•  Download: 2012 Letter to the Vincentian Family (1371)
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• Pobierz: List do Rodziny Wincentyńskiej na 2012 (1363)

Rome June 3, 2012

To all members of the Vincentian Family:

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ live in your hearts now and always!

 As you know, each year we propose a theme for reflection and study as a Family, related to the celebrations of our Holy Founder.  Last year, we considered the fruits that the celebrations of the 350th anniversary produced in us as a branch of the Vincentian Family at the local level as well as at the General level.  We can say that what we experienced together, the fruit of our creativity, enriched us enormously as Family in the following ways:

• mutual relationships were strengthened, other relationships with new forms of spiritual expressions close to our own emerged,
• Vincentian Formation was deepened,
• creativity enabled celebrations that were expressed with cultural and artistic differences,
• our Vincentian vocation was affirmed,
• we grew spiritually,
• seeking proximity with those who are poor was intensified,
• the missionary dimension was strengthened,

So these were some of the fruits that were shared following last year’s invitation.

This year, in line with the mystique of our Family, I invite you to broaden our Vincentian Collaboration.  To this end, I propose as a theme: Collaboration and Evangelization, and as a slogan: “Let us work together to share the Good News and communicate life to those who are poor.”

Allow me to begin by recalling an event, certainly well known to everyone, but which is the beginning of everything for us.  Just as we say with regard to Jesus: “Everything began in Galilee,” we can say of Vincent: “Everything began in Folleville and in Chatillon.”  As the confession of the peasant who, after the Sermon in 1617 at Folleville, opens the eyes of Vincent to human misery in all its dimensions, it is the experience of solidarity aroused in Chatillon, after having recounted the needs of a family, that reveals to him the necessity of organized action in order to meet the needs of people.  It is in this same way that we were born as a Family, a Family that wants to help those who are poor with their immediate material needs, but also sees to their spiritual needs, which make them even poorer.  I would even say: a Family which, by our life style, calls out and denounces the structures which cause poverty.

Through baptism, we are part of a plan, the plan of God, revealed through his Son Jesus Christ, and which the Gospels recount clearly: it is the plan of the Kingdom and its Justice.  As a Vincentian Family, we have the privilege and the blessing, of having a spirituality which allows us to live this plan of Life today. Our spirituality comes from a man who asked himself each day: “What would the Son of God do in such or such a situation?

However, this Family is plunged into a world which, day by day, is moving away from the concept of family, and prefers an individualistic, competitive and egocentric life style. This is a life style which is inhuman, because to be human, in the most profound sense, has no sense without the Other.

In response to this, we offer an alternative proposal to this world.  Not only because our way of living seeks to transform this world so that it might become good news for human beings – a transformation which is accomplished by announcing the Good News to those who are poor – but also because we can and want to be a model by our way of working together as a team.  Each branch is very different, and this enriches us, but what unites us is Jesus Christ and each one lives that out in a different way.  That’s the way it has been for four hundred years: it is the Vincentian style, that is, “Jesus Christ here and now.”

In practice, I invite you to:

1.  strengthen the local and regional organizations which makes us one Family.  If  there are no such organizations, we must lay the ground work for creating them,
2. strengthen projects for those who are poor, projects done as Family. The projects each branch undertakes are good, but if we do them togetheras a Family, they will be even better,
3. organize times and places of celebrations and prayer together, as a Family,  enjoying the various local and regional events: anniversaries, jubilees, Vincentian celebrations, etc.

I know that each branch, just like the Family in general, has different situations which often discourage the members and at times can make the work difficult.  Sometimes, they are even tempted to follow the inhuman plans which we spoke of earlier.  However, the Vincentians were not born for this; they were born to bring Life, and as our Master said, “life in abundance.”  That is why I would like us to go beyond the qualities that are found within each branch and each member.  If we unite these qualities, we can do great work, and our masters will benefit from it.

In conclusion, I would like us to reflect on this metaphor that surely many of you know. However, each time that we think about it, we can find something different in it.

Meeting in the Carpenter’s Shop

In a woodworking shop there was a strange meeting; the tools held council to solve problems about their differences.  The hammer was the first to hold the presidency, but the assembly informed him that he should resign; he was too noisy, he spent his time striking blows.  The hammer acknowledged his fault; he asked that the wing nut be expelled because he had too many turns doing things.

The wing nut agreed to withdraw, but he, in his turn, requested the expulsion of the sandpaper; he was too rough in his relationships and he always caused friction with the others.

