Dear Sisters and Brothers, we have reached a turning point in this Advent Season. As the Second Week draws to a close, we are gradually moving toward the feast of the Nativity. Spiritual vigilance calls us to recognize a subtle danger in the middle of our Advent journey. We may…
Read More
Today is my birthday. My family will remember the event with congratulatory remarks. The Catholic world, however, will focus on my Spiritual mother. I have two mothers. My Biological mother would have remembered the joy of my birth as her first born son. My Spiritual mother remembers my adoption into…
Read More
Having reached the midpoint of our Advent journey, the prophet Isaiah reminds us of a great and important reality not to be forgotten: in the eyes of God, the smallest is the greatest, because his eternal compassion measures us not from our presumed achievements, but from our radical need for…
Read More
“Come to me, all you who are weary,” Jesus urges us in today’s Gospel reading. Few calls resonate so deeply as this open-armed invitation to every tired soul. Who among us has not known the trials and weariness of everyday life? “Come to me” offers the balm of restoration. Yet…
Read More
The general theme of Advent is enmeshed in hope, and particular to the third week is the message of God’s love for us. Today’s readings surround us with palpable hope expressed in the most compassionate terms. God’s word in Isaiah 40:1-11 appears as a twist of fate. The passage, which…
Read More
“Behold, I am the Handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” Dear Friends, the Church celebrates today the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated on December 8, yearly. This celebration commemorates Mary’s preservation from original sin at the…
Read More
The Gospel opens with St. John the Baptist’s famous call to action, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” This can seem like a strange reading choice as we near the Christmas season, a season we rightly associate with the coming of the Infant Jesus, meek and tender.…
Read More
As we make our way through the first week of Advent, today’s readings all remind us of how the upcoming feast at Christmas, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ among us, is an incredible act of mercy on the part of God the Father. Mercy In the first reading,…
Read More
There is a statement in the first reading that, in my opinion, summarizes the theme of today’s readings and responsorial psalm: “And out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see.” This reading is taken from the prophet Isaiah, and it describes the signs that will accompany…
Read More
O LORD, grant salvation! O LORD, grant prosperity! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD; We bless you from the house of the LORD. The LORD is God, and he has given us light.. The Alleluia refrain today gives the best synopsis of the readings and…
Read More