China
The Christians in China light their homes with beautiful paper lanterns during Advent. Santa is called Dun Che Lao Ren. The children are encouraged to hang stockings like their counterparts in the U.S. Many of the traditions for celebration among the Christian communities in China were imported by the missionaries that delivered the message of Advent.
Belgium
The children in Belgium are always excited by the approaching Christmas season and celebrate the primary gift giving early on December 6. Saint Nicholas, riding a horse and carrying great bags of gifts, somehow makes the entire journey in one evening and after gift giving and celebration, the theme of Christmas switches to the Holy Celebration of the Christ Child.
Denmark
The Danes celebrate the tradition of Saint Nicholas with Santa, known as Julemanden. He arrives as in the U.S.: in a sleigh pulled by reindeer with gifts for children of all ages. An additional tradition among the Danish children concerns Santa’s helpers, the Elves. They are encouraged to believe that they may live in the attic of their homes, and children leave milk and rice pudding for the helpers, to make sure they send the word to Santa.
France
The French celebrate Christmas throughout the month of December, with many families beginning the gift giving on December 6, having additional gifts on December 25, and often opening other gifts on New Year’s Day, particularly for adults. Many households have a type of Christmas Eve watch time and celebrate Christmas Day right after the stroke of midnight with a meal and celebratory cakes. When the children go to bed, they place their shoes, rather than their socks, by the fireplace for the receipt of special gifts.
India
Only a small percentage of the Indian households celebrate the Christian faith, and yet decorating for the season seems to permeate even non‐Christian households in every village. Houses are typically decorated in greenery, mango leaves, strings of light, and the Star of Bethlehem is hung inside the home. Small, personalized gifts are the norm and are exchanged even in non‐Christian homes.
The Netherlands
The traditions of celebration in the Netherlands are a combination of traditions that address their geography. They celebrate the tradition of Saint Nicholas, known as Sinterklaas, and determined that he originally visited Sweden by boat, setting out on December 6, the traditional day reserved in the Church calendar, from Spain. Once on shore, he immediately mounts a horse and makes his gift deliveries of candies, nuts, and small hard bread treats to the waiting shoes of children. Old Sinterklaas is a very tricky person and is able to appear, whenever he is accidentally witnessed in the act, as the father or grandfather of the child. Very tricky indeed.
The Philippines
Filipinos celebrate Christmas from September 1 to the Baptism of the Lord in January, and it is considered the longest Christmas celebration in the world. They complete 9‐day Novena Masses or Simbang Gabi or Dawn Mass from December 16 to the 24. Families attend the Midnight Mass and gather for a noche buena (“good night”) festive dinner to celebrate the birth of Christ.
During this year of Eucharistic Revival, Dr. Zachary Keith offers these suggestions to encourage parents to bring children to Mass. They have worked for his family and others:
“1) Be willing to bring children to Mass, even at a young age. This is not always easy, or even possible, but children must regularly attend Mass if we want them to know what it means to approach the Holy Table.
2) Make Mass a positive experience. I like to joke that I bribe my children after Mass. It might be silly, but my youngest anticipates her reward and understands the expectations I have during Mass, offering positive reinforcement to praying at Mass.
3) Try not to distract children away from the liturgy; rather, help them understand what is happening. Perhaps, whisper quietly into a child’s ear to help him or her know why the priest is incensing the altar or raising the chalice. Avoid toys, books, or other activities meant to quiet children. It might be embarrassing, but a child who belts out “Alleluia” after the Gospel Acclamation should not be shushed, but commended for paying attention!
4) Speak to children about Mass, before and after it occurs. Spend time in the car talking about the readings for the day or the different parts of the Mass. For the youngest children, discuss the colors!
5) Pray daily. It is important that you pray with your children outside of Mass. If praying as a family is limited to Mass only, then praying the Mass will remain foreign to young kids.
6) Consider taking your children to adoration. If you know of a place that has Eucharistic adoration, consider taking your children to a 15‐minute block to introduce them to the practice.
7) Be patient with children. Their attention span is often much shorter than ours. They struggle to keep focused on the Mass, especially with all its different parts. Maybe your child can only focus for a minute or two at a time. That’s fine! Work with that.
8) Be patient with yourself. Offer your sufferings as a parent to Christ as a way to show you are trying.