The sandpaper agreed, on condition that it be the same for the tape measure who spent his time measuring others, as if he were perfect.

At this point the carpenter entered.  He put on his apron and began to work, using in turn, the hammer, the sandpaper, the tape measure, and the wing nut.  When he was finished, the piece of wood had become a beautiful piece of furniture.

When the carpenter’s shop was again silent, the tools continued their deliberation.  The saw interrupted: “Sirs, it is so clear that we have faults, but the carpenter works with our qualities.  That is what gives us value.  So, let’s forget our weaknesses and look at our virtues.”  The group found that the hammer was strong, the wing nut united and gave solidity, the sandpaper filed down the bumps and the tape measure was precise and exact.  They felt like a team capable of making beautiful furniture and their differences took on a new light.

 The Church exists to evangelize, to spread the Good News.  In our Vincentian spirituality, this Good News is for those who are poor.  May God grant us the grace to continue to be this Good News, so that our Masters in Jesus Christ may have Life and that it be abundant.

Your brother in Saint Vincent

G. Gregory Gay, C.M.

Superior General

Colosseum

PRESENTATION OF THE MEDITATIONS

“If someone were to catch sight of his homeland from afar, separated by the sea, he would see his destination but lack the means of reaching it. So it is with us… We glimpse our goal across the sea of the present age… But to enable us to go there, the One who is our goal came to us… he brought us the plank by we can make the passage. No one may cross the sea of his age, unless he be carried by the cross of Christ… So do not forsake the cross, and the cross will carry you.”

These words of Saint Augustine, taken from his Commentary on John’s Gospel (2,2) introduce us to the prayer of the Way of the Cross.

The Way of the Cross is meant to help us cling to the wood of Christ’s cross through the seas of life. It is not merely a sentimental, popular devotion; rather, it expresses the core of the Christian experience: “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mk 8:34).

For this reason each Good Friday the Holy Father makes the Way of the Cross before the whole world and in communion with it.

This year, Pope Benedict XVI turned to the world of Augustinian Nuns for the texts of the prayer, entrusting their composition to Sister Maria Rita Piccione, O.S.A., Mother President of the Our Lady of Good Counsel Federation of Augustinian Monasteries in Italy.

Sister Mary Rita is a member of the Augustian hermitage of Lecceto, near Siena, one of the Tuscan convents of the thirteenth century and a cradle of the Order of Saint Augustine. She is currently a member of the community of the Santi Quattro Coronati in Rome, the site of the house of formation for all Augustinian novices and professed sisters in Italy.

The texts are thus the work of an Augustinian nun, but the illustrations also draw their form and colour from a feminine and Augustinian artistic sensibility. Sister Elena Maria Manganelli, O.S.A., of the hermitage of Lecceto, formerly a professional sculptress, created the pictures which illustrate the various stations of the Way of the Cross.

This interplay of word, form and colour gives us a taste of Augustinian spirituality, inspired by the early community of Jerusalem and based on communion of life.

The preparation of this Way of the Cross was born, then, of the experience of nuns who “live together, reflect, pray and dialogue”, to cite Romano Guardini’s lively and insightful description of an Augustinian monastic community.

Each station is announced by its traditional title, followed by a short phrase which offers a starting-point for meditation on that station. We can imagine these words as spoken by a child, as a reminder of the simplicity of the little ones who see to the heart of things, and a sign of openness, in the Church’s prayer, to the voice of childhood, at times abused and exploited.

The readings from the Word of God are drawn from the Gospel of John, except for those stations which lack a corresponding text or where the text is found in other Gospels. This shows a desire to emphasize the message of glory proclaimed by the cross of Jesus.

The biblical text is then illustrated by a reflection which is brief, clear and original.

The prayer, addressed to “Jesus most humble” – an expression dear to the heart of Augustine (cf. Conf. 7, 18, 24) – abandons the adjective humble at the crucifixion-exaltation of Christ, and is the avowal which the Church as Bride makes to her Bridegroom.

This is followed by an invocation to the Holy Spirit who guides our steps and pours the love of God into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5): here the Apostolic-Petrine Church knocks at the door of God’s heart.

Each station takes up a particular footprint left by Christ along the Way of the Cross, a footstep in which the believer is called to tread. The steps which mark the Way of the Cross, then, are truth, honesty, humility, prayer, obedience, freedom, patience, conversion, perseverance, simplicity, kingship, self-giving, maternity, silent expectation.

