of
generosity, the spirit of giving, that we attach so uniquely to
Christmas. It is a time when we give gifts. It is a time when we give
something of ourselves to others. It is that fraternity that the Holy
Father speaks to us about in “Fratelli Tuti,” where we are asked to go
beyond ourselves, where we recognize that in our generosity to others,
we find the true meaning of life.
So, what can we do to put out into the deep
searching for hope? Well, there are practical things: we should get the
vaccination against this virus when it becomes available to us. The
Church reminds us that there is nothing immoral about it. We may have
our own personal fears, but in essence, there is nothing wrong with it.
We need to protect others as well as ourselves. We should wear a mask
when appropriate, we should keep social distance. We need to reach out
to others in their need in this time of crisis. Will we come out of
this crisis better or worse? That is the question before us this
Christmas. We have that wonderful possibility this Christmas to make
some resolutions for the future.
At this Christmas, we truly do put out into
the depth of our understanding of the virtue of hope. It seems that
this crisis is slow to leave us. How do we survive the rest of it? How
do we make this Christmas truly a joyful celebration of the birth of
the Savior? It demands, as we have proposed, that we go out of
ourselves; that we take those steps that will bring us closer to others
while at the same time protecting others. Join me as we usher in a new
year of hope because the Savior was born to us.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
25. My divine Master has taught me to look upon
myself only as the sport of the good pleasure of His adorable Heart, my
sole treasure, and in this it is that I must glory.
Fourth Week of Advent, 2020
(Rom 16:25-27) Now
to him that is able to establish you, according to my gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery
which was kept secret from eternity; (Which now is made manifest by the
scriptures of the prophets, according to the precept of the eternal
God, for the obedience of faith) known among all nations: To God, the
only wise, through Jesus Christ, to whom be honour and glory for ever
and ever. Amen.
REGINA PROPHETARUM: See That You Be NOT Troubled
FR. MARK GORING, CC: 2021: A Bad Feeling
MARK MALLET BLOG: Defeating the Spirit of Fear
SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS
PASTORAL LETTER: “Light shines in darkness” (1 John 1:5)
EXCERPT MEDITATION: Fourth Sunday of Advent: Behold!
Today’s Gospel takes us to that most familiar scene. There is Mary,
usually depicted as praying with a book by her prie-dieu. The Angel
appears, Gabriel, and Mary is rightly astonished. He does not call her
Mary. He says, “Hail, Full of Grace.” We say, “Hail Mary, full of
grace,” but the angel just says, “Hail Full of Grace.” Mary wonders,
why would he call her that? What does this mean? The angel assures her
that she is the favoured one, she has found favour with God. She is to
be a mother, the mother of Jesus, the Son of the Most High. Of course,
any woman would wonder how this is going to happen. Even more, a
virgin, perhaps 16 years old or younger, betrothed to a man whom mostly
likely she had barely met, that being the extent of their relationship.
The angel explains that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the
power of the Most High will overshadow her. He tells her about her
kinswoman, Elizabeth, who has conceived in her old age.
Then the angel waits. The world
waits. All are waiting for Mary’s response. Will she allow salvation to
begin within her? Will God’s special presence come upon earth? Will He
become one of us?
The world waits in eager
expectation. And Mary humbly responds, “Behold.” That word “Behold” is
used again. The angel began his explanation for his presence with that
word, “Behold” ...you will conceive and so forth. Behold. He used that
word a second time when he told Mary about Elizabeth, “Behold Elizabeth
your kinswoman has conceived.” Behold. The word “Behold” means witness
the power, and wonder at the glory of God. Behold. Now Mary uses that
word. “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord, be it done unto me
according to your word.” Mary’s behold follows the meaning of the
angel’s behold. She says, “Behold the power, the wonder and the Glory
of God will take place within me.” And the Word Becomes Flesh. It is at
the Annunciation, at Mary’s “Behold,” when the Holy Spirit comes upon
her and the Power of the Most High overshadows her. It is then that a
baby is formed within her. This is not just a zygote that eventually
becomes an embryo which soon becomes a foetus. This is a baby. In fact,
every pregnancy begins with a baby. Mary’s baby is different though.
Her baby is the Word Become Flesh. God became one of us within Mary at
the Annunciation. Later in the great story of salvation, under the
cross, Mary would become a mother again, our mother.
The world waited for her answer.
Finally she said, “Behold.” “Hail, full of Grace,” Gabriel’s greeting
could be directed to each of us after our baptism. At our baptism, we
received the Life of God. At our baptism, we received the grace of God.
Did we receive the Grace of God to the extent that Mary received Grace?
