Category Archives: Advent 2017

Dec 24 2017

Christmas is the Fulfillment of God’s Promise

When I was little, I really wanted piano lessons. My parents said I could have them when they could find a piano and a teacher we could afford. They kept their promise, but it took a lot longer than I would have liked. First, we found a used p...

Dec 23 2017

You will be Called to Your Unexpected Bethlehem

We’re nearing the end of the Advent days of waiting. Soon it will be Christmas Eve. A busy night. Christmas trees and gifts and Christmas Eve dinners. Christmas family traditions, decorating, preparation for Christmas Day cooking. Christ...

Dec 22 2017

The Joy of Gift

One Thanksgiving when I was a child, our family prepared food at the local homeless shelter. I’ll never forget the smiles on the faces of the workers as well as the recipients. In spite of the hard work put into preparing the meal, the g...

Dec 21 2017

Allow the Incarnate Love Into Your Heart

In recent years Advent has started to mean something more to me. In the past, Advent was just a time for lighting candles and singing “Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel”. However, that changed one year when I was in spiritual direction and ...

Dec 20 2017

That We May Become God

Last week my oldest son turned five. I remember five years ago it hit me just how totally helpless babies are. I was terrified when we were being discharged from the hospital because somehow those crazy nurses trusted me to take care of this i...

Dec 19 2017

Fear and Joy

A few things have kept coming to me during my prayer with today’s readings. “Do not be afraid; do not fear” and Joy; praise and glory, rejoice, Emmanuel. In both readings an angel of the Lord appears announcing the birth of a...

Dec 18 2017

Joseph, a Just Man

This Gospel is the Annunciation to Joseph. We are dealing with the greatest mystery to ever happen on earth: the Incarnation of the Lord, that God became a man. Before this mystery, we have to put aside our human way of thinking and ponder the...

Dec 17 2017

We’re Going to do Something Different Today!

I seem to remember my teachers in grade school using this line periodically: “We’re going to do something different today!” they would say. Whatever we did usually didn’t seem all that different, really, but I thought o...

Dec 16 2017

Don’t Miss Jesus in the Bethlehem of your Life

It all began quite spontaneously, unintentionally. One of those things that settle on you like a gentle night or a soft dew. Peace. Possibility. We sit there a long while, holding hands, our fingers curled together protectively, vuln...

Dec 15 2017

Some People Are Never Happy

After several years of destructive behavior because of his addiction to drugs, a man changed his life. He went to 12-step meetings. He came back to the Church. He made amends to those he had hurt and reconciled with his estranged wife. When sh...

Dec 14 2017

Fear Not, I Will Help You

San Juan de la Cruz, a Spanish Carmelite priest and monk of the 16th century, so perfectly incarnated that element in Christianity we call mystical that, on this day, we celebrate him not only as a Saint but also as a Doctor of the Church. The...

Dec 13 2017

Welcome the Mystery

New life is exciting… But it’s also scary. It’s alluring. And enveloping. And fulfilling. It’s all of these things. There is many a theological point to be made about why Christ chose to enter the world as a baby&helli...

Dec 12 2017

Am I Not Here, I, Who Am Your Mother?

“Am I not here, I, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need anything more? Let nothing else worry you...

Dec 11 2017

Waiting or Worrying?

So often our times of waiting seem to be filled with desolation, pain, or uncertainty. In a liturgical season of the Church called Advent, we are called to a time of preparation. It is a time to prepare our hearts specifically for ...

Dec 10 2017

A Voice Has Cried Out in the Wilderness

Possibly some of the most stirring words of the Hebrew Bible are found in today’s first reading. A voice has cried out—in the wilderness—to prepare the way of the Lord, to make smooth his path, to see the glory of the Lord re...

Dec 09 2017

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Today is the memorial of Saint Juan Diego, who Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to at the Hill of Tepeyac, near present day Mexico City. We will celebrate this great feast of Our Lady of Guadelupe next Tuesday, but for now it would be helpful to...

Dec 08 2017

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Today is not only a feast day on the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar, but a Solemnity – the top of the feast day hierarchy in the Roman Rite. Like Christmas and Easter, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is also a holy day of ...

Dec 07 2017

How the Power of God’s Word Can Change Your Life

The miserable young man felt hopeless. Despite his talents and promising career, his life was a mess. He was drawn to God but resisted, because he didn’t want to give up his sin. He was addicted to lust. Sitting in a garden one day, pour...

Dec 06 2017

Advent: a banquet for the soul

Thanksgiving in the convent is pretty amazing. Sometimes the stereotype of religious sisters is that they are solemn, serious, and strict, but in my experience, religious sisters carry within them a deep joy that simply bubbles over when there...

Dec 06 2017

Advent: a banquet for the soul

Thanksgiving in the convent is pretty amazing. Sometimes the stereotype of religious sisters is that they are solemn, serious, and strict, but in my experience, religious sisters carry within them a deep joy that simply bubbles over when there...