Special Devotions
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He Will Be Called the Prince of Peace &
His Reign Shall Have No End…
There is no human being weaker than a newborn child. There is no poorer dwelling than a cave. There is nothing more rudimentary than a manger crib. However, that Child in that cave, and laid in that manger was to transform the course of History.
And what a transformation! The most difficult of all, because it was to orient men on the path opposed to all their inclinations: the path of austerity, sacrifice and the cross. It was to invite a world broken by superstition, religious syncretism and complete skepticism in order to become a world of Faith. It was to invite a mankind inclined to every iniquity to start to practice justice. It was to make an appeal to detachment from a world that loved pleasure in all its forms. It was to attract to purity a world where every depravity was known, practiced and adopted.
It was an obviously unfeasible task, but the Divine Child began, from His first moment on this earth, to take on that work which neither the force of hatred, power nor human passions could contain. And He conquered: The Prince of Peace established His Kingdom, which shall have no end.
But, now, 2,000 years after the Birth of Christ, it seems we have returned to the starting point. The adoration of money, the deification of the masses, the pursuit of empty pleasures, the despotic rule of brute force, superstitions, religious syncretism, skepticism, in the end, neo-paganism in all its aspects have invaded the entire world again.
And from the great supernatural light that began to shine in Bethlehem, few rays still shine on the laws, customs, institutions and culture of the modern world. Meanwhile, we see the startling increase in numbers of those who obstinately refuse to hear the word of God, of those who – by the ideas they profess and the customs they practice – have placed themselves on precisely the opposite pole of the Church.
It is surprising that many ask what is the cause of the titanic crisis in which the world is engaged. It is enough to imagine that if humanity were to fulfill the law of God, then the crisis ipso facto would cease to exist. The problem, then, is in us. It lies in our free will. It is our intelligence that is closed to the truth, and in our will that, influenced by our passions, refuses the good. The reform of man is the essential and indispensable reform. With it, everything will be accomplished. Without it, all that is to come will be nothing.
Let us not close without offering a teaching that is sweet as honeycomb. Yes, we have sinned. Yes, immense are the difficulties that we must face in order to return, to rise again. Yes, our crimes and infidelities have deservedly drawn upon us the wrath of God. But, next to the manger, is the most clement Mediatrix, who is not the stern Judge, but rather has for all of us the greatest compassion, tenderness and indulgence of the most perfect of mothers.
Fixing our eyes on Mary, united to her and by means of her, we ask this Christmas the only grace that really matters: that the Kingdom of God be in us and around us.
Everything else will be given in addition.
The newborn Child fulfilled His mission to save the world
It was an obviously unfeasible task, but the Divine Child began, from His first moment on this earth, to take on that work which neither the force of hatred, power nor human passions could contain. And He conquered: The Prince of Peace established His Kingdom, which shall have no end.
But, now, 2,000 years after the Birth of Christ, it seems we have returned to the starting point. The adoration of money, the deification of the masses, the pursuit of empty pleasures, the despotic rule of brute force, superstitions, religious syncretism, skepticism, in the end, neo-paganism in all its aspects have invaded the entire world again.
And from the great supernatural light that began to shine in Bethlehem, few rays still shine on the laws, customs, institutions and culture of the modern world. Meanwhile, we see the startling increase in numbers of those who obstinately refuse to hear the word of God, of those who – by the ideas they profess and the customs they practice – have placed themselves on precisely the opposite pole of the Church.
We should turn to Our Lady, the model of clemency
Let us not close without offering a teaching that is sweet as honeycomb. Yes, we have sinned. Yes, immense are the difficulties that we must face in order to return, to rise again. Yes, our crimes and infidelities have deservedly drawn upon us the wrath of God. But, next to the manger, is the most clement Mediatrix, who is not the stern Judge, but rather has for all of us the greatest compassion, tenderness and indulgence of the most perfect of mothers.
Fixing our eyes on Mary, united to her and by means of her, we ask this Christmas the only grace that really matters: that the Kingdom of God be in us and around us.
Everything else will be given in addition.
Excerpt from "Et vocabitur Princeps Pacis, regni deceased non erit finis,"
Catolicismo, n. 24, December 1952
Posted December 22, 2015
Catolicismo, n. 24, December 1952
Posted December 22, 2015
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