St. Nick’s: Happy Feast Day of St. Nicholas. A bishop of Myra (located in Turkey), he was especially known for his care of the poor and needy. So many traditions have developed from his life—including the candy cane shaped like a bishop’s crozier. Of course, there is also the custom of leaving shoes outside one’s bedroom with the hope of them getting filled with surprises. A co-worker told me that his son thinks that every day is St. Nicholas Day because he leaves his shoes everywhere throughout their house. 😊
Stensen’s duct: Each morning I read a saint of the day. Yesterday’s saint was someone I have never heard of: Blessed Niels Stensen. He grew up in Denmark and became a doctor. He discovered that our saliva comes from the parotid gland to the mouth. Hence the name Stensen’s duct. Blessed Stensen did not grow up Catholic. While living in Italy for a time, he became interested in the Catholic faith. During a Eucharistic procession, he thought, “Either that host is just a piece of bread, and these people are deluded, or it really is the Body of Christ!” After prayer and discernment, he joined the Catholic Church a year later.
Bells: Tomorrow, December 7, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, will peal its bells at 2 pm eastern time coinciding with the Rite of Opening the Doors of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, whose doors had been closed since the devastating fire of April 15, 2019. They invited each diocese to do the same, and so our Cathedral in Salina will peal its bells too at the 1 pm central time. USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio stated, “this gesture of uniting our local Churches with the Cathedral of Paris would be one more sign of our union to the eldest daughter of the Church whose forefathers contributed so much to the U.S. struggle for Independence.”
Captured: Blessings on your Advent season. All our parishes are participating in the Advent Rescue Project from ACTS XXIX. This weekend’s theme is “captured.” Satan, an angel, was created good by God. His sin is pride and his motive for rebelling against God is envy. His strategy is to tempt us to think that either God is not a good Father and cannot be trusted, or that we could be happier apart from God.
Immaculate Conception: The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception falls on December 9 this year because the Second Sunday of Advent precedes this feast. Our Blessed Mother teaches us to listen, to ponder, and to keep saying ‘yes’ to God even amid difficult times and trials.
Story of St. Catherine Laboure: When she was nine years old, her mother died. She grabbed a little statue of our Blessed Mother and said, “You will be my Mother now!” Growing up on a farm as the 8th of ten children, she entered the Daughters of Charity in 1830. Mary appeared to St. Catherine three times between July and December of 1830. The first time she was awakened one evening by a small child to go to the convent chapel where Mary appeared; the second time Mary appeared standing on a globe crushing the head of a serpent; the third time Mary appeared she showed Catherine an image now known as the Miraculous Medal honoring her Immaculate Conception. This devotion has spread throughout the world and has led to thousands of conversions.
A Homily to Remember: When I was in Rome, I heard a homily from Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Archdiocese of New York that I will never forget. While he was a young priest, he went to visit the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris. It was near closing time and there was only him, a priest friend, and a mother and daughter, who had Down’s Syndrome, who were there. The mother encouraged her daughter to go sit in a chair that was roped off. When the daughter went there, the security person said “no, not allowed.” After the security person was not in sight, the mother again encouraged her daughter to sit in the chair. The daughter went underneath the ropes but instead of sitting in the chair she rested her head on the chair. When she returned to her mother, she was asked, “How come you didn’t sit in the chair.” She replied, “Because the woman in blue asked me to rest my head on her lap.”
Hope: The Jubilee Year of Hope begins on December 24 in Rome. What can we do during this Jubilee Year of Hope?
- Visit Sacred Sites: If you get a chance to go to Rome to visit the holy sites in Rome, terrific! Pope Francis has designated five Holy Doors, which are special places symbolizing the transition from sin to grace. The five doors are located at St. Peter’s Basilica, San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Maria Maggiore, San Paolo Fuori le Mura and the Roman Rebibbia prison. I have also designated six sites to visit and pray in our diocese during the Jubilee year: Sacred Heart Cathedral in Salina; St. Isidore Catholic Student Center Parish Church in Manhattan; Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish Church in Hays; St. Paul Parish Church in Angelus; St. John the Baptist Parish Church in Beloit; and Catholic Charities in Salina.
- Pilgrimages: We are in the process of organizing trips to places in the U.S. and to Italy. Please visit the website for more information: Catholic Diocese of Salina | Pilgrimages
- Memorares: We are starting a campaign for a million memorares to be prayed for hope in our diocese, especially with the focus on praying for others.
- Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.
- Adoration for Peace: A fruit of the Eucharistic Revival in our country, we are starting a spiritual campaign focused on adoration for peace beginning on Ash Wednesday. Prayer leads to peace and to a greater focus on helping others.
- Walk with One: This national project comes from the Eucharistic Revival committee. I really like this initiative based on four easy steps.
- Identify: Don’t just pick someone. Ask God whom he wants you to accompany on their journey home to the Church. He will point you to the person he has in mind and open doors for the conversations that need to happen.
- Intercede: As soon as the Lord lays someone on your heart, begin to pray for them! Ask God to remove whatever obstacles are making it difficult for this person to draw closer to Christ and his Church. Pray for the grace to be able to accompany them well.
- Connect: Look for ways to build a deeper relationship with this person. Get together with them for coffee or lunch. Listen deeply for promptings from the Holy Spirit as you get to know your friend’s joys and struggles. Share with them some of your own.
- Invite: Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. When the time is right, invite your friend to take a concrete next step in fostering a personal relationship with Jesus and the Church. This might mean joining you for a small group or Mass on Sunday.
Guadalupe: December 12 is the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Her appearance in Mexico in 1531 always fills me with hope. The people of the time were sacrificing humans to their false gods. Mary appeared to Juan Diego, a peasant. After telling Juan that she was the “mother of the true God,” she told him that she wanted a church to be built there in her honor. Within seven years of this apparition, nine million people accepted the Catholic faith. This is an average of over 3,000 people a day, every day for the next seven years. Remarkably, this is the number who were converted on Pentecost (Acts 2:41).
Seminarians: We are incredibly blessed to have 14 seminarians studying for our diocese (and there are more on the horizon). I am looking forward to spending time with them over the break. On Friday, December 27, the priests and seminarians will play in their annual Runnin’ Revs basketball game at Sacred Heart High School in Salina. Hope to see you there.
iGiveCatholic: Thank you so much helping our parishes and schools throughout our diocese through the #iGiveCatholic program. A total of $523,374 has been donated through your generosity as of this writing, and donations are still coming in! Thanks for your support of our parishes and schools.
May you have a Blessed Advent season and Merry Christmas to you and your families.
With my love and peace,
Bishop Vincke
Inspriation from the Saints:
Tomorrow is the feast of St. Ambrose, famously known as the one who had a big impact on the conversion of St. Augustine. Here are some of his quotes.
- “It is a better thing to save souls for the Lord than to save treasures.”
- “The devil tempts that he may ruin; God tests that he may crown.”
- “No one is good but God alone. What is good is therefore divine, what is divine is therefore good.”
- “It is not from your own goods that you give to the beggar; it is a portion of his own that you are restoring to him. The Earth belongs to all. So you are paying back a debt and think you are making a gift to which you are not bound.”