Third Sunday of Advent—December 16, 2012
Readings: Zep 3:14-18a • Phil 4:4-7 • Lk 3:10-18
Gaudete Sunday
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Gaudete in Latin means “Rejoice”! (Translated into Texan, it means “Y’all rejoice!”).
Today at Mass, you will notice the rose-colored chasuble. The color rose is what you get when you mingle violet (color of the quiet expectation of a divine king) with white
(color of jubilation and praise at His coming).
In the gospel, we hear about St. John the Baptist who confesses that he is not the
Messiah, but says the Messiah is indeed coming. St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians exhorts us, Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God. Again, we are reminded that the liturgical season of
Advent is not to be Ebineezer Scrooge while Christmas trimmings are going up around us. Rather, our hopeful expectation is supposed to be expressed in the present and radiate from us not only at Christmas but when Christ comes at the end of time.
St. Paul continues: Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. St. Paul is emphasizing the wholeness — “heart and mind” — of the believer in Christ Jesus. Every time at Mass when the priest says, “The
Lord be with you,” it is a prayer that the dynamic activity of God’s spirit will be given to the hearts and minds of the people of God, enabling them to do the work of transforming the world that God has entrusted to them. And when you reply, “And with your spirit,” it is a prayer for the priest, who received a special spirit at ordination, to help him use the charismatic gifts given to him to fulfill his prophetic function in the
Church.
As we seek to eliminate (with God’s help) those things that impede us from experiencing the Advent joy, we approach the altar of Him whose sandals we are unworthy to untie. We ask Him to visit us, to refresh us with His love, and to give us not holiday cheer, but true joy. Amen, Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus! (Rev 22:20).
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Lowry
Second Sunday of Advent—December 9, 2012
Readings: Bar 5:1-9 • Phil 1:4-6, 8-11 • Lk 3:1-6
What is the Immaculate Conception?
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Living in such a Christian area here in East Texas has its advantages. Most people in this area believe in Jesus and that He is the only way to salvation. However, if you even mention the Blessed Virgin Mary around here, some people think you worship her.
Obviously, we do not worship the Blessed Virgin, but to downplay her role in salvation in any way will inevitably lead to errors about Jesus Christ and His identity.
On Saturday, we celebrated the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Many non-Catholic Christians do not even know what this means. Some think that it means the conception of Jesus in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. (This is actually called the “Virgin Birth” — not the “Immaculate Conception”.) Others think that it means that Mary was conceived by the Holy Spirit in a way like Jesus, but that too is incorrect. (Mary was conceived in the natural way by St. Anne and St. Joachim.)
The difference, though, of the conception of Mary is that God preserved her from the stain of Original Sin at the moment she was conceived.
Someone could argue that if Mary was free from sin and never sinned, why did she say “I rejoice in God my savior” in Luke 1:47? This is a good question. To answer it, let us look at two examples: If a man was walking and fell into a pit, the person who pulled the man out of the pit could be considered that man’s savior. Likewise, if a woman came along and was about to fall into the pit, the person who stopped the woman from falling could also be considered that woman’s savior. The first example is salvation after the fall; the second is salvation before the fall — an anticipated salvation
— and that is what God merited to do for the Blessed Virgin. God is, of course, still her savior, but He saves her in a most perfect way.
The Church places this feast during the season of Advent to help us realize that His salvation comes to us through human cooperation — the cooperation of our Blessed
Lady. God wanted to have a spotless vessel to be the New Ark of the Covenant — to carry the Holy of Holies, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our blessed Lady did not just passively let this happen, but cooperated with God’s will with her whole Immaculate Heart. May our hearts be like hers as we await the awesome celebration of the birth of her Blessed
Son. “May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).
Yours in Jesus through Mary,
Fr. Lowry

Solemnity of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph • Solemnity of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, Mother of God
Readings: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/123012.cfm
• http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010113.cfm
The Meaning of the Twelve Days of Christmas
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As Christmas decorations began going up in homes, stores and in city centers as early as November, the lack of holiday ornamentation in Catholic churches must have seemed a bit stark for visitors. Why did we wait so long to put up the Nativity scene,
Christmas trees and other Yuletide decorations?
Christmas decorations were absent in Catholic churches until the evening of December
24 th because we were celebrating the season of Advent for four weeks. Advent (which comes from the Latin word for “coming”) was the time of preparing our hearts to welcome the Incarnation, the coming of Jesus Christ as true God and true man. In preparing to celebrate the first coming of Christ as a humble babe in Bethlehem, Advent had a second correlated purpose: to help us joyfully welcome Christ at His Second
Coming, when His glory and kingship will be made manifest to all the nations.
During December, many people have been singing the entertaining Christmas carol,
“The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Contrary to popular belief, these twelve days do not refer to the days leading up to Christmas Day (December 14-25).
Rather, the “Twelve Days” are the days beginning with Christmas Day and concluding on January 6 th , the traditional day of Epiphany. The origins of this English Christmas carol are debated, but it is believed that it was composed in the 18 th century to help young Catholics in England learn their faith in a hostile society. The images in the carol are actually symbolic in some way of the tenets of Christianity.
“My true love” refers to God the Father;
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus;
Two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments;
Three French hens are the three wise men;
Four calling birds are the four gospels;
Five golden rings are the five books of the Pentateuch (Torah);
Six geese a-laying are the six days of creation;
Seven swans a-swimming are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit;
Eight maids a-milking are the eight beatitudes;
Nine ladies dancing are the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit;
Ten lords a-leaping are the Ten Commandments;

Eleven pipers piping are the eleven faithful Apostles;
Twelve drummers drumming are the twelve points of the Apostles’ Creed.
While some might be already taking Christmas decorations down and many believe
New Year’s Day concludes the “Holiday Season”, we will continue to celebrate liturgically the “Twelve Days of Christmas” — the Nativity of Our Lord — until
January 6 th and even several days beyond. In addition to being just one more way to counter the tide of secularization and commercialization of an essentially Christian
Holy-day, it is a way to give thanks and praise to God, “Our true love,” for the greatest gift in the history of the world: the gift of a divine Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Yours in Christ our Savior,
Fr. Lowry