Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Ambrose, who lived in the 4^th century and is considered to be one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of that time. He was born to an intellectual and Christian family, who raised him up in the ways of the faith. He was educated in Rome, where he studied law, literature, and rhetoric. He was appointed to a governorship by the Italian Prefect, after serving as lawyer in the court of the Prefect’s predecessor. Following the death of the Arian bishop of Milan in 370 Ambrose, in his role as governor, went out to help mitigate any conflict between the Catholics & the Arians. During his introductory speech, he was interrupted with a cry of “Ambrose, Bishop!” thus electing him by acclamation as Bishop of Milan. Though hesitant at first, he finally assented and was made Bishop of Milan. By all accounts, Ambrose took to his new duties as bishop with commitment and vigor.  He spent several hours each day in prayer and he led a simple and austere lifestyle. Along with administering baptism, penance, discipline of clergy, and civil judicial duties, Ambrose also supervised the charities of the church and defended those who were oppressed. He also had a great influence on another great saint of the Church, Augustine of Hippo. Traditionally, Ambrose is credited with promoting “antiphonal chant,” as well as with composing “Veni redemptor gentium,” an Advent hymn. Ambrose was one of the four original doctors of the Church and is the patron saint of Milan

In our reading from the Old Testament for today from the book of the prophet Isaiah, we hear the Lord calling the people of Israel to trust in Him, to look to Him as their source of strength and help in time of trouble. The Israelites were feeling downtrodden, thinking that God no longer protected them, that He no longer cared for them: “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God’?” (Isaiah 40:27). The felt that the Lord had abandoned them in their struggles, in their misfortune. Then Isaiah gives us some of the most beautiful words of hope in the Old Testament (Isaiah 40:28-31):

“Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary,

and the young will fall exhausted;

but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint.”

In our increasingly secular world today, we may not encounter formal heretics like the Arians of Ambrose’s time, but we do encounter many who do not believe in God and do not find joy for their lives. They often criticize believers and say that our hope is in vain. They believe that true freedom and truth is found in individualism, in atheism and humanism. In our workplace, in our homes, in the store, in our own friends and family are those who feel as though they are alone, dejected, and downtrodden. But our message, our hope, our joy, my friends, is that, “The Lord is an everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth…He gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless.” Let us be strengthened by these words and pass them on to all in our world who need them. Let us proclaim the truth of the Gospel in Jesus Christ, as did St. Ambrose to the people that he served.

St. Ambrose, bishop and doctor of the Church, pray for us.

Which is it?  Christmas?  Xmas?  What’s up with that?

This has been quite the heated debate in the last few years. We have seen the memes and heard folks say:

• they take Christ out of Christmas.
• It’s a sacreligious name for Christmas.
• We are X-ing out Christ in Christmas.
• People are trying to turn Christmas into  a secular holiday.
• It’s an insult to Christians and to Christ.

Oh my!  I”m sure that most of you have seen the “The More You Know” ad spots on television.  Let’s consider this message on of those….So here we go…….

To begin:  Look around in your churches, my friends, especially those of you from a liturgical background, and see how many X’s you can find.

“Xmas” is a common abbreviation of the word “Christmas”.  The “-mas” part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for “Mass”, while the “X” comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, translated as “Christ”.  There is a common misconception that the word Xmas is a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas by taking the “Christ” out of “Christmas”.  While “Xmas” is considered to be an informal abbreviation, and should never be used in formal writing, it is historically correct.

The word “Christ” and its compounds, including “Christmas”, have been abbreviated in English for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern “Xmas” was commonly used. “Christ” was often written as “XP” or “Xt”; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as AD 1021. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for “Christ”), and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. The labarum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters rendered as ☧, is a symbol often used to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the OED Supplement have cited usages of “X-” or “Xp-” for “Christ-” as early as 1485. The terms “Xpian” and “Xtian” have also been used for “Christian”. The dictionary further cites usage of “Xtianity” for “Christianity” from 1634. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage, most of the evidence for these words comes from “educated Englishmen who knew their Greek”.In ancient Christian art, χ and χρ are abbreviations for Christ’s name. In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons, Χ is an abbreviation for Χριστος, as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma); compare IC for Jesus in Greek.

Thus, really and truly, the use of the “X” isn’t taking Christ out of Christmas at all.  And instead of protesting the use of “X” during the  Christmas season, wouldn’t we ALL be better people, the world be a better place, and Christ be better served,  if we kept that “X” in our words and deeds every day of the year?  Should we not celebrate Him always, 24/7/365?

So, having said all of the above,  may you keep Christ, not only in Christmas, but also in your hearts and minds and lives, every day and always.  Amen.

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was a Native American from the Algonquin-Mohawk tribes.  She lived during a time when European colonists interacted with Native Americans in the fur trade.  The Dutch allied with the Mohawk, while the French allied with the Huron.  This led to conflict among the tribes, which made the living environment difficult for her people.  She contracted smallpox as a child.  This epidemic killed her family, and it left her face scarred.  At the age of 19, she converted to Catholicism and was baptized in honor of Saint Catherine of Sienna.  She did not marry, and moved to a Jesuit mission where she lived for the last 5 years of her life because many of her tribe shunned her for her decision to convert to Catholicism.  She took the vow of perpetual virginity.  Saint Kateri truly believed in the value of suffering as part of religious penance.  It is said that the scars on her face disappeared upon her death at the age of 24.  What led to her cause for sainthood were events of relics healing sick people.  She was beatified by John Paul II in 1980, and canonized by Benedict XVI on October 21, 2012.  She is the first Native American to be canonized.

