catholicism

Ponder with the One “begotten of the Father before the daystar shone.”

“Begotten of the Father before the daystar shone or time began, the Lord our Savior has appeared on earth today.”

These words come from the second antiphon from Evening Prayer 1 of the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Evening Prayer is found in the Liturgy of the Hours which is prayed by clergy, religious, and those laity blessed to be introduced to this beautiful daily prayer practice. Though these words do not come from today’s gospel from Matthew, they offer a beautiful opportunity for meditation on the mystery of Epiphany and are continuing to celebrate and ponder this Christmas Season.

The first line, “Begotten of the Father before the daystar shone or time began,” offers a beautiful rhythm that invites us to journey back in time before time existed! Before there was the sun or any sun, before anything existed, even time, God was. God was a Trinity of three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father begot the Son, did not make him. His Son is not a created being, because there was no creation, this is a reality before even time. The Father eternally begot the Son, the Son was eternally begotten, and the infinite love and outpouring, the giving and receiving of one to the other is the procession, or spiration of the love between them, the Holy Spirit.

God was, is, and always will be. God was, is, and always will be a communion of an infinite three. Then in that wonderful moment in time, he sent his Son, to be conceived. The, “Yes,” of Mary and the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, allowed our Lord and Savior to appear on earth. The divine Son took on flesh, became fully human in the womb of Mary. Heaven and earth became united in a way never known before or at any point of history before that moment. The wiseman followed a star to see this child king, the One who existed before any star.

We are given in these words an invitation to stop. Full stop, period. To breathe and read these words again slowly, “Begotten of the Father before the daystar shone and time began.” Breathe a few more times and read a few more times. Then close your eyes and breathe and let the words be spoken to you by the Word who became flesh. Listen and allow yourself to spend some time with the One who was before there was time, the One who was there when all was made and all came into being out of an outpouring of the trinitarian communion of love.

Breathe and allow yourself to be loved by the One who is love (1 John 4:). Breathe and spend some time with the one who obeyed his Father and came. He is “the Lord our Savior [who] has appeared on earth today.” Jesus, our Lord and Savior was born in time, died in time, conquered death in time, so now in his glorified body can transcend time so – Epiphany – to appear, to come into a clearer view and be with us today, in this moment.

Enough from me for this time. I hand you off to Jesus who offers his hand to you to spend time with him. My invitation is to follow his lead as he led me earlier with these words. Allow him to lead you now where he invites you to go. Trust in the One “begotten of the Father before the daystar shone and time began.”

Photo: My view in the chapel in the Community Center at University of Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, IL, where I read these words during evening prayer and then spent the next hour pondering them with the one begotten of the Father! Wow.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, January 4, 2025

“Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.”

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).

The only one who can take away sins is God. The unblemished lamb is the animal that is sacrificed at the Passover meal, commemorating when the angel of death passed over the Hebrews whose doorposts were marked with the blood of the lamb. The next day they were freed from their slavery under pharaoh, and the Exodus event began culminating in their passing through the Red Sea to freedom.

The Son of God became human to become the Lamb of God. He experienced laughter, pain, suffering, love, tears, and all of our human condition even temptation, but he did not sin. The Son of God became human so that what he assumed in his human condition, he could redeem. As the Lamb of God, Jesus approached John for baptism, he took upon himself the sin of the world and submitted his divinity to his human condition and was willing to be baptized for repentance not because he sinned, but so that he entered into solidarity with us in our sin. He was then and is not afraid now to come close. This act also foreshadowed his crucifixion.

The Incarnation, the Son becoming fully human while remaining fully divine, was the premiere act of mercy, in that miracle, Jesus entered the chaos and woundedness of our lives. His willingness to die on the cross is the greatest expression of his love. The same love that he has, continued to and always will share with his Father, in holding nothing back, we can see him doing so visibly when we look upon a crucifix. He was born and died, he gave everything, including his life for each and every one of us.

We cannot redeem ourselves, heal by our own willing it, escape from our own sins alone, nor be restored to who we have been created to be. We need a savior. Jesus is a model to follow and teacher to guide us, while at the same time he so much more. He who is divine, became one with us in our humanity to lead us and free us from our slavery to sin. Each Christmas is a reminder of the gift of the incarnation, that we can be blessed by every day. As we receive his invitation to grow in our relationship with Jesus daily, he grants us the grace to access and share in the divine Love experienced between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus holds his hand out to each one of us today. May we receive his hand, and as our fingers touch his palm may we feel the wound there, touch, as did Thomas, the imprint of the nail that pierced his flesh, and realize he allowed this to happen so that we could have this very moment with him. Even in our wounds, anxiety, insecurities, confusion, fear, and sin, may we resist pulling away. May we feel the warmth of his hand grip ours. Let our gaze be drawn up to see his face, his smile, and so experience his forgiveness, healing, and his infinite love.

