PODCAST | Be Still: A Christmas Reflection
[ View Transcript ]
In this podcast, Msgr. Fred Dolan invites us to reflect more deeply on the Nativity of Our Lord. “In the Incarnation,” he says, “God has come not only to unleash our power of loving and adoring God but also to give us a model on how to become more fully human.”
Recalling a famous short story from 1906, titled, “The Gift of the Magi,” Msgr. Dolan gives us the “antidote” to that attitude of commercialization that often accompanies the Christmas season. He helps us ponder the fact that what matters most is “the amount, the extent to which we love each other.” We are reminded that the greater our love, the greater our freedom. And so we want our love to remain open to absolutely everyone; we want the willingness to befriend others in imitation of Christ, who made friends with “tax collectors and sinners.”
We pray and ask the Holy Family: “Do whatever it takes to give me that same degree of love [you have]. Help me to contemplate. Help me to develop the capacity to be still, to see that you, Jesus, are God. Help me to grow in love so that I can grow in freedom. Help me to grow in detachment so that I can be happy regardless of the circumstances. And help me to become a better and more understanding friend of all those around me.”
AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE
The St. Josemaria Institute is pleased to partner with ASL Catholic Media to share a video recording of this podcast interpreted in American Sign Language:
Image by Caravaggio via Wikimedia Commons
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Rev. Msgr. Frederick Dolan
Msgr. Frederick Dolan, a native of Bethesda, Maryland, was ordained a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei in 1983. He has worked in Rome, New York City, South Bend (Indiana) and New Haven (CT). Since 1998 he has resided in Montreal and currently carries out his pastoral ministry in Canada. [ YouTube ]
