Articles for Advent
Note: This year Advent is nearly four full weeks (short one day), thus some of the readings this week are often not heard in the days prior to December 17. This is one of them. Today’s passage from Isaiah 54 takes us to the Easter Vigil (it is one of the seven Old Testament…
Continue ReadingIn today’s passage from Isaiah, we have these lines: “Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above, like gentle rain let the skies drop it down. Let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up!” This text from the prophet is well-known to us as one of the beautiful…
Continue ReadingWe are just a few days from the beginning of the final approach to Christmas. Come and save your people … we will soon be singing. What does that “saving action” look like for us now /this year. It takes many forms, shapes, and sizes. But the basic truth is the same forever and…
Continue ReadingQuite a few people profess to enjoy the season of Advent – even as a favorite. What is so special about the season of Advent? Many things combine to make it an uplifting time. There is a definite message of hope. A promise of salvation. A promise of deliverance. It is that hope, that…
Continue ReadingOur brief season of waiting, of expectation, looking forward is now half over. Today is Gaudete Sunday: REJOICE! Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near. (Phil 4: 4-5). Everything in today’s liturgy is about finding joy in the coming of the Lord. The entrance antiphon, coming…
Continue ReadingIt’s the rock stars and the superstars who make the big splash! Just think of the hype, the fireworks, the flashing lights, and the rock music that usher them into the stadiums of our minds! It doesn’t take too much imagination to visualize the Prophet Elijah as the superstar of his day, even complete…
Continue ReadingHuman nature has not changed much through the generations. Today Jesus is pointing out something about human behavior which every parent or teacher knows so very well. No matter how hard you try to convince someone of your best intentions and the value of what you present, there are always those who are never…
Continue ReadingSometimes the Bible can spark a vivid image. When I hear today’s readings announcing a world-changing event, I can imagine a stirring drum roll with a soaring fanfare coming from a long line of golden trumpets. The overarching announcement about the Messiah began with the words of Isaiah the Prophet promising a world-changing Redeemer.…
Continue ReadingFounded on December 8, 1873, Conception Abbey celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception today as our special patronal feast. Other monasteries are certainly older than we are, but we have our own unique story. This feast day reminds us to reflect on the many possibilities behind the word “chosen.” First of all, our…
Continue ReadingImagine you conducted a survey among willing adults and asked only this one question: “what is your basic image of God?” What image of God would predominate? Many factors could shape their answers. Therefore, it’s too simple to say that if a person sees God as a hard, demanding taskmaster, it’s because as a…
Continue ReadingThe prophets and poets of the Old Testament were master wordsmiths. What could be more beautiful than the Prophet Isaiah describing the desert blooming and rejoicing to greet the Israelites as they returned from exile? The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will…
Continue ReadingWaiting is the hard part. The whole season of Advent has a forward movement as we wait for what Scriptures call the fullness of time. That term is vague enough to leave us wondering what it truly means and yet the word fullness suggests powerful images. Think of the contented smile of a…
Continue ReadingAs we near the second Sunday of Advent, there is an important question we need to ask ourselves, have we gone out to the lost sheep? In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells his apostles to go out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. These were those who had been lost because of…
Continue Reading“Let it be done for you according to your faith.” How many of us, if we heard this, would get nervous? I would. Do I really have faith? Is it at least as big as a mustard seed? Yesterday we said we must live by faith. How do we do that? If we take…
Continue ReadingWhere do we place our trust? Think for a moment when deciding where do you put the majority of your trust? Do you trust yourself the most? Or is it a spouse? Maybe a trusted friend? Is it a movement? Or perhaps, no one? Do you have trust in anything? Trust, or faith, is…
Continue ReadingFor ages, the people of Israel waited to see the coming of the messiah. This messiah was to lead Israel to freedom, to lead all the nations to the Temple to worship, and he was to bring healing to those who suffer. In Jesus is that messiah. He has indeed come and set people…
Continue ReadingThe apostles were called by Christ to be men of passion and commitment. They were to be Christ’s very representatives on earth. They were to be Christ coming into the nations; this is what the word apostle means—to be another Christ! In St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, we hear words of encouragement to…
Continue ReadingIsrael, founded on God’s promise to Abraham, was given the same promises as Abraham. Namely, they would be a great nation, that Abraham would receive a great name, and they would become a great blessing to all the nations. This third promise is critical. Israel’s vocation was to be in such an intimate relationship…
Continue ReadingAdvent is a time of hopeful waiting. Waiting for Christ to come to us as the child in the manger. Waiting for Christ to come as the healer, consoler, friend, and Lord. Advent is a time of waiting for promises to be kept. In the opening lines of today’s first reading, we hear, “The…
Continue ReadingSeveral years ago the Ministerial Alliance’s clothing and food pantry in Stanberry, Missouri was getting vandalized in the back alley. One of the ministers suggested putting up cameras. Considering our modest budget, I recommended installing motion-activated lights instead. Sure enough, once the new lights were installed, the shenanigans stopped. Today is the last of…
