Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. On this Christmas Day, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord. I want to welcome anyone from out of town who is visiting family and thank you for worshiping with us. For many of us, Christmas brings back memories of childhood, family, hot chocolate, eggnog, and that sense of wonder that can only come from pondering the birth of Jesus, our Savior. He is…

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light….” “And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’” Tonight, we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord, the one event that left the world forever changed. As the prophet says, “For the yoke that burdened them, the pole on their shoulder, and the rod of their taskmaster you have smashed….” My friends, the…

Good evening and Merry Christmas! It’s hard to believe this is our second Christmas together. Where has the time gone? I am happy to see so many of our families here. Wasn’t that beautiful having the children process with the baby Jesus? By now most of you know how much I love Church tradition. I think I get it from my mother, who is one of the most sentimental people I know. Just the other day I noticed she had a collection of lids for porcelain tea pots. Being the nudge that I am, I asked her,…

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent and we are just two days away from Christmas. Are you ready? Are you excited? For the last four weeks, the Church has encouraged us to look inward, to clear out the clutter, and to create a space for the Lord. The time of preparation is almost complete.

Rejoice! Gaudete! Rejoice! Cry out with joy and gladness, for the Lord, our God, is in our midst! Today, on this third Sunday of Advent, we celebrate Gaudete Sunday, which marks the halfway point of Advent and focuses our attention on Christian joy. Last week, our Gospel narrative introduced John the Baptist, who came proclaiming a baptism of repentance, but today’s Gospel emphasizes Christ, who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. That same Spirit is present with us today as we celebrate…

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Pope Pius IX instituted this Solemnity in honor of the Blessed Mother in 1854. Mary had long since been venerated as the Theotokos, or Mother of God, and the theology of Mary developed alongside the theology of Christ. It is through Mary that Jesus took human form, but how is it that Jesus was born without sin? The logical conclusion is that in order for Jesus to be born without sin, his mother would also…

Today, we celebrate this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in honor of Saint Padre Pio. St. Padre Pio was an Italian priest who had a deep love for Jesus, our Lady, and the people around him. He is one of only a handful of mystics who bore the wounds of Christ, the Stigmata—something that still cannot be explained. One might say that he so conformed his will to Christ’s that the Lord gave him a share in his own passion. We know that our Blessed Lord’s passion was the act of redemption for all mankind,…

This first Sunday of Advent marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. Since it is a new year in the Church, I like to make a few spiritual resolutions. We tend to make New Year’s resolutions in January, but now is a time to focus on Christ. Adventus means “coming,” or “arrival,” which focuses us on the events leading up to the Nativity of our Lord. This glorious event was so important, it caused the change of the calendar. This is now the two-thousand twenty-fourth year since the coming of…

Today is the First Sunday of Advent, which marks the beginning of a new liturgical year. And just as everything else in our lives seems to be speeding up, the Church invites us to slow down. Over the next year, our lectionary readings will be drawing from the Gospel of Mark. And Jesus tells us in today’s gospel to, “watch!” What are we watching for during the season of Advent? Well, since the word “advent” means “beginning,” this ought to be for us something like New Year’s Day, when we make our…

As our liturgical year draws to a close, our readings focus us more and more on being prepared for the coming of Jesus. Holy Mother Church celebrates this with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, which we will celebrate next Sunday. Our entire liturgical year culminates on the important reality that Jesus Christ is our King, and our readings encourage us to be prepared for the day of his arrival. We have heard this in a variety of parables that Jesus gives, particularly…