Daily Reflections
Christmas is universally accepted as a season of joy. Even when there is no visible reason to rejoice, people still look for ways to express joy. But few days ago, I wished a friend the joy of Christmas, but the response I got was, “Joy with what? No food, no…
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Welcome On this Friday of the fourth week of Advent, we have finally arrived at Christmas Eve. Hopefully, the churches are full of regular Mass attendees, as well as the “occasional Catholics” who seem to only attend on Christmas and Easter. All are welcome. Perhaps this is the year that…
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The readings today are very reflective of the season in which we are in. They present us with the loving interest of God over His people for their salvation. And to completely achieve this, He speaks through the prophet Malachi in the first reading that He is going to send…
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I remember waking up Christmas morning last year with an empty feeling; a feeling of something missing from my life. As we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, it hit me. I should have been preparing to welcome a baby just a few weeks later, but instead I looked down at…
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Showing Joy The theme of showing joy begins in the second line of the first reading today. Someone’s lover springs across the mountains and hills. The Sound of Music and the von Trapp family comes to mind, with the aerial view of the characters dancing about, with the beautiful fields…
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The Blessed Virgin Mary may not seem like a relevant role model to today’s young people, particularly in Western cultures that value “thinking for yourself” and “liberation,” especially of the sexual variety. In addition, Mary’s witness may seem out of reach to many, particularly young women. A Virgin? Who never,…
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In today’s gospel, we see the enactment of the second joyful mystery. Our Lady visits her cousin Elizabeth, whose response is beautifully captured in the Ave Maria: Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Angelic Messengers Consider the angelic messengers, those supernatural creatures…
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Crisis of Love Only Matthew and Luke tell us about the birth of Jesus. Matthew speaks of the birth of Jesus from the point of view of Joseph, while Luke does it from the point of view of Mary. For Matthew, it is important to show that Jesus really is…
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Today’s Gospel clarifies Jesus’ family lineage, all the way from Abraham to David, to the Babylonian exile, to Christ. Interestingly, with fourteen generations between each landmark person or event. In ways, it is hard to relate to all the names in Jesus’ family tree. Yet, this element of the Gospel…
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It is interesting to think about a person like John the Baptist. Jesus points out the obvious. John certainly wasn’t someone fashionably dressed or living the life of the kinds of celebrities we see today, yet he was indeed a celebrity of sorts. Crowds came to follow and hear him.…
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