The “Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God” that we celebrate today is the most ancient feast of Mary in the Roman calendar.  It celebrates Mary’s unique role as the Theotokos, a Greek word that means God-bearer.  Mary was officially given the title of God-bearer, or Mother of God, way back at the Council of Ephesus in 431AD.  This was in response to a great debate that arose in the early Church.  There were those who could not accept the notion that Mary was the mother of […]

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with some time to enjoy this special season with your families as you shared your gifts, reflecting the great gift that God has given us: his son, Jesus.  One of the gifts that so many of you share with our parish is your family life.  The love and dedication you demonstrate in your marriage and family are an inspiration to us all.  You have generously accepted God’s call to marry and have children so that more of God’s children may come to […]

Every time we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we recall the new and eternal covenant that Jesus established, the covenant that establishes us as God’s family of faith and anticipates our reunion with God in heaven.  And, at every Eucharistic Celebration, shortly after the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ – the sign of that new and eternal covenant that Jesus established – the celebrant mentions Mary, Joseph, the apostles and martyrs and all the saints whom we wish to join in the glory […]

“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”  We tend to think that Jesus endured a trial only at the end of his life before the Sanhedrin and the Roman leaders.  But, if we read the Gospels more carefully, we see that Jesus was on trial for the entirety of his public ministry, from friend and foe alike.  Every time he did or said something – healed the sick, raised the dead, forgave sins, asserted that he was one with God – we hear […]

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

“John the Baptist appeared, preaching in the desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”  Notice where John is preaching: not in downtown Jerusalem but in the desert.  That’s a place where God often is found to form his people.  Remember, God called Abraham from his ancestral lands where he was a prosperous farmer and merchant, to dwell in the Negev, a desert region on the shores of the Dead Sea.  God called the people Israel to leave Egypt, […]

As you probably know, our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, is in the middle of his first apostolic journey abroad since his election in May.  He began his journey with a visit to Turkey to celebrate the 1,700^th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.  This celebration marked a very important moment in Church history when the Nicene Creed was written; we will recite it together in just a few moments.  He has now gone on to Lebanon where, as he had already been doing in Turkey, he has been meeting […]

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

We’re fast coming to the end of yet another liturgical year.  Next Sunday, the Solemnity of Christ the King, is the last Sunday of this liturgical year; the following Sunday is already the first Sunday of Advent!  And, as you know, each liturgical year features one of the three synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark or Luke.  This year, we’ve heard from the Gospel according to Luke.  As we have heard so clearly in this gospel, Jesus is the hope of the world.  No matter what, no matter […]

Today, we celebrate the dedication of the first Christian church which is also the pope’s cathedral and, as the inscription over its doorway reads, “Omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput,” that is, “Mother and head of all the churches of the city and of the world.”  This great basilica, now dedicated to both Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist, is also called “the Lateran” because it stands on the site of the palace of the ancient Roman Laterani family.  We celebrate this church today around […]

We have certainly experienced a real change in season over these past few days, haven’t we?  We’re clearly into fall now and, with all of the beautiful trees in our neighborhood losing their leaves, we experience, once again, nature shutting down for winter; it’s the natural cycle of life here on earth.  That seems to be the way of this world: life, death and life and death once again.  For us Christians, however – we who believe in an eternal and all-loving God – there is an important break in […]

THIRTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

What is truth?  We hear Pontius Pilate ask Jesus that question as Jesus stands before him in judgment.  And Jesus answers by dying on the cross, demonstrating a very dramatic and fundamental truth of our faith: God loves us so much that he would send his Son to die for us. 

In today’s gospel, we hear a Pharisee and a tax collector both stand before God, each expressing his own truth.  On one level, the Pharisee is correct in his self-analysis.  By all the […]