The Holy Family The Feast of the Holy Family celebrates the holiness and joy of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. By celebrating this feast during the Christmas season, the Church wants us to see the important link between the birth of our Savior and the family. Pope Francis has said of the Feast of the Holy […]
Holy Family
Remembering the Holy Innocents
On the fourth day of our Christmas celebration, the Church reminds us that not everyone is joyful; that there exist those who are not of goodwill who do not wish to receive the season’s glad tidings. Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents in which the Church recalls and honors those baby boys whose lives were taken in a […]
God’s Greatest Gift
"Adoration of the Shepherds" (detail) by Gerard van Honthorst [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
“I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Merry Christmas! I love holidays. I love family. The two just seem to go together, don’t they?. Some holidays are joyful gatherings, some not so much. We are all too human, as the saying goes. But I say, give me holidays and family any day; warts and […]
Living Liturgically… or Why My Tree is Still Up
Tomorrow, my Christmas tree comes down. Most people would call me a procrastinator or lazy. But it’s for neither of those reasons. It’s one way I can live liturgically. The Christmas Season The Christmas season, as I’ve mentioned here before, is one of the more confusing seasons to figure out. There is the octave of Christmas which lasts eight days, […]
Lessons We Can Learn from the Holy Family
The Feast of the Holy Family celebrates the holiness and joy of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph of Nazareth. Each year, this celebration occurs on the Sunday following Christmas Day, unless Christmas falls on a Sunday, then it falls on the following Friday. The Church wants us to see the important link between the birth of our […]
The Holy Family and Piety in the Twenty-First Century
The Feast of the Holy Family challenges us to grow in the virtues of piety, honor, patience, and forbearance. And to learn to laugh together. Reflection on the Mass readings for the Feast of the Holy Family (Year C) — Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14; Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5; Colossians 3:12-21; Luke 2:41-52. The Passion of the Christ was the most intense movie […]
Love’s Greatest Gift
“I am with you always, to the close of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Merry Christmas! I love holidays. I love family. The two just seem to go together, don’t they?. Some holidays are joyful gatherings, some not so much. We are all too human, as the saying goes. But I say, give me holidays and family any day; warts and […]
Encountering the Word — Matthew 2:13-15
Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, […]
The Preparation of Simeon
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which recalls the first time the Messiah entered the Temple. In Luke 2:22-40, we hear of the Holy Family traveling to Jerusalem for Mary’s purification (see Leviticus 12:2-8). Even though Mary, free from sin, did not require purification, she submitted to the Law, just as the Son of God […]
Writer’s Block, Ordinary Time, and Grace
During the first weeks of Ordinary Time, whether it is after Christmas or Easter, I generally find myself faced with writer’s block. Is it the mental overload of Christmas or Easter? Is it the busyness of work as we get back into the routine? Is it the weather? This week there aren’t even any large feast days on the liturgical […]