Ad Veritatem Volume 13 Issue 12 St. Thomas More Society of Orange County DECEMBER 2008 “More points out, however, prosperity is not necessarily a sign of favor. Prosperity hinders conversion and causes vices to increase.” Thomas More: A Portrait of Courage DECEMBER MEETING: WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 17, 2008 NOON SPEAKER: FR. CIRILO FLORES, J.D. TOPIC: “OUR LORD COMES: WAITING WITH JOYFUL HOPE” DETAILS ON PAGE 3 “Ad Veritatem” is Latin for “Toward the truth.” Page 2 Ad Veritatem THOMAS MORE SOCIETY BOARD OF DIRECTORS WHO WE ARE DAVID BELZ Kuhn & Belz In 1966, the movie A Man For All Seasons inspired the Academy of Motion HON. MICHAEL BRENNER O.C. Superior Court, Ret’d Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize this film as the Picture of the Year. This was one of the few occasions in the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and FABIO R. CABEZA McQueen & Ashman LLP Sciences where the life of a religious figure won the hearts of the motion picture industry’s elite. The central figure portrayed in Man For All Seasons was, of course, STEVEN COTUGNO St. Thomas More, the great lawyer, statesman, apologist, husband, father and faith- Software Engineering ful Catholic. In 2000, St. Thomas was honored as the Lawyer of the Millennium by Consultant a secular panel of historians for the British Commonwealth. Shortly thereafter, John JOHN FLYNN Paul II declared St. Thomas as the Patron Saint of Statesmen. Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliott Inspired by a homily given by Bishop Norman McFarland at the 1995 Red Mass of Orange County, five “fearless” members of the Orange County bar met DONALD A. HUNSBERGER shortly thereafter at the law offices of Rutan and Tucker in Costa Mesa. These law- The Law Offices of yers all shared the realization that the legal practice takes a severe toll on the per- Donald A. Hunsberger sonal and spiritual lives of those involved in it and that many in the legal profession DEBORAH KNEFEL had become too focused on the material life with the natural consequence being the Anaheim Deputy de-emphasis on their spiritual life. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the City Attorney formation of a new organization for lawyers and judges in the County of Orange ANNE LANPHAR with its mission being to publicly support and encourage the spiritual development First American Professional of its members in their Catholic faith. The group chose as its patron St. Thomas Real Estate Services, Inc. More, the greatest lawyer of his time, who was a dedicated husband and father with WILLIAM MALECKI a deep and profound commitment to his Catholic faith, his profession and his fellow State Compensation Ins. Fund man. Thus the St. Thomas More Society of Orange County was born. HON. DAVID MCEACHEN Attendance at the monthly meetings in the early years was sporadic. Our O.C. Superior Court spiritual director, Fr Hugh Barbour, wisely advised us not to worry about numbers because it was more important “to be than to do or say.” He encouraged the virtues MICHAEL G. MURPHY, CPA Murphy Murphy & Murphy, Inc. of patience and perseverance. His sage advice, together with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and St. Thomas More, has led us to our current level of a fourteen mem- JUDY PATNO ber Board of Directors of lawyers and judges and a mailing list for the monthly Law Offices of Judy Patno newsletter of over 970. JAMES L. POTH The goal of the Society is to inspire and lift up the minds and hearts of the Jones, Day legal community of Orange County to follow the example of St. Thomas More by GREGORY WEILER integrating God in every aspect of their professional and personal lives. The Society Palmieri Tyler Weiner seeks to accomplish this goal through inspirational speakers at monthly meetings, Wilhelm & Waldron this newsletter, the Red Mass, a website, an annual spiritual retreat and other events. PRESIDENT The St. Thomas More Society also seeks to provide a haven where those who are Donald Hunsberger committed to their Catholic faith as well as those who are seeking to learn more about the Church, can find fellowship and encouragement in the face of overwhelm- SECRETARY ing media and cultural forces working against that pursuit. Judy Patno St. Thomas More, please pray for us. CHAPLAIN FR. HUGH BARBOUR, FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT O. PRAEM, PH.D. Don Hunsberger at (714) 663-8000 or email to [email protected], or St. Michael’s Abbey Judy Patno at (714) 871-6655 or email to [email protected]. AD VERITATEM EDITOR VISIT OUR WEBSITE at www.stthomasmore.net ANNE LANPHAR Volume 13, Issue 12 Page 3 FR. CIRILO FLORES, J.D. DECEMBER “OUR