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hristmas Thoughts r Martin Mareja SAC I celebrated my i rst Christmas in Ireland in 2010. It was also my i rst experience of a white Christmas be- causemostofIrelandwascoveredby snow.Dublinairportwasthrongedby huge numbers of stranded passengers astherewerenoplanes l yingduetothe heavyfallsofsnowwhichcoveredtherunways. Ioftenwonderedwhatwerethefeelingsofallthosepeople stranded there, some with young babies, who were to travel long distances to join their families, friends and relatives to celebrateChristmas.Itmusthavebeenaworryingandstressful timeforthem,theairportnotanidealplacetocelebratethis importantfeastinourlivesasChristians. Although I hadn’t planned to celebrate that Christmas in IrelandthewholesceneofsnowallovertheplaceonChristmas dayissomethingthatIwillrememberformanyyearstocome. ItwasformearealwhiteChristmas.Imanyneverbefortunate againtoseeanotherwhiteChristmasbecauseIcomefroma tropicalclimatewheresnowisunknown. WecelebrateChristmaseveryyearoutofgratitudeforwhat Goddidforus.Hesolovedtheworldthathegavehisoneand onlySon,thatwhoeverbelievesinhimshouldnotperishbut have eternal life. God did not send his Son to condemn the world,buttosavetheworldthroughhim.Thetruemeaningof Christmasisthecelebrationofthisincredibleactoflove.We remember His birth by giving each other gifts, worshipping Him,andbeingconsciousofthepoorandlessfortunate. When we think of Christians in places like Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Southern Sudan, Liberia, Palestine, The Democratic Republic of Congo and other places, we see that for many people,Christmasmaybeatimeofsorrow,withnohomeor moneytobuypresentsfortheirchildren,family,andfriends. ManyaresaddenedatChristmastimewhentheythinkoftheir lovedoneswhoaredead,thosewhowillnotbeabletocome home for various reasons. This year Christmas celebrations maybeonlyawishandnotarealityformanyofthem. AsIwritethesefewlinestowishyouallahappyChristmasI thinkofhowblessedweare.WecanshareChristmasblessings by saying a prayer for those who for one reason or another feelthatthisyear’sfestivalwillbeonlyawish.Letusmake Christmasaseasonofgreatjoy.ItisatimeofGodshowing Hisgreatloveforus.Itcanbeatimeofhealingandrenewal forallifwewillallowbabyJesustobeborninourhearts. TheMissionOfi cewishestothankyouallforyourfriend- ship,generosityandsupportoverthepastyear. AHappyandaHolyChristmastoyouall. Recently our Irish troops returned homefromapeacekeepingmissionin theGolanHeightsOnhisreturn,Private KevinPhelanhadaspecialsurprisefor hisgirlfriendLenaMurphy.Onbended kneehepoppedthequestionandasked hertomarryhimandshesaid“Yes”.It wasamomentofgoodnewsandgreatjoytofamily,friends andcolleagues! AttheheartofthisbeautifulseasonofAdventisMary,Our Lady.Her‘Yes’,herLove,herOpenHearttothewillofGod gaveusthegiftofJesus.InthisseasonofAdvent,Marywants toprepareusforthegiftofherSon. JustastheIrishtroopscameunder i rewhiletryingtorescue theirFilipinocolleagues,wetoocan i ndourselvesunderi re and afraid from what life throws at us. In life we are faced with problems and strugglesandwedon’tseeanysolution towhatitthrowsatus.Ifwetrytomeet life’s demands by relying solely on our strength and inner resources, we will stumbleandfall.Godhasaplanforeach andeveryoneofus,justashehadaplan forMary,theMotherofGod. The circumstances in which Mary foundherselfweretenuous.Mary,upon hearing the greeting of the archangel Gabriel, found herself afraid and disturbedandsheponderedonwhatwas being asked of her by God. She didn’t ponder too long: she gave her “Yes”. Mary’s consideration of what the angel saidquicklyledhertoplaceherselfatthe service of God, allowing God’s will be doneinherlife.Shesaid“Yes”toGodin momentsofjoyandsorrow.Ittookdeep faithandtrustinGodforMarytohavethecouragetosayYes toGod. Although we are privileged to know how the story turned out,Marywasnot.ShehadthefaithtolivethroughGod’splan forherlife,justaswemusthavethefaithtolivethroughhis planforours.Whenyoui ndyourselfalone,afraidandunsure ofthefuture,turntoMary,theMotherofGod. Frank Duff, Founder of the Legion of Mary, speaking on Page 