Feast of St. Augustine, Monday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time, Year A: 1 Thes 1:1-5, 8b-10, Mt 23:13-22. Apart from St. Paul, it’s hard to think of a more pivotal early figure for the Roman Catholic Church than St. Augustine of Hippo. Even in the heady time of …
Thursday of the Fourth Week of Advent, Year A: 1 Samuel 1:24-28, Luke 1:46-56. Today the Church reminds us how humanity has been working in concert with God, 1,000 years apart; specifically, how unlikely mothers bore a child who would be a special link for the people to their God …
Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Advent, Year A: Song of Songs 2:8-14, Luke 1:39-45. Today’s readings are pregnant (pun intended) with the mystery of the divine waiting to burst forth. Both Old Testament and New present us with figures full of a happy anxiousness for meeting their ultimate love. …
Thursday in the Third Week of Advent, Year A: Isaiah 54:1-10, Luke 7:24-30. We are traveling today, so I have to keep this reflection short before we head to the airport, but I did want to write something about that venerated group in the Apostolic Age and the Patristic Age, …
Memorial of Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr, Third Tuesday of Advent, Year A: Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13, Matthew 21:28-32. Alongside the great promise of our covenant with God – that we will be saved and granted eternal life with Him – there is an ominous warning. If we don’t come to …
Third Sunday of Advent “Gaudete Sunday,” Year A: Isaiah 35:1-6a, 10, James 5:7-10, Matthew 11:2-11. Gaudéte in Dómino semper: íterum dico, gaudéte. Rejoice in the Lord always: again I say rejoice. This is the first line of the Introit to today’s Mass, marking the halfway point of Advent when we …
Saturday in the Second Week of Advent, Year A: Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11, Matthew 17:9a, 10-13. Today’s readings shed light on a lesser-emphasized aspect of St. John the Baptist: the fact that he is Elijah returned. The prophecy in question was given to Micah: “I will send you the prophet Elijah …
Friday of the Second Week of Advent, Year A: Isaiah 48:17-19, Matthew 11:16-19. A few years ago, Thomas Nichols published a book entitled, The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters. It captures the zeitgeist of our age in regards to knowledge – everyone thinks …
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Genesis 3:9-15, 20, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, Luke 1:26-38. I grew up in a Catholic family and attended a Catholic school, so veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a part and parcel of my faith. I never found it odd, …
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church; Second Wednesday of Advent: Isaiah 40:25-31, Matthew 11:28-30. What soothing words of hope and security we find in today’s readings! With so many trials and difficulties in our lives, this reminder couldn’t come at a better time. As we prepare …