LORD COMES: MEETING WAITING WITH JOYFUL HOPE” Fr. Cirilo Flores was born and reared in Corona. A graduate of Notre Dame High WHEN: School in Riverside, he received his B. A. from Loyola Marymount University. He NOON earned his Juris Doctor from Stanford University Law School and worked as a lawyer Wed. Dec 17 for ten years, practicing in the area of civil litigation, representing financial institutions and other businesses. He prepared for the priesthood at St. John’s Seminary, Cama- WHERE: rillo, and was ordained for the Diocese of Orange in 1991. First assigned to St. Barbara First American Parish in Santa Ana, he also served as parochial vicar at St. Joachim (Costa Mesa), and Trust Bldg. Our Lady of Guadalupe (La Habra), before Bishop Brown named him pastor of St. 5 First American Anne, Santa Ana, in July, 2000. After he served as pastor of St. Anne for eight years Way, Santa Ana Bishop Tod Brown named Fr. Cirilo pastor of St. Norbert Parish, Orange, effective Au- gust 30 of this year. Fr. Cirilo presently is a member of the Diocesan Finance Council, FOR DIRECTIONS the Priest Personnel Board, and various other committees and boards. Fr. Cirilo has (714) 250-3000 lived his priesthood in diverse and challenging communities; he gives thanks for the love and prayers which sustain him and all priests. COST: Lunch: $15 For questions, please contact either Don Hunsberger (714) 663-8000 or Anne Lanphar at (714) 250-1453 [email protected] STM MONTHLY MTGS: MCLE CALENDAR 3RD WEDNESDAY OF MONTH: SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 2009 JANUARY 21 FIRST AMERICAN TRUST BLDG REMINDERS FEBRUARY 18 MARCH 18 CREDITS FOR ETHICS, ELIMINATION APRIL 15 OF BIAS & SUBSTANCE ABUSE MAY 20 SEE PAGE 17 4 12 IN THIS ISSUE: Scriptural Corner A Message from our Chaplain Adoration of the Christ Child Matthew 6:2-4 5 12 Do We Want Him? Simple Truths Bishop Norman McFarland 13 7 Thought for the Day Avoiding the Wishbook Syndrome The Meaning of Christmas Leslie Ryland Adoration of the Christ Child Page 4 16 9 More on Honesty As We Wait in Joyful Hope: Ancient Catholic Customs Can 17 Control Christmas Materialism MCLE FLYER Kevin Orlin Johnson 18 11 From the Library WE ARE GOING GREEN! Avoiding the Wishbook Syndrome Advent & Christmas Wisdom Page 7 Page 4 Ad Veritatem Adoration of the Christ Child FR. HUGH BARBOUR, O. PRAEM, PH.D. QUESTION: Recently, I was in a Catholic bookstore that sells devotional articles. There were two friends with me, one a Catholic, and the other a Protestant. A woman in front of us in line was buying a statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague. Both my friends commented after we left the store about how they found devotion to the Child Jesus, es- pecially in that form, kind of hard to take seriously. My Protestant friend's opinion did- A n't surprise me, but my Catholic friend's agreement with him did. How can we explain devotion to the Holy Child to those who say we should only worship an adult, risen MESSAGE Christ? ANSWER: If Christ had willed only to be worshipped as He is now in heaven, as a FROM "risen adult," as they say, then He would not have appeared on earth as a Child, or at least, His childhood would not have been included in the message of salvation contained OUR in the Holy Gospels. As it is, however, Christ inspired the evangelists by His Holy Spirit to tell the story CHAPLAIN of His virginal conception and birth at Bethlehem. The Letter to the Hebrews presents the sentiments of Christ the God-Man "upon entering the world" at the moment of His incarnation, when He was the merest of children in the womb of His Blessed Mother. Our Lord was the Savior of the world at every moment of His earthly life, and because of the special gifts of knowledge and wisdom given to His Sacred Humanity, He mer- ited our salvation continually, from His conception until He breathed forth His Spirit on the Cross. As the great Benedictine spiritual writer Abbot Marmion has said, "The mys- teries of Christ are our mysteries." The events of His life are all sources of grace and enlightenment for the Christian soul. Thus it is that the Holy Spirit has inspired the Church to celebrate each year all of the mysteries of the life of Christ, because each one has its own special grace for our souls, and its own special glory given to the Father. The greatest of saints and mystics have found deep spiritual wisdom in devotion to the Holy Infancy of Jesus. This devotion goes back to the earliest days of the Church. The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, which originated partly in the third century, contains an account of the miraculous appearance of the Holy Child at the celebration of the Eucha- rist.