Each of us can model ourselves after the Holy Family – trusting in God, following his will, and proclaiming the Good News. Today is a reminder of our own call to holiness and the mission of family life. The joy of this Christmas season is not meant to be kept to ourselves; rather, we must allow it to grow in our hearts and our families so that we can bring it to a world desperate to know Jesus Christ. (Knights of Columbus)

When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” … When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazorean” (Mt 2:13-15, 19-23).

HOLY FAMILY – BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bauer, Judy (editor). Advent and Christmas with Fulton J. Sheen. Liquori, MS: Liquori Publications. 2001.

Beckett, Sister Wendy. Sister Wendy’s Nativity. Chicago, IL: Loyola Press. 1998.

Deiss, Lucien. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press. 1996

Faber, Frederick W. Bethlehem. Charlotte, NC: Tan Books. 2011.

Farey, Caroline. Nativity: A Visual Meditation. Oxford, England: Family Publications. 2008

McGlinchey, Paul M. A Vatican Christmas: Creches of Pope John Paul II. New Haven, CT: Knights of Columbus Museum Publishing. 2006.

McKenna, Megan. Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press. 2008.

Merton, Thomas. Advent and Christmas with Thomas Merton. Liquori, MS: Liquori Publications. 2002.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (The). The Nativity: The Christmas Creche. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Company. 1969.

Ryan, Father Kenneth. The Catholic Digest Christmas Book. St. Paul, MN: Carillon Books. 1977.

Sri, Edward. Dawn of the Messiah: The Coming of Christ in Scripture. Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press. 2005.

ARCHIVAL/SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

English College of Douuay. The Holy Bible: Faithfully Translated into English out of Authentical Latin, Diligently Conferred with the Hebrew, Greek, & Other Editions in Diverse Languages, Tome. Printed by John Cousturier, 1635.

Schaff, Philip and Gilman, Arthur. A Library of Religious Poetry: A Collection of the Best Poems of All Ages and Tongues, New York, NY: Dodd, Mead, and Company. 1881.

Shortly after noon on November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as he rode in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Texas.

Crowds of excited people lined the streets and waved to the Kennedys. The car turned off Main Street at Dealey Plaza around 12:30 p.m. As it was passing the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire suddenly reverberated in the plaza.

Bullets struck the president’s neck and head and he slumped over toward Mrs. Kennedy. The governor was shot in his back.

The car sped off to Parkland Memorial Hospital just a few minutes away. But little could be done for the President. A Catholic priest was summoned to administer the last rites, and at 1:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. Though seriously wounded, Governor Connally would recover.

The president’s body was brought to Love Field and placed on Air Force One. Before the plane took off, a grim-faced Lyndon B. Johnson stood in the tight, crowded compartment and took the oath of office, administered by US District Court Judge Sarah Hughes. The brief ceremony took place at 2:38 p.m.

Less than an hour earlier, police had arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, a recently hired employee at the Texas School Book Depository. He was being held for the assassination of President Kennedy and the fatal shooting, shortly afterward, of Patrolman J. D. Tippit on a Dallas street.

On Sunday morning, November 24, Oswald was scheduled to be transferred from police headquarters to the county jail. Viewers across America watching the live television coverage suddenly saw a man aim a pistol and fire at point-blank range. The assailant was identified as Jack Ruby, a local nightclub owner. Oswald died two hours later at Parkland Hospital.

The President’s Funeral
That same day, President Kennedy’s flag-draped casket was moved from the White House to the Capitol on a caisson drawn by six grey horses, accompanied by one riderless black horse. At Mrs. Kennedy’s request, the cortege and other ceremonial details were modeled on the funeral of Abraham Lincoln. Crowds lined Pennsylvania Avenue and many wept openly as the caisson passed. During the 21 hours that the president’s body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda, about 250,000 people filed by to pay their respects.

On Monday, November 25, 1963 President Kennedy was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. The funeral was attended by heads of state and representatives from more than 100 countries, with untold millions more watching on television. Afterward, at the grave site, Mrs. Kennedy and her husband’s brothers, Robert and Edward, lit an eternal flame.

Perhaps the most indelible images of the day were the salute to his father given by little John F. Kennedy Jr. (whose third birthday it was), daughter Caroline kneeling next to her mother at the president’s bier, and the extraordinary grace and dignity shown by Jacqueline Kennedy.

