Posts by Kaity Holtman
Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
We are used to Jesus performing dramatic miracles, but certainly less familiar with dramatic means to His miracles. When the friends of the paralytic man opened up the roof and lowered him on a stretcher into the home where Jesus’ was, it could have seemed tactless, overbearing, and for the paralytic himself, embarrassing. The…
Read MoreThursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Hebrews says a very curious thing today: “We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.” It’s that beginning of the reality that sticks out to me. Why is the beginning so important for Christian life and ministry? Realistically, human…
Read MoreWednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
In contemporary culture, we have made individual happiness the end-all-be-all. Even well-formed Christians have had the live-and-let-live mentality of, “if it doesn’t bother me, I can’t intervene.” But happiness is fleeting and subjective. I remember being in a college classroom and a classmate saying that, logically speaking, God could not punish you for a…
Read MoreTuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
My Dad was a small-town attorney and municipal judge. In his office, he had many law degrees and awards up on the wall. If you were to go there back then, you’d also notice a very strange framed picture among those prestigious plaques. It was a drawing I had made at five years old.…
Read MoreThe Baptism of the Lord
The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord ends the Christmas Season. It probably seems very unlike other Christmas events: the Nativity, Holy Family, and Epiphany. However, this feast is sometimes called the Theophany, which means “a manifestation of God.” Like all the Christmas mysteries, we grapple with the “both/and” of Jesus’ divine and…
Read MoreThe Epiphany of the Lord
We all know the three gifts the Magi brought to Jesus at the Epiphany—His “manifestation” to all peoples of the world. What do they symbolize? Gold has an easy answer: recognizing Christ’s kingship. The incense may be harder, as even modern Catholics do not seem to know—much less appreciate—why we use incense to this…
Read MoreChristmas Weekday – January 7
A simple but sometimes overlooked reflection on the wedding feast of Cana is that we are called to genuine human joy. We, of course, are called to have our hope on the future joy that we will receive in heaven as our true and everlasting joy, but God did not make us suffer and…
Read MoreChristmas Weekday – January 6
“On coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open.” Imagine the scene: you look up and see dazzling lights, lightning and fire, and what seems like the day sky ripping apart to reveal the night sky, and with it, a booming voice says, “you are my son!” What an…
Read MoreMemorial of St. John Neumann, Bishop
We are all probably familiar with the phrase, “blood is thicker than water.” Typically, it means that family comes first. We are willing to support and protect family before anything else, even our own comfort. This week we have been reflecting on what it means to be sons and daughters of God, and today…
Read MoreMemorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
“No one who is begotten by God commits sin because God’s seed remains in him.” This sentence in John’s letter should give us pause. If we have been made to be sons and daughters of Christ in baptism, does that not mean we are begotten by God? Yes, we are, but it means we…
Read MoreChristmas Weekday – January 3
Sonship in the scriptures is essential. It often signifies two things. The first is belonging to a people and family, and the second is priestly ministry. Within a theological framework, this sonship is vital for both men and women because it is in this sonship we find our fullest identity. Regarding sonship and belonging,…
Read MoreMemorial of Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
We have just welcomed Christ into the world. Jesus, born of the Virgin, visits us, and we call him Emmanuel. With rejoicing, we pledge our faith and life to this small child, “Lord be with us always!” Then amid the rejoicing, we begin to experience suffering, pain, confusion, and distraction—consider the feasts we have…
Read MoreSolemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God
As we finish the Octave of Christmas, we face a roller coaster of emotion. We have experienced the joy of the coming of Christ, the horror of the slaughter of innocence, and the comfort of John the Evangelist. In the face of such strong emotions and experiences, it is easy to get overwhelmed…
Read MoreThe Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Throughout these Christmas Octave reflections, we can hope that the thought of God communicating His divine love in human form provides a background or a sounding board for all of us. The birth of the Christ is the grand announcement “sung out by the heavenly hosts” to the world that a particular point had…
Read MoreFeast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
As this Octave of Christmas continues to unfold, the liturgical readings provide us with something like observation windows concerning the “rest” of the Christmas story. While growing up, we always enjoyed hearing our elderly aunts, uncles, and grandparents telling stories about the “good old days,” even if we had heard them before. The stories…
Read MoreThe Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas
The smile of an infant lying in its mother’s arms can touch the heart of anyone. Sometimes people even find a new language of cooing with the little one to show their joy. Today’s Gospel story of Joseph and Mary bringing their child for the required temple rites seems to focus on the experience…
Read MoreFeast of the Holy Innocents, martyrs
Even with our sensitivities somewhat dulled by constant reports of horrible violence inflicted on innocent people, the story of the slaughter of the innocents continues to jolt our imagination. How could someone be so cold-hearted and paranoid as to order the execution of all two-year-old male children in and around Bethlehem? Perhaps the best…
Read MoreFeast of St. John, Apostle and evangelist
The series of feast days during this Christmas Octave week and their liturgical readings remind us of a wonderful family Christmas banquet. Just when you think all the food is on the table you’re surprised with yet another dish or course which adds another level of delight. Yesterday the feast of martyr St. Stephen…
Read MoreFeast of St. Stephen, first martyr
At the bottom of the center stairs at Conception Abbey, we have a set of two very heavy brass house chimes. They are rung by hand with a mechanism using two large wooden hammers. When the chimes are struck, their rich melodious sound travels throughout the house but after the sound dies down the…
