The Nativity of the Lord

When he had accomplished purification from sins, he took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, as far superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say: You are my son; this day I have begotten you? Or again: I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me? And again, when he leads the firstborn into the world, he says: Let all the angels of God worship him.

Jesus came into the world to purify us and he accomplished that through His Passion, Death, and Resurrection. However, the road to salvation had many way points throughout time. From the beginning, Jesus’ sacrifice for us was planned. His conception, his birth, and his life on earth were set in motion before creation. The Father of the Universe, the Son of Salvation, and the Holy Spirit of Love between them conceived the world with man’s redemption in mind. All time has been ordered to this end, united by the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ for all time. So, let us be joyful and thankful for this day, for the birth of Christ, and sing with the angels of Heaven, “Glory to the newborn King.”

What is our role in the history of salvation? What are we doing to bring about the salvation of souls and purification from sins? How can we bring the message of Christmas into the world every day of the year?

O Lord, thank you for coming into the world as a little child and purifying us from our sins.

Amen.

Christmas

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God. Sing praise to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and melodious song. With trumpets and the sound of the horn sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.

Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Sing praise to our Wonderful God and Glorious king! He has come down from Heaven to join with us as a babe and a man. He has shared his deep love for us as he has shared in our humanity. He comes to us in the Eucharistic Feast and in gives us food and drink that nourishes our souls and grows our faith, hope, and love.

How are we expressing our joy at Christ’s birth? What can we do to prepare ourselves for his Second Coming? Are we thankful for the gifts he has given us throughout our lives from conception to now?

O Lord, we sing your praise with joyful and expectant hearts.

Amen.

First Sunday of Advent

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you, so as to strengthen your hearts, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his holy ones. Amen.

Jesus came into the world through the Incarnation as a little child. He came to proclaim the Good News, save souls, and prepare the world for his next coming. As this Christmas season begins, we would do well to keep in mind both the First and the Second Coming. The first because through it we were freed from sin and saved from death. The second because it promises everlasting life and the unfathomable experience of being in God’s Divine Presence forever. In both cases, God will increase us, strengthen our hearts, and make us holy. The Incarnation was the beginning of our Christian faith, the Second Coming will be its pinnacle. We can only hope the way we spend our lives will lead us to Hosanna in the Highest and a life full of spiritual blessings and saving graces.

In what ways are we preparing ourselves for the coming of Christmas? How can we also prepare ourselves for the Second Coming? How can we help others to prepare for and anticipate these spiritual events?

O Lord, strengthen our hearts and make them holy.

Amen.

The Nativity of the Lord

When the kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, He saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.

Christmas is a time to remember the kindness, love, and mercy God has shown to us through the act of His Incarnation. The Word becoming flesh is a testament to God’s generosity. His willingness to become a man for us and experience the world through our eyes in all ways but sin speaks volumes about how much He loves us. God the Father not only sends His Beloved Son into the world to teach us the Truth and guide us along the Way, but He also poured His Holy Spirit upon us in order to inspire us to live saintly lives. The birth of Jesus Christ heralds the moment God became man so He might make us into heirs to the Kingdom and grant us the hope of eternal life with Him.

What are we doing to make Christmas a special day dedicated to God and all He has done for us? How can we become incarnations of God’s Will, pouring ourselves out in faith, hope, and love? Are we living up to our calling to be heirs to the Kingdom of God?

O Lord, you are kind, loving, and merciful. Help us to be the same.

Amen.

Christmas

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Word made flesh. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. God’s gift of His Beloved Son to us for the revelation of the Truth, the teaching of the Way, and the granting of Life everlasting. From Jesus's birth to his crucifixion and resurrection has one goal in mind: to save us from sin and death. We all came into the world through the Word and we shall all pass out of it through Jesus. He shall judge us before His father for all we have done and failed to do. Under His enlightening gaze all will be revealed to us and we shall know what we did right and wrong and we shall be convicted to Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell based on our words and deeds. We can only hope that we keep the light of Jesus alive in our hearts because alone we are nothing, but with Him we are made worthy to play in Paradise.

