December 28, 2025: Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

God entered our world and our humanity, including our family relationships.  Christ was born of Mary and raised by her and St. Joseph, so He could model how we can live in our families virtuously. St. Paul writes about virtuous living in the reading from Colossians, both in general ways and specific ways to each of our particular roles in families as husbands, wives, parents, and children.

By seeking to honor and uphold one another, we continue to live out the meaning of Christmas by making God known in our world.  For we first grow in love within our families, and then it spreads beyond us to bless the world.

It's the 28th day of the month, which is a celebratory day that evokes November 28, when my family came to live in Oak Park.  It's also the birthday of Iowa, and I have family connections there.  These two occasions speak to how family has meant so much to me in my lifetime.

And the family unit has so much to offer the world, because in families, we learn how love is a way to grow in holiness, which is why God entered into family life.

December 27, 2025: Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist

The glory of God has been revealed to us in Jesus Christ.  The opening of the Gospel according to St. John says He is the Word Made Flesh, and we experience grace in Him.

Indeed, in the Epistle of 1 John, God revealed Himself in Christ in a tangible way so we could have a deeper relationship with God.

We grow in relationship with God as we open ourselves to the signs God offers us, like the state of the Empty Tomb.  We join with the beloved apostle, seeing the sign and professing belief.

December 25, 2025: Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord/Christmas Day

We rejoice this day because the Lord has come, and God is with us in a deeply close way.

Indeed, the marvel of the mystery of the Incarnation is that Christ took on our flesh to become fully God and fully Man.

He was foretold throughout the ages, even by prophets, and now God reveals His fullness to us.

The birth of a child is great news, which is on my mind this day as I think about people I know who have recently welcomed a child into the world.  Christ was no exception, becuase His birth was immensely Good News.

By entering into our humanity, God, through Jesus Christ, has freed us from the darkness of sin and death, bringing us into glorious new Life and Light.

That is why we marvel anew at the words of the angel to the shepherds, that a Savior has been born for us.  Indeed, the Heavens and the Earth are stirred because God has come to be with us always, revealing the depths of His Love, that we may have peace and joy in Him, and glorify Him.

December 21, 2025: Fourth Sunday of Advent

God offers a powerful promise that He will be with us and fulfills it in Jesus, Who is Emmanuel.

He came from the line of David and showed Himself to be our Savior as the Spirit worked in Him, from the moment of His conception.  Indeed, the Holy Spirit worked the great wonder of bringing God into our world through Mary, and He is at work to make God present in our world through us.

Even in our uncertainties, we can have confidence, like St. Joseph did, that God is at work, and we can step forth boldly and bravely to follow God's plan through each step He reveals to us.

This morning, right after Mass, was the Winter Solstice.  On this important astronomical day, we marvel at the light of Christ as the Advent wreath's 4 colored candles are fully lit and behold the impact God's coming into our world has on our lives, as the prophets foretold a vision of how great God's reign is on Earth.  We can put aside our ideas about life and see the broader perspective God offers us as we take our place in His plan.

December 14, 2025: Third Sunday of Advent/Gaudete Sunday

At the midpoint of Advent, we rejoice in the ways that God is coming among us.

By faith, we see our God comes to bring us deliverance in a deep way.

When St. John the Baptist, in prison, felt uncertainty about Jesus as the Messiah, Jesus responded to his disciples in a way that focused their gaze away from political consideration to the wonders Jesus was doing in healing and bringing Good News to the poor.

Even as we long for God and His fullness, we wait with joyful and sure expectation as we open ourselves to God at work around us already.  We can have joy, no matter the circumstances, becuase God is near, as St. Paul writes in Philippians.  Furthermore, like St. James writes, we can be patient because we know we are headed toward an encoutner with God as we faithfully strive toward Him Who has promised to come to us.

These readings were proclaimed 15 years ago when St. Teresa's dedicated its new Ministry Life Center, an addition to its campus that has done so much in fostering community that makes God known.

And these readings were also proclaimed 12 years ago when I launched this Scripture reflection blog.  Indeed, God has been at work marvelously and so I have many reasons to rejoice.

Surely the celebration of Christ's Nativity at Christmas will be joyful.  Even as we journey toward that date, we behold how God is at work now, and that bring us joy deep down.

December 12, 2025: Feast of La Virgen de Guadalupe

Christ transformed the world when He entered it, and Mary's fiat was part of what made it possible.

She has continued to bring God's loving presence into the world, especially through her appearance as La Señora de Guadalupe.  She appeared to San Juan Diego, and raised him to great dignity by giving him a mission.

We are showered and defined by God's love, so that we can live out the mission of bringing that love to all the world.

December 8, 2025: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

God's grace is powerful, and it overcomes the effects of sin.  Thus, the Blessed Mother Mary was preserved from the stain of sin so that she might be a worthy and pure vessel to bear Christ into the world.

Like St. Paul writes in the 2nd reading from Ephesians, God is doing a marvelous work in us whom He has chosen.  His Grace is powerfully at work in us so that we may live to glorify Him, magnifying Him like Mary has done.

December 7, 2025: Second Sunday of Advent

We light the second candle on the Advent wreath today, with a focus on the peace of Christ.

It's more fitting than ever to focus on peace since the Pearl Harbor attack happened on Sunday, December 7, 1941.

Christ ushers in a new age of peace, as the vision in the reading from Isaiah shows how animals that are naturally at odds with one another are in harmony, and even children and babies playing near the lair of dangerous animals.

It's not just that peace is in our world, but even more so, it's in our hearts as we heed teh call of repentance that St. John the Baptist proclaims.  He called the people to a new attitude of the heart, and called out the presumption of the Pharisees, saying they needed to show their repentance.

With the right heart, we are all ready to receive the transformation that comes when the Holy Spirit baptizes us in His fire and transforms us.  In fact, the first reading from Isaiah says the shoot that shall sprout from the stump of Jesse will have the Spirit of the Lord, with the various gifts of the Spirit.

Now, by faith in Christ, we can receive these same gifts and be under the power of His Spirit to advance the peace of His Kingdom in our world, in deep harmony with one another.