Read MoreThe Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Whenever a child is born, there is change and hope, not only for the child and its family but for all of us. That change and hope come about because each new baby is capable of making the world a better place. Christmas is about hope and change because it involves a newborn Child,…
Read MoreSaturday of the Fourth Week of Advent
We have arrived at the end of the Fourth Week of Advent. It is quite rare that the calendar allows us to celebrate a full week. What a blessing it has been. On Sunday, we heard about Saint Joseph, from the pen of the evangelist Matthew. Every day since, our Gospel selections came from…
Read MoreFriday of the Fourth Week of Advent
For the last two days of this week, the Gospel selections return us to the story whose beginning we heard on Monday. It is the story of the birth of John the Baptist. His father Zechariah and his mother Elizabeth are the protagonists. Elizabeth gives birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives rejoice…
Read MoreThursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel selection gives us the very familiar “Magnificat” of Mary. Mary is still visiting her cousin Elizabeth. Upon greeting one another, Mary breaks out in song. “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior.” Over the centuries, Christians have sung this song with Mary. For us…
Read MoreWednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
One of my favorite poems has the simple title, “Elizabeth and Mary.” It was written by the poetess/artist, Mary Lou Sleevi (1926-2014). I first got to know Mary Lou in the early 1990s. She had given me a copy of her book, Women of the Word. This is a collection of her paintings and…
Read MoreTuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel reading is a very familiar passage. It is the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Mary that God has chosen her to be the mother of Jesus. I do not need to repeat the details. How many artists throughout history have striven to give us a picture of how this happened? During…
Read MoreMonday of the Fourth Week of Advent
In yesterday’s reflection, I focused on the role of St. Joseph as the adoptive father of Jesus, as portrayed in the Gospel of Matthew. Because of his righteousness, he related to his wife Mary with compassion and tenderness. Throughout the rest of this week, our Gospel readings will come from St. Luke. Other persons…
Read MoreFourth Sunday of Advent
The central figure in today’s gospel is clearly Joseph. This is a special feature of the Gospel of Matthew, focusing on Joseph more than on Mary. Matthew starts out by giving us the genealogy of Jesus. It is a genealogy that starts with Abraham and ends with whom? Not Mary. No, Matthew…
Read MoreSaturday of the Third Week of Advent
The intensity of the liturgy ratchets up a few notches today as we enter the last week before Christmas. On the 17th, we begin the use of the ancient “O Antiphons.” These are special texts used before and after the Canticle of Mary at Evening Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours throughout the…
Read MoreFriday of the Third Week of Advent
The opening words of the liturgy set the tone for these days of Advent waiting: “Behold, the Lord will come descending with splendor to visit his people with peace, and he will bestow on them eternal life.” In the first reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah (56:1-3a, 6-8) we hear of the…
Read MoreThursday of the Third Week in Advent
As we sing the entrance antiphon of today’s liturgy, we hear the words, “You, O Lord, are close… (Cf. Ps 119:151-152). That has more than one meaning. Yes, we realize the increasing intensity of the readings in our liturgies and know that Christmas is now coming very soon. But it also describes another kind…
Read MoreMemorial of St. John of the Cross, priest and Doctor of the Church
Today we celebrate the memory of the great Spanish mystic, St. John of the Cross. As a Carmelite friar, he undertook the work of reform of the Church. Misunderstanding of his writings and resistance to change on the part of his contemporaries resulted in his imprisonment and persecution, earning him the title “of the…
Read MoreMemorial of St. Lucy, virgin & martyr
The memorial of St. Lucy stands at the halfway point in our journey through the Advent season. The name “Lucy” is derived from the Latin word “lux,” meaning “light.” In some countries, a child dressed in white is adorned with a wreath of candles in her hair to remind us of the Light of…
Read MoreFeast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. The liturgy opens with a beautiful antiphon drawn from our first reading from the Book of Revelation, “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head…
Read MoreThird Sunday of Advent
Today is Gaudete Sunday. This is the traditional title for the third Sunday of Advent, drawn from the first word of the entrance antiphon in the Latin original and in the present English translation: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near” (Phil 4:4-5). We are…
Read MoreSaturday of the Second Week of Advent
“Lord, make us turn to you; let us see your face and we shall be saved.” This is the responsorial psalm for today, and the Alleluia verse is “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths: All flesh shall see the salvation of God.” All week, I have been saying make an…
Read MoreFriday of the Second Week of Advent
Today’s alleluia verse is, “The Lord will come; go out to meet him! He is the prince of peace.” As we draw closer to the halfway point of Advent, let us remember the peace that God has given to us, because without his peace, this world would be in an even worse shape than…
Read MoreSolemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In 1830, Our Lady appeared to St. Catherine Laboure in France. St. Catherine said, “She showed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe with rays of light coming from her hands toward the globe. Around the frame were the words, ‘O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to…
Read MoreMemorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today is the feast day of St. Ambrose. Before I start my reflection, I would like to wish my dad, Bruce, a happy name day. St. Ambrose was a man of courage, strength, and humility. He never wanted to become the bishop of Milan, but after hiding, he eventually accepted. When we are called…
Read MoreTuesday of the Second Week of Advent
Today we hear the Lord tell the story of the lost sheep. If one goes astray, will the shepherd not go to find that one? My favorite part of the story is not included—even the angels in heaven rejoice over one repentant sinner than a righteous man who does good deeds. In our responsorial…
Read MoreMonday of the Second Week of Advent
When I found myself in a deserted place, and then I finally humbled myself to ask for help, I could see the flowers bloom and the rivers overflow. I asked for the Lord’s help, to “be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense, he comes to save…
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