Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr
The Fifth Day of Christmas – Feast of St. Thomas Becket, Martyr
St. Thomas Becket is the OTHER St. Thomas, martyred for the Catholic Faith in England by a king named Henry over matters of Church governance.
Thomas was born in London on the 21st of December in either 1117 or 1118 to Gilbert Becket and Matilda Roheise. His parents were buried in Old St. Paul's Cathedral.
When Thomas was 10 he learned to read at the Merton Priory in England and then traveled to the Mainland for further studies of canon and civil law in Paris, Bologna and Auxerre.
After his studies were concluded he returned to England around 1141 where he gained the attention of Theobold, Archbishop of Canterbury who sent him on several missions to Rome and ordained him a deacon in 1154. Soon after he was named Archdeacon of Canterbury.
About this same time King Stephen died leaving Henry the II as the new king. At Archbishop Theobold's urging, King Henry named Thomas the Lord High Chancellor of England. Thomas and King Henry were close friends and both spent a good deal of time “living it up.”
Thomas was so zealous in carrying out his duties as chancellor that many of the English clergy distrusted him. His loyalty to Henry, a Norman, was also seen by some as treachery since Thomas was a Saxon and should have been protecting the Saxons from the reaching of the Norman king.
When Archbishop Theobold died in 1161, King Henry thought that naming Thomas the new Archbishop of Canterbury would solidify his position as sole head of England; something that had long been opposed by Archbishop Theobold.
Thomas warned the King that if he were to become the Archbishop, he would do his duty as zealously for the Church as he had as chancellor for England. The King insisted, even obtaining a dispensation from the Pope for Thomas to hold both positions. In 1162 Thomas was named Archbishop of Canterbury and immediately the conflicts that he had warned King Henry about began.
He resigned as Chancellor, excommunicated one of the nobles, successfully opposed a new land tax by the king and within two years fled to France in exile after more fighting with the king over the Constitutions of Clarendon which were an attempt by the king to clearly define the various spheres of authority between church and state.
King Louis VII of France welcomed Thomas and let him stay at the Cistercian Abbey of Pontigny for two years until threats by King Henry forced him to move. During this time, Thomas was in constant contact with Pope Alexander III who sympathized but wanted to try a more diplomatic approach to resolving the crisis than Thomas.
In 1166 the pope granted Thomas permission to take what measures he saw fit to try and bring the matter to a close. Thomas immediately excommunicated several of the king's councellors. In 1167 the pope appointed arbiters to try and peacefully resolve the authority disputes but Thomas refused to compromise. In 1169 Thomas excommunicated two bishops loyal to King Henry. In 1170 King Henry had himself crowned king by the Archbishop of York and the pope threatened to excommunicate all of Britain unless the king agreed to work out a compromise with Thomas.
Thomas returned to England in November of 1170 and immediately declared the Constitutions of Clarendon null and void. Henry, in a rage said “Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?” or similar words and four of his knights, Reginald Fitzurse, Hugh de Moreville, William de Tracy, and Richard le Breton, taking this as a clear command from the king, murdered Thomas during vespers in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29th, 1170.
Thomas Becket was canonized in 1173. On July 12th, 1174, in an attempt to calm a revolt, King Henry II did public penance at Thomas' tomb.
In 1538, three years after having St. Thomas More beheaded for opposing the rule of the Catholic Church by the king, King Henry VIII had the shrine of St. Thomas Becket destroyed in an act of vengeance. He also had Thomas' relics destroyed and any mention of his name obliterated.

Here’s St. Cyril of Alexandria:
Therefore He became like us, that is, a human being,
that we might become like Him, I mean gods and sons.
On the one hand He accepts what belongs to us, taking it to Himself as His own, and on the other He gives us in exchange what belongs to Him.

What are the Twelve Days of Christmas?

The twelve days of Christmas, also called Christmastide, start on the evening of Christmas Day and end on the morning of Epiphany (January 6th).
The Feast of Epiphany appears to have been established very early in the Church with St. Clement of Alexandria mentioning its celebration on January 6th in the third century.
While the date of Christmas moved many times in the early Church, by the 300's all calendars in the Western Church marked the date as December 25th.
During the Middle Ages the twelve days of Christmas were considered a time for celebration culminating with Twelfth Night which became the subject of one of Shakespeare's plays.
In the United States it appears that the custom of making Christmas wreaths developed with the wreath being made on Christmas Day and then hung on the front door until Epiphany.
The various feasts celebrated during the Twelve Days of Christmas include:
Christmas (December 25th)
St. Stephen (December 26th) - celebrated in the UK as Boxing Day.
St. John the Evangelist (December 27th)
Holy Innocents (December 28th)
St. Thomas Beckett (December 29th)
Holy Family (December 30th)
St. Sylvester (December 31st)
Solemnity of Mary (January 1st) - formerly the Feast of the Circumcision
St. Basil (January 2nd)
Holy Name of Jesus (January 3rd)
St. Elizabeth Anne Seton (January 4th) - in the United States
St. John Neumann (January 5th) - in the United States
Epiphany (January 6th) - moved to the nearest Sunday in some countries
It is traditionally considered bad luck to take down your ornaments and tree after Epiphany but you can avoid any such problems by keeping your ornaments and tree up until the following Christmas. You may end up experiencing the Johnny Cash spoof "Burning Tree of Fire" if you do, though.

Website

Dear Kingman Readers,
My sister is visiting me for Christmas. She is going to make some changes to the parish website.
I need your recommendations to make the site better.
Send me an e-mail at frweldon@stpatskingman.org
Here is a link to the work she has done so far.
http://stpats.web.aplus.net/

Abundant Life

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Why did God do this? The answer to this question is very simple. We read it in John 10:10
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

What does it mean to have abundant life?
St. Paul compares two types of lives in his letter to the Galatians.
The first is the life of the flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
immorality,
impurity,
licentiousness,
idolatry,
sorcery,
hatreds,
rivalry,
jealousy,
outbursts of fury,
acts of selfishness,
dissensions,
factions,
occasions of envy,
drinking bouts,
orgies,

The second is the life of the spirit.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
generosity,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
self-control.

Compare these two types of lives. Which is the life that you prefer?
Jesus came to give us the life of the Spirit. As we celebrate this Christmas our true joy will only be found in the gift of the Spirit.

Here is a nice article if you have time to read it.

http://www.catholicexchange.com/en/node/64129

Don't forget to feed your soul as well as your body.

Parish offices

The parish offices have been moved out of the rectory and into the convent.
when you call 532-5440 the phone will ring in the convent.

Elaine is in the office from 8:00 - 4:00 each day.
She often attends morning Mass.
On Fridays she leaves at around 3:00.

If you want something in the bulletin you need to tell her by 4:00 on Wednesday.

Faith

The virtue of faith allows the intellect to recognize truths that are beyond our natural power. We receive information from the senses. These things are put into the mind and we think about them. Birds, music, the cold air, trees and everything else that we percieve comes from the senses. There are truths which are beyond our nature. Faith is given to us so that we can go beyond the limitations of our senses. It as if a bird is trapped in a glass house. It keeps running into the wall. Our mind is confined by the senses. Faith opens up the glass ceiling so that mind can assent to the truth about God.

The object of faith is God.
The material object of faith is the revelation of God.
Practically, we place our faith in God as he reveals himself through the Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Church.
God revealed himself in many ways throughout the Old Testament.
He revealed himself fully in his Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father. 1 John 1:1-4

Theological Virtues

The three theological virtues are faith, hope and love. These virtues are infused as opposed to acquired virtues which we gain by practice. A person receives these virtues at baptism as part of the gift of sanctifying grace. When we reach the age of reason then we must begin to act upon these virtues. So, having received the gift of faith, a person then makes an act of faith.
It is similar to a natural talent that a person is born with. Perhaps a child has a musical talent. At the appropriate time the child must practice and put that talent into action.
Perhaps I was supposed to be great guitarist, but I watched several thousand hours of television as a child instead of practicing. That talent has gone to waste.
In baptism we have been given the gifts of faith, hope, and love. If these are not put into action then they we lose them.

Here is a link to more information about the Golden Comapass.
Is this important to anybody?

http://newshub.cnslis.com/2007/12/10/usccb-withdraws-review-of-the-golden-compass/

Movie

Regarding the Golden Compass:
I have not read the books. I need to read them. It seems that the 3rd volume is extremely antogonistic to the faith. I have only read quotes. I'll have to get back to you on this.

Movie

I saw the movie Bella last week. It was very good. It is a story about friendship and overcoming fear. It is playing in Wichita at the 13th street Warren. I highly recommend it to high school age and up.

St. Therese of Lisieux says:
"Lord, send me a humiliation every time I set my self above another person."
This prayer is only for the strong of heart.

Prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas

Grant me, O Lord my God,
a mind to know you,
a heart to seek you,
wisdom to find you,
conduct pleasing to you,
faithful perseverance in waiting for you,
and a hope of finally embracing you.

Golden Compass

BE INFORMED THE GOLDEN COMPASS, a new movie targeted at children, will bereleased December 7, 2007.
This movie is based on a the first book of atrilogy by atheist Philip Pullman.
In the final book a boy and girl killGod so they can do as they please.
Pullman left little doubt about hisintentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "My books are aboutkilling God."
The movie is a watered down version of the first book and isdesigned to be very attractive in the hope unsuspecting parents willtake their children to see the movie and that the children will wantthe books for Christmas.
The movie has a well known cast, including Nicole Kidman, KevinBacon, and Sam Elliott. It will probably be advertised extensively, so it is crucial that we get the word out to warn parents to avoid thismovie.
You can research this for yourself.
Start with this article on Snopes.com, then go to Google.

Dreams

I am having strange dreams. I think they are related to our building project. Tuesday night I was riding a motorcycle very fast and having a good time and then I realized I don't know how to ride a motorcycle at high speed.

Wednesday night: I am at a restaurant filled with kids. They are all on the lower level, and I am on a type of balcony overlooking them. As I walk along it suddenly becomes very narrow as if I am walking across a balance beam. I have to be careful so as not to fall on the kids below.

Am I crazy?

I believe in God.

There are implications to our belief in God.
1. It means coming to know God's greatness and majesty. As rational creatures we should come to know our creator.
2. It means living in thanksgiving. Everything comes from God. Our existence and all that we have is a free gift from God. The natural response is to give thanks.
3. It means recognizing the dignity and unity of all people. Everyone is made in the image and likeness of God. We should honor and respect the life of each person.
4. It means making good use of created things. God gave us the world for our own good. We should the things of creation in ways that will sustain us. the earth is fruitful. It should not be destroyed.

Things Catholics should know

The third commandment is: Keep Holy the Lord's Day.

Every Christian expresses his love for God by keeping the Lord's Day Holy.
It is a mortal sin not to attend mass on Sunday. Those who choose not to attend mass on Sunday should not receive Holy Communion until they have confessed this sin in the sacrament of reconciliation.

A person can miss Sunday mass if he is sick or taking care of a sick person (especially a child).
Attending a sporting event, hunting, or a rodeo are not good reasons to miss mass.

Each Sunday we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. His resurrection gives us victory over sin and death. Giving an hour of prayer and adoration to God is the least we can do for all that he has done for us. Even if the priest is boring, the music is poor, or the child in front of you is noisy, you still receive grace for making the effort.

The commitment to attend mass every Sunday flows from a persons faith. Sunday Mass should be a rule for our lives, like being faithful to our spouse.

Things every Catholic should know

What is a genflection?
Genuflection means literally, to bend the knee. When we enter a Catholic Church we genuflect, putting the right knee to ground, before we enter the pew.

Why do we genuflect?
We genuflect as an act of adoration to Jesus, who is present in the Eucharist in the tabernacle. Philippians 2:10 says that every knee will bend at the name of Jesus. We bend our knee to the ground out of reverence and love to Jesus.
We do not genuflect to the cross or any statue.

O my God, teach me to be generous:
to serve you as you deserve to be served;
to give without counting the cost;
to fight without fear of being wounded;
to work without seeking rest;
and to spend myself without expecting any reward,
but the knowledge that I am doing your holy will.
St. Ignatius of Loyola