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Photo: Blessed at each Mass and second Advent as a priest, to hold up the Body of Christ and say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.” May we who behold him and receive his Body and Blood or spiritual communion, believe in him.

Link for the readings of the Mass for Saturday, January 3, 2026

When we know who Jesus truly is, we will know who we are.

“Who are you” (Jn 1:19)? John did not claim or pretend to be something that he was not. He was clear to those leaders that arrived from Jerusalem to assess and questions him. John was clear of his place in serving God, about the mission and testimony or witness that God gave him to proclaim. John was not the messiah, he was preparing the way of the Lord. John shared that “there is one among you whom you do not recognize, the one who is coming after me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie” (Jn 1:26-27). He, like Mary, did not point to himself but to Jesus.

The question also arose about who Jesus was. It was not only a question during his lifetime, but this query was also addressed during the early development of the Church’s Christology and still arises today. The readings of the Christmas Season, that we are still celebrating liturgically, in fact, all four Gospels, address the question of who Jesus is. As presented yesterday, in naming Mary, Theotokos, the God bearer, the Church was defining that Jesus was one divine person subsisting in two natures. In fact, the entirety of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation answers this question!

Just as the Jewish authorities asked John and Jesus who they were, people have continued to ask who Jesus is. The majority of the heresies that arose in the Church surrounded this question and those that do not know the history of these false beliefs and teachings may believe in them today and not know that they do.

From the account of the Mystery of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38), we recognize that at Jesus’ conception in the womb of Mary, Jesus remained fully divine while becoming fully human. He did not become the Christ at his baptism as the heresy of Adoptionism would propose. Nor was Jesus the most powerful, created being as the priest Arius would suggest in the third century. We counter the heresy of Arianism every Sunday when we recite in the Nicene Creed: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him, all things were made.”

Arianism taught that Jesus was a created being, the highest of beings made by God, but created none the less. The Church teaches that Jesus is begotten not made. He was, is, and always will be God, the Second Person of the Trinity. He is God the Son, consubstantial, homoousios, which means of one and the same substance with God the Father. The Father and the Son are one in substance, yet distinct in their operation. The Father begets, the Son is begotten.

Adoptionism and Arianism are but two of the various early heresies that arose, of which Arianism gained more of a following. Arianism still rears its head today in practice as it did then because of those who are not able to accept that the divine could become human. This goes back to our starting question that was asked about John. “Who are you?”

A good question to answer for us ourselves. We are human beings created in the image and likeness of God, even though our likeness has been dimmed by sin. We are physical beings with a rational soul, we are invited to embrace the reality that we are human and through our participation in the life of Jesus, beginning with our baptism, we are adopted daughters and sons of God. Do we reject our humanity, our created status, trying to determine our own destiny on our own terms, to put ourselves in the place of God, or are we like John the Baptist, and acknowledge the gift of who we are and the mission God invites us to participate in?

As we continue to celebrate this Christmas Season (Yes, it is still Christmas!) and the new year that has just begun, may we embrace that each and everyone of us is a unique person, never created before nor will we ever be created again. Each of us has a particular vocation and part to play in building up of the reign of God. As we repent and turn away from sin, live our lives in accord and journey with Jesus, and as we, like Mary, hear, ponder, and observe the word of God (cf. Luke 11:28), we will come to know him and our purpose.

As we grow in our relationship, collaborate, and discern with Jesus each of our thoughts, words, and deeds, the smallest to the biggest, we to will be able to witness like John the Baptist. By our testimony, we too will prepare the hearts and minds of those we meet to encounter the forgiveness, mercy, and love of Jesus that we have experienced. Let us pray in these first days of the new year for a heart, mind, and soul that is open to following the love of the Holy Spirit so that we can know who we are, whose we are, the mission that the Father has given us, and begin to live it each day. Baby steps!

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Photo: Icon of Christ the Great High Priest by Marek Czarnecki 

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, January 2, 2026

Jesus came to dwell among us so we could dwell with him in the Trinity.