The pictures of Sister Elena Maria – austere in form and colour – present Jesus, alone in his passion, as he passes through the arid land digging a furrow and watering it by his grace. A ray of light, ever present and set in the form of a cross, alludes to the gaze of the Father, while the shadow of a dove, the Holy Spirit, recalls that Christ “through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God” (Heb 9:14).

In offering this prayer of the Way of the Cross, the Augustinian Nuns wish to render a homage of love to the Church and to the Holy Father, in full harmony with the particular devotion and fidelity to the Church and the Popes professed by the Augustinian Order.

We are grateful to Sister Maria Rita and Sister Elena Maria who, nourished by constant meditation on the Word of God and the writings of Saint Augustine, and sustained by the prayer of the Communities of the Federation, agreed to share with utter simplicity their experience of Christ and the Paschal Mystery in a year when Easter falls on 24 April, the anniversary of the Baptism of Saint Augustine.

INTRODUCTION

“Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps”. (1 Peter 2:21)

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This evening we gather against the evocative backdrop of the Roman Colosseum. We are summoned by the Word just proclaimed to join Pope Benedict XVI along Jesus’ Way of the Cross.

Let us turn our inward gaze to Christ and implore him with hearts afire: “I beg you, Lord: Say to my soul: I am your salvation! Say it, that I may hear it!” (Saint Augustine, Confessions, 1, 5, 5)

Christ’s comforting voice blends with the delicate thread of our “yes”, and the Holy Spirit, the finger of God, weaves within us the solid web of a faith full of consolation and guidance.

To follow, to believe and to pray: these are the simple and sure steps which guide our journey along the Way of the Cross, and gradually enable us to glimpse the path of Truth and Life.

OPENING PRAYER

The Holy Father: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
R. Amen.
The Holy Father:Let us pray.

A moment of silence follows

Lord Jesus,
you invite us to follow you
in this, your final hour.
In you, each one of us is present
and we, though many, are one in you.
In your final hour is our life’s hour of testing,
in all its harshness and brutality;
it is the hour of the passion of your Church
and of all humanity.

It is the hour of darkness:
when “the foundations of the earth tremble” (Isaiah 24:18)
and man, “a tiny part of your creation”,(Confessions, 1, 1, 1)
groans and suffers with it;
an hour when the various masks of falsehood
mock the truth
and the allure of success stifles the deep call to honesty;
when utter lack of meaning and values
brings good training to nought
and the disordered heart disfigures the innocence
of the small and weak;
an hour when man strays from the way leading to the Father
and no longer recognizes in you
the bright face of his own humanity.

This hour brings the temptation to flee,
the sense of bewilderment and anguish,
as the worm of doubt eats away at the mind
and the curtain of darkness falls on the heart.

And you, Lord,
who read the open book of our frail hearts,
ask us this evening,
as once you asked the Twelve:
“Do you also wish to leave me?” (John 6:67)

No, Lord, we cannot and would not leave you,
for you alone “have the words of eternal life”, (John 6:68)
you alone are “the word of truth” (Cf. Ephesians 1:13)
and your cross alone
is the “key that opens to us the secrets
of truth and life”.

“We will follow you wherever you go!” (Cf. Matthew 8:19)

Following you is itself our act of worship,
as from the horizon of the not yet
a ray of joy
caresses the already of our journey.

R. Amen.

FIRST STATION
Jesus is condemned to death

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SECOND STATION
Jesus takes up his cross

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THIRD STATION
Jesus falls the first time

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FOURTH STATION
Jesus meets his Mother

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FIFTH STATION
Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry his cross

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SIXTH STATION
Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

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SEVENTH STATION
Jesus falls the second time

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EIGHTH STATION
Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem, who weep for him

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NINTH STATION
Jesus falls the third time

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TENTH STATION
Jesus is stripped of his garments

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ELEVENTH STATION
Jesus is nailed to the cross

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TWELFTH STATION
Jesus dies on the cross

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THIRTEENTH STATION
Jesus is taken down from the cross and given to his Mother

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FOURTEENTH STATION
Jesus is placed in the tomb

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© Copyright 2011 – Libreria Editrice Vaticana (text and icons)

“The greed of possession leads to violence, exploitation and death,” which is why during Lent the church encourages almsgiving, “which is the capacity to share,” Pope Benedict XVI said in the message for Lent 2011 which was released at a Vatican on February 22. The theme of the the message was taken from the Letter to the Colossians: “You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him.” In his message, the Pope took the year’s Lenten Sunday Gospels and used them to draw lessons he said would be helpful in making the Lenten journey toward Christian conversion.

