December 30, 2022: Feast of the Holy Family

God chose to enter the mess of the world and place Himself in family life.

We can look to the Holy Family as an example of how to navigate life's messes by tapping into God's grace, so that we can reflect His holiness, just as in the darkness of the world, Christ shines as the Light of the World.

Ultimately, we express holiness in the way we love one another by edifying one another.

And as a domestic church, in sharing love in our families, we participate in the fulfillment of the Church's mission to bear His presence in the world.

December 25, 2022: Christmas Day/Feast of the Lord's Nativity

It was a marvelous day when Christ was born as the Word of God Made Flesh.

The world has truly never been the same.

The prophets spoke the Word of God, as the opening verses of the Epistle to the Hebrews states, and now that Word has become flesh in our world.

Into our darkness, a great Light has come and shines so brightly, because the Light of the World heals the darkness in us.  It is such a powerful Light, that, like the prologue of the Gospel according to St. John states, the darkness can't overcome it.  So even though we have reasons to be afraid and troubled, we need no longer fear, as the angel says, because Christ was born as the Anointed One, to be our Savior.

We now live in hope, because our God has come to dwell with us so closely, as one of us, a human person.  All the ends of the earth, and all Creation, truly marvel at this new reality that God is with us, a reality that reaches deep down, where nothing can touch it, a Truth firm in faith.

It is truly Good News, the greatest of all, and we are called to join with the angels and the shepherds in proclaiming it, bearing God's presence into the world.

Truly, we can declare, "Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth, peace, good will, on those whom God favors."

Jesus Christ is the Father's greatest Gift to us, and He calls us to be a gift.

December 18, 2022: Fourth Sunday of Advent

The great promise of God with us is that He comes to us in flesh, born of a woman.

No matter what fears we face, we have confidence in facing them because God came to be human, one of us.

Ahaz was uncertain in a time of turmoil for Israel as foreign powers sought to subdue the land of Israel.

St. Joseph wasn't sure what to do when Mary became pregnant before their marriage.

In both cases, God gave a sign of a Child Whose birth would reassure them of God's presence among us.

The world has truly been blessed because this Child was born to bring salvation to all.

In this promise is the basis of our hope, which leads to Eternal Life.

So just as Joseph welcomed Mary, the Mother of God, into his home as his wife, so we welcome God into our hearts, answering the call to holiness through the One Who pours His grace into our hearts through the Incarnation and Paschal Mystery of Christ, Who is God in the flesh, come so close to us.

December 12, 2022: Feast of La Virgen de Guadalupe

The peoples of the Earth rejoice because God has visited His people.

He sent His Son as our Savior, born of a woman.

Mary is blessed because she played such an important role in bearing our Savior into the world.

The appearance of La Virgen truly demonstrates that God desires for all to be saved.

So we join with Mary in offering our "Yes" to living for the God Who saves.

December 11, 2022: Third Sunday of Advent/Gaudete Sunday

Even as we are called to examine our lives and clear them out to be ready for the coming of Christ, we also rejoice in the reality that He is coming.

The reading from Isaiah speaks about the desert blooming in new life.

When St. John the Baptist, surely dealing with doubt while in prison, sends His disciples to inquire of Jesus if He really is the One to come, Jesus speaks about the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame leaping, the dead raised to new life, and the proclamation of Good News to the poor.

We rejoice in our efforts to welcome Christ into our hearts, because of how great it is that God is coming and is transforming us to live the Abundant Life.

So we open ourselves up to God and wait patiently for His work to come to full fruition in us, like the farmer waits for the crops.

We can bear patiently with the process, aware of the joyful end that is surely coming, by opening ourselves up to the signs of how God comes to be present to us now.

That's why we have this great opportunity on Gaudete Sunday to rejoice, with a joy that goes deep down and transcends our circumstances to make us more aware of God.

Gaudete Sunday brings back great memories of the amazing feast St. Teresa's would host for the college students the Sunday evening before semester final test week started.  I was gladdened by the feast, and also those community members who said they would be praying for me in the coming week.  There is great joy in that community.

And I rejoice further as I mark 9 years since I first started this blog on Gaudate Sunday 2013.

December 8, 2022: Feast of the Immaculate Conception

When disobedience disrupted God's plan, He made a way for salvation, through a New Eve, Mary, the mother of all who have faith in her Son.

God overshadowed Mary with great grace, and He chose her because she was open to what God's grace could do in her life when she acknowledged the will of God.

We, too, are chosen to receive God's grace.  When we freely and fully open ourselves to it, God works great wonders in us.

May Mary of the Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Mother, intercede for us, and for the United States of America, under her patronage.

December 4, 2022: Second Sunday of Advent

In the midst of dark and hopeless circumstances, a flicker of hope emerges.

The first reading from the prophet Isaiah describes how a "shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse", and how there shall be a blossoming.  And then all the world will be restored to harmony, as described in images of various animals in concord with one another, even those diametrically opposed to one another, like a wolf and a lamb, like it was in Eden.

Indeed, God is drawing from the good old days and bringing forth something even better, because He Himself is coming to dwell among us through the Messiah, restoring the world in great glory.

And so St. John the Baptist comes to call the people to repent, so they are ready to welcome God's very Presence among them and have hearts shaped for all that transformation will mean, God's presence in us.

St. Paul calls on the people to live in harmony that reflects Christ's presence, Who came to fulfill the promises of the Patriarchs, but even more so, has brought salvation to the whole world, so that we all could be reconciled to God.

This day, I give thanks to God for the 12th ordination anniversary of Father Ted, who answered the call to the vocation of priesthood, to lead people in encounters with God Who has come among us in Christ and continues to be powerfully present in the sacraments that he administers as a member of the Holy Orders of the priesthood.