Days 26/27 "What is the Secret of Christmas Joy" a conversation & meditation with the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy: "The soul rejoices in the Lord"

LIVE RECORD TRANSCRIPT

AMELIA:

Father Anthony, what is the Secret of Christmas joy?

FR. ANTHONY: What is the secret of Christmas joy?

I don’t know if there’s an actual secret of Christmas joy. I think each person maybe has to do something for Christmas, whether it’s listening to Christmas songs, or maybe baking cookies with their mother or their father, with their parents or with their siblings.

Cookies baked today by The Rosary Hour Podcast

Watching Christmas shows, exchanging gifts, you know, going to Church. Certainly, maybe confession is needed; going to mass is needed.

So, I mean, I think it’s all of these different things that we do, the lighting of the advent wreath candles.

We have a tradition in our church where we have an Advent Giving Tree where we have we sponsor we have like little ornaments up on the tree where people can take the ornament and then we have like a scroll and which we have a child’s name on there and a needy mother that wants to that needs a gift for their child but they’re too poor to afford the gift and so we invite people to go out and buy a gift card for this mother, for this child, and put it in there and then give us the gift card so that we can give it to the organization to help out.

But just something like that, where you’re not thinking about yourself, where you’re giving something to someone in need.

Or if you see a Salvation Army person and they’re ringing their bell and they want money for the poor. Well, you come out and give them some money!

You can do something for someone.

Give of yourself.

Or if you volunteer and you volunteer at a soup kitchen, you give to the poor or someplace else.

So there’s many, many different ways of experiencing that Christmas joy.

And it’s not always through shopping. You can do shopping and you can experience Christmas joy through shopping. But it’s not always about the materialism. And it’s not always about how many gifts that you buy for someone.

It’s just the love with which you give the gift. I think that’s more important than the gift itself.

GODRIC: You are listening to the Rosary Hour podcast.

AMELIA: Father Anthony, why do people need joy?

FR. ANTHONY GRAMLICH:

Why do people need joy? Well, imagine if no one smiled in their life. Imagine if people just walked around and they never smiled, they never laughed, they were never joyful.

Life would be dreary.

Life would be depressing if people didn’t smile at each other, if they didn’t laugh,

if they didn’t experience joy.

So, Joy means to rejoice.

The word rejoice means to have joy.

It means to be lifted up outside ourselves.

And it’s not necessarily happiness because a person can be joyful, you see, even if they’re suffering, they could still have a joy that’s in their heart.

So joy is more of, it’s more in their heart than it is in anything else.

And we need to keep praying for that gift.

It’s a great gift to have, the gift of joy.

It’s part of the season that we say that these are the joyful mysteries of the season.

So we should allow our hearts to be captivated with the joy of the Lord.

[END OF BROADCAST, TO BE CONTINUED. Thanks to Fr. Anthony for joining us on December 8, 2024 for this broadcast.]

Evening Prayer WITH LINK TO ROSARY DECADE LED BY FR. GRAMLICH FROM YESTERDAY’S POST (CLICK HERE).

INTRODUCTION

God, + come to my assistance.

— Lord, make haste to help me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit:

— as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen. Alleluia.

O holy night! the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope- the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!

Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the Wise Men from Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our Friend.

He knows our need— to our weakness is no stranger.

Behold your King, before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we;

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!

His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

The Lord, the mighty God, will come forth from Zion to set his people free.

Psalm 126: Joyful hope in God

Just as you share in sufferings so you will share in the divine glory (2 Corinthians 1:7).

When the Lord delivered Zion from bondage, *

it seemed like a dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *

on our lips there were songs.

The heathens themselves said: “What marvels *

the Lord worked for them!”

What marvels the Lord worked for us! *

Indeed we were glad.

Deliver us, O Lord, from our bondage *

as streams in dry land.

Those who are sowing in tears *

will sing when they reap.

They go out, they go out, full of tears, *

carrying seed for the sowing:

they come back, they come back, full of song, *

carrying their sheaves.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *

and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now, *

and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm Prayer

Lord, you have raised us from the earth; may you let the seeds of justice, which we have sown in tears, grow and increase in your sight. May we reap in joy the harvest we hope for patiently.

Antiphon

The Lord, the mighty God, will come forth from Zion to set his people free.

Antiphon 2

I shall not cease to plead with God for Zion until he sends his Holy One in all his radiant beauty.

Psalm 127: Apart from God our labors are worthless

You are God’s building (1 Corinthians 3:9).

If the Lord does not build the house, *

in vain do its builders labor;

if the Lord does not watch over the city, *

in vain does the watchman keep vigil.

