My dear brothers and sisters, at the beginning of today's Gospel, St Matthew tells us that Jesus went up into the hills by himself to pray. He had just finished a very long day teaching the crowds, healing the sick, and performing the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.

Let imagine, at the beginning of that day he had received the news about John the Baptist's death. At the time, he had wanted to go off alone to reflect, pray, and mourn the loss of that great prophet, who was also Christ's cousin. But the crowds wouldn't let him.

Now we see that although he delayed his time of prayer out of compassion for the crowds, he didn't skip it altogether, even though he must have been exhausted. Now as the sun sets, he climbs up the mountain to pray. And he doesn't appear again until about 3 o'clock in the morning - six hours later. We know from other Gospel passages that Jesus frequently went off alone to pray.

Isn't that kind of strange? Jesus was God, true God from true God, as we profess in the Creed. So why would he have to dedicate large chunks of time to pray? Because he was also true man, the Word made flesh, born of the Virgin Mary.

Jesus had two natures, divine and human. And because he was human, he needed pray. Human nature is not meant to go it alone. As the Catechism tells us, "Man was created to live in communion with God, in whom he finds happiness." And no one can have communion with God without a life of prayer.

Today Jesus is teaching us to keep first things first; if he who is the Son of God needed time alone in prayer, only an arrogant fool would claim not to need some.

Peter's experience during the storm, which we just heard about in today's Gospel passage, is a beautiful parable about the role of prayer in our life.

He and the other Apostles were in the boat, crossing the Sea of Galilee. As the Apostles are crossing the lake, the weather goes bad, it halts their progress. The night progresses, the wind storm gets worse; they just can't seem to make any headway.

The Apostles suddenly see a human figure approaching, walking across the surface of the water, illuminated by the light of the moon reflected by the flitting clouds. They are scared out of their wits - they think it's a ghost.

But Peter takes control of the situation: he asks the mysterious figure to enable him to walk across the violent waves - only Christ could do something like that.

So, Jesus tells him to come, and Peter steps out of the boat; the other Apostles are in shock. But Peter takes one step, then another, and soon he too is walking across the surface of the stormy sea.

At first, he is overjoyed as he looks into the smiling face of his Lord and walks towards him. But then he feels the strong wind; he hears it howling; and the waves around him seem to get bigger.

They seem to threaten him, and he takes his eyes off Christ to look at them. And as soon as he does that - he starts to sink.

Prayer is keeping the eyes of our heart focused on Christ, so that his grace can bring us safely through life's storms. As long as our prayer life is strong, waves of temptation, discouragement, and sin can surge and billow all around us, but Christ will keep us safe.

Most of us don't live in monasteries, so what can we do to make sure our prayer life keeps growing, to make sure that we pray better at age 40 or 50 than we did at age 10?

Jesus himself has given us a secret weapon for growth in prayer: the Eucharist. Prayer is spending time with God, speaking to him about what matters to us and what matters to him. And the Eucharist is the real presence of Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity.

In the hustle and bustle of our busy, twenty-first century lives, we need a time and place where we can be sure to find Christ, 24/7 - something that's objective, not dependent on our moods or feelings.

That's the Eucharist: the rock-solid foundation for a healthy life of prayer. When we receive Holy Communion, when we gaze upon the Host at Mass, when we come and kneel before the Tabernacle containing the Sacred species, or when we pray in adoration before the Eucharist solemnly exposed, we are doing what Peter did as he stepped out of that fishing boat: fixing our gaze on Christ the Lord, cultivating our personal relationship with him - praying to the one whose love and grace gives meaning, direction, and strength to our lives.

This miracle of Jesus walking on the water takes place right after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. The two miracles have to do with bread and with Christ's body - just like the Eucharist.

Today, as Christ recommits himself to us in this Mass, let's recommit ourselves to a healthy life of prayer. Let's promise him that we will never let a day go by without coming to visit him, to speak with him heart-to-heart in the Eucharist, even if only for a minute, so that he can keep deepening our soul's communion with God, in whom alone we will find happiness. 

On November 01, 1950, Pope Pius XII issued the Apostolic Constitution "Munificentisimus Deus" which officially declared the dogma of the Assumption of Mary: "We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by God that the Immaculate Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven."

In using the phrase, "when the course of her earthly life was finished", the dogma leaves open the question of whether or not the Blessed Virgin died before her assumption. Many Catholics over the centuries believed she did not die, but just fell asleep. That is why they use the term "Dormition of the Theotokos". Still many others believe she died but was miraculously resurrected before being taken up to heaven. Both views may be considered valid and legitimate, but whether Mary had a physical death has not been dogmatically defined.

Death, in the strict sense as a consequence of punishment of sin, cannot be applied to the Blessed Mother. Being the Immaculate Conception, she is free from any stain of sin, original and personal. However, since her body is also of mortal nature, and in conformity with her Jesus, her Son, it is also subject to the general law of death. Pope St. John Paul II said that since she was united with her Son in His suffering on the cross, the logical conclusion is that she also followed Him through her own death as well, "so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son."

God, however, cannot allow her body to undergo corruption. The first reason is because she is free from all sins. And so her body is not subject to the consequences of sin, which includes physical death and corruption. The second reason is, her body is absolutely holy and perfectly pure, having been prepared by God from all eternity to bear and nurse the Divine Redeemer. God cannot allow such a perfect and most holy body, the "New Ark of the Covenant" that carried His Eternal Son, to suffer corruption.

Hence, her body, whole and intact, is taken up into heaven together with her soul. That is why, there is not a single a relic that is said to be of Mary's actual body. The dogma of the Assumption of Mary, together with that of the Immaculate Conception, naturally and logically arises from her role as Theotokos, the Mother of God.

We may ask: what does the Assumption of the Blessed Mother mean for us? The Preface of today's Mass answers this question: "Today the Virgin Mother is taken up into heaven to be the beginning and the pattern of the Church, and a sign of hope and comfort for your people on their pilgrim way."

Mary is the beginning of the Church, for from her came forth the Savior of mankind, Jesus her Son. And being the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus, she is also the pattern of the Church. As her children, we are expected to model ourselves after the example of her holiness and complete obedience to the will of God.

Secondly, she is the 'sign of hope and comfort' for all of us on our pilgrim way to our heavenly home. Mary's Assumption should be seen, not as abandonment, but an assurance of her unceasing motherly care for all of her children. Being now with God in heaven, she has complete powers to come to our assistance at all times. As Pope Benedict XVI said: "precisely because Mary is with God and in God, she is very close to each one of us. While she lived on this earth she could only be close to a few people. Being in God, who is actually 'within' all of us, Mary shares in this closeness of God." The Catechism confirms this: "In giving birth you kept your virginity; in your Dormition you did not leave the world, O Mother of God, but were joined to the source of Life. You conceived the living God and, by your prayers, will deliver our souls from death."

Finally, the Assumption of Mary is a preview of our future glory. The Catechism states: "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians." Mary has shown us that heaven is our final destination. In God's time, we will all share in the glory and victory of God's children in heaven.

Let us, therefore, strive to be close to Mary while we are still in this world. Pope St. John Paul II assures us: Our Lady "knows our hearts, can hear our prayers, can help us with her motherly kindness. She always listens to us and, being Mother of the Son, participates in the power of the Son and in His goodness. We can always entrust the whole of our lives to this Mother." 

So what does St. Francis Xavier have in common with St. Dominic?

As we saw in the video from Fr. Isaiah, at the heart of each of these great saints was a true missionary spirit, such a love for God and His people that both desired to give themselves entirely to God and leave everything behind to follow Christ into foreign lands for the salvation of souls. And while St. Dominic didn't quite get the mileage in as St. Francis Xavier did, St. Dominic's missionary zeal was such an inspiration to St. Francis Xavier, a zeal that hearkens back to the sending out of the 72 by Christ Himself, that St. Francis Xavier chose to honor the founder of the Order of Preachers by offering his first Mass of Thanksgiving as a priest at the tomb of St. Dominic in Bologna.

As our mission grows, we are exceedingly grateful for the incredible spiritual support and ministerial collaboration of the friars, sisters, and nuns of the Order of Preachers as we labor together for the salvation of souls. Thank you and God bless you on this special feast day!

