Christmas Day Mass, 25 December, 2023: Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18 This life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. That verse is certainly a crucial reminder for our times. The fact is, we recognize light because it contrasts with the […]

Fourth Sunday of Advent, 24 December, 2023: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a-16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 I don’t need to tell you how many beautiful paintings of the Annunciation there are. It is, perhaps, too easy to miss the more ominous details not only of those pictures but in today’s Gospel. Think, for example, of […]

22 DEC: 1 SAM 1:24-28; LK 1:46-56 Elizabeth, past the age of childbearing, is pregnant for the first time. Mary, betrothed but unmarried, is pregnant, period. As much as they are drawn to each other under such precarious conditions, neither expresses despair or fear, but exaltation. Isn’t it significant that all the verbs in Mary’s […]

JGS 13:2-7, 24-25a; LK 1:5-25 Isn’t it odd that when the angel tells the righteous Zechariah that his prayer for a son has been heard, he protests the biological improbability of such an outcome? What had his prayer been like? Had he only expressed the pious sentiments expected of a priest? Was he shifting the […]

Immaculate Conception, 8 December, 2023: Genesis 3:9=15, 20; Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12; Luke 1: 26-38 Our First Reading could remind us that when Adam and Eve chose to sin, their wills had not been weakened by original sin. Mary, even as the Immaculate Conception, could have sinned but chose not to sin. Her extraordinary status is […]

Given the relatively obsolete nature of kings and monarchs in our contemporary world—and considering the less than exemplary conduct of some of the few who remain—we might wonder about retaining this annual feast honoring Christ the King. But perhaps an even greater problem with this title and all it signifies, is our modern western overvaluation […]

Thirty-third Sunday, YR A, 19 November, 2023: Proverbs 11:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30 This man who distributes money to his servants is described as a demanding person, harvesting where he did not plant and gathering where he did not scatter. I know I wouldn’t want to work for such an intimidating person! […]

If you’ve ever watched television coverage of major sports events, you will probably have noticed that large companies and businesses are willing to pay large sums of money simply to have their name or logo on the sporting attire of a sport celebrity—all because it is believed to be a very effective means of advertising. […]

All Saints, Wednesday, 1 November, 2023: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a Aren’t all the conditions described as “Blessed” in today’s Gospel, much more liminal situations than virtues of my own concocting? Doesn’t meekness or mercy, only emerge when I find myself in situations beyond my devising? They are not responses I have […]

A couple of weeks ago, Sr. Dorothy Gilloley, a regular retreatant here, sent me this Prayer for Peace in the Middle East: God of mercy and compassion, of grace and reconciliation, pour your power upon your children in the Middle East: Jews, Muslims and Christians, Palestinians and Israelis. Let hatred be turned into love, fear […]