“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). The Logos, the Word, the second person of the Holy Trinity, dwelt or another translation, “tabernacled” among us. The Son of God pitched his tent in our midst. This is a reference to the tabernacle or tent of meeting which was erected whenever Moses and those who had escaped slavery in Egypt camped. Within the tent of meeting was placed the Ark of the Covenant. This tent of meeting was made present because God instructed Moses to do so that he would be present with his people. “They shall make a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8).

God, from the beginning, sought to dwell with his people. He breathed his breath of life into Adam to give him life, he took a rib out of Adam and formed Eve, God walked among Adam and Even “at the breezy time of day” (Genesis 3:8). Each of these images show the intention of intimacy that God had from the moment of creating his children.

His children continued to turn away. God did not give up. He remained faithful. He continued to reach out in time to establish a covenant. He did so with Adam and Eve, with Noah, with Abraham, and with Moses. With Moses he established The Ark of the Covenant and the tabernacle housing it was portable and would move with the people, such that God was always present in their midst. The basic structure would later become the foundation for Solomon’s temple, and then Herod’s Temple. The Holy of Holies was believed to be the very seat of God in Jerusalem. In the fullness of time, Jesus was born to us, and he became the living temple, Emmanuel, God with us. “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” (Jn 2:19).

And why did Jesus come? So that the glory of God could be revealed not just to the temple priest, but to all of us, “and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). Jesus came to be one with us in our humanity while remaining fully divine to reveal the glory of his Father to us, the same glory that filled the tabernacle. Jesus entered our humanity to be present, to come close and accompany us, in our very midst, in a much more intimate way than God did in the tabernacle and then the Temple.

Jesus was born to share the fullness of God’s grace and his truth with us. He came to restore the ancient covenant that God has been making with his people throughout the ages. Jesus invites us to share in the infinite, faithful love that he shares, has shared, and always will share with his Father. This free, generous act of love is a pure gift. Jesus, in becoming human, in living among us, in teaching, healing, and so building a bridge of relationship with God, shines his light. A light that is not overcome by the darkness of pride, hatred, prejudice, and violence, so that we can see the truth, that God is our Father and we are all brothers and sisters.

The Incarnation, the reality that the Son of God became human while remaining fully divine, reveals to us that none of us are junk. God created us good and was willing to send his Son to become one with us. Each of us by our very existence has human dignity, value, and worth because we are created in his image and likeness.

Because of our fallen nature, we retain the image of God, but we have lost our likeness to him. We have lost our glory. Ezekiel witnessed the glory of the LORD leaving the temple because of the unwillingness of the people to repent (See Ezekiel 10:1-22). We, if we choose to remain in our sin will remain in darkness, separated from God. Jesus came to redeem us and restore us to our glory, so that we can regain our likeness to the Father. That is why John the Baptist, Jesus, and his Apostles all called us to repent.

When we return to God, and accept his invitation to spend time with him in prayer, worship, and service, we leave the darkness of selfishness and sin behind. We rise up to walk into the light of the Lord’s love and continue along the path of reconciliation. Our likeness is then restored to the extent that we develop and spend time cultivating our relationship with and allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us. This is the process of deification. We participate in the divinity of God through his grace. When we participate in the life of Jesus we experience what is God’s by nature. We don’t become God. We participate in his divine life and so become what we were created to be, disciples and saints.

This unmeritorious gift of grace, is what we are celebrating this Christmas Season. Let us open and lift up our hearts and minds to receive, rest in, and ponder the significance of this wonderful gift:  Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, came to share his divine nature so that we can participate in the divine life of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. That is good news to rest in as we prepare for the new year.

Photo: God has blessed us with two books in which he reveals himself, the Bible and his creation. Jesus, in his incarnation is the wedding of the two, the divine and the human.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, December 31, 2025

God guided Joseph and he will guide us in our time of need.

For the Feast of the Holy Family the Church gives us readings today that guide us in living as a family. When we see these guiding principles as guiding us in our relationships beyond blood family, to our family as human beings we will do even better.

Sirach gets us off and running by writing, “Whoever honors his father atones for sins” and “he stores up riches who reveres his mother”. This advice also presents the importance of caring for our parents in old age (cf. Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14). Sirach is building on the forth commandment of the Ten Commandments which is to honor our fathers and mothers. We are not to do so blindly. We can honor, respect, and care for our parents even when they have come up short in some ways. Doing so, will also help us to “atone for our sins.” No small insertion!