4 Pallottine Voices Voices Pallottine St.Louis-MariedeMonfort’s“TrueDevotiontoMary”said: “Everything is safe with Our Lady. She is capable of being the guardian of the treasures of God himself. She is capable ofbeingtheguardianoftheconcernsofthosewhoplacetheir trustinher.Castallyourconcernsandworriesintothatgreat sublimeheartofhers.Inherrelationswithyou,sheactsina mannerasifshehadnootherchildbutyou.Yoursalvation, your sanctii cation, your multiple needs are present to her. When you pray for her intentions, you yourself are her i rst intention”. RecentlyIcameacrossaNovenatoOurLadyUndoerof Knots,Ihadneverheardofitbeforeuntilafriendofminetold meaboutit.TheoriginsoftheDevotionarelinkedtoapainting known as Our Lady Undoer of Knots; it was painted at the beginningof18thcenturybyaGermanartist,JohannGeorg Schmidtner,asacommissionforanoblemaninthanksgiving toMaryforfavoursreceived.Today,thepaintingcanbeseen inSt.Peter’sChurchinAugsburg,Bavaria,inGermany. In the icon, Our Lady is untying the knots on a ribbon representing life, while treading on the headofasnakerepresentingtheevilone. Theknotsaresymbolsofsinsorproblems inourlives.Aswestrayfurtherawayfrom God’spathofgoodnessandmercy,these knotsgetharderandhardertountieonour own.Itisanimageandanovenawitha messageofhopeforhumankind,thatwith God’sgrace,whenweaskforhelp,every sinandproblemcanbeconquered,every knotuntiedthroughMary.Faithandtrust arethekey. Back in the 1990’s, while studying in BavariaasaJesuitpriest,JorgeBergoglio –nowPopeFrancis–sawthepaintingin theChurchinAusburg.Soimpressedwas hewiththeicon,thatwhenhewentback to Argentina, he started to make known thisiconandthedevotion.Overtimethe devotion spread across Latin America. People started to pray novenas to Our LadyUndoerofKnots.Manyfavoursweregrantedtopeople, andthatchangedtheirlives. InthisseasonofAdvent,taketimeouttocloseyoureyes, openyourheartandinviteOurLadyintogivenewlife,new hopetoyouthisJoyfulSeason. OurLadyUndoerofKnots:Prayforus. St.Louis-MariedeMonfort:Prayforus. Registered Charity Number: CHY 6438 Please Help the Pallottines. Pleasecutoutthisformandreturnitwithyourdonation. PleaserememberthePallottinesinyourwill.Thankyou. MY GIFT TO THE PALLOTTINES DearFr.MartinMareja,SAC Iencloseanofferingof……………..tohelpthePallottines’ missiontoevangelise,educateandempowerpeople. PLEASE USE BLOCK CAPITALS. Name ............................................................... .................. Address . ............................................................... ................. ............................................................... .................. Sendto Fr. Martin Mareja, SAC Pallottine Fathers Missions Thurles, Co. Tipperary, Ireland Email: [email protected] Ifyouwouldlikeustoacknowledgeyour donation,pleasetickthisbox. In this issue : New Pallottines in Uganda – Pallottine Sisters in Tanzania Books For You in Thurles A wide range of books to suit all tastes and interests will be available to buy at the Pallottine College, Thurles, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 31st October, and 1st and 2nd November, in aidofthePallottineFathersMissionsin EastAfrica. Thebookswillbeondisplayforalimitedtimeonly,from 10.45amto12.00pmonFriday,andonSaturdayandSunday from10.45amto12.00pmandfrom2.00pmto5.00pm.So don’tmissout! Comeandsupportourwork,givethegiftofabooktoyour friends–ortoyourself–forChristmasandthesametimehelp thepoorandthelessfortunateinourmissionsoverseas. Win Win Win Our annual Mission Draw for 2000 willbeheldattheMissionCentre,Thurles, onSunday,7thDecember. Therewillalsobeacelebrationofthe Eucharistat10a.m.presidedoverbyFr.DerryMurphy,SAC, provincial rector of the Pallottine Fathers, to thank all our friends,helpersandbenefactors. You are all most welcome to attend and refreshments will followintheCollegerefectoryafterwards. Shopping Help WehavepermissionfromTESCO SupermarketinThurlestohelpwithbagpacking–inaidof thePallottineFathers’workandMissions–onSaturdayand Sunday20thand21stDecemberfrom3.00amto9.00pmon SaturdayandonSundayfrom10amto6.00pm.Wewelcome ourfriendsandsupporterstohelpwiththepacking.
