god

Jesus is the light that will lead us out of our darkness.

Yesterday, we celebrated the Epiphany, in which the three magi encountered Jesus. They left changed, no longer following a star to find a king, but bearing the light of Christ from their encounter. Next Sunday we will recall the Baptism of Jesus by John. Today the daily readings jump ahead to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. John the Baptist has been arrested. He must decrease as Jesus increases.

Jesus inaugurates his ministry echoing the words of John’s ministry: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). John prepared the way for the Kingdom to come, Jesus himself, in his person, is the Kingdom of heaven. Heaven is not so much a place but a state of communion with God, and who better to embody the reality of heaven than the Son of God in our midst. He who remained fully divine, in communion with his Father, while becoming human and living among us.

Jesus proclaimed his promise of the Kingdom to his people who were suffering. He is the one who has been promised. Jesus is the fulfillment of their greatest hope. Matthew summarized the ministry of Jesus thus: “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people” (Mt 4:23).

Jesus provided hope and healing to those who were losing hope, struggling, and in pain. Jesus taught with authority, providing light that if they were willing to follow would lead them out of their darkness. He did so through not only being the Kingdom in their midst, not only being their light to guide their way, but also being the way, the truth, and the life embodied. He empowered and freed them from their slavery to the sin that kept them bound. He helped them to see that they could not be enslaved by anyone or anything. Jesus helped the people to see that what kept them bound was their separation from God.

Jesus did not only come to the people of Galilee two thousand years ago. His message is offered for everyone. Jesus proclaims his message again to us today, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). There is no better new year’s resolution to begin with than this! Jesus is still present to us, providing hope and healing, providing his presence of love and mercy, providing his teaching which shines a light in our darkness. We too can rise up a follow his light and be freed from our slavery to our own selfishness and sin. As we decrease and allow Jesus to increase, we too like the wise men will be changed. We too can share Christ as we live our lives differently this year.  A life that expresses love, understanding, patience, mercy, and forgiveness.

Photo: Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, IL.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, January 5, 2025

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.

———————————————————-

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!

——————————————————————————————-

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

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

Theotokos! – We are invited to ponder.

Mary offers us a wonderful gift through the words of Luke as we begin the new year together. “Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). Gabriel shares with Mary that she will conceive a child through the power of the Holy Spirit. Her relative Elizabeth, past childbearing years, is six months pregnant when Mary and Elizabeth meet. In their encounter, John leaps in the womb of Elizabeth. The shepherds convey the message they received from the angels that Mary’s baby is the long-awaited Messiah. Simeon and Anna offer prophetic confirmation that Jesus is the Messiah.

These are the events we have been hearing or reading about again during Advent and this Christmas Octave. May we, like Mary, also ponder them, not to just read or listen and move on. The Church at her best has followed the model of Mary’s reflection, pondering, and meditating upon what these words mean and has come to call this day the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. This title says more about Jesus than it does about Mary. This is the teaching that the Church Fathers confirmed during the council of Ephesus in 431 AD:

Mary is the Mother of God, in Greek – Theotokos – the God-bearer.

From the pondering of Paul we receive his words, “God sent forth his Son, born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4). Paul did not say, born of man and woman but of a woman. The second Person of the Trinity was sent by his Father through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit and was conceived in the womb of Mary. Jesus is the Son of God in his divinity and the son of Mary in his humanity. He remained fully divine as the second Person of the Trinity and the Holy Trinity was not diminished in any way as he developed as a human being in the womb and was born of Mary. This truth and reality is the Mystery of the hypostatic union: Jesus is one divine person subsisting in two natures the human and divine.

Theological insights such as Mary being the Mother of God and the hypostatic union of Jesus, are easily missed or worse dismissed if we conform ourselves to the present age of instant gratification, instant access, surfing, swiping, absorbing sound bites from social media platforms and amassing information overload. These technological avenues along with the growing influence of AI can be one more distraction, diversion, and temptation that can lead to horrific outcomes or if we slow down, discern well and allow ourselves to think critically and prudently, we can experience some benefits.

If we still read books, do we do so with pencil and highlighter in hand, take notes and go back to those points underlined, highlighted, and/or annotated and ponder the insights we have received, and then put them into practice? Or do we just have a moment of pause and say hmm, interesting, and then move on to the next page, paragraph, and book, seeking more?

