{"id":1985,"date":"2012-01-01T14:52:30","date_gmt":"2012-01-01T22:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=1985"},"modified":"2015-06-11T10:54:05","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T17:54:05","slug":"happy-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/happy-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy New Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s the first of January, and I’m clearly looking and feeling my very best after last night’s festivities. <\/p>\n

W<\/span>e rarely throw parties, but when we do, we invariably overdo it a bit. Last night’s feast had libations aplenty and a table groaning with food for our family and friends old and new.<\/p>\n

Everybody brought something to share. Combine that with Francine’s Italian hostess personality traits kicked up to high gear, and it was an embarrassment of riches.<\/p>\n

It reminded me of Hilaire Belloc’s famous ditty:<\/p>\n

Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine,
\nThere\u2019s always laughter and good red wine.
\nAt least I\u2019ve always found it so.
\nBenedicamus Domino!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Benedicamus Domino<\/em> is Latin for “Let us bless the Lord”, and is used in the Extraordinary Form of the Mass as the final words of the priest in dismissing the people during certain Masses. It’s also used at the end of the various hours of the Divine Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The people answer Deo gratias<\/em>, “Thanks be to God”.<\/p>\n

Not everybody at our feast was Catholic, of course. In fact, I’m hard pressed to name anybody except Francine and I who are. And it was mostly laughter and good black ale. But these are the merest of accidental details; the substance remains the same.<\/p>\n

I’ve mentioned several times that it was a feast, and indeed it is. January the first is the greatest of the feasts dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary: the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God<\/em>. Since the liturgical day begins at sundown of the day before (a custom the Catholics inherited from the Jews), we really were celebrating the feast last night, whether or not anybody knew about it.<\/p>\n

We also attended the vigil Mass yesterday, both because we suspected we’d not be in the best shape this morning, and we were conscious of the fact that we might have overnight guests. Both turned out to be true. I’m actually feeling pretty good today, though I do have a bit of a sore throat from all that whoopin’ and hollerin’ lo, about midnight.<\/p>\n

Most people who are Christians but not Catholics probably wonder why we have feasts celebrating the Virgin and the saints. It really is simple. These people are holy and worthy of emulation, so we celebrate their life and their acceptance of God’s grace. If the United States of America can have a day set aside to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Church can certainly set aside a day to celebrate Saint Thomas Becket, for instance.<\/p>\n

Also, since the Communion of Saints<\/a> transcends mere time, these celebrations are in a sense like celebrating with our friends or family. Birthday parties and such are times for family and friends to gather, and this is no different. His feast is a pretty good time to renew your acquaintance with ol’ Thomas Becket.<\/p>\n

And then there’s Mary. Above the rest of the saints, Mary stands out and above. No other human being has been hailed by an angel of God as being “full of Grace”. <\/p>\n

No other human being said “yes” to God in the radical way that Mary did. <\/p>\n

No other human being gave birth to the Saviour of us all, God-with-us, Christ Jesus, who Himself gave Mary to us as our own Mother (John 19:26-27).<\/p>\n

We are all called to be saints. We are all called to give an unhesitating “yes” to God, our creator.<\/p>\n

Do we always succeed? Of course not. When I went to confession a couple of weeks ago, I became exquisitely conscious of the fact that I’d been making excuses to God, I’d been running away from discerning His plan for me because I was afraid of what that plan might be, and what that might mean.<\/p>\n

The thing about God is, though, is that He is tireless and He is patient. You can run, but whenever you stop, God is already right there, waiting for you.<\/p>\n

Pray for me, brothers and sisters, in this beautiful New Year of 2012, for I shall surely pray for you.<\/p>\n

You might start by asking your Mother to pray for us, too.<\/p>\n

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee;
\nblessed art thou amongst women,
\nand blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
\nHoly Mary, Mother of God,
\npray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
\nAmen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Deo gratias<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s the first of January, and I’m clearly looking and feeling my very best after last night’s festivities. We rarely throw parties, but when we do, we invariably overdo it a bit. Last night’s feast had libations aplenty and a table groaning with food for our family and friends old and new. Everybody brought something to share. Combine that with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24,55,9,8,10,5,31,19,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-divine-office","category-family","category-francine-my-love","category-fun","category-holy-days","category-mary","category-pray","category-saint"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-w1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87941,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/gaudete\/","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":0},"title":"Gaudete!","author":"Thom","date":"10 December 2016","format":"video","excerpt":"Tomorrow is Gaudete Sunday - the joyous third Sunday of Advent. Jimmy Akin gives us the scoop. Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus: Dominus enim prope est. Nihil solliciti sitis: sed in omni oratione petitiones vestr\u00e6 innotescant apud Deum. Benedixisti Domine terram tuam:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chant"","block_context":{"text":"Chant","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/chant\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/gaudete.jpg?fit=539%2C323&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/gaudete.jpg?fit=539%2C323&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/gaudete.jpg?fit=539%2C323&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":83608,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/rejoice-in-the-lord-always\/","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":1},"title":"Rejoice in the Lord Always!","author":"Thom","date":"14 December 2013","format":"video","excerpt":"Tomorrow is Gaudete Sunday - the joyous third Sunday of Advent. Jimmy Akin gives us the scoop. Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus: Dominus enim prope est. Nihil solliciti sitis: sed in omni oratione petitiones vestr\u00e6 innotescant apud Deum. Benedixisti Domine terram tuam:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chant"","block_context":{"text":"Chant","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/chant\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2774,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-great-lake-of-beer-for-the-king-of-kings\/","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":2},"title":"A Great Lake of Beer for the King of Kings","author":"Thom","date":"11 April 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"These quotes were published by St. Peter's List. They're too good not to share. The sense behind these is pervasive throughout much of Catholicism. God created the world, and it is good. The Catholic Church is like a thick steak, a glass of red wine, and a good cigar. (G.K.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fun"","block_context":{"text":"Fun","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/fun\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Tolkien-Pipe-640x416-300x195.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87892,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/advent-already\/","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":3},"title":"Advent Already!","author":"Thom","date":"27 November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Advent began with last night's vespers, and today is the First Sunday of Advent. Behold, the Name of the Lord comes from afar, and His glory fills all the earth. (Magnificat Antiphon for I Vespers on the First Sunday of Advent, Monastic Diurnal) Not sure exactly what Advent is? 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Here's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Annual"","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Advent-Candles.jpg?fit=448%2C298&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87852,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/thank-you-fr-insco\/","url_meta":{"origin":1985,"position":5},"title":"Thank you, Fr. Insco","author":"Thom","date":"20 November 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Before, during, and after last night's vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Christ the King, Rev. Caleb Insco, F.S.S.P., heard Confessions at Holy Rosary. Fr. Insco is a newly-minted priest serving at St Joseph. I am grateful for Fr. 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