9) Find time to pray by yourself. Some Sundays, it will be nearly impossible to pray at Mass in the way we want or need. Find time to pray without the children. Daily Mass, during lunch breaks, or other times can be a wonderful opportunity for this prayer without the children interrupting.
10) If you don’t have children or if your children are older, offer to help other parents with several young children (or even just one baby) with whatever they need. Younger children often do well with a “mentor,” an older child who is more familiar with the Mass and can remind them how to behave during the liturgy.
11) Help pastors and those without children understand the needs of parents. Sure, a child should not be yelling out during Mass, but sometimes a cry lasts only a minute or two and it is easier to quiet the child than to take him or her out. If we always rush to get parents out of Mass any time their child makes a noise, we risk actively discouraging parents from bringing children to Mass.”
A poll in June 2022 found that, of Catholics who are “likely voters” in the U.S., half believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist, and 37% go to confession at least annually. RealClear Opinion Research conducted an online survey of 1,757 Catholics, and the poll carries a 95% credibility level of plus or minus 2.58%.
The poll asked about religious beliefs and practices and political engagement. The survey found that 37% of the respondents go to confession at least once a year, while 28% go less than annually, and 35% never do.
Half of respondents said they “believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist,” while 38% said they do not, and 12% said they don’t know whether they believe in the Real Presence.
It is a revealed truth that the Body and Blood of Christ are truly, really, and substantially present in the Eucharist. Also, the sacrament of penance is necessary for salvation to those who, after baptism, fall into mortal sin. Annual confession is a precept of the Church, and the Code of Canon Law states that “after having reached the age of discretion, each member of the faithful is obliged to confess faithfully his or her grave sins at least once a year.”
John Bergsma, a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, says that, “Once again, this survey confirms what most practicing Catholics know from firsthand experience: that the state of catechesis in our communities is often fair to poor, and that many identify as Catholics without understanding or practicing the faith.”
He emphasized parents’ responsibility for the formation of their children, saying that “if parents want to ensure that their children are raised as Catholics in truth and not name only, they will have to do catechesis in the home, and especially model their faith for their children by their own habits of prayer and frequenting of the sacraments.”
While “some schools and parishes do a good or even heroic job catechizing the children and young people who come … parents cannot ‘outsource’ the job of catechesis — which is really the process of Christian discipleship — to others,” he said.
A 2019 Pew Research study found that 31% of Catholics in the U.S. believe that the bread and wine used in the Eucharist, through a process called tran‐ substantiation, become the Body and Blood of Jesus. Sixty‐nine percent of Catholics that Pew surveyed reported their belief that the bread and wine used during the Eucharist “are symbols of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.”
“Overall, 43% of Catholics believe that the bread and wine are symbolic and also that this reflects the position of the church,” Pew reported. “Still, one‐in‐ five Catholics (22%) reject the idea of transubstantiation, even though they know about the church's teaching.” A small percentage of those surveyed — 3% — claimed to believe in the Real Presence de‐ spite not knowing this is what the Church teaches.
Source: Carl Bunderson/CAN Nation July 15, 2022
Bernardo Brown and Michel Cambon published a study recently on Catholicism in Asia. Many people believe that the Philippines is the most Catholic country of Asia, but this has not been the case since the 1990s. Timor‐Leste, a Southeast Asian nation occupying half the island of Timor, now has a higher percentage of Catholics. The Philippines’ population is 83 percent Catholic today, compared to Timor‐Leste and its 97 percent Catholic population.
Casual observers might assume that the prevalence of Catholicism is due to Timor‐ Leste’s past as a Portuguese colony. But, when Portugal left in November 1975, less than 20 percent of the Timorese population was Catholic. It was only during the brutal Indonesian colonization (1975‐1999) that the Timorese became massively Catholic. In other words, Catholicism in Timor‐Leste is not merely a byproduct of Western colonization. It is something recent, linked to inter‐Asian dynamics.
Similarly, in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Myanmar, Catholics are not evenly represented across the country. Some regions and cities can host a much stronger proportion of Catholics. Thus, Asian Catholicism cannot be understood just as a religious minority group. Its local footprint varies tremendously and impacts the construction of Asian nation‐states.
Nonetheless, the importance of Asian Catholicism cannot be understood only through the numbers. For instance, when it comes to defining the most Catholic countries of the continent, scholars have argued that Japan and Thailand are essential to consider.
