Advent and Christmas are times of memory. This is the season to bring to mind those people who have helped make us who we are, both our friends and our enemies. And Jesus summons us to love all, to do good for all.
By Fr. Dan Cambra, MIC
When you think of Christmas, what comes to mind?
Festive decorations? Christmas cookies and Christmas parties?
For many of us, Advent and Christmas are times to reconnect with friends and family. That’s why the tradition of Christmas cards has proven so enduring, why Christmas parties are such wonderful times of joy and laughter, and why one of the most beloved Christmas carols features the promise to be home at Christmas.
For we patrons of the Holy Souls Sodality, Advent and Christmas ought to be seen as an opportunity.
Remembrance
After all, in both our secular and our sacred worlds, Advent and Christmas are times of memory. This is the season to bring to mind those people who have helped make us who we are, both our friends and our enemies. And Jesus summons us to love all, to do good for all.
So let’s make sure we offer prayers and suffrages up for our friends, family, and even our enemies, especially if they have died before us. Let’s plan to make a different sort of Christmas list this year, and select a different sort of gift for the names on the list.
We can choose to make particular sacrifices for particular individuals. Maybe we make an Advent calendar and write in that on Monday, “I will eat a meatless meal or fast on bread and water [after consultation with my doctor and confessor], and offer up my small sacrifice for my father”; on Tuesday, “I will say an extra Divine Mercy Chaplet for my mother”; on Wednesday, “I will pray an Our Father and three Hail Marys for my sister”; and so forth.
Remember, of course, that our penances shouldn’t be penitential for the people around us. If you become “hangry” if you skip lunch, don’t do that to your neighbors. Pick penances that will both involve some sort of sacrifice on your part and also help you to be more virtuous, not less; to be more loving, not less. Also, any sort of extended fasting or mortification should only be done after consultation with your confessor and your doctor.
But it’s good for us to prepare for the coming of Christ by treating Advent like the penitential season it’s meant to be. We are meant to be followers of Christ, to love what He loved, to do what He did, to do the will of the Father as He did the Father’s will perfectly.
Be generous
So cast your net wide. The generosity of your prayers and suffrages should stretch well beyond your immediate family. Include also your spouse, grandparents, cousins, and siblings. The only thing better than happy holidays with family on earth is sharing the endless, perfect joy of Heaven with them. If you have a hard time loving someone, your prayers and sacrifices can only improve the relationship and make them easier to love!
And then look beyond family. Who was your favorite teacher, for instance? Do you have a doctor or nurse who has cared for you at the lowest times in your life? Think of your friends. Do a work of mercy and, in your prayers, offer the merits of that almsgiving for their needs and intentions.
Then think even broader. Expand the reach of that Advent calendar of prayer and sacrifice. What entertainers, artists, or musicians have created beautiful things that have given you pleasure or profit? Pray for them in gratitude for what they have given to you. Are there any authors, actors, or other celebrities whose work has brought you joy? Pray for them. Fame is so often so deadly to healthy relationships, humility, or the sort of quiet virtues that are nurtured in silence and lowliness. Help supply their needs with your prayers.
Consider the philanthropists in your community, the people giving money, land, time, or talent to the service of the common good. Think of the heroes, such as those who put themselves in danger like police, firemen, or emergency medical workers. Think of our troops, of the many people who give their best work and most productive years to public service in government, and to the many unsung Americans making enormous sacrifices for our country and the world. Think of the leaders in your community, and the inventors, the innovators improving our lives and the welfare of the entire world. Thank them in the best way possible, and have a Mass said for them, their families, their needs and good intentions.
Remember the clergy and religious, especially your parish priest and your local bishop! Remember the Holy Father in your prayers; the Lord knows he needs them! Offer prayers and sacrifices for clergy and religious who have helped transmit the faith to you, taught you how to pray, and introduced you to Jesus. Pray for those who have brought the Sacraments to you.
A Christmas release
As my friend Susan Tassone, the Purgatory Lady, likes to say, St. Alphonsus Liguori and St. Teresa of Avila say most souls are released from Purgatory on Christmas Day (not All Souls Day)! I imagine that a good part of that is that many of our Catholic brethren do exactly what I am recommending to you in this newsletter: remembering their loved ones, especially those who aren’t alive to celebrate Christmas on earth, during this holiday season, and so keeping them in prayers and Masses with a greater fervor and effort than usual.
Let’s join in this unofficial jubilee for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Let’s pray for them, offer Masses for them, and make sacrifices for them. Let us celebrate Christmas by giving some of the greatest gifts anyone can give, and speed our brethren on the road to Heaven.
May God bless you this Advent and Christmas seasons, and all the year.
Father Dan Cambra, MIC, is director of the Marian Evangelization Team and the Holy Souls Sodality.
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