ST PETER
Peter, who was also known as Simon Peter of Cephas, is considered the first Pope. Despite his papacy, Peter had humble beginnings and became one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He was ordained by Jesus in the “Rock of My Church” written in Matthew 16:17-18, which says, “Jesus replied, ‘Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So, I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community.

Peter was Jesus’ closest friend and disciple and became an apostle during his ministry. After the death of Jesus, Peter became the leader of the apostles and is often described as their spokesperson in the gospels.

Aside from his position as the most important apostle, legend has it that he held the keys of heaven and hell, which he received from Jesus Christ himself after he was made the leader of His new church. He is always mentioned first in the Bible and any other historical texts because he was the representative of the Twelve Apostles. This shows us how important St. Peter was to Christianity. St Peter’s Basilica in Rome is dedicated to his martyrdom.

ST PAUL
Saint Paul is one of the most important and influential of all the saints. Many of his writings are contained in the Canon of the Bible and have influenced the growth and development of the Church since the first century.

St. Paul was originally known as Saul, and he was a Roman citizen and a Pharisee. He even presided over the persecutions of the early Christians and was present at the martyrdom of St. Stephen.

However, Saul experienced a powerful vision that caused him to convert to Christianity while on the road to Damascus. He was duly baptized and took the name Paul.
Paul traveled the world, first to Arabia then back to Damascus. He also visited Jerusalem to see St. Peter, the first pope and pay homage to him. During these travels, he preached ceaselessly, often drawing criticism and ire from those who rebuffed his message. Jews, in particular, hated his preaching as they saw him convert people to Christianity from Judaism.

Eventually, Paul returned to Tarsus, where he was born. He preached there until he was called by Barnabus to come to Antioch. After a year spent in Antioch, a famine occurred in Jerusalem and the pair was dispatched to the city with alms.

Paul traveled throughout much of Europe, particularly in Macedonia, Greece, and Italy. While preparing for a missionary trip to Spain, he was imprisoned in Caesarea by the Jews for two years. He traveled again, was shipwrecked in Malta, and was imprisoned for another two years for preaching in Rome. Despite these imprisonments, Paul continued to preach.

Paul eventually made his way to Spain, then returned to the East, and finally returned to Rome once again. In 67 AD, Paul was arrested in Rome for a second time and this time he was beheaded under the insane Emperor Nero. According to John Chrysostom, Nero knew Paul personally.

Paul is among the most famous, intelligent and influential of the apostles. There are some who argue that he was the leader of the apostles, but this is not supported by the evidence. Instead, he likely preached at the request of St. Peter, who was pope.

Bibliography for St. Peter & St. PAUL

SAINT PETER:

• Bockmuehl, Marcus. The New Testament Apostle of the Early Church: Simon Peter in Scripture and Memory. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. 2012.
• Craughwell, Thomas J. St. Peter’s Bones: How the Relics of the First Pope were Lost and Found and then Lost and Found Again. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group. 2013.
• Dolan, Cardinal Timothy. To Whom Shall We Go? Lessons from the Apostle Peter. Huntington, IN: Sunday Visitor Publishing Division. 2008.
• Fasola, Umberto M. Traces on Stone: Peter & Paul in Rome. ROME: Stapato a Firenza Press. 1980.
• Grant, Michael. Saint Peter: A Biography. New York, NY: Scribner. 1994.
• La Due, William J. The Chair of St. Peter: The History of the Papacy. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. 1999. 
• Murphy, Jennie Catherine. “Peter’s Journey through the Gospel of John Culminating in John 2:15-19.” M.A. Thesis, Holy Apostles College & Seminary, 2018.

SAINT PAUL:

• Buck, Charles, and Taylor, Greer. St Paul: A Study in the Development of His Thought. New York, NY: Charles Scribner & Sons. 1969
• Grant, Michael. Saint Paul. London, UK: Phoenix Press. 1976.
• McRay, John. Paul: His Life and Teaching. Grand Rapids, MI: 2003.
• Perez de Urbel, Justo. St. Paul the Missionary. Westminster, MD: 1957.
• Perowne, Stewart. The Journey of Saint Paul. New York, NY: Hamilton Publishing Group Ltd. 1973.
• Weldeghiorghis, Fr. Estifanos Helafu. “The Impact of St. Paul’s Imprisonment on the Faith of the Early Christians.” M.A. Thesis, Holy Apostles College & Seminary, 2016.