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Monday, December 22, 2014

Catholic News World : Monday December 22, 2014 - Share!

2014

Wow Flash Mob of Children perform - Amazing Child Prodigies create Beautiful music in France Mall - Viral - SHARE

A Flash mob of Children gathered in a Paris shopping mall called Beaugrenelle. Some young musical prodigies started to perform the prelude to Carmen by George Bizet. Crowds of spectators soon gathered to hear a chorus finishing the performance, with Toreador. This was recorded by television network France 2, for their PRODIGES show. It will air Dec. 27, displaying talent youth in dance, music and song. (WATCH the video below by France 2) 

Free Christmas Movie : It's a Wonderful Life - Stars James Stewart

It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 130 min - Drama | Family | Fantasy - 7 January 1947 (USA) An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed. Director: Frank Capra Writers: Frances Goodrich (screenplay), Albert Hackett (screenplay), 4 more credits » Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore

Special Christmas message of Pope Francis “fruitful examination of conscience in preparation for Holy Christmas and the New Year.”


Pope Francis shared Christmas greetings Monday with Vatican employees and their families - REUTERS
22/12/2014 03:

(Vatican Radio)  To care for their families, their spiritual and personal lives, their work, and to care for others:  that’s what Pope Francis urged Vatican employees in Christmas greetings Monday.  In an audience in the Paul VI hall inside the Vatican, Pope Francis said he did not wish to let his second Christmas in Rome pass by without meeting the people who work in the curia:  “without meeting the people who work without being seen and who ironically call themselves ‘the unknown,’ the ‘invisible:’ the gardeners, the cleaners, the ushers, the office heads, the lift operators, the minute takers.”
Having just come from offering Christmas wishes to the heads of the curia offices, Pope Francis invited the Vatican’s other employees to “meditate” on his earlier discourse and to make a “fruitful examination of conscience in preparation for Holy Christmas and the New Year.”
He thanked the lay and religious for their service, particularly Italians, who make up the majority of Vatican employees.  He also thanked the many employees from other nations who work “generously in the curia, far from their own countries and their families,” and thus represent the Church’s “Catholicity.”
Citing St. Paul, Pope Francis alluded to the Body of Christ, which needs all of its various parts to make a functioning whole, and where “each member cares for the other.”
“Care,” or “healing,” in fact, were the words Pope Francis chose as the main themes of his encounter with Vatican employees, reminding them of the need to:
Care for their spiritual life: the “backbone of all that we do and all that we are;”
Care for their family life - giving their children more than money: their time, attention and love;
Care for their relations with others – especially the weakest and those most in need;
Care in their language- purifying it from offensive words;
Heal the wounds of the heart through forgiveness;
Care for their work – carrying it out with enthusiasm, humility, competence, passion and gratitude to the Lord;
Heal from envy, hatred and negative feelings which “devour our interior peace” and transform us into destructive people;
Heal from rancor “which brings vindictiveness” and from laziness which brings “existential euthanasia;”  And here, the Pope urged employees to refrain from “pointing the finger” at others, from “continuously complaining” and from  malicious gossiping.  Rather, he said, “ask the Lord for the wisdom to bite your tongue in time” so as to not say something hurtful that will leave a bitter aftertaste;
Care for Holy Christmas – so that it never becomes a feast of commercial consumerism but a feast of joy in welcoming the Lord;
The spirit of true Christmas is emulating Christ – who came to serve, not to be served, the Pope added, reminding employees that they should not be afraid of humility and tenderness towards others. Peace, too, he said, needs enthusiasm and care.
Concluding, the Pope departed from his prepared remarks to ask forgiveness for his shortcomings and those of his collaborators, “and for some scandals, that are very hurtful.  Forgive me.  Merry Christmas and please, pray for me!”

(Tracey McClure)

Today's Mass Readings : Monday December 22, 2014

Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Lectionary: 198


Reading 11 SM 1:24-28

In those days,
Hannah brought Samuel with her,
along with a three-year-old bull,
an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine,
and presented him at the temple of the LORD in Shiloh.
After the boy’s father had sacrificed the young bull,
Hannah, his mother, approached Eli and said:
“Pardon, my lord!
As you live, my lord,
I am the woman who stood near you here, praying to the LORD.
I prayed for this child, and the LORD granted my request.
Now I, in turn, give him to the LORD;
as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the LORD.”
She left Samuel there.

Responsorial Psalm 1 SM 2:1, 4-5, 6-7, 8ABCD

R. (see 1a) My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
I rejoice in my victory.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The bows of the mighty are broken,
while the tottering gird on strength.
The well-fed hire themselves out for bread,
while the hungry batten on spoil.
The barren wife bears seven sons,
while the mother of many languishes.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“The LORD puts to death and gives life;
he casts down to the nether world;
he raises up again.
The LORD makes poor and makes rich,
he humbles, he also exalts.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“He raises the needy from the dust;
from the dung heap he lifts up the poor,
To seat them with nobles
and make a glorious throne their heritage.”
R. My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
O King of all nations and keystone of the Church;
come and save man, whom you formed from the dust!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 1:46-56

Mary said:

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
for he has looked upon his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
and has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.”