…Did you know??

A number of Dominican friars not only provide spiritual support to our mission, but they believe so strongly in it, they financially give from their poverty as well. They are among a number of priests, sisters, and other religious — Dominicans, Jesuits, Franciscans, Missionaries of Charity, and more who have taken a vow of poverty and yet still give what they can to help financially support our mission to evangelize the Gospel in Asia and beyond.

If you would like to honor their commitment and offer your own generous gift to support proclaiming Jesus Christ to the nations, we ask you to first pray, then click the button below. Thank you for doing your part to share the beautiful gift of our Christian faith with others!

Do you want to know more? If you want to support their mission, please contact Fr. Isaiah at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or contact Sally at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. St. Francis Xavier Lay Missionary Society at P.O. Box 20211 Stanford, CA 94309-0211 USA 

A Glimpse of Glory

My dear brothers and sisters, today we celebrate Our Lord's transfiguration, the moment where he gave his closest disciples a glimpse of his divinity and glory to help them for the ordeals of his Passion that were about to come.

Today's First Reading recalls the prophet Daniel's vision of one "like a Son of man" receiving a lasting dominion and glory from the "Ancient One," long before the Incarnation. This prophecy concerned the Messiah appearing before God the Father in glory.

Note the nuances of the language. He is "like" a Son of man. In prophetic language "Son of man" refers to human beings, yet this Messiah is "like" a human being. Christ is truly God and truly man: he is "like a Son of man."

The night his Passion begins, standing before the Sanhedrin, he quotes the passage of Scripture to identify himself as the Messiah, and the Sanhedrin condemns him for blasphemy, even though he has spoken the truth: "the high priest said to him, 'I order you to tell us under oath before the living God whether you are the Messiah, the Son of God.' Jesus said to him in reply, 'You have said so. But I tell you: From now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.' Then the high priest tore his robes and said, 'He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? You have now heard the blasphemy; what is your opinion?' They said in reply, 'He deserves to die!'" (Matthew 26:63–66)."

In today's Second Reading Peter recalls the experience he had on the mountaintop to remind the believers that the wonders of the Lord's earthly life we not just myths, but events.

The first listeners of Peter were familiar with the pagan gods that surrounded them and the myths that tried to fuel their existence in the minds of the pagan believers. Our Lord was not a myth: he was born in Bethlehem, lived in Galilee, preached the Kingdom through Palestine, and died on Calvary.

He was also Transfigured on a mountaintop and raised from the dead. There were eyewitnesses to both the Lord Transfigured and the Lord Risen. All believers are not just repeating myths, but handing on testimony, as the Apostles did.

In today's Gospel, the Lord reveals his divinity and glory to his closest disciples: Peter, James, and John. It's an event recalled in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In Matthew's account, the Lord's clothing becomes as white as light. John in the prologue to his Gospel described the Lord as the true light that enlightens every man. Christ is not only illuminated but illuminating.

The Lord is flanked by Moses and by Elijah to show that he is the culmination of the Law (represented by Moses) and the prophets (represented by Elijah). They converse with Jesus and show their deference to him. It's interesting that Peter says something to Jesus in "reply": Jesus doesn't seem to have said anything, but the scene speaks to Peter, and he struggles to formulate an adequate response in the face of so much glory. Maybe a shrine?

This gradually paints the portrait that Our Lord is not only worthy of glory but divine. He clothes don't just radiate light, but his face as well. The Messiah is not just an incredible man; he is God. If there was not already enough evidence of his divinity the voice of the Father booms from Heaven and declares Jesus to be his beloved and pleasing Son, worthy of their attention.

That's too much for the apostles, who fall prostrate in fear. Almost as soon as it happens it is over: Jesus gets them up, tells them not to be afraid, but also makes sure they will recount the vision to the others after he is risen from the dead. Even the Transfiguration is an event meant for everyone, not just a trusted few.

If the Transfiguration really happened, and it did, that may call for a Transfiguration of Our Lord in your own life. Is Our Lord just an amazing historical figure in your life, or is he God the Son, the Lord of life and history?

