Seeking God's Face: Meditations for the Church Year

“Seek out the Lord and his might; constantly seek his face.” The impulse for these meditations in Seeking God’s Face, in which Joseph Ratzinger thinks on the great feasts and Sundays of the year, inspired by Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the lives of the saints, is captured in this brief admonition from the Book of Psalms. The seasons of Advent and Christmas are given special attention, with a sermon on the mystery of suffering, a sermon on the "Word Made Flesh," and a look at St. Francis of Assisi's contribution to Christmas celebrations, all of which join Pope John Paul I's "The Lesson of the Christmas Donkey" in honouring the birth of Jesus Christ, in whom we see the face of God.

Without faith, our calendar is simply a way by which the revolutions of the earth around itself and around the sun are measured… In faith, time is measured…by the acts of God, whose heart is, in all his activity, turned toward man. (Joseph Ratzinger)