Articles for 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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

     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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

     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…

  “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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

  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…

   The Second week of Advent is upon us. No doubt Christmas shopping is going on. I can give some of you my list…but let’s not get distracted. The prophet Isiah says, “On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots, a bud shall blossom. The spirit…

  The second reading in the Liturgy of the Hours for Office of Readings includes St. Francis Xavier’s lament at those who are indifferent to missionary work and the abundant harvest of souls available for Christ: “Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out…

  Jesus asked the blind men: “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. The blind men here simply express their faith with a word: Yes. It is an outward expression of an inner conviction that they carry in their hearts. I would venture to say that one of…

  Not long ago, I found a picture of me as a baby being baptized. I’m being held by my parents with godparents standing by. I have to admit that since I was baptized as an infant, I don’t really think about my baptism too often. Yet, the Church’s teaching on the Sacrament highlights its…

  One spiritual author wrote, “To accept God’s call and to live as one of the Lord’s intimate friends is the greatest grace a person can receive in this life.” We are not just living out our time on this earth trying to pass time only in anticipation of heaven. Rather, the gifts God bestows…

  This is one of several instances when Jesus uses the child as an example and encourages us to be childlike. In order to see ourselves as children, we must be able to see ourselves in relationship with God as Father. How important is this child and father relationship? One speaker said, “I believe most…

  Sometimes I encounter people who are so distraught because of their sins and past failures that it makes me think: “The problem isn’t their sin, but it’s them hanging on to their sins.” When we approach Jesus with a contrite heart and admit our guilt, He has told us that He will forgive us…

     I remember sitting in sixth grade and calculating how long it would be until I graduated from high school. I was in grade six, and I needed to get to twelve, and that was still a really long time away. Our notion of time changes when we get older, but I think…

  Several 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…

  People 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…

  The 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…

  When 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…

  I 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…

  Not 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…

  Joseph 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.…

  Some 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…

  The 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…

  When 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,…

  God 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…

    Recently 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…