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Dear Friends and Benefactors,
The season of Advent is a time
during which we prepare ourselves for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through our prayers and sacrifices we open our hearts and our souls to receive
Our Savior, and to let His many graces reach us.
The modern world in which we
live will not truly celebrate Christmas. The world refuses the coming of
Our Lord Jesus Christ. We see Christmas trees, Santa Clause, all the folklore
about Christmas — but the true celebration of the birth of Our Savior
will scarcely be mentioned. The celebration of Christmas as a Catholic feast, or
even as a “Christian” feast, is not acceptable to the world. You have all
noticed, for example, that people no longer say, at least in public, “Merry
Christmas,” but rather, “Happy holidays!” All expressions with any
sort of religious connotation are taboo, as they are too much a reminder that
there is no true Christmas without Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Contrary to the spirit of the
world, we as Catholics will proclaim the rights of Our Lord Jesus Christ, true
God and true Man. And there are three rights of God that must never be
forgotten, of which we are reminded in the first three Commandments:
“I am the Lord thy God,
thou shalt not have strange gods before me.”
God has the right to command us
to adore Him, to recognize Him as the true God, to humble ourselves as poor
creatures and to admit that He is our Creator. God has the right to ask us to
love Him above all else. God has the right to demand that all men worship Him,
the one true and living God. God has the right to forbid us false worship, false
gods, false religions. “It is written, the Lord thy God shalt thou worship,
and Him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4, 10). And therefore, Our Lord Jesus
Christ, being true God and the second Person of the Holy Trinity, has all of
these same rights. “At the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend, of those in
heaven, on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2, 10).
“Thou shalt not take the
name of the Lord thy God in vain.”
God has the right to require
that we respect His name: “God is not mocked” (Gal. 6, 7). He has the
right to punish us for any blasphemies against Him, His Mother, the Church or
any holy things. Our Lord Jesus Christ has, of course, the same rights for His
Holy Name.
“Remember thou keep holy
the Sabbath Day.”
God has the right to command us
to worship Him in a special manner; on specific days, Sundays and other days of
obligation.
These are the first rights of
God. How are they respected in our days? Christmas is a reminder of these
rights of Our Lord Jesus Christ over every creature, every man, and that is why
the world wants to remove all religious aspects of this “holiday.” We, for our
part, will prepare ourselves during the time of Advent to receive worthily Our
Savior. There is no Christmas without Our Lord Jesus Christ, true Man and true
God.
With my prayers and blessing.
In the Immaculate Heart of
Mary,
Fr. Arnaud Rostand |
