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The Nativity of the Lord: Mass During the Night and During the Day
This is an absolutely incredible time of year. We come together tonight (today) in a beautifully decorated and lighted church. We hear the most wonderful carols and hymns that our choir has worked on for the better part of the fall. The homes around us are decked out in their Christmas finery, brightly illuminating the…
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The Nativity of the Lord: Vigil Mass
Today’s readings Mass for the children: 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…
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Fourth Sunday of Advent: O Come, Divine Messiah
Today’s readings O Come, Divine Messiah One of the great parts of Advent for me is the sensory experience of it. You could point to the smell of Christmas cookies baking in the oven, the sight of houses on the street at night glowing with their Christmas lights. But another big one is sound, and…
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Advent Penance Service
Today’s readings: Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26; Matthew 5:13-16 As joyful as this season is supposed to be, it can be so hard for so many people. I know a lot of people who get depressed this time of year. Probably you do too. Many people are missing loved ones who are far away from home, or…
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O Key of David
Today’s Readings We humans put up all sorts of barriers. Some are necessary, like the walls of prisons, or the sound barriers along a highway. Some are sad, like the old wall that used to separate East and West Germany. Others are exasperating, like the wall along the frontier into Mexico. The physical barriers that…
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Monday of the Third Week of Advent: O Wisdom
Today’s readings That was quite a list of names, wasn’t it? Forty-two generations of the pilgrim people Israel led by some real characters. Some of them were heroic like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah and to some extent David and Solomon. But some of them were pretty wicked, especially Manasseh, whose wickedness in shedding innocent…
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The Third Sunday of Advent [C]
Today’s readings Today’s readings and liturgy call us to rejoice. That’s the reason for the rose-colored vestments and the more joyful tone of today’s readings. This is called Gaudete Sunday: gaudete being Latin for “rejoice,” the first word of today’s introit or proper entrance antiphon which says: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say,…
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Saint John of the Cross
Today’s readings Today at Mass we hear from three prophets. A prophet is a person who helps us to see God. And during Advent these prophets help us to see God coming to be born in us. And we have to admit: lots of times we don’t see God. We’re either too busy to notice…
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Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr
Today’s readings In every age, young people have the difficult task of remaining pure. Some ignore the task, but some take it up at great personal cost. This was true of Saint Lucy, who desired to remain pure because of her commitment to Christ. She was born of noble parents in Sicily around the year…
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Monday of the Second Week of Advent
Today’s readings What the Pharisees were missing in this gospel story was that there is something that paralyzes a person much worse than any physical thing, and that something, of course, is sin. And if you’ve ever found yourself caught up in a pattern of sin in your life, of if you’ve ever struggled with…
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