Thoughts from the Cathedra

As we come to October, we not only rejoice in some cooler weather, but we also look forward to the major Church feasts that will soon be upon us. This is a wonderful time of year for worship and prayer, with All Saints and All Souls Days, Thanksgiving, the Solemnity of Christ the King, Advent, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and, of course, the Nativity of Our Lord.

One of the excellent catechetical resources for families, and indeed for all households, is the liturgical calendar. Often, this comes in the form of the calendars distributed at your parish and provided by sponsors such as funeral homes, cemeteries or, in some cases, the Knights of Columbus. You will notice that these calendars mark the daily memorials, both optional and obligatory, as well as the feasts and solemnities of each day. I’ve always encouraged people to make our Church feasts part of everyday life through prayer and pious practices. For example, a household could hang the calendar in the kitchen and, during the meal prayer, ask for the intercession of the saint of the day. You might also include the prayer from Morning or Evening Prayer for that day. A resource such as the iBreviary Morning Prayer can help with this. Scroll down in Morning Prayer, for example, and you will see the prayer for the memorial of St. Jerome on Sept. 30.

Another way to celebrate these important days in the Church’s calendar is to begin planning now for a home altar honoring the saints and the deceased for All Saints and All Souls Days. It can be a small table where you place pictures of your deceased loved ones alongside holy cards and images of the saints. Then, on the Solemnity of All Saints, you and your household can give thanks for the named saints who intercede for us each day. On the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, or All Souls Day, you can turn in prayer to those who have gone before us, praying especially for the souls in Purgatory as they await the fullness of the beatific vision.

I encourage all of us to plan on attending Mass on Thanksgiving Day. This is a perfect moment to bring together our American experience with the true meaning of the Mass. The word Eucharist literally means “thanksgiving.” Our Judeo-Christian heritage is marked by prayers of thanksgiving in our worship and daily life. For our Jewish friends, one example is the Modeh Ani, a morning prayer of thanksgiving to God for the gift of a new day. Giving thanks to God in the Eucharist as Catholics is part of our soul’s Judeo-Christian heritage. Before your celebrations with family and friends this Thanksgiving, join me in giving thanks to God first. It is a way of calibrating our souls so that we may remain in right relationship with our most generous God.

With Advent then upon us, beginning on the last Sunday of November this year, your household can prepare an Advent wreath with the accompanying prayers. It would be good now to pull out last year’s wreath to see if it needs refreshing. Or maybe it’s time to acquire a new wreath with fresh candles: three violet and one rose. Of course, images of Our Lady of Guadalupe remain vitally important to us, as she is the patroness of the Americas and, as such, our patroness. We also honor our nation’s patroness, Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. Perhaps you can replace the altar for All Saints and All Souls with an altar honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe or the Immaculate Conception. Then, during Advent and near these Marian feast days, Mary can become part of your household’s prayer life in a tangible way.

Finally, we arrive at the Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas. I’ve always believed household Nativity scenes to be very important. St. Francis of Assisi is closely associated with the tradition of the Christmas crèche, a childlike devotion that people of every age can enjoy and that has now spread throughout the world. When I was a parish pastor, I often recommended that each of us have a Christmas wish list. I suggest writing it down on a small piece of paper, folding it until it is very small, perhaps even sealing it with tape, and placing it under the crèche where the infant Jesus will lie at Christmas. Then, each day, ask Jesus to read your list so that when he arrives, he will know your heart’s desires. Clearly, this lovely and prayerful devotion would not include things like KitchenAid mixers, new putters for our golf bags, new sweaters, tickets to an Arizona Wildcats basketball game, a teddy bear or a baseball glove. Those things need to be on Santa’s list!

Jesus’ list will contain things deeper in our hearts: the strengthening of our prayer lives; a renewal of our personal vocation; the healing of a broken friendship; clarity about something that is troubling us in life; acceptance into a university; peace of mind and heart regarding a hurt we’ve experienced this year; peace in our communities, nations and world; or any other challenge in our lives that needs the healing presence of the Prince of Peace. This is the real Christmas list we should begin compiling now so that, when we arrive at Advent, Jesus will know what we are hoping for at Christmas.

Have a wonderful fall, filled with the graces of these beautiful Church feast days, and I’ll see you in the Eucharist along the way!
Bp. Misko