Time Magazine chose "The Protester" as their "Person of the Year" for 2011. The National Catholic Reporter named Sr. Elizabeth Johnson, a theologian whose book was criticized by the US Bishops, as their "Person of the Year" for 2011. I like Fr. Robert Barron's idea much better. My "Person of the Year" for 2011 is "The Christian Martyr." Watch Fr. Barron, excellent as usual:

-Fr. Jason

Jesus Christ is born! Alleluia! I just finished the celebration (and cleanup) of our Christmas "Mass during the Night" at 10 p.m. here at Saint Anne's. It was a beautiful liturgy. I don't write that as a boast of my liturgical or chant (ha!) skills, but because I found it to be a very prayerful Mass for me. Thank you, Jesus Christ, for calling me to serve at your altar!

Below is the text of my homily, which is based on Is 9:1-6; Ps 64; Ti 2:11-14; Lk 2:1-14.

Awake, mankind! For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man.

–Saint Augustine

Take a look around. Think of how blessed we are. For many of us, family and friends have gathered together. For most of us, there is abundant food. We have shelter, and security. We have this place, where we can worship and encounter our Lord…. Think more broadly. We have life. We have dignity. We have freedom, in the deepest sense of the word. We have faith, hope, and love. We know God, have been redeemed by him, and have become his adopted children. All of this comes to us through Jesus Christ, God who became man.

Often, I think, we fail to contemplate how incredible that is. Human history contains a whole litany of attempts by man to reach up and encounter God by human effort. It contains a whole list of gods (golden calves, as it were) which were but dim reflections and distortions of the One True God—our human attempts to make God present among ourselves. The All-Knowing Creator was beyond human reach—inaccessible and distant. But then God went to work and formed a Chosen People—the Jewish men and women of the Old Testament, and in them he began to unfold the plan by which he slowly revealed himself—a plan we only understood once it finally came to completion in Jesus Christ.

We walked in darkness but now have, by His effort and by His grace, “seen a great light.” As the Prophet Isaiah foretold, “a child is born to us, a son is given us” and “upon his shoulder dominion rests.” Finally, the ultimate and all-sovereign King has arrived. He was revealed to us not as the wealthy earthly king we had been expecting, but as a tiny infant born of the most saintly and humble woman, Mary, in the most humble nursery, a manger, and surrounded not by a court of wealthy royalty but by lowly shepherds.

How important the birth of Christ is for us! In the words of Saint Augustine:

You would have suffered eternal death, had he not been born in time. Never would you have been freed from sinful flesh, had he not taken on himself the likeness of sinful flesh. You would have suffered everlasting unhappiness, had it not been for this mercy. You would never have returned to life, had he not shared your death. You would have been lost if he had not hastened to your aid. You would have perished, had he not come.

Yet, he has come, and he is with us still, even here, now. As man walking among us, God made provisions to remain among us until the end of time. His incarnation, his birth, his calling of the Twelve Apostles, his establishment of the Church on the rock of Saint Peter, his sending of the Holy Spirit, and his gift of the seven sacraments, particularly the gift of this, the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass—all perpetuate the presence of Jesus on earth so that all generations can enjoy that presence and receive his grace.

The gift of Christmas is that we, because God became man, can know him and be in his presence. Consider these words of Pope Benedict:

God is not the great unknown, whom we can but dimly conceive. We need not fear, as heathens do, that he might be capricious and bloodthirsty or too far away and too great to hear men. He is there, and we always know where we can find him, where he allows himself to be found and is waiting for us. Today this should once more sink into our hearts: God is near. God knows us. God is waiting for us in Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Let us not leave him waiting in vain! Let us not, through distraction and lethargy, pass by the greatest and most important thing life offers us… This sacred proximity to us is always alive in the churches. It is always calling us and inviting us in. This is what is lovely about Catholic churches, that within them there is, as it were, always worship, because the Eucharistic presence of the Lord dwells always within them.

The eternal God has become Man, and dwells among us. This feast, then, calls us, first of all, to realize how blessed we are that that God has became man. Secondly, the feast calls us to understand that the presence of God born into the world at that first Christmas is with us still, in a very real way, within the Church and its Sacraments. Third and finally this feast calls us to regularly worship him in the holy places where He resides among us.

Tonight and tomorrow we feast with family, we exchange our gifts, we celebrate this good news: that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, “God with us.” In the words of one ancient hymn (Kontakion of Romanos the Melodist, cited in CCC §525):

The Virgin today brings into the world the Eternal
And the earth offers a cave to the Inaccessible.
The angels and shepherds praise him
And the magi advance with the star,
For you are born for us,
Little Child, God eternal!

Amen.

I must bring it to your attention that there has been a scheduling error. Advertisements in the paper tell me that Christmas this year has been scheduled to run from November 1st to December 24th. That is incorrect. The Christmas Season will begin, as previously planned, on the evening of December 24th and will continue until the Baptism of the Lord on January 9th, 2012.

