Friday of the Fourth Week of Advent
In today's gospel, we read the Canticle of Zechariah. Each day in Morning Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church invites us to pray with Zechariah, father of “the prophet of the most high”, the one who “will go before the Lord to prepare his way”, St. John the Baptist. This song of praise we sing today gives glory to our good God. Zechariah manifests much of what we can experience in our own faith life. Zechariah fell victim to doubt, to complacency in his unwillingness to believe the angel when he was told that Elizabeth was pregnant in her old age. But what we witness today in his rejoicing after nine months in silence is profound rejoicing–the discovery of deep, clear, articulate and insightful knowledge that God “has raised up for us a mighty Savior.” He has recognized that his child would be the one who would announce the coming of the Lord–the one to prepare the way.
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent
As our daughter, Anna, was moving through adolescence and into adulthood she got messages, from certain corners of her biological father’s family, that she was an introvert. In their minds, she was not one to put herself forward in any way. She was shy. Quiet. Reserved. She was the sort of “girl” who loved to have her nose in a book (Anna does love to read) but had no interest in taking a chance, stepping out, seeing what she could do.
Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
As we enter into the final days of preparation for Christmas, we are presented with two types of fear– a holy fear of the Lord and a prideful fear of losing earthly power.
Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel (Luke 1:39-45) is the all-too familiar scene of the Visitation. I say “all-too familiar” because it is the exact same Gospel that we read this past Sunday. For many, it is also just a familiar scene – Mary, now pregnant with Jesus, visits her cousin Elizabeth, who is only a few months further along than Mary, and her baby “leaps” in her womb upon hearing Mary’s voice. It’s a story that’s familiar with a rhythm we’re used to. But the moment that I started reading this Gospel story, I was immediately struck by a thought:
I never really think about Elizabeth.
Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent
I have always liked the line from the first reading from Isaiah that states, “Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God?” I can only imagine how often God is exasperated and weary by our lack of faith. If only we would just do what God is telling us to do; if only we would ask and expect the impossible; then perhaps we would not weary God so much.
Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
Throughout Advent we sing “O Come O Come Emmanuel” as we await the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas. Emmanuel- God is with us. Do we realize the significance of this belief? If God is with us, how should this impact the way that we live?
Friday of the Third Week of Advent
As I write this reflection I’m listening to a Christmas Carol Service being live-streamed from Maynooth College in Ireland (a beautiful chapel and campus that my husband and I had the privilege of visiting a few years ago). As I listen to the readings, prayers and songs, it occurs to me that this service is potentially being watched all over the world. It may seem obvious, but it struck me in a new way that Jesus’ birth is soon to be celebrated throughout the world. This is something that unites us with Christians everywhere; uniting people of different races, nationalities, languages, genders, ages, creeds, political ideologies, and socio-economic status. And this is what I am reminded of in today’s gospel passage from Matthew (1:1-17).
Thursday of the Third Week in Advent
Advent and Christmas are seasons of preparation. While awaiting Jesus’s return, we also anticipate the arrival of family and friends.
The holidays bring people to our hearths. We spend extra time getting everything ready. We clean (more than usual)! We cook large meals and make sure there are plenty of snacks. We set the table with fancy dinnerware, place settings, and centerpieces. We wrap gifts, stuff stockings, and mail Christmas cards.
Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent
Today’s Gospel Acclamation exhorts us, Raise your voice and tell the Good News; Behold, the Lord God comes with power. God invites us through the Word to be the prophets of our day, the evangelists, the apostles – ones who witness to the power and presence of God and who give testimony to the Good News of Christ. In short, we are called to tell others about the ways in which we see and experience God in our lives and in the world around us. Sometimes, many times, we are the only voices that others will hear speaking words of life; we may be the only ones to inspire faith, hope, and confidence in our great God.
Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church
A while back, about an hour before a ministry event began, I received a text message that one of my adult volunteers wouldn’t be able to make it and that I’d be short an adult for the evening. I wasn’t mad – she had a perfectly legitimate reason to not come – but imagine my panic. I had planned around having here there to help with things, and now my plan wasn’t going to be possible because she couldn’t make it. Fortunately, a parent of one of the teens I work with noticed that I was down a volunteer and stepped in for the evening. It was wonderful, and the event was better because I had all the support I was anticipating having.
Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
I grew up a few blocks from the gritty steel mills of Youngstown. In fact my grandmother would ritually sweep graphite off of our front porch every morning. “That's good,” she'd say in her thick Scots brogue. “That means that the men are working.” We didn't even mind the brightly red colored sky that lite up the night throughout the Mahoning valley each evening.
Saturday of the Second Week of Advent
Our vision is so easily obscured. Everything seems to vie for our attention to the exclusion of what is true and real. In true reality, Jesus is at the center of everything and, as disciples, we are constantly moving toward this reality. In the midst of the changes and challenges and chaos of everyday life, do we see this? Do we recognize Jesus?
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
If you’ve ever been in a situation where you felt that no matter how hard you tried you just couldn’t please someone, you know just how Jesus feels in our Gospel today. As parents, we encounter this with our kids regularly (especially the 3-year-old) - sometimes, we just cannot win. Jesus warns, “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn” (Mt 11:17). Jesus points out that John was criticized for not eating and drinking while the same people criticize Jesus for eating and drinking. The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard…’ Criticism is inevitable in all situations, good or bad; people will always have something to say; likewise, we only believe what we choose to believe. Advent is here! Jesus is coming! Now is the time for preparation; now is the time for attention. Our gospel antiphon today says, “The Lord will come; go out to meet him”. Are you ready? Are you paying attention? “He is the Prince of Peace”. What will we choose to believe?
Thursday of the Second Week of Advent
In Matthew’s gospel for today, Jesus says this to the crowds: “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” Jesus, of course, knows of what he speaks. He knows the violence that is coming for him.
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The reality I have experienced is that many Catholics aren’t aware of what we mean by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our feast celebrates that, “The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her Conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in the view of the merits of Jesus Christ was preserved from all stain of original sin.” Simply put, Mary, the Mother of God was conceived without the stain of original sin. The Church teaches us that this Dogma is essential to our faith. Thus we have churches named Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
A while back, I was reading this Gospel passage (Matthew 18:12-14) with some of the teens I work with. As we were reflecting on the story, I asked what everyone thought. One of my teens, a freshman, said “I just wonder about why the sheep leaves.” Honestly, since then, I haven’t been able to hear anything about lost sheep without thinking about this. What leads the sheep to go away from the shepherd and the flock?
Monday of the Second Week of Advent
The focus of today’s Gospel is often on the behavior of the Pharisees and the controversy they present to Jesus regarding the forgiveness of sins. While this focus holds key lessons for us, I’d like to look at the faith of the paralytic, particularly the actions of the paralytic in verse 25: “He stood up immediately before them, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God.” What an amazing response by this man! The word “immediately” stands out to me in that verse. The paralytic did not respond to Jesus with questions such as: “are you sure?”, “right now?”, “what if my legs don’t work?”. Rather, this man of faith “immediately” stood up. He did not hesitate, he was not skeptical. How often can we say we “immediately” do what Christ asks of us? While there is value in the process of discernment, when we know that God is asking a specific task of us, do we hesitate or delay, ignore or forget?
Saturday of the First Week of Advent
Every morning before I get out of bed I pray, “Lord help me do your will today.” To be a disciple we are called to think, talk and act like Jesus, and yet how do we know what is God’s will for us in our daily lives? In today’s scripture, we are told that God will speak to us and show us the way. How can we hear God’s voice in the midst of busy days, and when we hear that a voice speaking, how do we know that it is God speaking?
Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
While in a session with a client earlier in the week, a fuse blew and the office suddenly went completely dark. Since I don’t have windows in my office and the door was closed and neither my client nor I were using our cell phones (I didn’t even have mine in my pocket), it really was pitch black for several seconds (and felt more like several minutes). It was surprising and a little disorienting as we began to process what was happening and thought to reach for our phones before noticing a little crack of light coming in from under the door. This experience of unexpected total darkness reminded me of how much I rely on light and the sense of sight. Similarly, with the decreasing daylight as we draw closer to the winter solstice, the absence of light seems to increase my longing for it.
Thursday of the First Week of Advent
We await the Lord Jesus’s return with eager expectation during Advent – the season of hope, when candlelight from decorative wreaths illuminates churches and the rooms of our homes.