We begin the process of our own healing when we can be thankful for what our parents have done for us as well as acknowledging areas where they may have not been there for us. None of us are perfect. We all fall short of the glory of God. We have weaknesses as well as things we do well. We honor our parents when we see them as God sees them, through the lens of love.

To honor our parents, we first must honor God our Father, and so follow the guidance of the psalmist: “Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways” (Psalm 128:1). The reference to fearing the LORD here is not a cowering before a tyrannical ruler, but obeying and honoring our Father in heaven who has created us and trusting that he knows better than we do what is best for us and our lives. We do so when we spend time each day reading, meditating and being still with God’s word, so that we can also hear his word spoken in the silence of our hearts. The more consistent we are in this practice, the more his word becomes a living word within us.

As we slow our pace daily, breathe slower, seek God’s love and guidance regarding each thought, word, and deed, our relationships will improve. We will move away from a state of chronic stress and survival mode, such that any conflict, disagreement, or different way of seeing things is no longer perceived as an attack, and even when it might be, we will resist the knee jerk reaction to react in kind. Instead, we can assess what has been said, done or not done, seek to understand, and seek God’s guidance regarding how best to respond.

Practicing more the art of responding instead of reacting will lead to the fruits that St. Paul offers us in his letter to the Colossians (3:12-21) where he invites us to put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with and forgiving one another, and above all to loving one another. The love St. Paul invites us to practice is sacrificing for one another, seeking each other’s best and good. This will provide opportunities to mend and reconcile relationships.

Living in this way will help us see the value in adopting peace and thankfulness. Paul also guides us to spend time in God’s word such that “the word of Christ” dwells within us “richly” and so we will better be able to teach and admonish one another, edify and guide one another, as Jesus does with us. One of the best ways to offer gratitude is through the “singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” 

Then St. Paul gets more specific as he addresses the relationship with husbands and wives. “Wives be subordinate to your husbands”. Reading this verse out of context and from a reaction to abuses of husbands toward their wives in Paul’s through every age and unfortunately including today, misses the point of what he is conveying. In the next line, he offers, “Husbands, love your wives, and avoid any bitterness”. Paul is seeking to help spouses to grow in mutual respect and love for each other. They are both to sacrifice, serve, and respect one another as well as love one another.

Subordination here in no way implies that wives are inferior to their husbands. Each are to serve and love one another. Paul continues to show this balance that he proposes as he then describes how children are to obey their parents and their parents are not to provoke them, they are not to crush their spirit.

These readings provide the foundation for the gospel from Matthew for today, where we see the model family that lives the above ideals out in practice. The focus is on Joseph today, not at the expense of Mary. Matthew focuses more on Joseph’s role and Luke highlights more of Mary’s role. There is very little about Joseph and in fact, there are no words attributed to Joseph in any of the gospels. Yet, what we see clearly in today’s account, which leaves out the massacre of the holy innocents, is Joseph faithfully in the face of severe persecution willing to protect and lead Mary and Jesus to safety, and keep them safe.

Joseph, as he did when first hearing the news of Jesus’ conception, follows the lead of an angel. In today’s account, he does so three times. He is first guided to escape Bethlehem and go to Egypt to avoid the murderous Herod. After the king’s death, Joseph is called to leave Egypt and return to Bethlehem and then diverts his course, led a third time by an angel, to avoid the son of Herod who is just as egregious a ruler as his father. The young family will go to Nazareth, the home town of Mary.

Joseph shows us that in the time of conflict, challenge, and even persecution, when we trust in God and follow his guidance, he will help us to overcome obstacles and challenges. We would do well to read again in full, meditate and ponder upon, the readings that we have been given today. Through them, we will experience wisdom to help us to grow in and improve our relationship with God and one another. As we read them, we will start to be drawn to parallels in other parts of the Bible.

One example is how Miriam, the older sister of Moses, also trusted in God and played an instrumental role to save her infant brother, from the decree of the pharaoh to put to death all male children. Joseph did the same for Jesus in protecting him from the decree of Herod. Moses would grow to become the savior of his people, freeing them from their bondage in Egypt and giving them the law. Jesus, whose birth we celebrate this week is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets, the Son of God and man, and the savior of all humanity. He came to free us from our sins and lead us back into right relationship with God.