The human side of Jesus is perfect but insufficient. He gave us a sneak preview of his divinity and glory for a reason. Explore that reason this week and embrace him not only as a historical figure, but as a wise teacher, good friend, and Lord. 

All of us have special places in our life. Special places are memorable. But, what makes a place more than that? What makes a place sacred and holy? That is to say, what makes it set apart? What makes it somehow blessed? The sacred place is where we meet something beyond ourselves.

A church is holy because it is first of all dedicated to God. It becomes a place of meeting with God. In the church, holy things happen there. In the church, prayers have been offered. Weddings and meals have been offered. Even bitterness and anger have been offered. All those offerings make the actual, physical place holy. The actual physical place has provided the space for our human struggle to meet divine grace.

The first Christians did not build churches because for about the first three hundred years of Christianity Christians faced on and off persecutions. The Catechism says, "When the exercise of religious liberty is not thwarted, Christians construct buildings for divine worship" (CCC 1180). Building an identifiable building dedicated to the worship of the Christian God would have marked the places where they could be found to be arrested, tortured, and killed. Once Christianity was accepted and legalized in the Roman Empire, the construction of church buildings and the "conversion" of Roman civil basilicas into Christian places of worship followed shortly thereafter.

What exactly is a church building? The church building is more than just the place where Christians gather. The Catechism explains, "Visible churches are not simply gathering places but signify and make visible the Church living in this place, the dwelling of God with men reconciled and united in Christ" (CCC 1180). The word "church" is used to describe both the Mystical Body of Christ and the building in which Christians worship and pray because a church is meant to be an icon, image, and representation of the Church and of all that the Church is called to be.

So what is a church? Canon law defines a church simply as "a sacred building designated for divine worship" (CIC 1214). The Catechism expands on this describing a church as "a house of prayer in which the Eucharist is celebrated and reserved, where the faithful assemble, and where is worshipped the presence of the Son of God our Savior, offered for us on the sacrificial altar for the help and consolation of the faithful" (CCC 1181). It also instructs that "this house ought to be in good taste and a worthy place of prayer and sacred ceremonial" (1181), and that a church "must also be a space that invites us to the recollection and silent prayer that extend and internalize the great prayer of the Eucharist" (1185).

A church building is not a multi-purpose space or another busy and noisy place among many. It is a building that has been built and set apart expressly for sacred things: for the celebration of the sacred mysteries, for the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacred Liturgy, for the worship and adoration of the Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and quiet prayer in His Presence. In the busyness and craziness of our lives what a gift it is to have such a place. 

Food for the Homeless

We will do charity work by serving food for the homeless on Saturday August 12. There are many ways you can take part: 

First, you can make a donation, in the form of either money or the ingredients themselves. 

Second, you can come to the Church on that day to prepare food, and 

Third, you can distribute the food to the homeless. 

For more information, please see the poster on the news board.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus continues to teach us a lesson about the Kingdom of Heaven. Today Jesus gives us three stories. One of the stories was about a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. This story teaches us a crucial lesson about the Church: It is made up of both good fish and bad fish.

The net symbolizes the Church, and the fish are the members of the Church - you and me. The water symbolizes the world of human history, in which the Church exists and with which the Church interacts. And at the end of history, there will be a judgment. Jesus will "come again to judge the living and the dead," as we pray every week in the Creed. At this judgment, some of the fish in the net will be saved, but others will be thrown back, "into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."

Both kinds of fish, the "righteous and the wicked," were inside the net, inside the Church. In other words, it's not enough just to be an official member of the Church, just to say we're Catholic, just to go through the motions of being Catholic on the outside.

We need to do that so that we find ourselves inside the net. But we also need to let God's grace penetrates our minds and change our lives, so that we follow in Christ's footsteps all week long, not just on Sunday morning.

Like the farmer and the merchant in the other stories, we have to sell everything to take full possession of the treasure and the pearl. We have to actively fight against our selfish, sinful habits to enter fully into friendship with Jesus Christ, the only treasure that will fill us with everlasting joy. It is possible to work in the field without possessing the treasure, and that's exactly what Christ wants us to avoid.

I rejoice exceedingly in all my tribulations.