No, we were not conceived totally united to God as Mary was at her
conception. We were not conceived immaculately. It was after our
conception and after our birth, and for some after a number of years
that we were brought to the Church and received God’s grace.
We were given the Grace of God. In
a way we also were overshadowed by the Holy Spirit so that we, like
Mary, could fulfil the mission the Lord has for each of us. This
mission is certainly not as momentous as Mary’s, infinitely less, but
it is still a mission from God.
Our mission is to proclaim to the
world that the spiritual has become physical, that God is one of us and
one with us, that the evil one has been conquered, and the ransom price
for human beings has been paid with the Body and Blood of the Christ.
We are called to tell the world that those who believe that Jesus is
the Christ will have life in his name. The world waits. It waits for
our answer. Will we accept the mission God has for each of us? Will we
spread the Kingdom of Justice, the Kingdom of Peace, the Kingdom of
Love? Will we have the humility and the courage to join Mary and say,
“Behold”?
ICBC: Advent Calendar 2020
ADVENT RESOURCE: Praying Advent and Celebrating Christmas via Creighton University's Online Ministries
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
23. He has so fashioned and destined me for His
all-lovable Heart, that He alone is all my joy, my consolation, my treasure
and my happiness; and apart from Him all else is as nothing to me.
Third Week of Advent, 2020
(Php 4:4) Rejoice in the Lord always: again, I say, rejoice.
DENVER CATHOLIC: What the Year of St. Joseph means, and how to gain the indulgences
FR. MARK GORING, CC
NCR: I Love the Rose Candle! The Significance of Gaudete Sunday
A MOMENT WITH MARY: This Advent, commit yourself to saying “just one yes”
Have you ever wondered what one “yes” could do? When the Archangel
Gabriel announced to our Blessed Mother, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the
Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women,” and then proceeded to
tell her she had been chosen to be the mother of the divine Savior, she
replied, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according
to your Word.” Simply stated, Mary said “yes.” What if she had said
“no” to God? We would be without a Savior, true God who became true
man, who perfectly revealed God’s truth and love to us, who suffered,
died and rose for our salvation. We would remain in darkness, and the
gates of heaven would remain closed. Mary’s one “yes” made all the
difference in the world for each and every one of us.
This Advent, commit yourself to saying “just one yes.” Advent is a time
to not only remember the first coming of our Savior born on Christmas
Day, but also a time to prepare once again for His coming into our
lives anew. Moreover, we see that so many people need to be awakened to
the presence of Christ and accept Him to be their Savior, especially
people who are trapped in sinful lifestyles, who have abandoned the
faith, who are ignorant of truth, and who are starving for love.
Therefore, like our Blessed Mother, we must also do our part to ignite
a “yes” in the lives of others. Through our “yes” we can storm Heaven
to pour forth abundant graces not only to embolden ourselves as better
disciples, but also to crack and change the most hardened of hearts to
say “yes” to Jesus.
ICBC: Advent Calendar 2020
ADVENT RESOURCE: Praying Advent and Celebrating Christmas via Creighton University's Online Ministries
INSIDE THE VATICAN: From the Early Church Fathers, on Advent
“Ignatius, also called Theophorus, to the Church at Ephesus in Asia…
predestined from eternity for a glory that is lasting and unchanging,
united and chosen through true suffering by the will of the Father in
Jesus Christ our God.” —Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians 1,
A.D. 110
“Christians are they who, above every people of the earth, have found
the truth, for they acknowledge God, the Creator and maker of all
things, in the only-begotten Son and in the Holy Spirit.” —Aristides,
Apology 16, A.D. 140
“For the Church, although dispersed throughout the whole world even to
the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and from their
disciples the faith in one God, Father Almighty, the creator of heaven
and earth and sea and all that is in them; and in one Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, who became flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit,
who announced through the prophets the dispensations and the comings,
and the birth from a Virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from
the dead, and the bodily ascension into heaven of the beloved Christ
Jesus our Lord, and his coming from heaven in the glory of the Father
to reestablish all things; and the raising up again of all flesh of all
humanity, in order that to Jesus Christ our Lord and God and Savior and
King, in accord with the approval of the invisible Father, every knee
shall bend of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” —St.
Irenaeus, Against All Heresies 1:10:1, A.D. 189
“He was made both Son of God in the spirit and Son of man in the flesh,
that is, both God and man.” —Lactantius, Divine Institutes 4:13:5, A.D.
307
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: "To the Shepherd"
22. Were it but possible for me to reveal the infinite
riches that are hidden in this precious treasure, with which He enriches
and benefits His faithful friends! Could we but understand, we should spare
no pains to procure Him the satisfaction He so ardently desires.