Continue ReadingPeople have trouble with my religious name. Shocking, I know… Frequently when I meet someone new, he will ask what my name means. I understand it is exotic; still, I did not take my name for its definition but for the patron saint. At the time I proposed it to the abbot, I had…
Continue ReadingThe Greeks had a goddess named Nemesis. She was the god of retribution – specifically pouring out wrath for human hubris against the gods. Nemesis has many attributes to describe how she works: scales to weigh deeds against punishment, a scourge to chastise, and a bridle to rein in the self-exalted. She is the…
Continue ReadingWhen I was recently at my home parish, the priest asked me if I could recommend a book explaining some basic Catholic art because he feared people did not understand what was in the church. Unfortunately today we have access to much information yet are illiterate when it comes to Christian symbols. A consequence…
Continue ReadingI know these days during the pandemic, many of us are tired of being in our houses. Yet this reality of sheltering in a safe place speaks to the power of the personal domicile. A house, a home, is a powerful thing. Even if you are a world traveler and revel in seeing new…
Continue ReadingNot many people in our society really give a second thought about a married couple, even one advanced in years, who are without children. But, during Elizabeth’s time, her experience of barrenness was a disgrace before others. She shouldered a great personal burden characteristic of all women who desire to have a child, but…
Continue ReadingJoseph receives God’s message from the angel in a dream. The Lord’s promise to Ahaz will be fulfilled through the Virgin Mary: “The Virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel.” About seven hundred years after Isaiah’s prophecy, God’s salvation is brought forth in the person of Jesus Christ.…
Continue ReadingSome priests are scared about having to proclaim the varied and difficult names that appear in the genealogy Gospel. Though there has been a resurgence in family lineage in recent years, most people today do not find Matthew’s introduction all that captivating. While the text isn’t in the style of a narrative that we…
Continue ReadingThe Prophet Isaiah emphasizes the greatness of the Lord God and the foolishness of placing our trust in any other gods— “I am the LORD, there is no other.” Throughout salvation history, God performed powerful signs and wonders and saved His people, yet they turned from Him again and again. God’s presence is readily…
Continue ReadingWhen I was in high school, my Mom would leave us a short to-do list, with some simple chores to do while she was away running errands. It was nothing complicated, but just some basic tasks with which my brothers and I agreed to help out. I remember how we would put it off,…
Continue ReadingGod surely couldn’t work through me, could He? Many of us have uttered, or at least thought of, some version of the statement above. It’s an admission of how we feel inadequate, insignificant, and altogether fallible. Two things can be true at the same time: We can readily acknowledge our human weakness, and God…
Continue ReadingRecently someone who was mourning the loss of a loved one came to me and asked: “Father, several months have gone by and I am still grieving and hurting—is this revealing that my faith is weak and that I’m not entrusting my loved one to God?” Our liturgy for the Third Sunday of…
Continue ReadingBook of revelation A great sign appeared – a woman clothed with the sun. and the moon was under her feet…. on her head a crown of twelve stars. The prophet Zechariah states that many nations shall join themselves to the Lord. They shall be his people. And God will dwell among you. Mary…
Continue ReadingLet’s make a quick return to that opening collect from Sunday, where we ask God to “remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy.” I have always thought of this as a wonderful expression of our Advent longings, that we ask God to remove those things that keep us from receiving…
Continue Reading“I will” – “I do” – “I am” – “I am, with the help of God” Three responses we hear from the lips of those exchanging marriage vows and making the promises that come in the rites of ordination or religious profession. Today it is God making the promise – I WILL Fear not I…
Continue ReadingAlmost from the beginning of Advent, we begin to hear again and again of the promises to Israel for deliverance. The prophecies of Isaiah speak eloquently to the promise of redemption: give comfort to my people; speak tenderly to Jerusalem, proclaim that her service is at an end; fear not, your God comes to…
Continue ReadingIn 1854 Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception to be a dogma of our faith, long-held sacred and celebrated over the centuries. Mary, the Immaculate Conception is Patroness of the Church in the United States, of our own diocese and the name of the Cathedral in Kansas City. The naming of two local…
Continue Reading“A highway will be there, called the holy way… and on it, the redeemed will walk.” After Jesus cured the paralytic, the man picked up his mat and went home, praising God. During Advent, we focus on our journey to and with the Lord. We await Jesus’ journeying to us, the Lord’s coming. We…
Continue ReadingIn the collect for today’s Mass, we pray: “Almighty and merciful God, may no earthly undertaking hinder those who set out in haste to meet your Son.” An earlier version put it this way asking God to “remove the things that hinder us from receiving Christ with joy.” Both versions get at something basic…
Continue ReadingToday’s Gospel accumulates what I have been saying all week. It says, “Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, ‘Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out…
Continue ReadingToday our theme of being missionaries and having faith continues. Today we see the miracle of Jesus curing the blind men. Jesus asks them, “Do you believe that I can do this? ‘Yes, Lord,’ they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘Let it be done for you according to your…
Continue Reading- « Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- Next »