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 […]
Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Is 30:19-21,23-26; Ps 147:1-6; Mt 9:35–10:1,5a,6-8 We are blessed because we wait for the LORD. The One for whom we wait is called by the mystics “The I know not what!” He is the ineffable One. His mystery is so great that our minds cannot contain it and our words cannot express it. Yet, our […]
Friday in the First Week of Advent
Is 29:17-24; Ps 27:1,4,13,14; Mt 9:27-31 Many great theologians and saints in the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches had to defend the revelation of the faith through the display of hidden mysteries to the eye of the faithful in the tradition of the writing of icons. Long before the faithful could read, they could gaze […]
Thursday of the First Week of 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 […]
Wednesday of the First Week in 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 […]
Monday of the First Week of Advent
Is 4:2-6; Ps 122:1-9; Mt 8:5-11 Once you’ve been in the house of the LORD there’s no place else you’d rather be. In the words of Psalm 122 we hear the echo of everyone who has set foot within the gates of the holy city. Inspired men of every time and place have rejoiced and […]
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 […]
Friday of the FINAL Week in Ordinary Time
Dn 7:2-14; Daniel 3:75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81; Lk 21:29-33 The chosen and favored Israelite exiles, Daniel and his companions are models of faith for all of us. They stood in the midst of fiery opposition and summoned the whole creation to give glory and eternal praise to the LORD God Almighty. They […]
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 […]
Wednesday of the LAST Week in Ordinary Time
Dn 5:1-6,13-17,23-28; Dn 3:62-67; Lk 21:12-19 In chapter three of Daniel, three young Jewish exiles were thrown into the white-hot furnace because they would not give glory and praise to the king’s golden image. While they were being rescued from the fire by an angel of the Lord they rejoiced and sang, “Give glory and […]
Tuesday of the LAST Week in Ordinary Time
Dn2:31-45; Dn3:57-61; Lk21:5-11 This psalm of praise found in the book of Daniel ascends from the depths of the universe to the very heights of the cosmos. Those, who praise and exult the LORD above all forever, are invited to see his glory in all that He has made from the least to the greatest. […]
Monday of the LAST Week in Ordinary Time
Dn1:1-6,8-20; Dn3:52-56; Lk21:1-4 In today’s liturgy the book of Daniel is used to respond to the first reading from the book of Daniel. The newly arrived exiles, Daniel and his friends, have just taken up residence in the king’s palace in Babylon. They are full of glory and praise. They cannot stop blessing the LORD. […]
Saturday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
1Mc 6:1-13; Ps 9:2-6,16,19; Lk 20:27-40 We are temples of The LORD, and we are sanctified in order that we might enjoy and share in God’s saving work. It is for this life of holiness that Psalm 9 invites all to give thanks. With our brothers and sisters in the faith we give thanks for […]
Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr
1Mc 4:36,37,52-59; 1Chr 29:10-12; Lk 19:45-48 All in heaven and on earth belongs to the LORD, God Almighty. What then can we offer to God? The only thing that we have that God has not given us is our sin, or is it? Sure the Lord God did not create our sin; we are responsible […]
Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1Mc 2:15-29; Ps 50:1-6,14,15; Lk 19:41-44 Today’s feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary is hidden to the eyes of history, but in faith we see in the presentation of the Theotokos that the holiness given to Mary at her conception continued in her childhood and in her maturation. Our sister churches in the East celebrate […]
Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
2 Mc 7:1,20-31; Ps 17:1, 5-6,8,15; Lk 19:11-28 Our prayer is heard; the Lord God attends to the outcries of lips without deceit. We walk steadfastly in the paths of holiness; our feet do not falter. We are kept as the apple of the Father’s eye; we are hidden in the shadow of his wings. In […]
Tuesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
2Mc 6:18-31; Ps 3:2-7; Lk 19:1-10 Many are the prophets of gloom and doom. Many are the quick to judge another. Many rise up against the Lord’s anointed. Many say, “there is no salvation for him in God.” These adversaries are many and great, but the Lord is faithful. The Lord is a shield; he […]
Monday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time
1Mc 1:10-15,41-43,54-57,62,63; Ps 119:53,61,134,150,155,158; Lk 18:35-43 Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil may conjure up a vision of monkeys, but this is no way to live. We need to hear and see the evil around us if we intend to never buy into that evil and end up speaking the lie everyone […]
Saturday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Wis 18:14-16; 19:6-9; Ps 105:2,3,36,37,42,43; Lk 18:1-8 By their exemplary lifestyle the saints proclaimed the glory of God, and even to our own day, their voices resounds and to the ends of the world, their message. The witness of all the saints confronts the foolishness of those who seek beauty and power in this world […]
Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Wis 13:1-9; Ps 19:2-5; Lk 17:26-37 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. […]
