(Image: Susmita Saha - Unsplash) "Prepare the way of the Lord" Luke 3: 1-6 The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120824.cfm St. Luke, both historian and an exacting Evangelist, places the ministry of John the Baptist this Sunday in a specific historical period of the ancient world: in the “15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.”  He goes on to remind us of the other notorious characters whose names will play out in the story of the Christ:  Pontius Pilate, Herod, Annas and Caiaphas and the various other ruthless leaders of the ancient world. These were all ..read more

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  "Stand erect and raise your heads" Luke 21: 25-28, 34-36  The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120124.cfm Look back to the coming of Christ Look now to his coming among us Look forward to the final coming of Christ at the end of time. You would never begin a good novel by reading the conclusion of the story and then work backward to the beginning.  Doesn’t make sense.  Knowing the end of the story would be a good “spoiler alert!” Yet, as we find ourselves in the season of Advent once again, in a sense that is what we hear today in our Scriptures: Our ..read more

  "She has contributed all she had" Mk 12:41-44 The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111024.cfm Almighty and merciful God, graciously keep from us all adversity, so that, unhindered in mind and body alike, we may pursue in freedom of heart the things that are yours. (Collect of Mass) Christian writer C.S. Lewis begins his essay entitled “Let’s pretend” with a short example about a man who wore a mask.   He tells of an unattractive man who wore a more attractive mask for many years. He dressed up as another person in a sense.  After a long period of time, he o ..read more

  John 6: 51-58 The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081824.cfm O God, who have prepared for those who love you good things which no eye can see, fill our hearts, we pray, with the warmth of your love, so that, loving you in all things and above all things, we may attain your promises, which surpass every human desire. (From Collect of Mass) Legends about a mythical “fountain of youth” go back to the ancient Greeks.  That there existed some miraculous healing waters that would heal the ailments of those who drink, restore them to life, and promise a form of immort ..read more

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With the annual celebration of Thanksgiving Day it is an opportunity for us to pause, collect our thoughts along with family and friends and to give thanks to God not only for his love and care during the past year but also for granting us the privilege to live in this Country of the United States.   As a lover of history, I appreciate knowing the origin of things.  For our thanksgiving remembrance we have to go back to Plymouth, Massachusetts and the colonists from England who shared an autumn harvest feast with Native American tribes in  1621. After they arrived in the ne ..read more

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  "My kingdom does not belong to this world" John 18: 33b - 37 https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112424.cfm Almighty ever-living God, whose will is to restore all things in your beloved Son, the King of the universe, grant, we pray, that the whole of creation,  set free from slavery, may render your majesty service and ceaselessly proclaim your praise. (Collect of Solemnity) When Joseph Stalin was told by his staff that the Pope (Pius XII) objected to his invasion of Poland, Staling famously said: "The Pope! How many military divisions does the Pope have?" For Stalin, as Pilat ..read more