Reading these and other accounts of God reaching out to save his children are not just inspiring accounts. They are relevant to us and life changing when we meditate upon them and place ourselves and our challenges in them. Doing so helps us to enter into the living word of God so that Christ will dwell richly in us. Just as his Father guided him and his parents, the Holy Trinity and the Holy Family will guide us as well!

Photo: “Rest on the Flight to Egypt” by Gentile de Fabriano

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 28, 2025

To heal, we need to trust.

“You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved” (Mt 10:22).

Why are we talking about being hated the day after Christmas? One reason could be that Jesus, this baby whose birth we just celebrated is “the light that shines in the darkness” (Jn 1:5). The very reality of Jesus’ divinity exposes darkness, he is the very embodiment of Love that exposes evil and hatred.

St. Stephen, whose feast we celebrate today, and whose death we read about in the first reading from Acts, experiences his words personally. For he is killed for the sole purpose of speaking the Gospel. While during his persecution he sees and communicates how even the heavens open for him. The reaction to those who hear his words are infuriation and they then throw him out of the city and “stone him” (cf. Acts 7:54-59).

Stephen radiated the light, love, and wisdom of Jesus and like Jesus he was put to death. His persecutors felt threatened by the light instead of welcoming it and walking out of the darkness that held them bound. Jesus exposes the truth of those dark places within our own hearts, minds, and the very depth of our being as well. What is our response? Will we also reject the light, not aware that it is an invitation to healing and to wholeness?

We may wince at the luminous brightness of Jesus’ light and resist the intimacy of the love he seeks to share. We may unconsciously do so, because we have so often faced so much of the opposite; hurt, pain, betrayal, and lack of understanding or acceptance. Because of our past experiences we don’t want to be hurt again and so we assume a defensive crouch as the best way to protect ourselves. Unfortunately, we are protecting ourselves from the very One who can heal us from our wounds.

Yet, to be fully alive, we need to embrace the light, not hide from it. When we are open to the healing touch of Jesus and receive the gift of his light in our lives, we begin to die to our false self and the lies that we have believed. Allowing ourselves to breathe and rest in God’s loving presence helps us to heal, indentify, and allow Jesus to transform our vices into virtues. Once we allow ourselves to be loved by Jesus, we begin to recognize that we are turned in upon ourselves, and then we can adjust our posture and begin to open ourselves to him. We also begin to recognize that we are not the center of the universe.

As we follow the model of John the Baptist, St. Stephen, and the other saints, we become less so that Jesus becomes more in our lives. We too will face at times the same rejection that Jesus faced. We will be labeled crazy, out of step, simple-minded, irrational, and worse. Yet we are to resist returning to a defensive posture, to refuse to react in kind, but instead, to be present, call upon and trust in the Holy Spirit to give us the words to speak, and allow God to happen. We are to remain open, accepting of the person where they are and as they are, and share the same transformative mercy, love, and forgiveness that Jesus has offered to us.

Change, maturation, and growth is not easy. As disciples, we are to be disciplined and persevere, while at the same time remember that our redemption does not come from our own doing or will power alone. Our healing, restoration, and transformation comes when we are able to share our poverty, our weakness, and wounds with the divine healer. We begin to heal when we trust Jesus, even if only a little at first. When we accept his invitation to walk with him, let him in to our places of darkness, we will receive the healing salve of his love, mercy, and forgiveness.

Transformation is not a one-time event. Christmas is not just a day, it is not just a season. Christmas is a time to remember that Jesus came as an infant, as a savior that in no way is threatening. If we have not been able to trust Jesus, maybe imagine taking him into our arms as a baby and begin there. Allowing him to come close and hold him, will help our hearts and minds to soften and feel safe.

In becoming human in the most vulnerable way as a fetus in the womb of Mary, as an infant in a violent world, Jesus lived and thrived because he trusted in Mary and Joseph and his Father. When we trust in God and begin to know him as a person, we will see his guidance not as a threat, but as a way when we might experience no way. We can begin to experience peace even when in times of conflict and even persecution. We can resist the temptation to react in kind and instead follow the lead of the Holy Spirit for each thought, word, and action we choose.

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Photo: To learn to trust, we need to first learn to breathe and slow down. Christmas Eve in between Masses.

Link for the readings for Friday, December 26, 2025

“Jesus who is called Messiah” will light our way through the homestretch of Advent.

