On Saturday, December 7, 2002, the Holy Name
Society at Holy Trinity (German) Church sponsored an Advent evening of
recollection for the men of the parish’s German and Latin congregations.
Through prayer, meditation, and song, the evening’s participants were given
an opportunity to take time out of their busy lives to prepare themselves
spiritually for the Lord’s Nativity.
In keeping with the liturgical season’s emphasis
on a sober yet joyful time of preparation, the evening’s program began with
the recitation of the Rorate Cœli. This penitential prayer was
followed by prophetic readings from the Books of Isaiah and Micah,
interspersed with the singing of stanzas from the hymn, Veni, Veni,
Emmanuel. The evening’s celebrant, Rev. Fr. James Laughlin, then read
St. Luke’s account of the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Zechariah. In
response, the participants recited the Benedictus in Latin.
Similarly, after Fr. Laughlin had finished reading the story of the
Visitation, the men present responded by reciting the Magnificat.
After a brief period of reflection, Fr. Laughlin
delivered a sermon on the fortieth chapter of the prophet Isaiah. He spoke
of the comfort that God brings to His people and how the Church, in carrying
out Christ's mission of salvation, is also called upon to bring comfort to
people. He gave illustrations from his parish ministry and spoke of how
inadequate the priest can feel in attempting to bring Christ's comfort and
peace to people in the most difficult times of their lives. In telling the
story of being called upon to bring the news to an elderly woman that her
husband of seventy-five years had died, Fr. Laughlin explained that, despite
his own lack of words of wisdom and comfort at that moment, Christ Himself
was very present to this woman through his ministry as a priest. Father
spoke of how he similarly feels unequal to the task of bringing comfort to
the faithful of Boston in this time of crisis in the Church. He commended
the members of the Parish of the Holy Trinity for their great devotion to
the Holy Eucharist and pointed to this as the greatest source of comfort,
peace and wisdom in this time of crisis. In receiving and adoring the Lord
in the Eucharist, we are comforted not by mere human words of consolation,
but by Christ himself.