From a homily on the 2nd letter to the Corinthians by Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop

Again, Paul turns to speak of love, softening the harshness of his rebuke. For after convicting and reproaching them for not loving him as he had loved them, breaking away from his love and attaching themselves to troublemakers, he again takes the edge off the reproach by saying: Open your hearts to us, that is, love us. He asks for a favour which will be no burden to them but will be more profitable to the giver than to the receiver. And he did not use the word "love" but said, more appealingly: Open your hearts to us.

Who, he said, has cast us out of your minds, thrust us from your hearts? How is it that you feel constraint with us? For, since he has said earlier: You are restricted in your own affection, he now declares himself more openly and says: Open your heart to us, thus once more drawing them to him. For nothing so much win's love as the knowledge that one's lover desires most of all to be himself loved.

For I said before, he tells them, that you are in our hearts to die together or live together. This is love at its height, that even though in disfavour, he wishes both to die and to live with them. For you are in our hearts, not just somehow or other, but in the way I have said. It is possible to love and yet to draw back when danger threatens; but my love is not like that.

I am filled with consolation. What consolation? That which comes from you because you, being changed for the better, have consoled me by what you have done. It is natural for a lover both to complain that he is not loved in return and to fear that he may cause distress by complaining too much. Therefore, he says: I am filled with consolation, I rejoice exceedingly.

It is as if he said, I was much grieved on your account, but you have made it up for me in full measure and given me comfort; for you have not only removed the cause for any grief but filled me with a richer joy. Then he shows the greatness of that joy by saying not only I rejoice exceedingly but also the words which follow in all my tribulations. So great, he says, was the delight that you gave me that it was not even dimmed by so much tribulation but overcame by its strength and keenness all those sorrows which had invaded my heart and took away from me all awareness of them. 

My dear brothers and sisters, in the Gospel of the 15th Sunday Ordinary Time, Our Lord teaches us that evil will be present in the world until the last days of Judgement when the fruits of all are measured. Evil festers in hearts; it is not always seen on the surface.

Holiness is characterized by meekness and humility, so it is not always seen on the surface either. Like wheat, holiness is in the world trying to grow into something good. Like weeds, evil is at work doing the opposite, preying on the good in parasitic way to serve nothing other than itself. It can be hard to tell the difference and, therefore, we need to be on guard against a holiness that is only skin deep.

Today's First Reading reminds us that we can try to be masters of moral disguise, but the Lord sees beyond the surface and measures us by our deeds, not just appearances. The Lord never misjudges anyone, yet people still try to deceive him, if they believe in him at all.

The Lord gives the unjust time to change their ways, to seek his forgiveness, usually for far longer than we would, because he truly cares about them. The Lord is willing to put up with a lot of things, but in justice, he cannot ignore insincerity.

When we sincerely try to do good and to be good, even with moments of weakness, he forgives and helps us, and that gives us cause for hope. If we're insincere, we don't trust him, and all that's left is justice. The Lord shows us justice is necessary, but that doesn't put kindness on hold.

In today's Second Reading Paul reminds us that holiness is something that comes from the depths of our soul because it consists of making the Spirit of God our spirit. The special ingredient in a Christian life is that even when we're weak, the Holy Spirit helps us to be holy.

The Spirit is the protagonist in our sanctification, from the sacraments we receive to the prayers we say. If the "one who searches hearts" finds the Holy Spirit there, he knows he has found one of the "holy ones." The three parables in today's Gospel teach us that holiness is often hidden, even small in the eyes of the world, but makes good things spread and grow, unlike parasitical weeds.

The moment of harvest is a moment of reaping fruits. Our Lord's listeners in Matthew's Gospel have just heard the parable of the sower (see the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle, A), and now they hear their lives compared to wheat, leaven, and a tiny mustard seed.

Wheat is not very glamourous, but if we want bread, a symbol of life, it is essential. When we eat a sandwich, we don't think much of the wheat that went into it, but we certainly enjoy the sandwich. Leaven is useful not only for baking bread but for baking delicious bread. When we receive the Eucharist, made from unleavened bread due to Passover traditions, we note the difference from the bread we eat every day.

