Seasons of Grace

He’s coming! And as the Church anticipates the coming of the Messiah at Christmas, we sing the joyful O Antiphons at Vespers during this last week of Advent.

Each of the O Antiphons reminds us of a different title for Christ, highlighting one of his attributes; and each refers to Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the coming Messiah.

* * * * *

The O Antiphons are:

• December 17: O Sapientia (O Wisdom)
• December 18: O Adonai (O Lord)
• December 19: O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)
• December 20: O Clavis David (O Key of David)
• December 21: O Oriens (O Dayspring)
• December 22: O Rex Gentium (O King of the nations)
• December 23: O Emmanuel (O With Us Is God)

The popular Advent hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is drawn from the O Antiphons. Written in France in the 17^th century, the hymn was translated into English in the 19^th century and set to the beautiful plainchant melody we know today. The text of the hymn, though, dates back to the 9^th century and earlier, and is taken from the Church’s daily prayer of adoration and praise, the Liturgy of the Hours.

Here is O Adonai, the antiphon for today, sung by the Dominican student brothers in Oxford.

THE O ANTIPHONS

+O Wisdom, you come forth from the mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold all things together with your strong yet gentle care. O come to teach us the way of truth.

+O Lord of Might and Leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai. O come and save us with your mighty power.

+O Stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay.

+O Key of David and Sceptre of Israel, what you open no one can close; what you close no one can open. O come to lead the captive from prison; free those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

+O Rising Sun, you are the splendor of eternal light and the sun of justice. O come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

+ O King of the Nations, whom all peoples desire, you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come and save man whom you made from clay.

+O Emmanuel, you are our king and judge, the One whom the nations desire and the Savior of all people. O come and save us, Lord our God.

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Four-month-old Melinda Star Guido is going home!

When she was born in late August, baby Melinda weighed only 9½ ounces and was, according to the Associated Press, the third-smallest baby in the world. Most infants her size don’t survive; in fact, doctors didn’t really expect her to live. But Melinda received excellent care in the NICU at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, where she received nutrition through a feeding tube and was hooked up to a breathing machine.

Melinda’s mother, 22-year-old Haydee Ibarra, suffered from high blood pressure during her pregnancy. Because of a problem with the placenta, the developing Melinda did not receive proper nutrition, oxygen and blood. Doctors feared for both mother and child, and so delivered the infant by cesarian section at 24 weeks gestation.

Baby Melinda has faced some crises during her short life. She was treated for an eye disorder, and recently underwent surgery to close an artery which usually seals after birth.

But God seems to have a plan for Melinda’s future. Doctors are planning to release her before New Year’s Eve, and Melinda—now over four pounds—will go home to her parents’ waiting arms.

Unfortunately, not all of baby Melinda’s peers fare as well: According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, each year 1,032 babies like Melinda, who reach 24 weeks or more in the womb, are aborted. Are they, as the abortion industry would have us believe, just a “bundle of cells”?

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Chances are you’ve never even heard of Whiteville, Tennessee. As of the 2000 Census the town, in the west side of the state in rural Hardeman County, had a population of only 3,148, living in an area of 2.4 square miles. The median income for a family was only $28,603.

But what Whitehall does have is faith. That’s why, several years ago, the residents of the town raised funds to erect a large cross atop the town’s water tower.

But along came the Freedom From Religion Foundation—which filed a lawsuit. At first, the group’s founder Dan Barker filed the case on behalf of “a Whiteville resident and taxpayer.”

The town sought counsel from the Alliance Defense Fund; but faced with the prospect of an expensive legal process, Mayor Bellar had one arm of the cross removed. Technically, without one of its arms, the cross is no longer a religious symbol. What it is, though, is a symbol of the city’s proud defiance against atheist activists who drive up and down the freeway, looking for religious symbols that may be on public land.

Mayor Bellar wrote a letter to Nashville lawyer Alvin Harris, who represented the Freedom From Religion Foundation. “This brings to a close a sad chapter in the history of Whiteville,” wrote Mayor Bellar, “that can best be described as terroristic, cowardly and shameful! The fear and terror caused our older people here is shameful. So shame on your client and your firm!”