Today in the liturgical calendar of the church we begin the nine days before Christmas as we do each year with Matthew’s account of the genealogy of Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, is fully divine, while at the same time he is also fully human. Matthew gets us started in the home stretch with the lineage of Jesus’ human line from Abraham to his father Joseph (foster father, in that Joseph was not Jesus’ biological dad, but no one would not have made that distinction in Jesus’ time.) and his mother Mary.

Jesus was part of a people and a family, he was born at a particular time and in a particular place. If you go through this genealogy with a fine-tooth comb, there are gaps, but Matthew was more concerned with the line of faith than a strict historical account. Matthew also included women in this listing, which was not common in ancient patriarchal societies. This was also not common in ancient Jewish genealogies, “which traced lineage from father to son” (Mitch and Sri, 38). Looking at their stories in Scripture will also show that most listed were not the most morally upright, but more importantly, God was still able to work through this imperfect line of humanity and so the genealogy ends with, “Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Of her was born Jesus who is called Messiah” (Mt 1:16).

Though Jesus was conceived in Mary who was a virgin and immaculately conceived, he came from a line that was far from perfect. As Catholics and Christians, this is our heritage as well. We are spiritual Semites. Genealogies have become more popular in recent years as can be seen by the different advertisements for DNA test kits. There is a natural instinct to reach out for these because we want to belong and to be a part of.

To understand who we are and where we have come from, and to continue forward, it is helpful to reach behind. Jesus belonged to the people of Judah. He is a part of the succession from Abraham and his clan, to the twelve tribes of Jacob, to the unified nation of Israel under David. That did not change even as the fall from grace beginning with David, continued with his son Solomon, and most of the other kings.

Joseph was the heir to the thrown that in this imperfect line of succession went underground when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians. This promise of the return of the messiah, the king in the line of David remained even while under occupation for the next five hundred years under Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and at the time of Jesus’ birth, the Romans. When Joseph died, Jesus was next in line. Jesus’ leadership would become and continues like no other before him or that will ever come again. Jesus brought God’s movement of grace, the seeds of which were planted by some of the prophets like Isaiah, beyond the nation of Israel to fulfill the promise that they be a light to the nations, a universal invitation for all.

Another piece that a careful reading of the genealogy uncovers is that Jesus does not come from a purely Jewish lineage. As mentioned above, women were included in this list of ancestors. The common denominator of each of these four women, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and most likely Bathsheba was that each of them were Gentiles. “Gentile blood flowed into the royal line of David. This underscores God’s concern for Gentiles, demonstrating that he brought them into the story of Israel even in the Old Testament” (Mitch and Sri, 39).

God’s invitation of relationship with him was intended from the beginning, and step by step through salvation history God continued to thirst for his children and sought to woo them back, drawing them with his tender chord of love. This would come to fruition in the incarnation. The Son of God became one with us in our imperfect and sinful human condition to set right a world that had gone wrong.

Through our Baptism, we become part of the royal lineage and line of Jesus. No blood test needed. We are not alone, no longer estranged, no longer separate, or on the peripheries. We belong to the Body of Christ. Yet many, even those who profess their belief in Christ, are missing his greatest gift of faith, which is developing a relationship with him now. Let us not be complacent and settle for Christian in name only or walk away from our birthright.

In these final days of Advent, may we set aside a little more time to spend with Jesus. As our schedule revs up, may we bring Jesus into our busy. The Son was willing to draw close to us in the incarnation that we are about to celebrate, let us draw close to him. We all have the same amount of time in our days. Deciding to set aside some time of quiet, to take some deep and slow breaths, and accept the invitation to draw close to Jesus who is at hand will help us to engage better with the time we have and those walking with us.

Those brief moments are a powerful reset. In those moments of turning our hearts and minds to Jesus, we can receive the rest and renewal we desperately need. We can receive his love and invite him to walk with us in all that we think, say, and do. We can yoke ourselves to Jesus so that we do not travel these days alone. Jesus is more than willing to share our burdens, and he will give us the strength to carry on.

By our baptism we are part of the royal line of Jesus. More importantly, Jesus is present in each moment. We just need to remember to turn to him. Each intentional, deep breath will bring our shoulders out of our ears, help us to react less, and experience greater clarity in our choices and decisions. We will also see each other a little different than before, with more understanding, patience, and love.

As we celebrate the birth of “Jesus who is called Messiah”, even in the imperfections and messy moments, Jesus’ light will shine through. We are invited this season to be the calm in the storm of the chaos. “Peace be still.”