Do we listen to the Word of God? Do we thank God for our own beginnings, our own lives? What can we do to keep our eyes open to the light of Jesus?

O Lord, help us keep you always in our sight so that we might pass through the darkness and into your light.

Amen.

The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 
“Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

We should spend every day glorifying and praising God for all He has done for us. Like the shepherds, we should make haste to visit our Lord, especially in the Eucharist, and be ever thankful for the graces He has given us. We should keep all His blessings close to our hearts and reflect on them just as Mary did during her most holy life. Sometimes we can take God and the sacrifices He’s made for us for granted. However, if we set aside time each day to express our gratitude for everything He has done for us, then we will be more aware of His endless graces in our lives.

Do we give glory to God every day? Do we treasure all of the little and great things He does for us? What virtues can we learn from the story of the nativity and the holy family?

O Lord, we glorify and praise you for all you have done, are doing, and will do for us.

Amen.

The Baptism of the Lord

You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.

We are all children of God. However, we are not always pleasing to our Heavenly Father. We can be selfish and let a variety of sins and imperfections keep us from being the best of children. Thankfully, we are all beloved by God, even when we are least loving toward Him. It is through our baptism that we recognize God as our Father and through it we inherit a great mission to know, love, and serve God and all his children to the best of our ability. We might not always be successful in our attempts, but it is the trying which God wants from us. He, unlike the world, is not interested in a tally of wins or losses, successes and failures, he is much more interested in the doing of good no matter the cost. It is in being good and faithful servants that we too will be found pleasing to Him just as Jesus was, is, and ever will be pleasing to Him.

Do we feel beloved by God? If not, why do we think our sins can keep God's love at bay when the only thing that can do that is our denial of His love through our own despair or lack of contrition? How do we live out our baptismal calling to know, love, and serve God and His children?

O Lord, prepare us for the great and little missions of love in our lives and help us to live them out according to our baptismal calling.

Amen.

Saturday after Epiphany

He must increase; I must decrease.

In our modern world the idea of decreasing is contrary to most concepts of success. We are told more is better and the one with the most is best. However, sometimes less is more. We fill our days with thoughts, words and works, but how many of them are necessary? We have a tendency to convince ourselves of needs which are really just wants and in so doing we spend more and more time gaining more and less and less time thankful for what we have. Perhaps if we focused more on less, we would have more fulfilling, rather than hectic lives. We would in worldly ways decrease, but in heavenly ones increase because we would have the time to reflect on ourselves and our goods and understand the grace beneath it all.

What are the things in our lives which draw our attention away from God and His Will for us? What can we do to get rid of these things and decrease a little so that God might increase in us? How often do we stand and listen to God and rejoice in His Voice?

O Lord, decrease our dependence upon ourselves and increase our openness to you.

Amen.

Friday after Epiphany

Be made clean.

We all have our own unclean habits, which keep us from being in full communion with our God and our neighbors. These are the sins we must guard ourselves against every day lest we find ourselves spiritual lepers. After curing the lepers in today’s reading Jesus sends them to present themselves to the priest and rejoin their community. We are given the same gift by the Christ through the Church’s sacraments of forgiveness. When we seek out one of these sacraments we like the leper say, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." God responds to us just as Jesus did to the leper, "I will do it."  Our simple act of contrition and petition are enough to make us clean in the eyes of God.

What are the sins in our lives which make us unclean? How can we allow God to work through us in order to rid ourselves of these sins? Have we ever really appreciated the magnitude of God’s mercy towards us?

O Lord, make us clean.

Amen.

Thursday after Epiphany

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor.

We all have the opportunity to invite the Spirit of the Lord into our hearts and it is through this invitation that we become servant leaders to those in our lives. We serve our families, friends, and neighbors and bring glad tidings to them and the poor. Of course the poor are not just those without wealth, but with other things lacking in their lives. Perhaps a family member is poor in self-esteem, or a friend is poor in faith, or a neighbor is poor in patience. It is important to remember there are many ways to be poor and we all need the help of each other to truly be healed.

In what way are we poor and in need of help? How do we address the needs of those around us physical, mental, and spiritual? In what way do we make our presence a glad tiding for the poor?