“You were buried with him in baptism,
in which you were also raised with him.” (cf. Col 2: 12)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Lenten period, which leads us to the celebration of Holy Easter, is for the Church a most valuable and important liturgical time, in view of which I am pleased to offer a specific word in order that it may be lived with due diligence. As she awaits the definitive encounter with her Spouse in the eternal Easter, the Church community, assiduous in prayer and charitable works, intensifies her journey in purifying the spirit, so as to draw more abundantly from the Mystery of Redemption the new life in Christ the Lord (cf. Preface I of Lent).

1. This very life was already bestowed upon us on the day of our Baptism, when we “become sharers in Christ’s death and Resurrection”, and there began for us “the joyful and exulting adventure of his disciples” (Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, 10 January, 2010). In his Letters, St. Paul repeatedly insists on the singular communion with the Son of God that this washing brings about. The fact that, in most cases, Baptism is received in infancy highlights how it is a gift of God: no one earns eternal life through their own efforts. The mercy of God, which cancels sin and, at the same time, allows us to experience in our lives “the mind of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2: 5), is given to men and women freely. The Apostle to the Gentiles, in theLetter to the Philippians, expresses the meaning of the transformation that takes place through participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, pointing to its goal: that “I may come to know him and the power of his resurrection, and partake of his sufferings by being molded to the pattern of his death, striving towards the goal of resurrection from the dead” (Phil 3: 10-11). Hence, Baptism is not a rite from the past, but the encounter with Christ, which informs the entire existence of the baptized, imparting divine life and calling for sincere conversion; initiated and supported by Grace, it permits the baptized to reach the adult stature of Christ.

A particular connection binds Baptism to Lent as the favorable time to experience this saving Grace. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council exhorted all of the Church’s Pastors to make greater use “of the baptismal features proper to the Lenten liturgy” (Constitution on the Sacred LiturgySacrosanctum concilium, n. 109). In fact, the Church has always associated the Easter Vigil with the celebration of Baptism: this Sacrament realizes the great mystery in which man dies to sin, is made a sharer in the new life of the Risen Christ and receives the same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead (cf. Rm 8: 11). This free gift must always be rekindled in each one of us, and Lent offers us a path like that of the catechumenate, which, for the Christians of the early Church, just as for catechumens today, is an irreplaceable school of faith and Christian life. Truly, they live their Baptism as an act that shapes their entire existence.

2. In order to undertake more seriously our journey towards Easter and prepare ourselves to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord – the most joyous and solemn feast of the entire liturgical year – what could be more appropriate than allowing ourselves to be guided by the Word of God? For this reason, the Church, in the Gospel texts of the Sundays of Lent, leads us to a particularly intense encounter with the Lord, calling us to retrace the steps of Christian initiation: for catechumens, in preparation for receiving the Sacrament of rebirth; for the baptized, in light of the new and decisive steps to be taken in the sequela Christi and a fuller giving of oneself to him.

The First Sunday of the Lenten journey reveals our condition as human beings here on earth. The victorious battle against temptation, the starting point of Jesus’ mission, is an invitation to become aware of our own fragility in order to accept the Grace that frees from sin and infuses new strength in Christ – the way, the truth and the life (cf. Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum, n. 25). It is a powerful reminder that Christian faith implies, following the example of Jesus and in union with him, a battle “against the ruling forces who are masters of the darkness in this world” (Eph 6: 12), in which the devil is at work and never tires – even today – of tempting whoever wishes to draw close to the Lord: Christ emerges victorious to open also our hearts to hope and guide us in overcoming the seductions of evil.

The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces the divinization of man. The Christian community becomes aware that Jesus leads it, like the Apostles Peter, James and John “up a high mountain by themselves” (Mt 17: 1), to receive once again in Christ, as sons and daughters in the Son, the gift of the Grace of God: “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favor. Listen to him” (Mt 17: 5). It is the invitation to take a distance from the noisiness of everyday life in order to immerse oneself in God’s presence. He desires to hand down to us, each day, a Word that penetrates the depths of our spirit, where we discern good from evil (cf. Heb 4:12), reinforcing our will to follow the Lord.

The question that Jesus puts to the Samaritan woman: “Give me a drink” (Jn 4: 7), is presented to us in the liturgy of the third Sunday; it expresses the passion of God for every man and woman, and wishes to awaken in our hearts the desire for the gift of “a spring of water within, welling up for eternal life” (Jn 4: 14): this is the gift of the Holy Spirit, who transforms Christians into “true worshipers,” capable of praying to the Father “in spirit and truth” (Jn 4: 23). Only this water can extinguish our thirst for goodness, truth and beauty! Only this water, given to us by the Son, can irrigate the deserts of our restless and unsatisfied soul, until it “finds rest in God”, as per the famous words of St. Augustine.

