Today we celebrate that the Lord chose Juan Diego a native American and Native Mexican in those days. And he was chosen contrary to any of his own desires or interest to see the Blessed Mother. One of the important things is that it was a miraculous experience where the image of the Blessed Mother […]
It is always important for us to remember, as we enter into this season of Advent, that it’s part of a bookend celebration. At the end of the liturgical year, we were reading text about the Final Judgment and the end of the world. At the beginning of the liturgical year, we do it again […]
Appropriate for our present moment in history is this reading from Titus. It’s worth keeping in mind that when St. Paul says to remind everyone to be under the control of the magistrates and authorities, to be obedient, and to be open to every good enterprise, he said this while the Roman government had arrested […]
An important term that keeps both readings together is that of being a steward; oikonómos, in Greek. We can recognize the word economy comes from that. Oikonomía referred to all the inhabited region of the world. The oikonómos has this duty as a steward within that world to serve the Lord St. Paul speaks of […]
Today we celebrate two martyrs: St. Cornelius, who is pope of Rome and St. Cyprian who was the bishop of the city of Carthage, which is on the coast of North Africa; a very ancient city from the 800s BC that have been destroyed by the Romans and remade then into a Roman city. It […]
After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.Simon’s mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,and they interceded with him about her.He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.She got up immediately and waited on them. At sunset, all who had people sick with various diseasesbrought them to him.He laid […]
Jesus said,“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.You build […]
Dear Holy People of God, In today’s Gospel, Matthew 14:22-33, the Lord encounters us in an emotion that is much more commonplace: fear. Many things can cause us to be afraid: the fear of the unknown, the fear of tomorrow, the fear that things might not go as I hope, the fear of newness, the […]
There are four major basilicas in Rome. One of them is that of St. Mary Major. It was dedicated in August of 431 AD. And it would seem odd that of all the churches, I do not think we celebrate the dedication of St. Peters or St. Paul, but we celebrate this one. And the […]
Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Maryto comfort them about their brother [Lazarus, who had died].When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,she went to meet him;but Mary sat at home.Martha said to Jesus,“Lord, if you had been here,my brother would not have died.But even now I know that whatever you ask of […]
