First Sunday of Advent

Advent is a unique time in the liturgical calendar. It is a sacred time set aside for us to journey in faith with the Church as she prepares to celebrate the birth of Christ. In these weeks, as we look deeper into our hearts and into the heart of our faith, we may...

Seasonal Introduction to Advent

Each Advent we are given the opportunity to begin anew and to enter a deeper place of interior awareness. We not only continue to await the Second Coming of the Lord, but we look forward to celebrating again the birth of the Babe in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago!...

Fourth Sunday of Advent

In the first reading, God sends the prophet Isaiah to bring a message of Good News to the troubled and fearful King Ahaz, who is facing a looming crisis. God invites Ahaz to have faith and rely completely on him. And to strengthen the weak king’s faith, he offers to...

Third Sunday of Advent

The clergy may don rose-colored vestments at today’s Mass – one of only two times in the year that they do so. Rose represents joy (gaudium in Latin); hence the Third Sunday of Advent is also known as Gaudete Sunday. What does joy have to do with the season of Advent?...

The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The document that declared the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a “doctrine revealed by God” is aptly titled Ineffabilis Deus, that is, “ineffable God.” When something is “ineffable” it is too great or extreme to be expressed in words. Certainly God...