The Sunday of the man born blind presents Christ as the light of the world. The Gospel confronts each one of us with the question: “Do you believe in the Son of man?” “Lord, I believe!” (Jn 9: 35. 38), the man born blind joyfully exclaims, giving voice to all believers. The miracle of this healing is a sign that Christ wants not only to give us sight, but also open our interior vision, so that our faith may become ever deeper and we may recognize him as our only Savior. He illuminates all that is dark in life and leads men and women to live as “children of the light”.

On the fifth Sunday, when the resurrection of Lazarus is proclaimed, we are faced with the ultimate mystery of our existence: “I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe this?” (Jn 11: 25-26). For the Christian community, it is the moment to place with sincerity – together with Martha – all of our hopes in Jesus of Nazareth: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who was to come into this world” (Jn 11: 27). Communion with Christ in this life prepares us to overcome the barrier of death, so that we may live eternally with him. Faith in the resurrection of the dead and hope in eternal life open our eyes to the ultimate meaning of our existence: God created men and women for resurrection and life, and this truth gives an authentic and definitive meaning to human history, to the personal and social lives of men and women, to culture, politics and the economy. Without the light of faith, the entire universe finishes shut within a tomb devoid of any future, any hope.

The Lenten journey finds its fulfillment in the Paschal Triduum, especially in the Great Vigil of the Holy Night: renewing our baptismal promises, we reaffirm that Christ is the Lord of our life, that life which God bestowed upon us when we were reborn of “water and Holy Spirit”, and we profess again our firm commitment to respond to the action of the Grace in order to be his disciples.

3. By immersing ourselves into the death and resurrection of Christ through the Sacrament of Baptism, we are moved to free our hearts every day from the burden of material things, from a self-centered relationship with the “world” that impoverishes us and prevents us from being available and open to God and our neighbor. In Christ, God revealed himself as Love (cf.1Jn 4: 7-10). The Cross of Christ, the “word of the Cross”, manifests God’s saving power (cf. 1Cor 1: 18), that is given to raise men and women anew and bring them salvation: it is love in its most extreme form (cf. EncyclicalDeus caritas est, n. 12). Through the traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our commitment to conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the love of Christ in an ever more radical way. Fasting, which can have various motivations, takes on a profoundly religious significance for the Christian: by rendering our table poorer, we learn to overcome selfishness in order to live in the logic of gift and love; by bearing some form of deprivation – and not just what is in excess – we learn to look away from our “ego”, to discover Someone close to us and to recognize God in the face of so many brothers and sisters. For Christians, fasting, far from being depressing, opens us ever more to God and to the needs of others, thus allowing love of God to become also love of our neighbor (cf. Mk 12: 31).

In our journey, we are often faced with the temptation of accumulating and love of money that undermine God’s primacy in our lives. The greed of possession leads to violence, exploitation and death; for this, the Church, especially during the Lenten period, reminds us to practice almsgiving – which is the capacity to share. The idolatry of goods, on the other hand, not only causes us to drift away from others, but divests man, making him unhappy, deceiving him, deluding him without fulfilling its promises, since it puts materialistic goods in the place of God, the only source of life. How can we understand God’s paternal goodness, if our heart is full of egoism and our own projects, deceiving us that our future is guaranteed? The temptation is to think, just like the rich man in the parable: “My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come…”. We are all aware of the Lord’s judgment: “Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul…” (Lk 12: 19-20). The practice of almsgiving is a reminder of God’s primacy and turns our attention towards others, so that we may rediscover how good our Father is, and receive his mercy.

During the entire Lenten period, the Church offers us God’s Word with particular abundance. By meditating and internalizing the Word in order to live it every day, we learn a precious and irreplaceable form of prayer; by attentively listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, we nourish the itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism. Prayer also allows us to gain a new concept of time: without the perspective of eternity and transcendence, in fact, time simply directs our steps towards a horizon without a future. Instead, when we pray, we find time for God, to understand that his “words will not pass away” (cf. Mk 13: 31), to enter into that intimate communion with Him “that no one shall take from you” (Jn 16: 22), opening us to the hope that does not disappoint, eternal life.