Second Week of Advent, 2020
(2Pe 3:8-9) But of this one thing be
not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord delayeth not his
promise, as some imagine, but dealeth patiently for your sake, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance.
SAINT POPE JOHN PAUL II: The
exhortation to be watchful resounds many times in the liturgy,
especially in Advent, a season of preparation not only for Christmas,
but also for Christ’s definitive and glorious coming at the end of
time. It therefore has a distinctly eschatological meaning and invites
the believer to spend every day and every moment in the presence of the
One “who is and who was and who is come” (Rv 1:4), to whom the future
of the world and of man belongs. This is Christian hope! Without this
prospect, our existence would be reduced to living for death.
ICBC: Advent Calendar 2020
ADVENT RESOURCE: Praying Advent and Celebrating Christmas via Creighton University's Online Ministries
MEDITATION: Advent: Christ knocks at the door of our hearts
VATICAN NEWS: Cardinal Cantalamessa’s first Advent sermon: Death is bridge to eternal life
HOMILY EXCERPT THE ABBEY OF THE GENESEE: 2nd Sunday of Advent
During this season of Advent, the Church invites each of her sons and
daughters to live a life of hope, to deepen our friendship with Christ,
the Bridegroom of the soul. The way for the Lord is a spiritual journey
out of our self-centeredness into Christ-centeredness, from a hopeless
loneliness to a profound communion with Christ.
His friendship with us for his part creates new possibilities of growth
for us. The way we relate to ourselves is changed by the presence of
Christ in our soul, by what he is for us and what we are for him. The
spiritual life becomes a mutual exchange of love, and in this exchange
God reveals himself. His Spirit lives in the depths of our spirit,
encouraging us and directing all the inner resources we may have.
At this holy communion, the Body and Blood of Christ will become the
sacrament of God’s friendship with us. Let us prepare a way for him in
our hearts, make him the companion of every moment of our lives, and
come to know what it means for a human being to be fully alive. For
this friendship does not end in death. It leads to the eternal wedding
feast of the Lamb.
MEDITATION: Every Tear Brings the Messiah Closer
“People are always impatient, but God is never in a hurry!” Nikos
Kazantzakis wrote those words and they highlight an important truth: We
need to be patient, infinitely patient, with God. We need to let things
unfold in their proper time, God’s time.
Looking at religious history through the centuries, we cannot help but
be struck by the fact that God seemingly takes his time in the face of
our impatience. Our scriptures are often a record of frustrated desire,
of non-fulfillment, and of human impatience. It’s more the exception
when God intervenes directly and decisively to resolve a particular
human tension. We are always longing for a messiah to take away our
pain and to avenge oppression, but mostly those prayers seem to fall on
deaf ears.
Why is God seemingly so slow to act? Is God callous to our suffering?
Why is God so plodding in his plan, when we’re suffering so deeply? Why
is God so excruciatingly slow to act in the face of human impatience?
Human birth helps answer that question. Gestation cannot be hurried and
there is an organic connection between the pain a mother experiences in
childbirth and the delivery of a new life. And that’s also true of
Jesus’ birth. Advent is a gestation process that cannot be rushed.
Tears, pain, and a long season of prayer are needed to create the
conditions for the kind of pregnancy that brings forth a messiah into
our world. And messiahs can only be born inside a particular kind of
womb, namely, one within which there’s enough patience and willingness
to wait so as to let things happen on God’s terms, not ours.
Every frustration should, ideally, make us more ready to love. Every
tear should, ideally, make us more ready to forgive. Every heartache
should, ideally, make us more ready to let go of some of our
separateness. Every unfulfilled longing should, ideally, lead us into a
deeper and more sincere prayer. And all of our pained impatience for a
consummation that seems to forever elude us should makes us feverish
enough to burst into love’s flame.
To offer yet another image: It is with much groaning of the flesh that the life of the spirit is brought forth!
Ladder
of Divine Ascent excerpt: "To the Shepherd"
21. Would that I could exhaust myself in acts of
thanksgiving and gratitude towards this divine Heart, for the great favor
He shows us, in deigning to accept our help to make Him known, loved and
honored; He reserves infinite blessings for all those who devote themselves
to this work.
First Week of Advent, 2020
(Mar 13:35-37) Watch ye therefore (for you know not when the lord of
the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or
in the morning): Lest coming on a sudden, he find you sleeping. And
what I say to you, I say to all: Watch.
