• The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

    Today’s readings I’m sad today is the last day of the Christmas Season. I love that even though the rest of society may have tossed out the Christmas trees, and taken down the festive decorations, we still celebrate. What a wonderful gift we have as Catholics to celebrate the birth of our Lord for an…

  • The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord: Walk Toward the Light

    Today’s readings Walk toward the light. This is good advice, I think, for us who walk around in what can be a very dark world. Today’s first reading speaks of that darkness: “See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples…” We’re not talking about some kind of simple darkness that is cured…

  • The Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Mother of God

    Today’s readings What is it that you reflect on in your heart? Our Gospel reading today tells us that Mary, whose feast we celebrate today, reflected on all the things that happened surrounding the birth of her beloved son in her heart. I just love that detail. Mary’s most Immaculate Heart was filled with the…

  • The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

    Today’s readings When we look at images of the Holy Family: here in our sanctuary, in our manger scenes, I think we get a picture of a family that seems to be idyllic in perfection. And I know that as we reflect that perfection, it can be daunting, quite foreign to the experience of many…

  • The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord: Mass During the Day

    Today’s readings There is a meme that has been going around on social media for a little while now, called “How it Started vs. How it’s Going.” The meme in general has two pictures, one labeled, obviously, “How it started” and the other “How it’s Going.” When it started, it was a way, on social…

  • The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord: Mass During the Night

    Today’s readings We’ve all had the experience of being in a dark room, probably at night, and turning on a light. It’s blinding until we get used to it. There’s even a scene in one of my favorite movies, Christmas Vacation, when Clark finally gets the Christmas lights to work and it’s so blinding that…

  • The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord – Vigil (Special Needs) Mass

    Once upon a time, there was an old shepherd named Elias. He had been a shepherd for his whole life long, just like his father, and his father’s father. Being a shepherd was hard and lonely work. He took care of a large group of sheep and did his best to protect them from wolves…

  • December 23: O Emmanuel

    Today’s readings Today’s Liturgy has us on the edge of our seats: “Lift up your heads and see; your redemption is near at hand.” So says the psalmist today and all indications are that that psalmist is absolutely right! Even the last-minute shoppers are starting to panic, there’s only one door left on the Advent…

  • December 21: O Radiant Dawn

    Today’s readings There’s a little more light today. As we get into these last days of Advent, we find ourselves in a time when more light is beginning to shine. All of the candles on our Advent wreath are lit, and the only thing that can make it brighter is the coming of our God…

  • December 20: O Key of David

    Today’s readings O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven: come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom. The one with the keys has power, as well as…