One of the great Advent figures who points to the coming of the Messiah into the world is St. John the Baptist. In the Gospel for this Sunday, we hear him crying out, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths.” John’s ministry was a great call to repentance, as preparation for the […]
Every year, on the First Sunday of Advent, we begin to tell the Jesus story again. We tell it every year, and you might think that we would exhaust the story, but that is far from the truth. The meaning of the Jesus story is inexhaustible. As a priest I have preached the 3-year cycle […]
This Sunday we conclude the Church’s liturgical year with the celebration of the Feast of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, usually called Christ the King. This feast honors the final victory of Jesus at the end of time when He comes in glory to reign as King of all Creation. That final […]
The quote above is a song by the band REM. I am sure some of you will recognize it. It does not express my personal feelings, but I thought it might be a good way to catch people’s attention. As we have noted over the past couple of weeks, during the month of November, the Church […]
The first vocation, or call, that we receive is the call to follow Christ as His disciples, and to be baptized. For many Catholics, there is a second call—either to marriage or to Holy Orders. Some, such as permanent deacons, are called to both marriage and Holy Orders. We all begin life as single, so those […]
The month of November begins with two of the greatest feasts of the Church. On Nov. 1, we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, and on Nov. 2 we celebrate the Feast of All Souls. Throughout the Church’s liturgical year, many saints are honored. But there are far more men and women whom the Church […]
The first reading for this Sunday is from the Book the Wisdom of Sirach. In some Bibles, it is called the Book of Ecclesiasticus (the Book of the Church), because it was used so extensively in giving instructions to converts to Christianity. It is a collection of Wisdom sayings, intended to give ethical guidance to […]
Recently, the Church celebrated the feast of St. Jerome, the great Biblical scholar, and the patron saint of Scripture scholarship. He is famous for his statement that, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ,” making it clear how important it is for all of us to read and pray and study the Word of God. […]
I am always struck by the difference between feeling blessed and feeling lucky. Luck is just about a random experience of good. For instance, if I win the lottery, I am lucky. God is not picking lottery winners. Praying to win the lottery is asking God to cheat. To be blessed is to know that […]
The month of October is set aside by the Church as Respect Life Month, and the first Sunday of October is Respect Life Sunday. In the past few months, we have seen a remarkable change in the pro-life landscape with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, which had made abortion legal throughout the country. The […]