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months
and then returned to her home.

Pope Francis Christmas message to Curia “It is the Holy Spirit, who sustains every sincere..."


Pope Francis to Curia, 2014 - AP
22/12/2014 12:54



(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the heads and other senior officials of the departments of the Roman Curia on Monday, in their traditional exchange of Christmas greetings. In remarks prepared for the occasion and delivered Monday morning, the Holy Father focused on the need for those who serve in the curia – especially those in positions of power and authority – to remember and cultivate an attitude and a spirit of service.
 “Sometimes,” said Pope Francis, “[Officials of the Curia] feel themselves ‘lords of the manor’ [It. padroni] – superior  to everyone and everything,” forgetting that the spirit, which should animate them in their lives of service to the universal Church, is one of humility and generosity, especially in view of the fact that none of us will live forever on this earth.
This “disease” of  feeling “immortal” or “essential” – irreplaceable – was one of fifteen maladies, which Pope Francis identified during the course of his address: from a tendency to prefer Martha’s portion over Mary’s, to over-planning (and micromanaging), to wearing being a perpetual downer and wearing a “funeral face” all the day long.
“These and other maladies and temptations,” said Pope Francis, “are a danger for every Christian and for any administrative organization, community, congregation, parish, ecclesial movement, etc., and can strike at both the individual and the corporate level.”
“It is the Holy Spirit,” continued the Holy Father, “who sustains every sincere effort at purification and every authentic desire for conversion. He is the one, who makes us understand that every member participates in the sanctification of the [mystical] body [of Christ, which is the Church], and to its corruption.”
“Therefore,” said Pope Francis, “we are called in this Christmas season and for the whole period of our service – for so long as we exist – to live, ‘[according to] truth in charity, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and up-builds itself in love.’(Eph. 4:15-16)”

Christmas Novena : Day 6 : Official Plenary Indulgence



Opening Prayer:

V. O God, come to my assistance.

R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory be to the Father and to
the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now
and ever shall be, world without
end.
Amen.

Our Father, Who art in heaven
Hallowed be Thy Name;
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Day 6 Prayers


The Adoration of the Kings
O most sweet infant Jesus, who was made known
to the three kings, who worshipped you as you lie on
Mary's breast, and offered you the mystical presents
of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 

Have mercy on us.
Have mercy on us, 0 Lord. Have mercy on us.
Hail Mary...

 Amen.
Day 1: http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/12/official-novena-for-christmas-day-1.html
Day 2: http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/12/novena-for-christmas-day-2-plenary.html
Day 3: http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-novena-day-3-plenary.html
Day 4: http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-novena-day-4-plenary.html
Day 5: http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-novena-day-5-plenary.html
Day 6: http://jceworld.blogspot.ca/2013/12/christmas-novena-day-6-plenary.html
Day 7:
Day 8:
Day 9:
FROM THE RACCOLTA OFFICIAL

NOVENA PREPARATORY TO CHRISTMAS In order to the devout preparation of ourselves for the glorious Birthday of our most loving Saviour, Jesus Christ, which the holy Church recalls to our memory every year on the 25th of December, and at the same time to render Him thanks for this great benefit, Pope Pius VII., by a Rescript of the Segretaria of the Memorials, dated August 12th, 1815 (which said Rescript is preserved in the Segretaria of the Vicariate), granted to all faithful Christians who, being contrite in heart, should prepare themselves for that great solemnity by a novena, consisting of pious exercises, prayers, acts of virtue, &c. -
i. An indulgence of 300 days each day of the said novena, and -
ii. A plenary indulgence to be gained on Christmas day, or on some day in its octave, by those who, after Confession and Communion, shall have made the said novena every day, and who shall pray according to the intentions of the Sovereigns Pontiff: and note that the Confession and Communion may be made on any one of the days of the said novena, provided the novena is correctly kept. This was declared by Pope Pius VIII., of holy memory, by means of the S. Congr. of Indulgences, July 9, 1830. These indulgences were extended by the above-named Pius VII. to one other time in the year, besides the the specified, when any one should make the aforesaid novena in honour of the Child Jesus.

Saint December 22 : St. Chaeremon : Bishop : Martyr


St. Chaeremon
BISHOP
Feast: December 22


Information:
Feast Day:December 22
Died:250
Bishop of Nilopolis, in Egypt. When the sever anti-Christian persecution was instituted by Emperor Trajanus Decius (r. 249-251), Chaeromon was quite elderly. he and several companions fled into the Arabian Desert and were never seen again. The bishop and his companions are listed as martyrs.

Free Catholic Movie : A Christmas Carol - Stars Patrick Stewart of Star Trek - 1999

Charles Dickens' classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption, courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions.
A Christmas Carol (1999) TV Movie - 95 min - Drama | Fantasy - 5 December 1999 (USA) Writers: Peter Barnes (written for television by), Charles Dickens (novel) Stars: Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Joel Grey
FOR AMAZING FREE MOVIES LIKE US ON FACEBOOKhttps://www.facebook.com/catholicnewsworld