On the last Sunday of the Christmas Season we had a story about the adult Jesus being baptized. Today, three weeks after the Christmas Season, we are back to the baby Jesus. Go figure.Today’s feast, traditionally called the Feast of the Presentation was also called the Feast of the Encounter. Simeon and Anna, in their old age, have a powerful encounter with Jesus, a baby who is anything but powerful. Yet, isn’t that what everyone of us wants, not …
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Six years ago, in 2019, Pope Francis estabished this Sunday, the third Sunday in Ordinary Time, as “Word of God Sunday.” By doing so, he invites us to devote more time in our lives to the celebration, the study and the spreading of the Word of God. He feels that the Word of God is a word of hope. I agree. If Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, then naturally he is also a word of hope …
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We can spend a lot of time surmising about how the universe was created, about how old the cosmos is, and about the sheer awesomeness of God’s creative love. To think of creation, from our little perspective, is mind-blowing and humbling at the same time. What I’m trying to spend more time with lately is “re-creation,” how God’s creative power—which is nothing less than the power of love—is still at work in the world. I don’t believe creation was …
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The gospel we just heard begs the questions: “Who is this Jesus being baptized?” And if he is the sinless one, then why is he undergoing a baptism that we traditionally believe was for the forgiveness of sins?” I think if we can answer the first question—who this Jesus is—we’ll also have the answer as to why he’s in these baptismal waters at all. Who Jesus is and why he’s being baptized have implications for our lives, otherwise, it’s …
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For the longest time I would get confused between the terms “astronomy” and “astrology.” I knew they both had to do with the stars, but after that the confusion set in. Astronomy is the scientific study of space, the universe, the cosmos. It’s based on math and science, and it’s goal is to help explain phenomena. Astrology, on the other hand, is not a science, but a pseudoscience that tries to explain human behavior based on the position of …
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This gospel story, from Luke, is the continuation of the story we heard on Christmas Eve. As you recall, on Christmas Eve, we heard how an Angel appeared to the shepherds and told them, “I bring you good news of great joy for all the people; to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Christ, the Lord.” The angel doesn’t force the shepherds to believe this, nor does the angel drag …
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A little caution as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family: Don’t dismiss Jesus, Mary and Joseph, too quickly, as the “model family” because you are convinced they look nothing like your family. All families are holy, no matter what they look like. There are a lot of families out there, like my own, that put the fun back into dysfunctional. If you read the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, and shake Jesus’ family tree that you find …
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I don’t know if you picked up on it or not, but all three readings–Isaiah, Paul’s letter to Titus, and Luke’s gospel—all spoke of rejoicing and good news. Isaiah says, “The darkness that once covered you is gone, for a light is shining upon you now, so rejoice like farmers rejoice at harvest time. Rejoice like one who once had a heavy burden, a bar across their shoulder, but now that weight is gone.” St. Paul says to Titus, …
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Besides having the privilege of being in three of the four biggest museums in the world, I’ve also enjoyed the gems I’ve found in many smaller, local museums. Apparently, the most replicated image by far, hanging on the walls of the world’s museums, is the image of the Madonna and child, the mother and baby. I’ve also seen a ton of images of today’s gospel passage, what we traditionally call the Visitation, pregnant Mary visiting pregnant Elizabeth. Myself, I …
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Last weekend, you may recall, we had John the Baptist telling us to prepare the way of the Lord. He told us—in broad, general terms–to make the Lord’s path straight, fill in the valleys, and flatten the mountains. The scriptures are often deliberately left open-ended like that, encouraging us to determine concretely what filling in the valleys and flattening the mountains actually means in our particular lives and in the life of the world. This time, however, John the …
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