In synthesis, the Lenten journey, in which we are invited to contemplate the Mystery of the Cross, is meant to reproduce within us “the pattern of his death” (Ph 3: 10), so as to effect a deep conversion in our lives; that we may be transformed by the action of the Holy Spirit, like St. Paul on the road to Damascus; that we may firmly orient our existence according to the will of God; that we may be freed of our egoism, overcoming the instinct to dominate others and opening us to the love of Christ. The Lenten period is a favorable time to recognize our weakness and to accept, through a sincere inventory of our life, the renewing Grace of the Sacrament of Penance, and walk resolutely towards Christ.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, through the personal encounter with our Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our Baptism. This Lent, let us renew our acceptance of the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that moment, so that it may illuminate and guide all of our actions. What the Sacrament signifies and realizes, we are called to experience every day by following Christ in an ever more generous and authentic manner. In this our itinerary, let us entrust ourselves to the Virgin Mary, who generated the Word of God in faith and in the flesh, so that we may immerse ourselves – just as she did – in the death and resurrection of her Son Jesus, and possess eternal life.

From the Vatican, 4 November, 2010

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

 Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Our Advent journey continues

There are resources how to bake excellent cake, how to make Christmas tree decorations, palette of Christmas cards is larger than our senses can catch. And there are spiritual resources, the most important ones in this time especially for Christians. It’s important because Advent is the time of waiting and time of preparation for the Incarnation. It the time we have to make our hearts ready to sing Gloria in Excelsis Deo!.

In this ocean of resources and offers here are some we would like to recommend you and encourage you to make your milestones on the road to miraculous manger.

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✠ Our Polish speaking readers can listen to Sunday homilies from St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY.
Naszych polskojęzycznych gości zapraszamy do wysłuchania niedzielnych homilii głoszonych w kosciele św. Stanisława Kostki na Greenpoincie, Brooklyn, NY

Fr. Stanislaw Szczepanik CM, Director of Daughters of Charity, Province of Puerto Rico was the preacher on First Sunday of Advent. This homily, in Polish, refers to the Feast of Miracuolous Medal as well.
Ks. Stanisław Szczapanik CM, Dyrektor Sióstr Miłosierdzia Prowincji Portoryko był kaznodzieją w I Niedzielę Adwentu. W swym kazaniu odwoływał się również do obchodzonego wcześniej święta NMP Cudownego Medalika.

• Homilia na I Niedzielę Adwentu – 28 listopada 2010

Fr. Marek Sobczak CM, Pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka preached on Second Sunday of Advent
Ks. Marek Sobczak CM, proboszcz parafii św. Stanisława Kostki był kaznodzieją w II Niedzielę Adwentu

• Homilia na II Niedzielę Adwentu – 5 grudnia 2010.

Fr. Lukasz Sorys CM, Vocation Director from Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Stamford, CT gave the homily on Third Sunday of Advent. It was the first day of Advent retreat.
Ks. Łukasz Sorys CM, promotor powołań, parafia Najświętszego Imienia Jezus głosił homilię w III Niedzielę Adwentu, która jednocześnie rozpoczynała tegoroczne rekolekcje adwentowe

• Homilia na III Niedzielę Adwentu – 12 grudnia 2010.

Fr. Jan Urbaniak CM, Vicar St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Brooklyn, NY preached on Fourth Sunday of Advent.
Ks. Jan Urbaniak CM,Wikarusz parafii św. Stanisława Kostki głosił homilię w IV Niedzielę Adwentu

• Homilia na IV Niedzielę Adwentu – 19 grudnia 2010.

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✠ Holy Father, Benedict XVI has addressed crowd gathered on St. Peter’s Square during the Angelus prayer on November 28, First Sunday of Advent with his message for this time of waiting and preparation:

• Read the ANGELUS MESSAGE ON FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT (English)
• Przeczytaj PRZEMÓWIENIE NA ANIOŁ PAŃSKI W PIERWSZĄ NIEDZIELĘ ADWENTU (polski)

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✠ The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is providing a downloadable book of scriptural reflections for Advent and Christmas featuring the words of Pope Benedict XVI from homilies, speeches and other addresses during his papacy. The 37-page document includes a scripture quote and a reflection from the Holy Father for every day of Advent, which begins on Sunday, November 28, 2010, through the 7th Day in the Octave of Christmas, December 31, 2010. “Advent & Christmas with Pope Benedict XVI” is a preview of the upcoming publication “A Year with Pope Benedict XVI,” which will be available soon from USCCB.

• Download “ADVENT & CHRISTMAS WITH POPE BENEDICT XVI”