Advent is full of Christian traditions of all sort. One of the central ones in the West centers on jolly Santa Clause. Saint Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) was a saint and bishop of Myra (modern Turkey) who lived from 270-343.

At the Council of Nicea in 325 Saint Nicholas punched out the heretic Arius who falsely asserted that Jesus was a created being who had not existed from the beginning.  Saint Nicholas was subsequently stripped of the title of bishop and his personal copy of the Gospel and his pallium (i.e., worn vestment akin to a fancy robe) were both confiscated.

Minus the symbols of his former office as bishop he was jailed. That very night Jesus and Mary appeared to Saint Nicholas. Jesus asked him why he was there. Saint Nicholas replied, “Because I love you, my Lord and my God.”

Christ then presented Nicholas with his copy of the Gospels. Next, the Blessed Virgin vested Nicholas with his episcopal pallium, thus restoring him to his rank as bishop. When the Emperor Constatine caught wind of the miracle he reinstated Nicholas as bishop.

Let us pray to Saint Nicholas that God might grace us with a fraction of his faith to fight against denial of the divinity and presence of the Triune God.

For the last four years I have volunteered at Holy Trinity Catholic Church & School as a catechist for the religious education program forming young adults. Classes are offered twice a week on Wednesdays evening and Sunday afternoon during the regular school year. My wife and I, Heather, teach the Wednesday class. This year we moved up from teaching second to third grade sacramental kids (i.e., they receive both reconciliation and first communion in the Spring).

The highlight of the year, without a doubt, was seeing these children of God, claimed by him during baptism, receive holy communion for the first time.  I was overjoyed by the visible ceremony, but internally I could sense an extraordinary grace that imbued all of them. They have moved one step further in the natural progression as foot soldiers for Christ. Let us pray their parents remain steady in the fight against evil and deliver each child consistently and without fail to God’s house on Sunday .

Maltese Cross Keys of St. Peter

For a few years now I have been yearning to put a maltese cross styled window sticker on my truck topper. Something that hollers out to a distressed and a generally non believing world that I am Catholic and Proud! I poked around the web and came up with a few ideas but nothing that really stuck. If you want something done right then you have to do it yourself.

The Order of Malta and the associated Maltese Cross are old by almost any standard. Yet,even though the wiki maltese cross image is decent enough they get the geometry wrong. After locating a correct geometric maltese cross layout the next hurdle was designing it such that at least fellow Catholics would get “it.”

I am fairly certain other dyed in the wool Catholics would recognize the maltese cross, but there is uncertainty it would resonate a call to arms in the public square in defense of everything we profess. The other day after dinner at a friends house I noticed they had a small sharp looking Vatican flag bumper sticker on their SUV. In the white half of the flag is the universally recognized crossed Keys of Saint Peter. Obviously, at least to me, a blended design of the Maltese Cross and the Vatican Flag would drive home a clarion call to defend, preserve, and uphold the Church – especially the Pope. We must not flinch in the slightest when the enemies of the Church press in on every side.

When Kinko’s is done printing up the sticker and it’s fixed to the truck topper I’ll post a photo.