Asian Catholicism is not only about Asia. Numerous Catholics from Vietnam, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka have migrated to non‐Asian countries in search of new opportunities. They contribute to the economy of their adopted countries and forge bonds of interconnection with Asia. Furthermore, Asian dioceses and religious orders do not hesitate to send clergy members – seminarians, priests, and nuns — to study and serve in non‐Asian countries. In Europe, Indian and Vietnamese priests constitute a growing part of the local clergy. Despite the little attention they receive, they allow European Catholicism to maintain some of its operations and to reimagine itself.
Present all around the globe, Asian Catholics are a vibrant component of the global networks that shape our contemporary world. In North America, they sustain numerous ethnic parishes and influence the way American Catholicism positions itself in regard to world affairs and the Sino‐American competition. In Dubai, it is Filipino, Malayali, and Konkani churchgoers who represent the largest Catholic communities. Together, they show how the number of Catholics in the Middle East is not simply declining but in the midst of intense reconfiguration.
Finally, with a growing number of Asian Catholics accessing high responsibilities within the Catholic hierarchy, their specific concerns and sensibilities are most likely to reshape the priorities of the Catholic Church. Simultaneously, the increasing importance of the Asia‐Pacific region is going to give more weight to their voices even though Asian Catholics are still numerically fewer than African and Latino Catholics. Thus, either within or outside the Church, Asian Catholics are an important force to consider.
(Source: https://thediplomat.com/2022/02/catholicisms-overlooked-importance-in-asia/)
The U.S. Catholic Church’s three‐year Eucharistic Revival is about to get underway. It “is not a program but a movement,” an invitation to the faithful from God to go on mission and be compelling witnesses of our faith, said Tim Glemkowski, the newly named Executive Director of the National Eucharistic Congress.
“We, the church, have to be clear about telling our story, getting to the core” of our faith, that “God is not just some distant someone who is not en‐ gaged,” he told Catholic News Service on April 5. “He’s alive and real and can be encountered in the Eucharist, source and summit of the faith. … This is where God is with us.”
The National Eucharistic Revival begins June 19, the Feast of Corpus Christi, and culminates with the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024. Along the way, there will be parish, diocesan, and regional events to increase Catholics’ understanding of the Real Presence in the Eucharist.
The first year will get underway at the parish and diocesan levels with initiatives such as eucharistic adoration and processions, the development of parish teams of revival leaders, and conferences on the Eucharist. The following year, there will be regional revival events, leading to the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024, the first to be held since 1976 in Philadelphia. It is expected to draw at least 80,000 people from across the country.
Blessed Carlo Acutis will be the patron for the first year of the revival. The Italian teen, who was beatified in October 2020, died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15. He was a programmer who used social media to unite many people and spread Christian values.
In his apostolic letter proclaiming the youth "blessed," Pope Francis said Carlos "cultivated a friendship with our Lord Jesus, placing the Eucharist and the witness of charity at the center of his life."
(Sources for this article include [email protected], JulieAsher@catholic‐news.com)
In light of the unprovoked invasion in Ukraine and many parts of the world, I would like to share with you an article by Stephen Colecchi on the Catholic Church’s doctrine on war and peace:
The church’s teaching on war begins and ends with its teaching on peace. Building peace does not ultimately rely upon weapons. Peace is built upon human rights and social justice.
Peace is both the starting point and the ultimate goal of the church’s teaching on “war and peace.” Although the tradition includes the concept of “just war,” it is more important to speak of a “just peace.” St. John Paul II had a beautiful image for peace: “Like a cathedral, peace has to be constructed, patiently and with unshakeable faith,” he said. He warned that peace is destroyed “wherever the strong exploit the weak; wherever the rich take advantage of the poor; wherever great powers seek to dominate and to impose ideologies.”
Peace is a positive social reality in which people can find fulfillment. For conflicts to be resolved and for people to prosper, the basic demands of justice and equity must be fostered. Pope Paul VI put it succinctly, “If you want peace, work for justice.” The Catechism teaches: “Peace is not merely the absence of war, and it is not limited to maintaining a balance of powers between adversaries. Peace cannot be attained on earth without respect for the dignity of persons and peoples. … Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity.” (2304) St. John Paul was skeptical of modern warfare: “Today, the scale and the horror of modern warfare — whether nuclear or not — makes it totally unacceptable as a means of settling differences between nations. War should belong to the tragic past,” he said.
