For a new year….

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Here are “10 Guiding Principles” for a new year

THY WILL BE DONE – Are we completely giving ourselves over to God’s will? And embracing the high adventure of His plan, over our plan, wherever that may lead?

LOVE OUR PEOPLE – Are we loving our people above all else and as if they are Jesus in disguise? Are we detached from things, money, power, honor and comfort, so we are free to love people most fully? Are we helping each person take one step closer to reaching their own dreams in this world and becoming a saint in the next? Continue reading →

The Parents

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This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. The gospel is part of the infancy narratives of St. Luke and this week is the story of the “Presentation in the Temple.” When the shepherds arrive at the manger in Bethlehem, Luke records: “they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:17-19)

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Innocents and Villains

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There is a classic Christmas song known as the Coventry Carol. The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The play depicts the Christmas story the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2. The carol itself refers to the Massacre of the Innocents, in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed. It is a lament that is imagined having been sung by the mothers of the children lost to Herod’s cruelty. It combines the sound of their weeping with the gentle cadences of a lullaby. The lullaby is known as “Lully Lullay.” The account of the Holy Innocents is today’s gospel.  You can view a video of the carol being performed by the King’s College Choir. Continue reading →

May your joy be complete

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Today we celebrate the Feast of St. John the Evangelist. In midst of the Christmas season today’s gospel seems out of place. It recounts Mary Magdalene’s experience of Easter morning when she reports to Peter and the other apostles: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we do not know where they put him.” In that scene she is the first witness to the Resurrection, the first evangelist proclaiming the Good News to those who would be charged with carrying that news to the end of the earth. The scene is as foundational to evangelization as can be. Continue reading →

Focus and Spotlight

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This coming Sunday is the Feast of the Holy Family. The gospel is part of the infancy narratives of St. Luke and this week is the story of the “Presentation in the Temple.” From the Lukan prologue to our present verses, the focus and spotlight of the narrative has moved around highlighting many characters in the infancy stories of Jesus. Upon arrival at the Temple the movement is narrowed, but nonetheless attention needs to be paid to where the author is leading us. Continue reading →

It is as He Said

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Today’s readings have always struck me as oddly placed only one day after Christmas. It is the story of the protomartyr of the Christian faith – St. Stephen. While I know that the feast day is mentioned in the Christmas carol classic “Good King Wenceslas,” it does seem to put a bit of a damper on the Christmas spirit. Of course two days from now the Feast of the Holy Innocents remembers the infant boys slaughtered by King Herod. Continue reading →

What’s next?

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A lot of our life hoovers around the question, “What’s next?” It is that part of us that is ever looking ahead to try and pierce the veil that covers our future. Even as we peer into the future life inexorably moved ahead in its journey through time silently pleading that we are mindful of the time give us. And we were just given the Season of Advent. We were asked to prepare, to wait in expectation for Emmanuel, God-with-us, the promised from of old, the King of Kings…and now it is Christmas. And our Savior is born to us! Continue reading →