Let us begin the first day of the new year by taking a few deep breaths, allow ourselves to stop before getting back on the roller coaster of chaos and chronic stress, and allow ourselves to follow Mary’s guidance, and ponder. We can reflect on a word, a phrase, or a short statement that we write down and return to it often. The phrase could be as simple as a paraphrase from today’s reading: Mary pondered these things in her heart.

We can ponder a mystery of Scripture that touched us at some point in our lives and see what the deeper relevance to our lives God has invited us to experience when he moved our hearts and minds to carry this memory. We can go to today’s reading, read it again a few times and allow the Holy Spirit to overshadow us so that Jesus made be revealed present and comfortable awaiting our waking to his presence.

This reality can be deepened by meditating on one word such as: Theotokos, expressing the truth that Mary is the God-bearer, the Mother of God, and what that means to us. How can we be Theotokos? We can meditate on a picture like the one I posted with this reflection, one you may have on the wall or a precious moment on your phone or a dusty untouched photo album.

If we seek to live a life of joy, fulfillment, and meaning in 2026, we would do well to follow Mary. Following her lead would entail pondering more, slowing down, and reflecting on life, on what is important, what has value, where we are putting our time, energy, and effort, and recognizing where we do not follow God and where we do welcome God into our lives. We can reflect upon where we resist and where we follow his will.

Reflecting upon our lives helps us to move away from the automatic pilot of survival mode and experience more intention and agency. Otherwise, we may allow ourselves to float along through another year indecisively or stagnantly with indifference or cynicism, merely reacting to situations that arise, or just plodding along in survival mode or merely bored and listless. Being still can be scary because as we do so, our fears, our past hurts, and our loneliness can come to the surface.

If so, that is a gift. We are human and in experiencing our emotions, we can heal. When we experience them with Jesus whose celebration of his incarnation we have been experiencing, then there is a path lit by the light of his love that reveals a way where in the past we thought there was no way, no hope. In an intentional act of slowing down and even coming to a complete stop, the Holy Spirit can overshadow us in these very real emotions with his love, so we can begin to heal and transform beyond merely existing and set a healthier course of being more alive and grateful for the gift of our lives.

Hand in hand with Jesus and Mary, we can face and embrace our fears, and heal from our wounds. Surrendering and conforming our lives more to the life and love of Jesus, we will realize that we are not alone, and so can build more authentic and intimate relationships. We can act more decisively and with greater clarity, and experience more fully what we are here for, to bring a little more tenderness, mercy, understanding, forgiveness, and love to the many others around us who are also wounded.

May 2026 be a wonderful new year of healing, joy, and fulfillment, as we, like Mary, come to experience God’s presence in the silence of our hearts, his love that he seeks to embrace us with, so that we may become a people of faith, hope, and love in contemplation and action. Mary Mother of God, pray for us.

Here is a blessing to receive and ponder for us all for today and each day of this year. May “the LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!” (See Numbers 6:24-26)

————————————————————————————

Photo: My favorite icon of Jesus and Mary, St. Mary’s Chapel, St Vincent DePaul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, where I was blessed to spend many hours reading, pondering, mediating, praying, and healing.

Link for the Mass readings for January 1, 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

May we, like Anna, speak about how our encounter with Jesus has changed our lives.

We have no evidence of what the encounter with the baby Jesus meant for Anna, Simeon, the Magi, or the shepherds. What most likely happened was that they all did as Anna did, she “spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38). Since they followed God’s invitation to come and see the baby in their own unique ways, even though their part in God’s theodrama was no longer recorded in the Bible, their lives were most likely not ever the same again as they continued to share the good news they experienced.

The account continued for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus who, “returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him” (Lk 2:39-40). No ticker-tape parade, no giving the key to the city, and no gala ball awaited the Holy Family when they returned to Nazareth. They went on to live very simple lives preparing for the appointed hour.

The Advent and Christmas accounts of these past few weeks have revealed a wonderful tapestry of men and women accepting God’s invitation. In their own small and unique ways they have collaborated with God who works through the everyday events of people’s lives, more often than not unseen. We would do well to ponder and follow their examples. St. Mother Teresa learned from her namesake, the Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux, to do just that, not get caught up seeking to do great things, but to do little things with great love.

As the Christmas Season continues, let us do the same as life has already or has begun to shift; families and friends have come and gone or are readying to go, vacation days are coming to an end. Let us resist the temptation to get lost again in the busyness of life. Let us appreciate the gift we have been given, to meditate, ponder, and think a bit more about the accounts of Jesus and the supporting cast around him. What do these stories mean for each of us? Life can be hard and can change in an instant because it is fragile. Let us not take our family and friends for granted. May we take a deep breath and renew our commitment to God and each other.

