Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, Happy Feast of the Holy Family! It is good that we celebrate the family life of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Family life is holy life when it is lived in unity, charity, and mutual support. Family life assures us of our dignity at all stages of life and reinforces our need to give and receive love unconditionally. We love and support our family because they are family; no other reason is required. Sirach reminds us that this reverence for family is a Godly pursuit: “Whoever honors his father atones for sins, and preserves himself from them…he stores up riches who reveres his mother.” And further, “kindness to a father will not be forgotten, firmly

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, “Nothing will be impossible for God.” This is the proclamation of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary regarding the conception of John the Baptist. Gabriel gives this revelation as reassurance for Mary, who must face the awesome reality of her own unique motherhood by the power of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” God can bring about fruitfulness from a woman well past child-bearing age. God can make a virgin conceive a child. God can make Himself present as one of us, as He chooses. As we hear at Mass on Chri

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, When I was a kid, I hated receiving one gift for both Christmas and my birthday combined. My birthday is January 7th. (On the 13th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…birth!) Many people thought they could get away with a “twofer” or that I would like one big gift instead of two smaller ones. This was not good for young me. Worse still was when I would receive birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas paper! Isn’t my birthday special enough to be celebrated separately? This experience directly colors my views when people ask if they can just attend Mass once on Sunday evening, December 24th, for both the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, This Sunday we hear Isaiah proclaim that at the coming of the Lord: “Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low.” For people in a mountainous area who travel by foot, this sounds like paradise! If all other mountains are made low, then the mountain of Jerusalem, God’s holy city, would be visible to all of Israel. This is an ideal for pilgrims. There is a down-side to this leveling, though. All things are made visible if the land is flat. You cannot hide from your enemies. You cannot even hide from your sins. We are exposed to God’s sight, which can be intimidating. Yet, here again, Isaiah gives us comfort: “Li

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, The Prophet Isaiah is a main player in our Advent readings. Isaiah’s message, throughout the period of the Babylonian Exile, is one of recognizing our sinfulness and our need for God’s mercy. It is a spiritual return to fidelity to God’s covenant. Isaiah speaks from the point of view of the sorrowful and contrite People of God. “Behold, you are angry, and we are sinful; all of us have become like unclean people, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; we have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind.” Isaiah expresses what we all feel when we recognize the depths of our sin. We have sinned, and God is right to be