Feast Of The Holy Innocents - They Cannot Speak, Yet They Bear Witness To Christ

It's easy to forget during all of our modern festivities, and maybe especially within the context of more recent tragedies, that the very first Christmas was itself heralded by deep and senseless tragedy. Today's feast reminds us that Christ came to free us from fear...and that, in spite of how it may seem and feel at the time, our King, our Saviour, our God, is never closer than in the midst of our pain, suffering and confusion. Today let us pray for all of the Holy Innocents, martyred by fear, by hate, and by the darkness and sickness of sin.On this day, let the words of this reflection, written as a letter to Herod, a letter that could be...

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"For A Child Has Been Born For Us, A Son Given To Us!"

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope Christian, remember your dignity Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness. No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life. In the fullness of...

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Guadete Sunday - The voice is John, the Word is Christ

I woke up to this wonderful reflection by St. Augustine on the relationship between Jesus and John the Baptist, the voice and the Word. I love how Augustine moves his reflections from what we experience and know of our own world, lives and physical being, and shows what they can teach us about the things of God; From a sermon by Saint Augustine, bishop The voice is John, the Word is Christ John is the voice, but the Lord is the Word who was in the beginning. John is the voice that lasts for a time; from the beginning Christ is the Word who lives for ever. Take away the word, the meaning, and what is the voice? Where there is no understanding,...

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Mary - Mother of The Church

I was really quite moved by the dual imagery Blessed Isaac uses as he speaks about Mary and the Church in the second reading of today's Office of Readings. I especially loved the intimate connections he makes between Mary, the Church, and ourselves as individuals, all playing our own particular, complimentary, and essential roles in the birthing of Christ in the world;"Christ dwelt for nine months in the tabernacle of Mary’s womb. He dwells until the end of the ages in the tabernacle of the Church’s faith. He will dwell for ever in the knowledge and love of each faithful soul."Perhaps it inspires you, as with myself, to cry out all the louder...

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Year of Faith: The Church - Contending With The Chaos Of Sin

We had an interesting Bible Study on the book of Acts last night which brought up, among many other topics, the unique purpose and character of the Church as it began to form in the earliest days of humanity's creation. Often we only think of the Church as having come about through the work of Jesus. In reality, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church  tells us, the Church began to come together as God's response to the reality of sin that had come into the world through the first act of disobedience by Adam and Eve in the Garden; 761 The gathering together of the People of God began at the moment when...

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Second Sunday of Advent - The voice in the wilderness

From a commentary on Isaiah by Eusebius of Caesarea, bishopThe voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God. The prophecy makes clear that it is to be fulfilled, not in Jerusalem but in the wilderness: it is there that the glory of the Lord is to appear, and God’s salvation is to be made known to all mankind.It was in the wilderness that God’s saving presence was proclaimed by John the Baptist, and there that God’s salvation was seen. The words of this prophecy were fulfilled when Christ and his glory were made manifest to all: after his baptism the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit...

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Feast Of The Immaculate Conception - Virgin Mary, all nature is blessed in you!

From a sermon by Saint Anselm, bishopBlessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night—everything that is subject to the power or use of man—rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendor by men who believe in God.The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness....

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Advent Week 1 - Love is Coming

Joe Paprocki shares what Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young have to do with Advent and gratitude; Carry On - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young "The sky is clearing and the night has gone out. The sun, he comes, the world is all full of light. Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry on. The fortunes of fables are able to sing the song. Now witness the quickness with which we get along. To sing the blues you've got to live the tunes and carry on. Carry on, love is coming, love is coming to us all." How does does Advent inspire you to find the sun in the darkness, the clear sky through the clouds and rejoice...rejoice? Why not have a listen?...

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