Photo: In times of silence we will experience how close Jesus really is.

Mitch, Curtis and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, December 17, 2025

In choosing God’s will, we will experience more peace and love.

Although the chief priests and elders evaded the question about whether or not John’s baptism was “of heavenly or human origin” (see Mt 21:26) by saying, “We do not know” (Mt. 21:27), Jesus did not let them off the hook. His intent was not to call them out or prove himself right, but to call them to conversion. Jesus, as he does with all he meets, seeks to shine a light on where our hearts and minds are in need of opening and expanding.

And so, in today’s account from Matthew, Jesus offers the Parable of the Wicked Son. The first son says he will not do the will of his father and then changes his mind and does it. The second son said that he would do the work his father asked him to do but did not. “”Which of the two did his father’s will?’ They answered, ‘The first'” (Mt 21:31). Jesus went on to reveal to the priests and elders how those who sinned had indeed gone against his Father’s will, but heard John, came to him for baptism and were willing to repent. They recognized they were off course and made a correction. The priests and elders, saw no need for John’s baptism for themselves, and in also rejecting Jesus, were not only going against God’s will, but his Son.

These men who stood before Jesus and challenged him were likely received the call received by the Pharisees and Sadducees: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath” (Mt 3:7)? For they, like the chief priests and elders, were not interested in repenting, they thought themselves well and good, thank you very much.

Jesus not only compared them to the second son who did not follow the will of God, but he also said that the “tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom” (Mt. 21:31) before they would. If their hearts were hardened before, the grip only tightened. They did not take kindly to Jesus’ invitation to repent.

The call for repentance that John, Jesus, and the Apostles all proclaimed was, and still continues to be, an invitation to experience God’s grace and love. We are good but something has gone terribly wrong and we need to set things right. Jesus is the one to help us to do just that. We just need to be willing to admit there is a problem. We need to come to the awareness that Paul came to, when he wrote: “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15).

If we think we are fine and not in need of any help, let alone that are we in need of a savior, then we are going to  keep coming back to Paul’s anguish as he pulled out what little hair he had left. We can’t white knuckle our way to healing, there is no three point plan that will free us from our sin, breathing deep alone will not help us to experience freedom from anxiety.

We have to place ourselves first, less, and Jesus first, more. The more we make that transition, then we can also say with Paul, and keep a little more hair while doing so, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians, 2:20). When we are willing to repent, to change our mind, and are willing to be transformed, then like the first son, we will follow the will of the Father. Instead of isolation and unrest, we will come to experience more of his communion and love.

Photo: We still have time this Advent to repent and experience our Father who loves and thirsts for us.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, December 16, 2025

The love of Jesus can help us in our times of conflict.

The question raised by “the chief priests and the elders of the people” regarding what authority Jesus was teaching was not an uncommon question. Rabbis and teachers often began their presentations by sharing with their listeners who was their teacher. It would be comparable today to say what university we received our degree from.

There is also a bit of edginess in their question as well because Jesus has not only consistently been challenging their authority but he had also just purged the temple by driving out the sellers and money changers (see Mt. 21:12-17).

Although Jesus’ authority came directly from God, Jesus did not fall for their trap, wanting him to say just that. Then they could accuse him of blasphemy or force him to say his authority did not come from God and show him to be a fraud. Jesus did not give them the satisfaction. Instead of answering their question, Jesus asked one of his own. “Where was John’s baptism from? Was it of heavenly or of human origin” (Mt: 21:24)?

The answer given by these priests and elders showed further their unwillingness to accept who Jesus was. They were the shepherds of the people of Israel, yet they would not speak the truth. They were like reeds swaying in the wind (see Mt. 11:7). Unlike John the Baptist who stood on the truth and spoke truth to power, these chief priests and elders offered an answer that was calculated and weighed out by taking a quick opinion poll among themselves. Their answer was a lukewarm, “We do not know.” 

In answering this way, their authority as leaders was diminished. For if they were the religious guardians and guides, why could they not answer the simple question regarding the origin of John’s baptism? Jesus was not deflecting the question. He was prefacing his response. For if they recognized that John’s baptism originated from God, then why would they refuse to believe Jesus? They knew the answer, they were not willing to give it.

How about us? Are we like reeds swaying in the wind? Do we weigh our answers solely on a perceived response or do we speak the truth as the Holy Spirit leads us? We want to be liked, respected, to belong and to fit in, to be affirmed and accepted, which is healthy and natural, but at what cost? Sometimes we feel uncomfortable speaking what we believe because we fear another’s reactions. This is even more challenging these days because a simple response can affect a harsh reaction.

