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Saturday of the Third Week of Advent: O Wisdom
I know that list of names can be daunting to process. It might be hard to figure out the reason we even proclaim it. But I love it! It always strikes me that this list of characters, which is basically the human family tree of our Lord, is so much like any of our families’…
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Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor
A long time ago now, someone once gave my family an ornament for our Christmas tree. It was very curious: basically just a large nail hung from a green ribbon. You probably already know the significance of the nail: when looking at the manger, we remember the cross. When gazing on the Christmas tree, we…
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The Third Sunday of Advent
Today’s readings Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.Indeed, the Lord is near. That quote, from the fourth chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians, is also the proper entrance antiphon for today’s Mass of the Third Sunday of Advent. That focus on joy and the nearness of the Lord is the…
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The Second Sunday of Advent
Today’s readings Have you ever had the feeling hat things were just not right? I don’t mean not right like you got the wrong order at Portillo’s, or your postal delivery person gave you the neighbor’s mail. I mean, really, really not right, in a fundamental sense, like the world was off its axis in…
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Saint Francis Xavier, Priest, Patron of the Diocese of Joliet
We celebrate the memorial of Saint Francis Xavier as a feast today, because he is the patron saint of the Diocese of Joliet. Francis Xavier was a sixteenth century man who had a promising career in academics. He was encouraged in the faith by his good friend, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, and went to join the new…
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The First Sunday of Advent
Today’s readings I don’t know about you, but I always find this weekend after Thanksgiving to be a little strange. Here is a weekend when we can barely clear the plates at the Thanksgiving dinner table before we have to make room for Christmas. And I’m not talking about the religious observance of the Incarnation…
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Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings You know I’m going to be all corny and wish you a happy new year’s eve, right? But that’s indeed where we are. Our readings have been reminding us that the night is far spent and the day is drawing near. We are called upon today to remain vigilant so that we do…
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Thanksgiving Day
Back in seminary, during the last summer before I was ordained a priest, I did my Clinical Pastoral Education at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. It’s a level one trauma center, so it’s a busy place with a lot of, well, trauma. In C.P.E., we were placed in a group with other students, so we…
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Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings “Engage in trade with these until I return.” Today’s Gospel reading presents us with Luke’s version of the Parable of the Talents from Matthew’s Gospel. Luke’s version seems a little confusing to our ears, perhaps. There is evidence that the nobleman seeking the kingship was actually a contemporary nobleman trying to do just…
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The Thirty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time
“My whole world is falling apart.” We’ve all heard someone say that, or maybe we’ve even said it ourselves, at some point in our lives. I think today’s Gospel points to that kind of experience. But to really get at the experience Luke’s Gospel was getting at, you have to imagine how we would feel…
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