In vain is your earlier rising, *

your going later to rest,

you who toil for the bread you eat: *

when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber.

Truly sons are a gift from the Lord, *

a blessing, the fruit of the womb.

Indeed the sons of youth *

are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.

O the happiness of the man *

who has filled his quiver with these arrows!

He will have no cause for shame *

when he disputes with his foes in the gateways.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *

and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now, *

and will be for ever. Amen.

Psalm Prayer

You command the seed to rise, Lord God, though the farmer is unaware. Grant that those who labor for you may trust not in their own work but in your help. Remembering that the land is brought to flower not with human tears but with those of your Son, may the Church rely only upon your gifts.

Ant. I shall not cease to plead with God for Zion until he sends his Holy One in all his radiant beauty.

Antiphon 3

The Spirit of the Lord rests upon me; he has sent me to preach his joyful message to the poor.

Canticle: Colossians 1:12-20

Christ the first-born of all creation and the first-born from the dead

Let us give thanks to the Father *

for having made you worthy

to share the lot of the saints *

in light.

He rescued us *

from the power of darkness

and brought us *

into the kingdom of his beloved Son.

Through him we have redemption, *

the forgiveness of our sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, *

the first-born of all creatures.

In him everything in heaven and on earth was created, *

things visible and invisible.

All were created through him; *

all were created for him.

He is before all else that is. *

In him everything continues in being.

It is he who is head of the body, the church! *

he who is the beginning,

the first-born of the dead, *

so that primacy may be his in everything.

It pleased God to make absolute fullness reside in him *

and, by means of him, to reconcile everything in his person,

both on earth and in the heavens, *

making peace through the blood of his cross.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *

and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now, *

and will be for ever. Amen.

Antiphon

The Spirit of the Lord rests upon me; he has sent me to preach his joyful message to the poor.

RESPONSORY

Lord, show us your mercy and love.

— Lord, show us your mercy and love.

And grant us your salvation,

— your mercy and love.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

— Lord, show us your mercy and love.

GOSPEL CANTICLE

O Antiphon:

O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

Canticle of Mary

Luke 1:46-55: The soul rejoices in the Lord

My + soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, †

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior *

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: †

the Almighty has done great things for me, *

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him *

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, *

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, *

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel *

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers, *

to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *

and to the Holy Spirit:

as it was in the beginning, is now, *

and will be for ever. Amen.

Antiphon: O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

INTERCESSIONS

To Christ the Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, let us pray with joyful hearts:

Come, Lord Jesus!

Lord Jesus, in the mystery of your incarnation you revealed your glory to the world,

— give us new life by your coming.

Come, Lord Jesus!

You have taken our weakness upon yourself,

— grant us your mercy.

Come, Lord Jesus!

You redeemed the world from sin by your first coming in humility,

— free us from all guilt when you come again in glory.

Come, Lord Jesus!

You live and rule over all,

— in your goodness bring us to our eternal inheritance.

Come, Lord Jesus!

You sit at the right hand of the Father,

— gladden the souls of the dead with your light.

Come, Lord Jesus!

THE LORD’S PRAYER

(With longing for the coming of God’s kingdom, let us offer our prayer to the Father:)

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread;

and forgive us our trespasses

as we forgive those who trespass against us;

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Grant, we pray, almighty God,

that we, who are weighed down from of old

by slavery beneath the yoke of sin,

may be set free by the newness

of the long-awaited Nativity

of your Only Begotten Son.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.

— Amen.

DISMISSAL

If a priest or deacon presides, he dismisses the people:

The Lord be with you.

— And with your spirit.May almighty God bless you,

the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

— Amen.

Another form of the blessing may be used, as at Mass.

Then he adds:

Go in peace.

— Thanks be to God.

In the absence of a priest or deacon and in individual recitation, Evening Prayer concludes:

May the Lord + bless us,

protect us from all evil

and bring us to everlasting life.

— Amen.

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming

From tender stem has sprung!

Of Jesse’s lineage coming

As seers of old have sung.

It came a blossom bright,

Amid the cold of winter

When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah ‘twas foretold it,

The Rose I have in mind.

With Mary we behold it,

The Virgin Mother kind.

To show God’s love aright,

She bore to us a Savior,

When half spent was the night.

O Flow’r, whose fragrance tender

With sweetness fills the air,

Dispel in glorious splendor

The darkness everywhere;

True man, yet very God,

From sin and death now save us;

And share our every load.

Tune: Es ist ein Ros Entsprungen 76.76.676

Music: Michael Praetorius, Speier Gesangbuch, 1599

Text: In the public domain

FINAL HYMN:

O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.