But the story doesn’t end there. As the cross’s arm came down, the people of Whiteville began to express their faith and their solidarity. People began to make crosses and stick them in their yards, on the sides of buildings, wherever they could. Citizens placed two crosses on the right of way in front of City Hall. The Mayor himself put up a cross in front of his business.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is still sputtering, and has filed suit again. The new lawsuit stops short of claiming that one of the city’s own had complained; instead, the legal verbiage was changed to “John Doe who occasionally comes to Whiteville to transact business.” In short, says Mayor James Bellar, there is one atheist out there somewhere, who is seeking to deprive the town’s Christian majority of their free speech rights.

This time, Mayor Bellar asserts, the town stands ready to defend itself. Bring it on!

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It seems everyone has a good “Cardinal Foley” story to tell. The man was just so nice, so gracious, so friendly, we all thought he belonged especially to us.

During my years as conference director for Legatus, I called upon him often. He concelebrated Mass at our annual conference in Florida, and later he welcomed us to his offices at the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in Rome. There, he spoke with great energy about the role of the Church in the world, and about how goals of the new evangelization could be realized through the media.

One of the special treats then-Archbishop John P. Foley served up for our group each year was a special showing of historic Vatican films, including the Pontifical Council’s oldest and most famous: A short clip on Lumiere film dating from 1896, featuring Pope Leo XIII. In the film, first the pontiff is seated, surrounded by bishops in an ornate chair; in the next scene, he arrives in a horse-drawn carriage. An aide reminds him that this is to be a moving picture; and slowly, deliberately, Pope Leo waves to the camera.

Next Archbishop Foley shared a clip of Pope Pius XI inaugurating the Vatican Radio station, followed by Pope Pius XII visiting with the Italian royal family. Finally, we were treated to amazing footage from October 1962: the great Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII seated near the great baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica, the bishops in their tall mitres.

Archbishop Foley was the consummate storyteller, and he loved to share this rich history of the Church and the papacy with our admiring crowd. He spoke of the role of media, of Bishop Fulton Sheen as the first televangelist; then he told jokes and chatted amiably with his guests. I recounted an early childhood memory of Pope Pius XII having contracted hiccups that would not stop, even after many weeks; and Archbishop Foley told us all that this was, in fact, the way he had died—the recurrent hiccups signaling his impending death.

For several years, I saw Archbishop Foley only on television—narrating the pope’s Midnight Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, explaining the Faith to the world.

But then, some years later, our paths crossed again. Visiting Rome with executives of Guest House, I again arranged for a visit to Archbishop Foley’s office. In February 2006, he had had a cancerous kidney removed; but by September of that year, he was back at his desk and he received us enthusiastically. A trip to Rome is always such a flurry, and some details of the week remain sketchy; but over the next few days, he met with us again. Very supportive of Guest House’s mission of hope and healing for addicted Catholic clergy and religious, Archbishop Foley led us to a favorite café to continue our conversation over breakfast—and he then insisted on picking up the tab.

In 2007, Archbishop Foley was named Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and elevated to the rank of Cardinal-Deacon.

In November 2011 the U.S. bishops, gathered in Baltimore for the USCCB Fall General Assembly, heard a report from Archbishop Edwin O’Brien regarding his failing health yet buoyant spirits, and they joined in prayer for this great man of God as he neared the end of his life’s journey.

And this week Cardinal Foley, the great communicator, left us to labor without him as he went to the place prepared for him by the Father. With Catholics the world over, I mourn for Cardinal Foley this week.

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

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Well, now this is a first! After I talked about baking Treasure Chest Bars a few days ago, several people asked for the recipe.

This is a Schiffer family favorite from Christmases past. Just remember: The real Treasures are those dear children, wide-eyed on Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

TREASURE CHEST BARS

Cream:

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar

Blend in:

2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat until fluffy.

Combine and add:

2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Stir in:

1 cup walnuts, in large pieces
1 cup drained maraschino cherry halves
1 6-oz. package chocolate chips

Bake at 325° 25-30 minutes in two 9X9” pans, greased and floured on bottom.
Frost warm. Cool.

Brown Butter Frosting

Brown ¼ cup butter over medium heat until deep brown.
Blend in 2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar and ½ tsp. vanilla.
Add 1 or 2 Tbsp. milk; cream until smooth.
(Frosting should not be pour-on, but thinner than you would put on a cake.)

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