November 30, 2025: First Sunday of Advent

Coming off one liturgical year, we look again to Christ, Who has promised to come again.

We make ourselves ready for Him.  Jesus says if a homeowner knew when the thief was coming, he would make ready.  So we are called to be ready to welcome Christ.

We leave aside sinful ways and put on the armor of light, or, even more so, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, as St. Paul writes.

Yet we also look longingly for Christ, becuase He is our Light and our Hope.  Thus, we are motivated to welcome Him, into our world, into each day, and into our hearts.

November 23, 2025: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

 Christ is the Great King Who was present at the Creation of the World and has continued to sustain, even so far as the Cross.

When we went astray into sin, Christ went up the Cross as His Throne to provide the way of salvation for us.  Many people mocked Him, claiming He should show Himself as King by saving Himself.  And then a humble thief turns to Jesus, recognizing His innocence and seeking His mercy.  Jesus acknowledged his confession of faith and promised Him paradise.

From this death, Christ rose victoriously.  God greatly exalted Jesus Christ, and now He reigns, and, like David, of whose line He came, He shepherds His people into the way of Eternal Life.

We particpate in this Kingdom now by seeking to amass earthly power, but humbly submitting ourselves to follow the way of Christ.  He cares for us and shows us powerful Divine Love.

And we advance His Kingdom by showing that love to others.

November 16, 2025: 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

As we draw close to the end of the Liturgical Year, we focus on the End of Time, when God will execute judgment.  For us who remain faithful in this time, the End will bring the victory of righteousness and will set everything right.

When the disciples admire the Temple in the Gospel reading, Jesus predicts its destruction.  He then further predicts other calamities, especially for those who are His Chosen Ones.  Yet He promises that He will save us, and that we will have Eternal Life.

So we strive faithfully in challenges, living and working in a meaningful way now to focus our gaze beyond what is transitory to what is everlasting.

November 9, 2025: Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica

As we celebrate this important occasion for the Dedication of the St. John Latern Basilica, the Mother of All Churches, we reencounter the important truth that the Church is made of Living Stones--all of us--who join together as the Body of Christ.

When Jesus goes into the Temple to cleanse it of unholy practices, He pivots to referring to the Temple of His Body, which would be destroyed and then be raised up again.

St. Paul draws on this idea as He refers to all of us as the Body of Christ, God's building, and that we are holy.

And the prophet Ezekiel looks ahead to the vision of abundant Life in the new Temple in the Heavenly Jerusalem.

We are holy as part of God's Temple, the Body of Christ, and so we strive to keep building each other up, and the world, too, as we strive to be Church in this world, living out the sign that the church buildings are.

November 2, 2025: Commemoration of the Faithful Departed/Feast of All Souls' Day

Faith gives us a different perspective on everything, especially death.

Like the reading from Wisdom indicates, we see that death is not the end of our existence, but a transformation.  Christ has conquered death, and so by joining ourselves to Him in this life on Earth, we can participate with Him in dying and rising.  We can truly live in hope.

Furthermore, we have hope for those who have departed from us in faith.  They left this life and journeyed to God.  He will raise up all those who have departed.  Through the purification process of purgatory, the souls of the righteous will be made ready to enter full union with God.  We all experience the mercy of God that flows forth from the Paschal Mystery.  Indeed, we embrace the mercy of God because of our hope in the Resurrection.

November 1, 2025: Solemnity of All Saints Day

Our Church is a great communion of those on Earth and those in Heaven.  The Church in Heaven is filled with those who were faithful in their lives in the Church on Earth and now are united with God in His Presence in Heaven, giving Him glory.

As people of faith, we see the path that leads to where they are.  We strive to be purified and unite ourselves closely to God, becoming more like Him.  We focus away from the world's wisdom to follow the path to build virtues and put faith into action, even though "Holy Moments", a term Matthew Kelly often uses.  On this path, we are transformed to be more like God, experiencing the reality of union with Him now that we will experience in its fullness in Heaven.

God has made it possible to be close to Him through Jesus Christ, and so holiness is not far off, but something that we can experience now, where we are.