SAINT POPE JOHN PAUL II:
The exhortation to be watchful resounds many times in the liturgy,
especially in Advent, a season of preparation not only for Christmas,
but also for Christ’s definitive and glorious coming at the end of
time. It therefore has a distinctly eschatological meaning and invites
the believer to spend every day and every moment in the presence of the
One “who is and who was and who is come” (Rv 1:4), to whom the future
of the world and of man belongs. This is Christian hope! Without this
prospect, our existence would be reduced to living for death.
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT: The Season of Advent
ICBC: Advent Calendar 2020
ADVENT RESOURCE: Praying Advent and Celebrating Christmas via Creighton University's Online Ministries
FR. MARK GORING, CC: Kibeho: The First Apparition
A MOMENT WITH MARY: Our Lady of Kibeho’s messages concern the whole world
Our Lady's apparitions in Kibeho,
Rwanda, began on November 28, 1981, and ended on November 28, 1989.
Nathalie Mukamazimpaka, one of the three visionaries of Kibeho recalls:
"Our Lady taught me to pray the
Rosary Crown of the 7 Sorrows because she said that a tragedy was
brewing in Rwanda. Our Lady asked us to change our lifestyle, to love
the sacraments, to do penance, to pray without ceasing by reciting the
Rosary of the 7 Sorrows for the conversion of the hearts of those who
have departed from God, and to be humble in asking for forgiveness and
in forgiving."
Bishop Augustin Misago, Bishop of
Gikongoro, the diocese on which Kibeho depends, recalls the amazement
and anxiety generated by the story of the visionaries:
"We realize now that the Rwandan
tragedy had been foretold. But I remember that on August 15, 1982, on
the feast of the Assumption, the visionaries, instead of seeing the
Virgin full of joy, witnessed terrible, frightening visions of corpses
from which sprang abundant streams of blood, left unburied on the
hills. No one knew what these terrible images meant. Now we are able to
interpret the events anew, and see that they were probably a vision of
what happened in Rwanda and in the region of the Great Lakes where
blood was flowing, in Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of
Congo."
The Bishop of Gikongoro added that
Our Lady of Kibeho’s messages concern the whole world. "A conversion of
hearts is needed to obtain greater justice. We live in a situation of
global imbalance where the rich continue to get richer and the poor to
get poorer. It is a shameful situation that each person will have to
evaluate according to his or her conscience."
UNIVERSALIS: The twofold coming of Christ
We do not preach only one coming of Christ, but a second as well, much
more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience;
the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom.
In general, whatever relates to our Lord Jesus Christ has two aspects.
There is a birth from God before the ages, and a birth from a virgin at
the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on
fleece, and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.
At the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At
his second coming he will be clothed in light as in a garment. In the
first coming he endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second
coming he will be in glory, escorted by an army of angels.
We look then beyond the first coming and await the second. At the first
coming we said: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. At the
second we shall say it again; we shall go out with the angels to meet
the Lord and cry out in adoration: Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord.
The Saviour will not come to be judged again, but to judge those by
whom he was judged. At his own judgement he was silent; then he will
address those who committed the outrages against him when they
crucified him and will remind them: You did these things, and I was
silent.
His first coming was to fulfil his plan of love, to teach men by gentle
persuasion. This time, whether men like it or not, they will be
subjects of his kingdom by necessity.
The prophet Malachi speaks of the two comings. And the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple: that is one coming.
Again he says of another coming: Look, the Lord almighty will come, and
who will endure the day of his entry, or who will stand in his sight?
Because he comes like a refiner’s fire, a fuller’s herb, and he will
sit refining and cleansing.
These two comings are also referred to by Paul in writing to Titus: The
grace of God the Saviour has appeared to all men, instructing us to put
aside impiety and worldly desires and live temperately, uprightly, and
religiously in this present age, waiting for the joyful hope, the
appearance of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Notice how he speaks of a first coming for which he gives thanks, and a
second, the one we still await.
That is why the faith we profess has been handed on to you in these
words: He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the
Father, and he will come again in glory to judge the living and the
dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
Our Lord Jesus Christ will therefore come from heaven. He will come at
the end of the world, in glory, at the last day. For there will be an
end to this world, and the created world will be made new.
Thoughts
and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Holy Eucharist
20. I believe that He will confirm these words
which His unworthy slave continually heard in the depths of her heart,
amidst all the difficulties and opposition that beset the beginning of
this devotion: "I shall reign in spite of My enemies and of all those who
would oppose Me."
Links 
E-mail
Dr. Zambrano 
Home
Jubilee
2000: Bringing the World to Jesus
The
Tribulation Times Archives:
FAIR
USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the
use of which
has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We
are making such material available in our efforts to advance
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this
constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted
material
as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance
with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes. For more detailed information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of
your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.