2010

Pope Benedict XVI's words from his Christmas Eve Homily invites us to reflect on how we can begin the New Year; "Again and again he begins afresh with us. But he is still waiting for us to join him in love. He loves us, so that we too may become people who love, so that there may be peace on earth."

The Christmas Season, for us, is a time to stop and really think about the words peace and love, especially as we kneel before the Nativity. It is a reminder that we, too, are children, regardless of our age. Children of God to run to our Heavenly Father and cry out: "Father..thank you! Father, I love you! Father, I need you!" And to run to Mother Mary and cry out: "Blessed mother, thank you for your yes! Holy Mother, pray for me!"

As we enter the new calendar year on the Octave Day of Christmas & the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God - the last two hours of 2010 will be spent in Eucharistic Adoration at the Pilgrim Center of Hope Gethsemani Chapel. At midnight, Deacon Tom will impart Benediction. It will be a time spent at the "manager", adoring Christ, praising God for His gift in His Son, imploring His grace and mercy and consecrating ourselves and families to Him.

Blessed Charles de Foucauld on Eucharistic Adoration: "Wherever the sacred Host is, there is the living God. There is your Savior as truly as when he lived and spoke in Judea, and Galilee, and truly as he is now in paradise."

May you and your loved ones have begin "afresh with God"...may the Holy Family bestow their blessing upon you as we continue our pilgrimage in life.

Sharing some of our favorite quotes of the year (so many to choose!)

Pope Benedict XVI on the Holy Shroud (May 2010)

"One could say that the Shroud is the icon of this mystery, the icon of Holy Saturday."

"This face, these hands and these feet, this side, this whole body speaks, it is itself a word that we can hear in silence. ... How does the Shroud speak? It speaks with blood, and blood is life! The Shroud is an icon written in blood; the blood of a man who has been scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and wounded in his right side."

"The Virgin Mary is she who more than any other contemplated God in the human face of Jesus, she saw him as a newborn when, wrapped in swaddling clothes, he was placed in a manger; she saw him when, just after his death, they took him down from the cross, wrapped him in linen and placed him in the sepulcher."

Synod of Bishops of the Middle East (October 2010)

"The Middle East is a region where Christians are a minority, in some countries a very small one and without any political or social influence, where the condition of permanent war or tensions erodes any hope for the future and pushes people towards emigration. But it is also the region where Christianity was born, where it has its ancient roots and traditions and extraordinary cultural and spiritual richness. Therefore, the problems of the Church in the Middle East involved all of us."

Pope Benedict XVI's URBI ET ORBI MESSAGE, Christmas 2010
"May the light of Christmas shine forth anew in the Land where Jesus was born, and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to strive for a just and peaceful coexistence. May the comforting message of the coming of Emmanuel ease the pain and bring consolation amid their trials to the beloved Christian communities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East; may it bring them comfort and hope for the future and bring the leaders of nations to show them effective solidarity."