The catechism quotes the Second Vatican Council’s acknowledgement that “as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self‐defense, once all peace efforts have failed.” (No. 2308) A “just war” must adhere to moral principles. War is permissible only to serve a just cause and confront aggression whose dangers are “lasting, grave and certain.” (No. 2309)
War must be declared by a competent governing authority and only as a last resort. There must be a probability of success since only correcting a fundamental injustice legitimates the use of force...
Tragically, the nations of the world invest enormous resources in preparing for war. Instead, the church argues that humanity should invest more in building peace. Vatican II argued: "The arms race is an utterly treacherous trap for humanity, and one that ensnares the poor to an intolerable degree."
Let us look at the war in Afghanistan in light of the church’s teaching... The war went on for 20 years without success or clear criteria for its end. According to a study by Brown University, the war cost our nation over $2 trillion and resulted in the deaths of an estimated 243,000 people, including over 6,000 Americans and over 70,000 civilians… In light of these realities, it is little wonder that Vatican II called for an “evaluation of war with an entirely new attitude.”
(www.catholicphilly.com/2021/11/commentaries/the-churchs-teaching-on-war-and-peace/)
The secularizing shifts evident in American society so far in the 21st century show no signs of slowing. The latest Pew Research Center survey of the religious composition of the United States finds the religiously unaffiliated share of the public is 6 percentage points higher than it was five years ago and 10 points higher than a decade ago.
Christians continue to make up a majority of the U.S. populace, but their share of the adult population is 12 points lower in 2021 than it was in 2011. In addition, the share of U.S. adults who say they pray on a daily basis has been trending downward, as has the share who say religion is “very important” in their lives.
Currently, about 3-in-10 U.S. adults (29%) are religious “nones” – people who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics, or “nothing in particular” when asked about their religious identity. Self-identified Christians of all varieties (including Protestants, Catholics, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Orthodox Christians) make up 63% of the adult population. Christians now outnumber religious “nones” by a ratio of a little more than 2-to-1. In 2007, when the Center began asking its current question about religious identity, Christians outnumbered “nones” by almost 5-to-1 (78% vs. 16%).
The recent declines within Christianity are concentrated among Protestants. Today, 40% of U.S. adults are Protestants, a group that is broadly defined to include nondenominational Christians and people who describe themselves as “just Christian” along with Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and members of many other denominational families. The Protestant share of the population is down 4 percentage points over the last five years and has dropped 10 points in 10 years.
By comparison, the Catholic share of the population, which had ticked downward between 2007 and 2014, has held relatively steady in recent years. As of 2021, 21% of U.S. adults describe themselves as Catholic, identical to the Catholic share of the population in 2014.
Within Protestantism, evangelicals continue to outnumber those who are not evangelical. Currently, 60% of Protestants say “yes” when asked whether they think of themselves as a “born-again or evangelical Christian,” while 40% say “no” or decline to answer the question.
This pattern exists among both White and Black Protestants. Among White Protestants, 58% now say “yes” when asked whether they think of themselves as born-again or evangelical Christians, compared with 42% who say “no” (or decline to answer the question). Among Black Protestants, evangelicals outnumber nonevangelicals by two-to-one (66% vs. 33%).
Overall, both evangelical and non-evangelical Protestants have seen their shares of the population decline as the percentage of U.S. adults who identity with Protestantism has dropped. Today, 24% of U.S. adults describe themselves as born-again or evangelical Protestants, down 6 percentage points since 2007. During the same period, there also has been a 6-point decline in the share of adults who are Protestant but not born-again or evangelical (from 22% to 16%).
Source: Pew Research Center 2021, Gregory Smith
You may recall that we, as a Parish community, collected funds for two worthy organizations back in November. One of them has a personal connection to me: The Missionary Sisters of the Poor of Christ in Northern Samar, Philippines. Their charism is to serve the poor by caring for the abandoned, providing pre-school education, serving in prison ministry, assisting in the formation of catechists and services to the parish. I was the first child to be raised by them.
The Sisters would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to Fr. Sorgie and you, the parishioners of Immaculate Conception and Assumption Parish, for your generosity during our Thanksgiving collection. They have provided the photos you see here which show the activities of the Nuns in their missions.
During the Advent and Christmas seasons, they visited prisoners, gave relief goods to the poor, and fed area children. These are just a few of their works which continue on throughout the year.