January 1st each year is a weighted day. It’s obviously, New Year’s Day in the secular world. Furthermore, for the Church, it is also the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and World Day of Peace. Putting together Mary, Mother of God and World Day of Peace makes a lot of sense in my mind.
There’s an ancient Jewish blessing, that we heard in that first reading from the Book of Numbers. In its paraphrased version it says, “May God bless ...
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Like all gospel stories, this Mary and Martha story has many layers to it. Let’s pull back a few layers and see what it has to say to us. If it is the Word of God—the living Word of God–it should be as relevant now as it was 2000 years ago.
Layer one. I’ll just call it “Mary’s gutsy move.” Actually Mary doesn’t move at all; she sitting on her duff while Martha is doing all the work. There are two ...
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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 a ...
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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 the ...
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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 can’t ...
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Back in 2008, I remember being on a retreat in the foothills of California. Before being sent off to spend 8 hours by ourselves in nature, we were given a few instructions the night before. Since this was supposed to be solitary time, we were to go far enough into the forest and mountains that we couldn’t see another person. We were to draw a circle in the dirt with the heel of our shoe or with a stick, and ...
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Mary, A Model of Faith
Talk about a jampacked weekend. Sunday we are celebrating Epiphany, and then right back to church on Monday to celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. I would like to use this reflection to focus on Mary, and what a model of faith she is for all of us. The Solemnity of Mary, from the church in Canada’s pointof view, carries a great deal of importance as it is one of only twoholy ...
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At every Eucharistic celebration you have ever participated in, you heard the priest say during the Eucharistic Prayer, “The Mystery of faith.” “Mystery” refers to God’s eternally conceived but hidden plan. In other words, God had, and still has, a plan, a purpose in mind for everything and everyone, including you. That plan, that Mystery, is not given in a single moment, but it unfolds over time, a long period of time. We couldn’t handle the entire mystery of our ...
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