Sorry a bit late on this, I’ve been researching the world situation much of my time…mysterious drones, looming world war and an incoming new US administration, it all interrelates in a deeply concerning way.
+ Third Week of Advent +
Fr. Alfred Delp, German Martyr
Let us view these writings through the lens of our own times. All quotes below pertain to Gaudete Sunday, when we are called to be glad…
Opening of the Tridentine Mass (the Mass Fr. Delp would have celebrated):
“Gaudete in Domino Semper!”
“Rejoice in the lord always: again I say, rejoice. Let your modesty be known to all men: for the Lord is nigh. Be nothing solicitous: but in every thing by prayer let your petitions be made known to God. Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.”
Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1941:
“Someone facing the Ultimate will not be apathetic, not just accept everything simply because it is, and because it does not change, and because it goes on and on, and because it is happening everywhere…every overstepping of boundaries, every boundary violation and every usurping of power leads the whole thing to disaster. Look at how these great leaders were shattered and how their work was shattered: Alexander, Caesar Augustus, Napoleon…It came when they were not content with the laurel wreath of greatness, but wanted to take the diadem of the Messiah.”
Fr. Delp’s homily, Munich, 1942:
“…we read this wonderful Epistle:
Brethren, rejoice in the Lord…and the peace of God that passes all understanding preserve your hearts and thoughts in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
Are these not images of the promise, and longing, and great questions of Advent? Are they not images of what should be fulfilled when the veils fall, when the Lord reigns over the land? Do we not seek a life in which joy would have a place once again?”
From Tegel Prison, Berlin, 1944:
“The great deception begins, the time of noise and crowds, organized feeding-frenzies, and massive festivities. Until suddenly the earth quakes and the subterranean thunder, which one wanted to drown out with screaming, because one failed to understand it, breaks forth fully and mightily and fills the day with its call to judgment…Only one thing will help, and that is to hear the call of John the Baptist…The view for connections and content will be reopened to life, and the earth will be fruitfully flooded again by the streams of mission, confirmation, and mastery. These are the streams that still carry the ship of life and lead it onward. This is the first meaning of Gaudete in Domino. Separated from the Lord, the whole thing atrophies! We must keep telling people this. It is the most important announcement of these days. And we must know it and visibly live it as examples.”