Leaven does its job by quietly being sifted throughout the flour used to make the bread, but it makes a big impact on the recipe. Mustard seeds average between 1-2 millimetres in size and may seem small and inconsequential, but on a hot day, the shade and shelter of a tree that grows up to twenty feet tall and wide is not to be ignored. The mustard seed in today's parable also shows that the Church may start small and seemingly insignificant but is meant to spread far and wide. 

From a sermon by Saint John Damascene, bishop

By Their Fruits You Will Know Them

Anne was to be the mother of the Virgin Mother of God, and hence nature did not dare to anticipate the flowering of grace. Thus, nature remained sterile, until grace produced its fruit. For she who was to be born had to be a first-born daughter, since she would be the mother of the first-born of all creation, in whom all things are held together.

Joachim and Anne how blessed a couple! All creation is indebted to you. For at your hands the Creator was offered a gift excelling all other gifts: a chaste mother, who alone was worthy of him.

And so, rejoice, Anne, that you were sterile and have not borne children; break forth into shouts, you who have not given birth. Rejoice, Joachim, because from your daughter a child is born for us, a son is given us, whose name is Messenger of great counsel and universal salvation, mighty God. For this child is God.

Joachim and Anne, how blessed and spotless a couple! You will be known by the fruit you have borne, as the Lord says: By their fruits you will know them. The conduct of your life pleased God and was worthy of your daughter. For by the chaste and holy life you led together, you have fashioned a jewel of virginity: she who remained a virgin before, during and after giving birth. She alone for all time would maintain her virginity in mind and soul as well as in body.

Joachim and Anne, how chaste a couple! While safeguarding the chastity prescribed by the law of nature, you achieved with God's help something which transcends nature in giving the world the Virgin Mother of God as your daughter. While leading a devout and holy life in your human nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than the angels, whose queen she now is.

Girl of utter beauty and delight, daughter of Adam and mother of God, blessed the loins and blessed the womb from which you come! Blessed the arms that carried you, and blessed your parents' lips, which you were allowed to cover with chaste kisses, ever maintaining your virginity. Rejoice in God, all the earth. Sing, exult and sing hymns. Raise your voice, raise it and do not be afraid. 

Mary conceived in her soul before she conceived in her body.

A royal virgin of the house of David is chosen. She is to bear a holy child, one who is both God and man. She is to conceive him in her soul before she conceives him in her body. In the face of so unheard of an event she is to know no fear through ignorance of the divine plan; the angel tells her what is to be accomplished in her by the Holy Spirit.

She believes that there will be no loss of virginity, she who is soon to be the mother of God. Why should she lose heart at this new form of conceiving when she has been promised that it will be effected through the power of the Most High? She believes, and her faith is confirmed by the witness of a previous wonder: against all expectation Elizabeth is made fruitful. God has enabled a barren woman to be with child; he must be believed when he makes the same promise to a virgin.

The Son of God who was in the beginning with God, through whom all things were made, without whom nothing was made, became man to free him from eternal death. He stooped down to take up our lowliness without loss to his own glory. He remained what he was; he took up what he was not. He wanted to join the very nature of a servant to that nature in which he is equal to God the Father. He wanted to unite both natures in an alliance so wonderful that the glory of the greater would not annihilate the lesser, nor the taking up of the lower diminish the greatness of the higher. 

What belongs to each nature is preserved intact and meets the other in one person: lowliness is taken up by greatness, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our human condition, a nature incapable of suffering is united to a nature capable of suffering, and true God and true man are forged into the unity that is the Lord.

This was done to make possible the kind of remedy that fitted our human need: one and the same mediator between God and men able to die because of one nature, able to rise again because of the other. It was fitting, therefore, that the birth which brings salvation brought no corruption to virginal integrity; the bringing forth of Truth was at the same time the safeguarding of virginity.

Dearly beloved, this kind of birth was fitting for Christ, the power and the wisdom of God: a birth in which he was one with us in our human nature but far above us in his divinity. If he were not true God, he would not be able to bring us healing, if he were not true man, he would not be able to give us an example.

And so at the birth of our Lord, the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to his people on earth as they see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the world. If the angels on high are so exultant at this marvelous work of God's goodness, what joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men?