To live out our baptismal call as prophets, there will be times that we need to resist the perceived and real pressures we feel, resist our own insecurities, lean into conflicts, trust in God, seek his guidance, and speak the words the Holy Spirit gives.

As we do so, we need to remember to speak from a place of understanding and love. It is better to engage in a dialogue, not just mutually imposed monologues. A good reminder is to follow the lead of Jesus and ask more questions rather than offer ultimatums and pronouncements. Our goal in any encounter is not to impress or prove we are right and the other wrong, but to express what we believe and allow others to do the same. We can grow from one another when we are willing to listen and dialogue even when we disagree.

Sometimes God invites us to be silent and sometimes to speak boldly with passion. The key is to prayerfully pause, then choose to speak or to be silent. It is possible to move away from the extremes of talking past or shouting over one another and avoiding talking altogether. This happens when we listen first, breathe, pray, pause, and respect each other.

Jesus, please forgive us for giving into automatic reactions, not speaking as you have led, and disrespecting others. Help us in each encounter to breathe, to have ears to hear your guidance, to be understanding and respectful. Give us the courage and words to speak with charity and help us to know when to be silent and to listen. Above all, help us to love.

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Photo: Quiet times alone with God help us to experience peace that we can carry with us in times of conflict and disagreement.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, December 15, 2025

Surrendering to Jesus, we will experience more of his presence, light, and love.

John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus to ask him whether or not he was the Messiah. Jesus answered their inquiry with the concrete expressions of what was happening. “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me” (Mt 11:4-5).

The ministry of Jesus was and continues to be today one of personal contact. Christianity is not merely a philosophical idea or even a particular theology. It is a faith tradition of an encounter with the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God. We are walking through Advent to remember again that a light has shone in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it (cf. Jn 1:5).

Sometimes we can be weighed down by the darkness, the negativity, horror, and destruction we see all around us. The world certainly appears to be in a real mess at times. One of the most common critiques, and a valid one at that, is if there is a loving God, why does he allow such horrible things to happen, especially to the innocent?

The Scriptures are clear, all that God has created is good. Evil is a deprivation of the good. It is an absence or distortion of the good that God has made, like a cavity in a tooth. The healings and miracles of Jesus we read about, as he himself describes in today’s Gospel, are the beginning overture of the restoration of that which was lost. God comes to us in our everyday lives and circumstances with the intent to save us, to make things right again for everyone. “God, in Christ, has come to set right a world gone wrong” (Grunow, 175).

No matter what darkness we may be experiencing or witnessing this Advent, let us look for the light of Jesus shining in the midst of it. I can’t offer you a sufficient answer as to why God allows some bad things to happen or why he heals some and not others.

Some six years later, the words of the head of hospice still ring in my ears. “Except for the cancer, JoAnn was in perfect health.” I have no answer as to why she contracted cancer. I don’t ask why any more nor do I cling to the past. I remember and continue to hold JoAnn close to my heart but it has been in letting her go that I have experienced a closeness to where she is now. Especially, in some precious moments in the Mass and at prayer.

This Advent as we look for a light in the darkness, may we also be that light in the darkness for others. As we receive, rest, and abide in the love of Jesus, may we allow him to shine through us, to allow his love to be present in each encounter. We are just passing through this world and need to remember this is not all there is, but there is a life of fulfillment to come. What we see now is just but a hazy image of what is to come in the fullness of the height, depth, and breadth of God’s plan. John knew he was not the messiah, he was the forerunner, the messenger, and he became less so that Jesus could become more.

Jesus began his public ministry after John’s arrest and his healing of the blind, lame, and deaf, the lepers and the three he brought back from the dead, are but a foreshadowing of heaven he opened for us in the humanity he assumed. We live in the in-between time of the first coming of Jesus at his birth and his second coming. May we remain open to receive Jesus daily by rejecting doubt, despair, and fear, and choosing hope, faith, and love. As we encounter Jesus close at hand, may we offer our hand to one another.

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Photo: Blessed with this view walking back to the rectory after morning Mass.

Grunow, Stephen. Introduction to the Gospel of Mark in The Word on Fire Bible: The Gospels. Park Ridge, Illinois: Word on Fire, 2020.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 14, 2025