Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Gn 3:9-15,20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38: This is our national feast in honor of the Mother of God. Today we gather around the Blessed Virgin Mary to celebrate her unique privilege of being conceived without original sin. Our Holy Father Pius IX proclaimed this truth that immerged from the prayer and reflection […]
Friday of the First Week of Advent
Is 29:17-24; Ps 27:1,4,13,14; Mt 9:27-31: The Lord our God comes with power, with the power of a shepherd, a good shepherd. It is not easy for us to relate to this image from the scripture and from another time and culture. A good shepherd is one who does not abandon the sheep; indeed, he […]
Thursday of the First Week in ADVENT
Is 26:1-6; Ps 118:1,8,9,19-21,25-27a; Mt 7:21,24-27: In Psalm 116 we pray, “I trusted even when I said, ‘I am sorely afflicted,’ and when I said in my alarm, ‘there is no man I can trust’” Betrayal, malicious or unintended, is the most painful human experience. The Lord Jesus knew this disappointment among his closest friends. […]
Wednesday in the First Week of ADVENT
Is 25:6-10; Ps 23:1-6; Mt 15:29-37: It’s not a pleasant thought, but we do sit down to eat in the sight of our foes. We cannot not feast in their sight. This painful image from Psalm 23 seems to be out of place in the Good Shepherd Psalm. There is such comfort from meditating on […]
Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1,2,7,8,12,13,17; Lk 10:21-24: Indeed in Him all the tribes on the earth are blessed and all the nations proclaim his happiness. The Prophet Isaiah uses impossible images from nature to draw a word icon of the wonderful new creation that is coming in the Advent of Our God, Christ the Lord. The Lord […]
Monday of the First Week of Advent
Is 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-9; Mt 8:5-11: The whole season of Advent is given over to rejoicing. The Third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday” in English that would be Rejoice Sunday. By the time this season rolls around we seem to be out of practice. Somehow we have forgotten how to rejoice. Indeed, we […]
Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 22:1-7; Ps 95:1-7; Lk 21:34-36: Seldom do we bow down in worship. Our bodies seem so uninvolved in our life of faith. Yet, our faith is so rich with the earth and the stuff of creation. The water, the salt, the wheat, the grapes, the light, the darkness, the silence, and the wind, everything […]
Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
Rm 10:9-18; Ps 19:8-11; Mt 4:18-22: The laws, the decree, the precepts, the command, the fear, the ordinances of the LORD are all together the Word of the Lord, and that Word became flesh and dwells among us. It is that Incarnate Word, who encountered Saint Andrew and his brother Saint Peter, and Saint John […]
Thursday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 18:1-2,21-23;19:1-3, 9a; Ps 100:1b-2-5; Lk 21:20-28: The priest invites us to Holy Communion with words similar to the Psalm refrain taken from the First Reading: “Blessed are those who are called to the Supper of the Lamb.” This call goes out to all the lands; everyone is invited to sing the joyful song of […]
Wednesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 15:1-4; Ps 98:1-9; Lk 21:12-19 : The LORD is worthy of a new song. His wondrous deeds and the victory of his holy arm inspire a song of praise never before heard. This new song comes from hearts that are made new with the overwhelming joy of salvation. In the sight of all the nations, […]
Tuesday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 14:14-19; Ps 96:10-13; Lk 21:5-11: The end of the world prevents the triumph of chaos. We need to have the LORD come and judge the earth. If there is no end in sight we can easily despair, or we can endlessly avoid growth in virtue and true repentance from sin. When the true King of […]
Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 14:1-3,4b-5; Ps 24:1b-2,3-4ab,5,6; Lk 21:1-4: In many ways it is desire that dominates our lives, even our spiritual lives. The great saints of our church teach us to be detached from desires and attached to God alone. Only when our needs are our desires are we truly free; when our desires are our […]
Memorial of Saint Andrew Düng-Lac, priest and martyr, and his companions, martyrs
Rv 11:4-12; Ps 144:1,2,9,10; Lk 20:27-40 : The Liturgy today invites us to sing a new song to the LORD. This song we sing at each liturgy is new because we are a new creation. We have changed since last we have gathered in the Holy Spirit to worship the Father through Christ the great high […]
Friday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 10:8-11; Ps 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131; Lk 19:45-48: What is the joy of your heart? What is the joy of a human heart not damaged by sin or stained by deception? The Lord Jesus has given us his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary to answer this question. Indeed, she was conceived without sin […]
Thanksgiving Day
Sir 50:22-24; Ps 138:1-5; 1Cor 1:3-9; Lk 17:11-19: Who gives thanks today? We give thanks with all our hearts. We invest our deepest self in this day of thanksgiving because we are Eucharistic people. We who give thanks, week by week, or day by day, we know how to celebrate thanksgiving. Indeed, we Catholics have much to […]
Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Rv 4:1-11; Ps 150:1-6; Lk 19:11-28: Nothing has breath without the divine breath. The Holy Spirit hovered over the chaos in the beginning and breathed life and peace upon the new earth. Since that moment everything that lives and breathes praises the LORD. With all creation we are summoned to enter into the heart of […]
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 3:1-6,14-22; Ps 15:2-5; Lk 19:1-10: We are on a journey of faith. We have just enough light to take the next step on this journey. Our light is faith, and we walk by faith not by sight. We are on the way with the victor, the Lord Jesus Christ, and with him we will […]
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
Rv 1:1-4; 2:1-5; Ps 1:1-6; Lk 18:35-43: All the saints were like trees planted near running water. It was the refreshing water of the Holy Spirit that moved them to deep compassion in Christ through out a life of profound prayer and loving service. Some of these saints could have had the life of luxury, […]
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious
3Jn 5-8 ; Ps 112:1-6 ; Lk 18:1-8 : Indeed, the witness of all the saints confronts the foolishness of those who seek beauty and power in this world without seeking The Source of all beauty and power. True wisdom enables such a search to bear fruit, a fruit that will last through centuries of violence and foolishness. […]
Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
2 Jn 4-9; Ps 119:1, 2,10,11,17,18; Lk 17:26-37 : During an encounter with a blind man, the Lord Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Does this man stand in for all men and women? Are we all blind in one way or another? Or perhaps we are just sight impaired? Do […]