As the Holy Family begins their journey to Nazareth and their simple life, as we begin to return to our regular daily routines, may we be a little more aware and open to the quiet and gentle ways of how God is working in our lives. May we commit to supporting and caring for one another, be a little more aware and reach out to those in need, express our need for help and allow others to assist us. As we do so, we will start to recognize the simplicity of divinity operating within the midst of our human interactions. The Holy Spirit is inviting us to be transformed in this new year, to watch, pray, and cooperate, so that he may kindle in us the fire of his love so that it may spread to others and renew the face of the earth.

Photo: “Holding the Redemption of Israel.”

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, December 30, 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

When we take the time to be still, we will see and believe.

Jesus Christ is born for us. Jesus Christ dies for us. Jesus Christ conquers death and rises again for us. Because of our place in time, December 27, 2025 AD – Anno Domini, In the year of our Lord, we are capable of experiencing his life, suffering, death, Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven. The important question we need to answer is, “Does this new fact, this new reality in human history, make a real difference in our lives?”

Christmas did not end two days ago. We are still in the Octave of Christmas. The Church celebrates two octaves in the Church liturgical calendars, Christmas and Easter. These eight days are celebrated to impress on us the solemnity of the event of remembrance. From the vigil celebration of Christmas Eve on December 24 to January 1, the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, we celebrate the significant event of the Incarnation, the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, becoming one with us in human history.

“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:14). The Masses celebrated within the Octave of Christmas, as well as the readings of Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours, reflect the celebration of Christmas Day each day for the eight days. It is like having a week-long birthday party. More importantly, we are invited to meditate and ponder this wonderful gift, that God has come close to dwell among us.

If we are solely focused on gifts, the returning of gifts, and celebrations apart from the celebration of Jesus’ birth; if we are removed from the liturgical cycle and rhythm of the Church, it is easy to fall into the daily harried pace again and post-Christmas blues may creep in because it can feel like everything is done but the returning of gifts and getting a good after Christmas deal. Christmas music has been alive and well on many radio channels for weeks, but at some point on Christmas Day and often the following day, they stop. They stop at the time when they ought to begin!

The material and finite, no matter how wonderful, even our closest relationships, will never satisfy our deepest hunger and thirst. If you are experiencing any post-Christmas blues, today is a great opportunity to let go of the material for a bit and enter into the gift of silence, and to spend some time meditating and contemplating on who will satisfy our deepest longing. The greatest gift that we have been given, we began to celebrate again two days ago.

The Son of God changed human history through his conception and birth and we are invited to participate in God’s great theodrama of human transformation. Today’s Gospel reading is a fast forward from this birth we are celebrating and the gift that keeps on giving, the reality of the purpose of the incarnation.

Jesus was born to die. He obeyed and trusted his Father at every stage of his life, even in the garden and on the cross. He died and experienced our greatest fear: death. That Mary, Peter, and John, “saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place” was not just a random detail. Grave robbers would not have taken his body without the cloths of the corpse. When Lazarus was called out of his tomb, he shuffled out still tied in his burial cloths and his head still covered. Lazarus was resuscitated but would die again. “Something radically different has happened to Jesus” (Martin and Wright, 333).

The Holy Spirt overshadowed Mary at Jesus’ conception, helped Jesus conquer death and rise again, and through the Holy Spirit again, Jesus is made present through the priest at each celebration of the Mass. Mary Magdalene was the first to experience the empty tomb and shared this good news with the apostles. Peter and John ran to see. John arrived first. John remained outside, possibly out of respect, to allow Peter to go first. Peter saw the empty tomb except for the burial clothes. When John entered, “he saw and believed” (Jn 20:8).

Are we willing to take the time to ponder as John did? To pause and to be still. To allow God to speak to us in the silence of our hearts? John, Mary, and Peter’s lives were changed and transformed because they encountered Jesus, and no matter the challenge, gave their lives to him. We are invited to do the same. We were created to be in relationship with Jesus and our hearts will be restless until we allow ourselves to slow down, embrace the gift of silence, be led by the Holy Spirit, and so that in his presence in the Eucharist, we too may experience him, see, and believe.

————————————————————–

Painting: St. John stained glass window from Holy Cross CC, Vero Beach, FL

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, December 27, 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.

————————————————————————–

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