As we look back on our lives, many of us will recognize a particular person who caused us to make a significant change or to go in a different direction.  It might have been a parent, a neighbor or teacher, our spouse or a good friend.  The change we were influenced to make was good, even though, at first, it made us very uneasy.  It caused us to think bigger, do better things, use our talents in ways that we didn’t imagine possible, to live differently.

This is what we hear […]

Have you ever wondered why Jesus was baptized?  We all know that baptism washes away our sins – that’s one of the reasons why we use water as the sign of the sacrament – and Jesus was sinless.  Baptism also welcomes us into God’s family, and Jesus is God so he is already in the innermost circle of God’s family – the Holy Trinity.  And finally, the other reason we use water at baptism is as a sign of the new life we receive through this sacrament – that is, […]

“We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage.”  The explanation that the Magi gave for their journey seems so simple and straightforward.  But, like most aspects of our Salvation History, there is more to the story.

We do not know exactly where these men began their journey. We do not know how long or how far they traveled, but it seems that they were not Jews or Romans.  They did not come to pay homage to their own newborn king, but the king of […]

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, with time to celebrate with family and friends.  This is a very sacred time of the year as we reflect on the great mystery of the incarnation: God coming to live among us.  As we celebrated yesterday, Jesus is truly the Word made flesh.  And, he came into a family, the new family of Mary and Joseph.  As we contemplate his birth during this Christmas Octave, we are encouraged on this, the Feast of the Holy Family, to reflect on our lives […]