Posted on 12/25/2008 8:08:42 AM PST by GonzoII
As I look out the windows of my home in Montana it sure is “beginning to look a lot like Christmas.” We have about a foot of snow and it’s been below zero for about ten days. Two of my dogs are under my desk with their heads resting on my feet--looking like those big fuzzy slippers that little kids sometimes wear.
Christmas is, of course, the best time to recall that Jesus, the Son of God, in fact was born in a poor stable or cave on a cold night—“for us men, and for our salvation.” Amidst the escalating uncertainty and chaos of the modern world we must sit still for a moment and remember what really matters.
In recent years major corporations have been vaporized in the twinkling of an eye. It’s a sign of the times, but recall that what really matters is that it was the twinkling of a star that led shepherds and wise men to the One who is the Light of the world.
In recent years the biggest accounting firm in the world ceased to be over night. They don’t account for anything today, but it honestly doesn’t matter. What really matters is that on a cold night two millennia ago the God who loves us was born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger by the Mother who loves Him.
In recent years the unthinkable has happened--major banks and financial institutions have ceased to be. That doesn’t matter either because the truly unthinkable happened on the first Christmas Eve long ago when the God who always was and will never cease to be came to show us the depth and breadth of His love.
In recent years I have been accused of being a “prophet of doom, and a pessimist.” I can understand this criticism, but it really isn’t true. I am a realist, and as a priest and Catholic/Christian of necessity must share in the prophetic dimension of Christ. The United States, and the entire world for the most part, is in many ways precipitating its own demise. That matters, and we must do all we can to “fight the good fight,” but what truly matters is the state of your soul and mine because in the end that will determine how we live forever, and compared to that nothing else really matters.
Things may go from bad to worse. It may well go from uncomfortable to dangerous to live your Catholic/Christian faith in a world unraveling rapidly due to one bad moral choice after the other. Remember that it will not be the first time if Christians are persecuted, even imprisoned and executed. “The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.” The Western world is too fat and lazy, in the secular order and even in the religious. Perhaps a jolly good persecution may be what it takes for people to decide to live their faith, rather than go along with what they know to be a sick society.
In any event, don’t let it get you down. Whatever happens, stay close to Jesus and Mary. Remember that our God is not against you. He is for you, and He will be with you through all of the ups and downs of life. He will be with you in sickness and in health; in good times and in bad; and when death comes knocking at your door He will be there to comfort you and lead you safely home. Having fought the good fight and run the race to the finish line, you will surely hear those beautiful words:
“WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT! NOW AT LAST ENTER INTO THE JOY OF YOUR MASTER’S HOUSE.”
A most blessed and merry Christmas and a holy, happy, and healthy New Year to each and all of you!
Fr. John Corapi
God bless you Father Corapi.
Indeed, God bless and keep him.
He really hammers it home. Indeed, Merry Christmas Fr. Corapi.
God bless all of you on this Christmas day and throughout the New Year!
I am not Catholic but I love this guy. He is GREAT. I wish I went to his church daily.
a very popular theme, it seems.
you can go to his church daily, the Catholic church, but i will concede it is unfortunately uncommon to hear such preaching at too many Catholic churches
Or try www.wdtprs.com and check out a terrific blog by a priest who was in the same ordination class; both were ordained by Pope John Paul II in 1992 IIRC
is there such a thing?
From one end of the social spectrum to the other, it seems like Americans feel really, really guilty for being Americans; almost as if they are begging someone to call fire and brimstone down upon themselves (along with the rest of us, who would much rather not have to sit through that).
I recall from scriptures that some disciples once offered to call fire and brimstone down upon a city that didn't welcome Jesus and said, "No." In another place, he told disciples, "pray that you wiil be able to escape all that is coming on the world and that you'll be able to stand before the Son of Man."
Whether or not the collective morbid anticipation that seems to wrack anyone with a microphone or a keyboard is fulfilled, don't ever forget that this is the one nation on earth where you, dear citizen, are directly responsible for its fate.
Merry Christmas.
I want to go where he speaks everday. He is one of a kind.
I have heard he is sick, possibly with cancer. He doesn’t get out as much
We went over to church Wednesday afternoon to deliver our Christmas presents to the priests and deacons . . . and found our young Parochial Vicar pounding away on his computer keyboard . . . he was contributing to Father Z’s blog. It’s wonderful to see the young priests so orthodox and on fire — we’re going to need them to keep our hearts up in the days ahead.
Good homily. God bless Fr. Corapi.
No I don’t want any persecution; I want to grow very old and die in my bed even with 401k money left. But the USA as a whole has first tolerated perversity and now we’re on the verge of substantial persecution of Christians. The natural law says bad things happen to peoples that as a matter of principle prefer evil and actually enshrine it with legal privileges...We are supposed to love our country. How does a patriot love this imposter Uncle Sam?
that blog is amazing...I can’t believe it is allowed to exist, recalling all the trouble Mother A had some years ago
the most vocal among us are not patriots. they're pussies, sponging off the work of patriots.
Not sure who Fr. Z's bishop is, but I think he's based in Rome so he doesn't have to contend with the goofier American heterodox bishops, who at any rate have far less power than when Mother A locked horns with them.
Times have changed but you’re right also, Fr Z is based in Rome so liberal leaning Archbishop Flynn of Minneapolis had little control over him. I had forgotten that. Now Minneapolis has a more outspoken orthodox bishop anyway.
(and may His Holiness Benedict XVI live for a hundred years, to appoint MANY more bishops!)
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