Christmas

Jesus Christ is born! With the birth of the Savior, God has burst into the darkness of our human condition as a light, to lead all people home to him. He has entered physically, in bodily form, into his creation. God has come as a helpless newborn baby to be seen,...

Seasonal Introduction to Christmas

The Christmas Season takes its direction from the splendor of the light of Christ, which breaks into our Advent darkness with the three liturgical celebrations on Christmas Day. We then proceed into the Octave, which contains numerous feasts. There is an intensity of...

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...