Daily Reflections
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…
Continue ReadingThroughout 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…
Continue ReadingAs 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…
Continue ReadingThe 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…
Continue ReadingEven 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…
Continue ReadingThe 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…
Continue ReadingAt 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…
Continue ReadingWhenever 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,…
Continue ReadingWe 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…
Continue ReadingFor 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…
Continue ReadingToday’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…
Continue ReadingOne 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…
Continue ReadingToday’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…
Continue ReadingIn 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…
Continue Reading 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…
Continue ReadingThe 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…
Continue ReadingThe 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…
Continue ReadingAs 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…
Continue ReadingToday 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…
Continue ReadingThe 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…
Continue ReadingToday 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…
Continue Reading 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…
Continue Reading“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…
Continue ReadingToday’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…
Continue ReadingIn 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…
Continue ReadingToday 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…
Continue ReadingToday 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…
Continue ReadingWhen 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…
Continue Reading 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…
Continue ReadingThe 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…
Continue ReadingJesus 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…
Continue ReadingNot 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…
Continue ReadingOne 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…
Continue ReadingThis 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…
Continue ReadingSometimes 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…
Continue Reading 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…
Continue ReadingEvery year, as we draw near to the end of the liturgical year, the Church in her wisdom gives us a series of readings like today’s readings, which speak of the fantastic events surrounding the End Times and remind us of the coming of God’s Kingdom. But why does she do this? Holy Mother…
Continue ReadingIn today’s psalm, we hear the verse, “My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God” (PS 84:2). This verse from psalm 84 is a powerful reminder for me—and it can be for you, too—that we are not meant to be…
Continue ReadingAs we approach the end of the calendar year, we tend to pause for a moment to reflect on the year we’ve experienced. We tend to spend more time reflecting on the positive moments of the year, like graduations, weddings, and birthdays and spend significantly less time focusing on misfortunes, injustices, or violence that…
Continue ReadingToday’s readings give us a rather jolting instruction on what it means to live out heaven on earth. Luke’s gospel today is an especially tough pill to swallow for anyone who had hoped for an easy life on this earth. Christ boldly commands us to be ready to endure tribulation for His sake, even…
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