Every Tuesday | Adoration (sign up) | We need your help!
Lately it has been difficult to find enough volunteers to keep Adoration at the Newman Center going. We need your help! If you are able to make the commitment, please consider signing up for a slot. This is also a great way to prepare during Advent. Hours are available from 8am-10pm every Tuesday. Sign up today to spend some time with the Lord!
While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. - Luke 2:6-7
Happy Advent! Sorry we’re a little late with this - is December flying by for anyone else? We hope you’re finding adequate time for prayer and reflection in this busy season. Our feature on the Eucharist this month explores the significance of our Lord and Savior being placed in a manger, of all the possible places (it was certainly no Snoo).
The word “manger” comes from the Latin mandere, meaning “to chew” - a fitting origin for the name of a box used to feed animals. Major spiritual symbol alert here, but we risk being overly verbose (see?) about this rather simple concept, so we’ll turn to the writings of some men far wiser than us for a summary on the connection between the manger and the Eucharist.
First, words attributed to St. Cyril of Alexandria lay it out plainly:
The setting of Christ’s birth points us to the Eucharist. Since through sin man becomes like the beasts, Christ lies in the trough where animals feed, offering them, not hay, but his own body as life-giving bread.
Then, from St. Bede:
He is confined in the narrow space of a rude manger, whose seat is the heavens, that He may give us ample room in the joys of His heavenly kingdom. He Who is the bread of Angels is laid down in a manger, that He might feed us, as it were the sacred animals, with the bread of His flesh.
And summarized by a more recent scholar, Dr. Edward Sri:
Some early Christians saw Christ’s humble beginnings as a foreshadowing of how he continues to meet us in the Eucharist. For example, St. Cyril of Alexandria said that when we sin, we fail to live out our dignity as humans made in the image of God, and we instead become like animals, living a life of self-gratification. Yet while animals feed from an ordinary manger, we as sinners approach Christ in a feeding trough that is much more substantial. Jesus feeds us not with hay but with his own Body and Blood in the Eucharist. (Praying the Rosary Like Never Before)
The connection of the manger to the Eucharist is pretty clear from the above, but to drive the point home we’ll review a Gospel writing you’re likely familiar with - the Institution of the Holy Eucharist in the Gospel of John. Jesus says to his disciples, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The original Greek in this verse was “phagē” - meaning “to eat.” When pressed by his followers, in disbelief that Jesus would intend us to EAT him, Jesus doubles down saying:
Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
Notably, the Greek here changes to “trógó” - meaning “to gnaw, munch, crunch.” This is a much more graphic - animalistic, even - description of how we are to consume the Body of Christ. This Advent, let us grow in recognition of our sinfulness - of our need for a Savior - and in thankfulness for His coming, when he was laid in a manger as a foreshadowing of how we would be united with Him through the Eucharist.
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, December 10 at 10:30am | Fides Patrum - Macarius
Come for Jesus, stay for coffee, and linger for knowledge! Fides Patrum has its final installment of the season this weekend. Seminars follow the 9am Mass at the Newman Center, in conjunction with Via Coffeehouse. This session will focus on “Prayer in the Macarian Ascetical Vision,” lead by Daniel Edwards, a friend of organizer Josh Miller and PhD student at Marquette. We recommend getting on the Fides Patrum email list if you’re interested in this sort of thing (contact Josh at joshrmiller11@gmail.com - you can also request the readings for this session).
Saturday, December 17 at 7:00pm | Advent Adoration at St. Robert + YAM@Camp
All are welcome to join us at St. Robert Parish for an Advent Holy Hour, featuring beautiful music, and of course, Jesus. St. Robert YAM will be heading to Camp Bar Shorewood after adoration for some casual socializing - we hope to see you at both events! Invite your friends.
Sunday, December 18 at 2:30pm | UPLIFT Young Adult at Old Saint Mary (RSVP)
All are welcome to join the Family of Four Parish in UPLIFT faith formation opportunities, with the December seminar hosted by Fr. John Baumgardner, Vice Rector of the Seminary. Fr. John will be covering “Praying Christmas with Mary.” The session will open with communal prayer time in the church, followed by roughly 30 minutes of the speaker, along with Q&A. Food and beverages will be provided! You can RSVP here.
Sunday, December 18 at 7:00pm | Christmas Tree Lighting at St. Robert
Join St. Robert YAM and Fr. John LoCoco for a new event this year - a lighting of the Christmas tree in the St. Robert Mary Garden! Yes, somehow they’ve figured out (or are still planning to figure out) how to get a real tree in there…Join us for an evening of cheer, including warm drinks and Christmas carols - all are welcome!
Saturday, December 31 | NYE Mass and Party at St. Robert
Details are still being sorted out, but plan to join YAM on New Year’s Eve at St. Robert! Join us for a party in the evening, 11pm Mass to ring in the New Year, and then more party to follow. We’d love your help - email us (strobertYAM@gmail.com) if you’d like to get involved!
Friday, January 27 through Sunday, January 29 | Brew City Winter Weekend Retreat (sign up)
Brew City’s Winter Weekend retreat for adults in their 20s and 30s is an opportunity to get away from the daily routine and experience renewal within a vibrant young adult Catholic community. You can find more information and sign up here.
Saturday, January 28 at 6:30pm | YAM @ St. Robert Trivia Night
YAM is participating in St. Robert Home & School’s annual trivia night - email us at strobertYAM@gmail.com to join our squad. Teams are ten people and tickets are $15 per person (you’d pay YAM directly). It’ll be a fun night of healthy competition and yummy snacks and beverages - join us if you’re not going on Winter Weekend!
Every Wednesday evening | Cor Jesu
Young adults from across the area come to St. Robert for adoration and confession at 7pm, Mass at 8pm, and a social after. Young men are also invited to join for a 6pm dinner beforehand at the JPII House.
Every Saturday morning | Mass and Via Coffee
All are welcome at Panther Catholic Newman Center (3001 N. Downer Ave) for 9am Mass followed by socializing upstairs at the Via Coffeehouse on Saturday mornings.
Art & Beauty - The “O Antiphons”
The following piece is taken from a series of Advent poems on the “O Antiphons” by English poet and Anglican priest Malcolm Guite (it’s highly recommended that you click the link below—each poem comes with an audio recording!). These titles can be a wonderful source of meditation during Advent. For those who are unfamiliar with the O Antiphons, we’ve provided a little background:
The O Antiphons refer to the seven antiphons that are recited (or chanted) preceding the Magnificat during Vespers of the Liturgy of the Hours. They cover the special period of Advent preparation known as the Octave before Christmas, Dec. 17-23… Each one highlights a title for the Messiah: O Sapientia (O Wisdom), O Adonai (O Lord), O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse), O Clavis David (O Key of David), O Oriens (O Rising Sun), O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations), and O Emmanuel. Each one refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah.
by Malcolm Guite
I cannot think unless I have been thought,
Nor can I speak unless I have been spoken.
I cannot teach except as I am taught,
Or break the bread except as I am broken.
O Mind behind the mind through which I seek,
O Light within the light by which I see,
O Word beneath the words with which I speak,
O founding, unfound Wisdom, finding me,
O sounding Song whose depth is sounding me,
O Memory of time, reminding me,
My Ground of Being, always grounding me,
My Maker’s Bounding Line, defining me,
Come, hidden Wisdom, come with all you bring,
Come to me now, disguised as everything.
If you enjoyed this poem and would like to read the rest in the series, click here!
As a special Art & Beauty treat, here’s “Fr. Andrew’s Favorite Advent Song”: