Christmas carols abound at this time of year. Joy to the World; Silent Night; O Come, All Ye Faithful; Hark the Herald Angels Sing; The First Noel; We Three Kings. Add to these popular Christmas songs like The Christmas Song,...
Everything this time of year seems big—and full of wonder, awe, and beauty, too. The lighting of the Christmas trees in our town squares, or at the White House or Rockefeller Center. Parking lots full of cars and stores full...
We sat in the car, my husband and I, still stunned, trying to eat a quick dinner before we drove to the hospital. I was avoiding looking at the medical building we had left earlier, the one with the unfamiliar...
Early in Advent, a line of Scripture struck me strongly and has stuck with me ever since: “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert’” (Jn 1:23). This Advent brought more revelations about the abuse scandals in...
I want to begin my Christmas 2020 reflection with the first four stanzas of the poem Esperanza by Alexis Valdés, a Cuban-American poet based in Miami, Florida. When the storm passes and the roads are tamed, and we are the...
O man, do you not realize by what means Christ pursues you in order to call you back? Saint Peter Chrysologus wrote this in the 5th century as a part of a reflection on the Nativity. These words remind me...
“From the womb of Mother Church, the incarnate Son of God is born anew this night. His name is Jesus, which means: “God saves”. The Father, eternal and infinite Love, has sent him into the world not to condemn the...
“Lord Jesus Christ, through your Incarnation you accepted a human nature and lived a real, human life. Setting aside the glory of your divinity, you met us face to face in the vulnerability of our humanity.” This is the beginning...
The Christian is one in whom the past and future meet in the present and unfold into a new vision, a new life. In Advent, especially, the Church invites us to reconsider our lives as the intersection of our history...
My oldest son, Simon, turned six earlier this month. I remember the afternoon we were getting ready to take him home from the hospital. I stood there holding him, absolutely terrified that the nurses would actually let us leave the...
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