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. He is the Lamb of God, who came to take away the sins of the world on a cross. He is Emmanuel, God with us, who draws us back to our heavenly Father. We hear, once again in this […]
Is it here yet? We have all had the experience of eagerly anticipating some upcoming event in our life. We imagined how great it would be when “it” – whatever it was – finally happened or arrived. The closer we got to the actual day of the event, the more excited we became. You may have been waiting for the birth of a child, or graduation or a special vacation, or retirement. Or you may have been waiting to overcome some challenge in life such as counting down the appointments […]
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice!” These opening lines from today’s second reading capture the spirit of this, the third Sunday in Advent. This first sentence is the origin of our calling this Gaudete Sunday, after the Latin word, “Gaudete,” which means “Rejoice.” Now with three candles lit in our wreath and we priests wearing rose-colored vestments, we hear lessons that dance with delight, celebrating this joyous good news that the Lord is near. Paul is writing this letter to the Christians living in Philippi […]
As we see from the two candles lit on the wreath in front of me, Advent is well underway; how time flies! And, while the rest of the world seems already to be in the Christmas spirit, we first spend these forty days of Advent preparing to celebrate Christmas which, as most of the world seems to have forgotten, is the celebration of God coming in our midst in the person of Jesus Christ.
In fact, during this sacred season we are given the opportunity to reflect on the three […]
As Americans, we don’t often think about kings and queens and royalty. You may have recently read with mild interest about Queen Elizabeth, the 95-year-old beloved queen of England as she experiences some health issues. Other than that, who hears about kings or queens. It may surprise you to learn that there are currently 44 countries worldwide that have a king or queen, countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, Spain and New Zealand.
Of course, there aren’t really many true kings in the world today. After the […]
“Are we there yet?” What parent hasn’t heard that question from the back seat of your car? And, how do you answer the question? Of course, the real question being asked is not, “Are we there?” but “When will we get there?” And, how do you answer? You could look at your GPS and give the exact mileage and estimated time of arrival, but that’s of little help to a young child who doesn’t have any concept of distance or time. These little pieces of adult information have no meaning […]
There is a lot of talk about love in today’s readings. In the first reading, we hear Moses tell God’s people to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” The responsorial psalm repeats, “I love you, Lord, my strength.” The second reading reminds us that Jesus gave himself as the perfect sacrifice for all of us – the ultimate sign of his love for us. And in the Gospel, we hear Jesus repeat Moses’ command and add the command […]
Today we join with parishes around the world in celebrating World Mission Sunday. As we wait with baited breath and earnest prayer to hear what will happen to the missionaries who are being held hostage in Haiti, we are reminded of the courage that missionaries have displayed down through the ages as they go to the ends of the earth to proclaim Jesus’ message of salvation to all people. It is a good opportunity for us to reflect on the special call we have all received at our baptism – […]
TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
It has been a really hard time, these past 18 months, hasn’t it!?! We’ve all experienced hardships and heartaches. I’ve lost a priesthood classmate and dear friend to COVID-19, along with several other friends and some parishioners. Like every other parish around the world, we’ve struggled to stay open and keep our ministries and parish activities going, trying to keep our parish community together while striving to ensure that everyone stays safe and healthy. We’ve all wondered, “What is God trying to teach us? What do […]
The late Comedienne Joan Rivers once said: “People say that money isn’t the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.” I suspect a lot of people would agree with her.
We all seek happiness. We try to find it in a variety of ways. For some, it’s having lots of possessions. That’s why so many people today spend so much time and energy on earning money and then buying clothing or cars or jewelry or antiques or home furnishings. King […]