Dec
24
2010
By Anonymous (not verified)
December 24, 1934. The Vigil of Christmas. During the morning Mass, I felt the closeness of God. Though I was hardly aware of it, my spirit was drowned in God. Suddenly, I heard these words: You are My delightful dwelling place; My Spirit rests in you. After these words, I felt the Lord looking into the depths of my heart; and seeing my misery, I humbled myself in spirit and admired the immense mercy of God, that the Most High Lord would approach such misery.
- Diary of St. Faustina, 346
A Remembrance of Midnight Mass: Inside, candles were clipped to the center-aisle end of every other pew, seven in all on the left and right. Likewise, each stained glass window had a candle in the sill. Heat from the aisle candles shimmered in the air the way summer heat bounces off a tarred road. Seen through the shimmering air, The Divine Mercy image above the altar resembled a mirage, except the mirage was real, an oasis of mercy dotting the desert of a troubled world. In his homily, the priest said to celebrate: "Yes! Eat, give gifts, have fun - do all that. BUT! We need something else to truly bring in the Christmas spirit." He talked of the growing materialism that clouds the true meaning of Christmas and leaves Christ out in the cold. "Imagine that," he said, "Christmas without Christ," an absurdity he likened to throwing a birthday party without inviting the guest of honor. Instead, he said, at Christmas "we need to reflect upon His birth, and how that one birth changed the entire world. Only when you have God do you discover life. All of life is a dying, and dying again, to new birth. Don't be afraid to let God inside. Hold on to God. When you do this, you're holding onto something eternal."
Hold on to God. Hold on to God.
- Diary of St. Faustina, 346
A Remembrance of Midnight Mass: Inside, candles were clipped to the center-aisle end of every other pew, seven in all on the left and right. Likewise, each stained glass window had a candle in the sill. Heat from the aisle candles shimmered in the air the way summer heat bounces off a tarred road. Seen through the shimmering air, The Divine Mercy image above the altar resembled a mirage, except the mirage was real, an oasis of mercy dotting the desert of a troubled world. In his homily, the priest said to celebrate: "Yes! Eat, give gifts, have fun - do all that. BUT! We need something else to truly bring in the Christmas spirit." He talked of the growing materialism that clouds the true meaning of Christmas and leaves Christ out in the cold. "Imagine that," he said, "Christmas without Christ," an absurdity he likened to throwing a birthday party without inviting the guest of honor. Instead, he said, at Christmas "we need to reflect upon His birth, and how that one birth changed the entire world. Only when you have God do you discover life. All of life is a dying, and dying again, to new birth. Don't be afraid to let God inside. Hold on to God. When you do this, you're holding onto something eternal."
Hold on to God. Hold on to God.
chj
