Loving the Bride, vol. 44

Something old...

[On Peace on Earth]

In fact, there can be no peace between men unless there is peace within each one of them, unless, that is, each one builds up within himself the order wished by God. Hence St. Augustine asks: "Does your soul desire to overcome your lower inclinations? Let it be subject to Him Who is on high and it will conquer the lower self: there will be peace in you; true, secure and well-ordered peace. In what does that order consist? God commands the soul; the soul commands the body; and there is nothing more orderly than this."

These words of Ours, which We have wished to dedicate to the problems that most beset the human family today and on the just solution of which the ordered progress of society depends, are dictated by a profound aspiration which We know is shared by all men of good will: the consolidation of peace in the world.

As the humble and unworthy Vicar of Him Whom the Prophet announced as the Prince of Peace, we have the duty to expend all Our energies in an effort to protect and strengthen this gift. However, Peace will be but an empty-sounding word unless it is founded on the order which this present document has outlined in confident hope: an order founded on truth, built according to justice, vivified and integrated by charity, and put into practice in freedom.

-----Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, 1963.

Something new...

Just in case you missed it, you'll find Benedict XVI's newest encyclical On Christian Hope here.

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Danielle Bean's blog is hosting a great discussion on the annual question regarding the parental dilemma regarding the reality of Santa.

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Something borrowed...

Advent is in full swing and over at Catholic.Mom you'll find some great family resources.

Here's something else for Advent: 31 ways to "give back" this season.
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Something blue... Why Mary is our "mystical rose."