Last year, this same mixup led radio stations to play Christmas music nonstop after Thanksgiving so that by the time Christmas actually arrived “Silent Night” made our ears hurt. Likewise, by that time, we wanted nothing more than to reclaim the space in our living rooms occupied by then-deceased Christmas trees and their piles of dry, pointy needles.

As I write this reflection Advent has not yet arrived. It seems to me, however, that with the fast approach of Black Friday our city is already celebrating Christmas. The lights are up, the shopping malls are decked in green and red, and advertisements are full of reminders that the “holiday season” has arrived.

The busy-ness of the holiday (a word, by the way, that comes from “holy day”) season makes me want to stand up and shout “Wait! Slow down! We’ve forgotten all about Advent!”

The season of Advent, which we seem to skip in our country, is all about waiting. I remember as kid when the Advent wreath appeared in our tiny parish church. Each week I counted as the candles were lit, anxious for the arrival of Christmas. While I admit I was mostly anxious to know fewer weeks remained until I opened presents, that waiting, even for the opening of gifts, was a lesson in itself.

In Advent we are waiting to receive the most precious gift of all—God incarnate, walking among us, in Jesus Christ. Advent is a time for us to ponder the immensity of that gift and to prepare ourselves in prayer to receive him. This is not something we take on our own schedule or terms. This is not something we buy at Black Friday prices. Rather God, in Jesus Christ, is someone we receive, freely, but according to his schedule and plan.

His coming into history forever changed the world. Now, we await his coming anew. Let us approach Christmas slowly, with an attitude of prayerful anticipation, waiting as we move through Advent, to receive the greatest gift possible: God himself.

God Bless,
Fr. Jason Signalness

Image used with permission from www.adventconspiracy.org.

Why does the priest say "The Lord be with you" at the beginning of Mass? Why have we been responding "And also with you," and why will we soon, instead, say "And with your spirit?" It's important to know why we say what we say during our worship, and to know why we do what we do.

The English words we Catholics use to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass will be changing on November 27th. This is because a new edition of the Roman Missal, the primary liturgical book used in the Mass, has been translated and is now available. This is a great opportunity for us to learn about the Mass.

To help the parishioners here at Saint Anne's and elsewhere I've been teaching a little bit about the new texts. You can now watch my presentation online. You can watch it by clicking either here or on the image above.

If you have other questions, just let me know.

God Bless,
Fr. Jason

Since 1997 the Catholics of Western North Dakota have been shepherded by Bishop Paul Zipfel. Last year, at age 75, Bishop Zipfel submitted his resignation, as required by Canon (Church) Law. It always takes a while for a retiring bishop's successor to be appointed, and we've all been waiting anxiously. Today, our wait is over! Here is the official press release from Diocese of Bismarck:

Pope Benedict XVI has named 61 year-old Msgr. David Kagan of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, as bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck. Bishop-elect Kagan succeeds Bishop Paul A. Zipfel, 76, who has served as the Bishop of Bismarck since 1997. In naming a successor to Bishop Zipfel, Pope Benedict also accepted Bishop Zipfel’s resignation from the pastoral governance of the diocese, which he submitted at the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Msgr. Kagan was born on November 9, 1949, in Waukegan, Illinois, and grew up in Spring Grove, Illinois. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy, an S.T.B. in Sacred Theology and M.A. in Sacred Theology and a licentiate in Canon Law all from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

He was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford, Illinois, on June 14, 1975. Bishop-elect Kagan has served at a number of parishes in the diocese and in various positions including high school religion instructor, teacher of medical ethics at St. Anthony Hospital School of Nursing in Rockford, parish pastor and parochial administrator. Diocesan positions included Judicial Vicar, Diocesan Tribunal, Director of the Office of Communications, member of the College of Consultors and Chancellor – among others. He was named Pastor at the Holy Family Church in Rockford in July 2010.

He was created a Prelate of Honor of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, November 17, 1994. Bishop-elect Kagan was admitted to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem as a Knight Commander in March 1995. July 2011 he was invested in the Ferrialo of a Prelate to signify his elevation to the title of Protonotary Apostolic Super Numerary of the Supreme Pontiff which is the highest level of honor for a monsignor.

Upon his ordination and installation scheduled for November 30, 2011, at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck, Msgr. Kagan will become the 7th Bishop of Bismarck.

If you're around on Monday, join the Diocese in prayers of thanksgiving:

The Diocese of Bismarck will offer an Evening Vespers Service on Monday, October 24, 2011 at 7:00 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck. This Liturgical Service of Thanksgiving and Prayer will be for Bishop-elect, Msgr. David Kagan, PA, JCL. Presider for the prayer service will be Bishop Paul A. Zipfel. Everyone is invited to participate in this offer of thanksgiving.

-Fr. Jason