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. 😊
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.”
The Jubilee Year of Hope begins on December 24 in Rome. What can we do during this Jubilee Year of Hope?
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).
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.
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.
