Once again, let me wish all of you a very blessed Christmas! We gather this evening to celebrate a momentous event in human history: the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Although he was born more than 2,000 years ago, his birth impacts each of our lives directly today. As we will all acknowledge in just a few moments, he is the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world. As we have heard throughout this Advent season, he is Emmanuel, God with […]
“The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (Numbers 6:24-26) As we come to the end of our celebration of the Octave of Christmas and begin a New Year with the celebration of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, my heart is filled with joy and thanks as I celebrate this Christmas Octave with you once again here at St. Katharine of Siena Parish! What a generous Christmas […]
On this most holy day, allow me to wish all of you a very blessed Christmas! I hope all of your preparations have been successful and you will be able to take a moment to sit back and reflect on the meaning of this great Feast – the birth of God’s only son for our salvation! All around you – even in the secular Christmas decorations and events around you – you can find symbols of this pivotal moment in Salvation History. Take, for example the Christmas tree. It is […]
Isaiah is the great prophet of the Advent season. We have heard from him every Sunday of Advent. Today, we hear him announce that a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel. It is such an important prophecy that we hear it quoted in today’s gospel. The hope that one day prayers would be answered and prophesy fulfilled would sustain the faith of God’s children through many a crisis as the centuries ticked by. It is hope that sustains us during our darkest times, isn’t […]
All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” (Mt 1:22-23)
On this, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we all realize that Christmas is just a few days away! As we hear proclaimed in both our first reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and our gospel from Matthew, Jesus, the son of Mary, is also truly God: Emmanuel – that is God-with-us. […]
You will notice that the two Christmas trees that had been filled with almost 300 tags for women’s and children’s gifts at Mercy Hospice are gone – so are all the tags! Over the past few weeks, so many of you have so generously taken the tags and returned with gifts for these needy women and children whom you will probably never meet; in their name, I want to thank you! Let me also thank those of you who filled the school cafeteria last Saturday with gifts and food baskets […]