Articles for Christmas

      “We celebrate a holy day adorned by three miracles: this day, a star led the Magi to the manger; this day, water was changed into wine at the marriage feast; this day Christ, for our salvation, willed to be baptized by John in the Jordan, Alleluia.” This Antiphon, which is chanted by…

  “What are you looking for?” St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was born into an Episcopalian family in thoroughly Protestant society of the early United States. Accompanying her husband on a work trip to Italy, her husband died. Staying with a Catholic family during her period of mourning, she observed their piety even while she continued…

  The late Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, confounded many with his philosophical distinction between different kinds of national intelligence issues. There were, he said, known knowns – those things we understand exist – and there are also unknown unknowns – things we are neither aware of nor understand. There are also unknown knowns. This…

  In the movie 500 Days of Summer, a woman asks the sad sack protagonist why he became a greeting card writer when he had trained as an architect. He sardonically replied, “I figured, why make something temporary like a building, when I can make something like a greeting card that lasts forever.” The cutting…

  Not many of us have left Mass on Corpus Christi crying out: “Transubstantiation!” Not many of us here have probably ever left the Feast of Christ the King to shout: “Viva Cristo Rey!” Yet in the year 431 after the Council of Ephesus, the common folk of that city ran through the streets in…

  As we become more technologically advanced the less we think about times and seasons. Even farmers who are tied to land and weather have found ways to overcome much. Here in the country, farmers’ wives lament that farm implements now have headlights and they plant and harvest without ending when the sun goes down.…

  I find myself jealous of the Evangelists at times—only four men got to write Christ’s story, inspired by the Holy Spirit. When we consider the differences in the gospels, we consider that they were not just chroniclers of facts but also storytellers. In other words, they used details to bring out greater meaning to…

     When we imagine the Holy Family, we could imagine an idealized family – the first century version of Leave It to Beaver with unpleasant episodes being nothing more than worrying if Jesus prayed a little too much! The sweetly beautiful paintings and statues of a placid-faced Virgin Mother, wise-beyond-His-years Christ Child, and rock-solid St. Joseph might…

  When I was in third grade our house alarm went off in the middle of the night. All the bedrooms were upstairs, and we feared that an intruder had entered the house downstairs. My brothers and I ran to my parents’ bedroom. My Dad went downstairs to investigate. Alone. In the dark. Unarmed. While…

  St. John is beautifully called, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” And, it’s true, Jesus loved John in a special way. In my experience, however, I come across a lot of faithful Christians who do not truly believe that they are loved by God. Because of their sins, past failures, or current struggles in life,…

  St. Stephen did not die in vain. He witnessed the power and love of Jesus Christ even to the very end, and the Holy Spirit was powerfully at work in him. Those who were stoning Stephen “laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.” The man who would later…

   We all want to be home for Christmas and will travel great distances to get there. We monks are happy to be home for Christmas, even though our home is not where our natural family lives but our monastic family. We decorate it similarly, and we have our own set of rituals and…

  Our first reading from the Book of Revelation paints a scene of the “holy ones” who delight in eternal peace: “…with him [the Lamb] a hundred and forty-four thousand…were singing what seemed to be a new hymn before the throne” Who are these one hundred and forty-four thousand who follow the Lamb? The answer…

Looking for the Lord “Okay, people, it is time to seek the Lord!” That’s basically what the prophet Hosea is saying in today’s first reading. The Israelites were feeling good—with all their production, with all their success, with all their sacrifices—but they were not really doing it for the LORD, the God of Israel. There…

   Today, we celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. The Greek word “Epiphany” means “manifestation” or “appearance.” In the Gospel, Jesus is manifested and appears as a King who is adored. This is somewhat surprising. After all, Jesus is not even a month old. Yet he is recognized as a King.…

  On this Marian Saturday during the Christmas season, St. Maximilian Kolbe once said, “I thank you very much for your prayers and ask for many, many more, that I may serve the Immaculata with zeal, ‘suaviter et fortiter‘ [gently and bravely].” Let us always pray for one another through the Immaculata so that we…

  “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.’ And he said to him, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on…

  Today is the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton! She once said, “Blessed a thousand, thousand times be God who governs all and will bring light out of darkness.” During Advent, I kept pondering how God brings everything that is dark into light, so that nothing will be left in darkness! Why? Because God…

  In our Alleluia verse today, we hear, “The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. To those who accepted him, He gave power to become the children of God.” Why did he give us power to become children of God? Not only because we accept him, but because we have Our Lord…

  In our first reading today, we hear “Beloved: Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.” One of our saints…

  A very Happy New Year to all. It is very fitting that we celebrate this solemnity of Mary, Mother of God! Yesterday, we read from the prophecy of Simeon: “And you yourself a sword will pierce—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” I am reminded of what a priest friend shared…

    I think it is very fitting that the last day of the year is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Family. We read in our Gospel today the Canticle of Simeon and his prophecy to our Lady, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my…

  O come, let us adore Him! Our Savior is Born! Many of you sang that hymn at the beginning of the Vigil Christmas Mass or the Midnight Mass. It’s my favorite Christmas Mass hymn! After singing O Come Emmanuel for weeks, and after begging the Christ to come and save us, now we sing…

  Merry Christmas! Our Savior is born! In today’s gospel, we see the Holy Spirit’s promise fulfilled. The Holy Spirit told the holy, devout, and righteous man Simeon that he would not see death until he had seen the Christ. After waiting for what seemed like forever, Simeon sees the Christ in the temple when…

  Merry Christmas! Our Savior is Born! Guilt by association… those were the words that I used in my reflection for St. Stephen’s Feast Day a couple of days ago. The Deacon Stephen knew what could happen to him when he associated himself and professed a faith to the Christ. Today, we remember and honor…

  Merry Christmas! Keep listening to that Christmas music! On this third Octave Day of Christmas, we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, author of John’s gospel, AND the disciple whom Jesus loved. The gospel we hear today is of John and Simon Peter running to Jesus’ tomb after Mary Magdalene told them…

  Merry Christmas! Our Savior is born! Keep those Christmas decorations up. We’ve got 40 days to celebrate the Messiah’s birth! On this first day after Christmas, we are reminded of the cost of the Christian life. Today, we honor and celebrate a deacon of the early Church, St. Stephen. He was martyred because of…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  “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…

  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…

  “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…

  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,…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…