 First Reading – Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19

 The way of the just is smooth;
the path of the just you make level.
Yes, for your way and your judgments, O LORD,
we look to you;
Your name and your title
are the desire of our souls.
My soul yearns for you in the night,
yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you;
When your judgment dawns upon the earth,
the world’s inhabitants learn justice.
O LORD, you mete out peace to us,
for it is you who have accomplished all we have done.

O LORD, oppressed by your punishment,
we cried out in anguish under your chastising.
As a woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,
so were we in your presence, O LORD.
We conceived and writhed in pain,
giving birth to wind;
Salvation we have not achieved for the earth,
the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.
But your dead shall live, their corpses shall rise;
awake and sing, you who lie in the dust.
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the land of shades gives birth.

Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 102:13-14AB and 15, 16-21

1. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
   You, O LORD, abide forever,
   and your name through all generations.
   You will arise and have mercy on Zion,
   for it is time to pity her.
   For her stones are dear to your servants,
   and her dust moves them to pity.
   R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
   The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
   and all the kings of the earth your glory,
   When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
   and appeared in his glory;
   When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
   and not despised their prayer.
   R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
   Let this be written for the generation to come,
   and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
   “The LORD looked down from his holy height,
   from heaven he beheld the earth,
   To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
   to release those doomed to die.”
   R. From heaven the Lord looks down on the earth.
   

Gospel: Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

We can see that Saint Kateri Tekakwitha had a very hard life, with many struggles of tribal conflict, an illness which significantly affected her physical appearance, and the death of her direct family; yet despite all of these situations, God rewarded her with glory upon and after her death.  Based upon the history that White people have with Native Americans due to prejudice, it might seem strange that we can look to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha as an example of how to overcome struggles in life, BUT her life is a clear illustration of what the readings for today are telling us.  When she converted to Catholicism and took the vow of perpetual virginity, she put all trust in God; even understanding that suffering is a form of penance for the greater glory of God.  The Gospel is exactly what this is all about.

In today’s context, we all have our own struggles in life which we can allow to overtake us, or we can choose to trust in God to overcome them; these challenges might be a disability, ongoing family conflict, financial troubles, or even a spiritual crisis.  It is just a matter of how we handle these situations.  Not everybody is able to overcome obstacles in life, and reach the point of throwing in the towel because the sight of God’s love and recognizing that the yoke is not as heavy as it may seem when trusting in God.  Ultimately, we have to ask ourselves if we will be like Saint Kateri Tekakwitha in turning to God,  hearing the words of Jesus:

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

Lord, help us to recognize when we need to turn to you in times of struggle, and allow the yoke to be lightened by turning to you.  May we follow the example of Saint Kateri Tekakwitha by trusting in you.  This we ask through Christ, Our Lord.  Amen.

Today as a church and as Christians we celebrate the double feast of the Apostles St. Philip and St. James.

St. Philip

Philip was born in Bethsaida, Galilee. He may have been a disciple of John the Baptist and is mentioned as one of the Apostles in the lists of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and in Acts. Aside from the lists, he is mentioned only in John in the New Testament. He was called by Jesus Himself and brought Nathanael to Christ. Philip was present at the miracle of the loaves and fishes, when he engaged in a brief dialogue with the Lord, and was the Apostle approached by the Hellenistic Jews from Bethsaida to introduce them to Jesus. Just before the Passion, Jesus answered Philip’s query to show them the Father, but no further mention of Philip is made in the New Testament beyond his listing among the Apostles awaiting the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room. According to tradition he preached in Greece and was crucified upside down at Hierapolis under Emperor Domitian.

St. James

St. James the Less, the author of the first Catholic Epistle, was the son of Alphaeus of Cleophas. His mother Mary was either a sister or a close relative of the Blessed Virgin, and for that reason, according to Jewish custom, he was sometimes called the brother of the Lord. The Apostle held a distinguished position in the early Christian community of Jerusalem. St. Paul tells us he was a witness of the Resurrection of Christ; he is also a “pillar” of the Church, whom St. Paul consulted about the Gospel.

According to tradition, he was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and was at the Council of Jerusalem about the year 50. The historians Eusebius and Hegesippus relayed that St. James was martyred for the Faith by the Jews in the Spring of the year 62, although they greatly esteemed his person and had given him the surname of “James the Just.”

Tradition has always recognised him as the author of the Epistle that bears his name. Internal evidence based on the language, style, and teaching of the Epistle reveals its author as a Jew familiar with the Old Testament, and a Christian thoroughly grounded in the teachings of the Gospel. External evidence from the early Fathers and Councils of the Church confirmed its authenticity and canonicity.  The date of its writing cannot be determined exactly. According to some scholars it was written about the year 49 A.D. Others, however, claim it was written after St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (composed during the winter of 57-58 A.D.). It was probably written between the years 60 and 62 A.D.

St. James addresses himself to the “twelve tribes that are in the Dispersion,” that is, to Christians outside Palestine; but nothing in the Epistle indicates that he is thinking only of Jewish Christians. St. James realises full well the temptations and difficulties they encounter in the midst of paganism, and as a spiritual father, he endeavours to guide zero direct them in the faith. Therefore, the burden of his discourse is an exhortation to practical Christian living.

Both St. Philip and St. James have their joint feast day on May 3rd.

Let us pray:

As we remember the apostles Philip and James we are reminded that God calls us all and sends us out into the world to be his hands and his feet. We thank you Jesus for the tasks you have entrusted to us. Help us each day to become more aware of our calling to serve you.

Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer

We pray for the needs of the world, remembering particularly those parts of the world where people live in daily fear of violence and oppression. We call to mind those parts of the world particularly on our hearts today.

Lord in your mercy – hear our prayer

We remember that Philip opened the scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch helping to bring him to Christ.  Let us also bring others to the full knowledge and love of Christ.

Amen.