O Lord, enter into our hearts and make us into bearers of the richness of your Good News for all your children.

Amen.

Wednesday after Epiphany

And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray.

After the miracle of the loaves Jesus goes off to pray. We are not told what he prays about, but perhaps that is not as important as the act of praying itself. Jesus gives us a model of living and in this model both work and prayer are needed. Prayer allows us to put our works into context and offer them up to God for the reparation of sins, ours and others. It is a time when we allow God to speak to our hearts and minds. Jesus also goes off alone and as such reminds us that solitude and silence are needed in order to enter into the deep prayer God is calling us to in our daily lives.

How do we marry our work and prayer life? Do we seek the solitude and silence necessary for deep contemplation or are we too busy with worldly things? How do we use our prayer life to replenish and renew ourselves?

O Lord, lead us to a place of peace when we are praying to you and silence all those things which keep us from listening to your voice.

Amen.

Tuesday after Epiphany

Give them some food yourselves.

Sometimes when we are faced with a difficult situation we hope it will go away or someone else will take care of it. However, Jesus tells us what we should do instead. We should show pity and fix it ourselves, no matter how imposing the circumstances. Compassion for others in the midst of trials is an important aspect of our Christian calling. We are not just supposed to feed His sheep when it is easy, but also when it looks near impossible. Ultimately, the disciples trust in Jesus carries them through their miraculous mission to feed the crowd and because of this trust they gather a bountiful harvest from the crowd.

What do we do when faced with a difficult task? Do we try to run from it or pass it off to someone else or do we confront it and put our trust in God and do it ourselves? How do we show our pity and compassion to others in the midst of our own trials?

O Lord, help us to feed your flock through our thoughts, words, and works.

Amen.

The Epiphany of the Lord

They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

We can learn a lot from the Three Magi about how to pay God homage. They approach Jesus in humility and with hands outstretched with their gifts. They offer these gifts to Him as symbols of his kingship and divinity. They also remind us of the three missionary callings all Christians have: kingly, priestly, and prophetic. The gold represents our kingly mission to shepherd the world through our actions. The frankincense represents our priestly calling to pray for the world. The myrrh represents the prophetic mission to proclaim the healing power of the Gospel to the world, even though it might cost us our lives.

How often do we prostrate ourselves physically, mentally, or spiritually to God? What are the gifts we have to offer to God? How do we fulfill our kingly, priestly, and prophetic missions in the world?

O Lord, we offer you all our gifts and talents to do with as you Will in accord with the kingly, priestly, and prophetic missions you want us to undertake for your Glory.

Amen.

Christmas Saturday

Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

When we step back and consider what Jesus’ birth means for us it can be a bit overwhelming. The baby Jesus’ reason for coming into this world is singularly to save us, you, me, and all of mankind who will accept his forgiveness. It is also confounding for us to think of all the sins Jesus died to take away from us. Our every moment of pride, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, greed, and sloth was placed upon his shoulders as he fulfilled His destiny to be the Lamb of God. It is difficult to imagine someone willing to die for those who most abuse, despise, and hate Him, but this is exactly what he does. Yet sometimes we falsely convince ourselves that what we have done is so wrong not even God will forgive us. This of course is a sin of pride on our part to think we could create a sin not even God could save us from. Let us all remember God is the final arbiter of forgiveness. He is the one who decides and thankfully so because we are often our harshest critics and the worst judges of others. The only unforgivable sin is the one we never seek or accept forgiveness for.

What are the sins we have trouble seeking forgiveness for? Why do we allow ourselves to be convinced that these sins are unforgivable? What are the sins of our lives which blind us to God’s mercy?

O Lord, take away our sins and grant us the grace to see past their darkness to the light of your love.

Amen.

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

When the shepherds come to see the Holy Family they bear the good news of the angels to them. Mary reflects upon this message of the birth of the Messiah and Lord, of God’s glory, and peace for His favored ones. She, like the shepherds, must have wondered what all this might mean for them and perhaps even why they had been chosen. It is important for us to meditate upon the good news in our own lives too keep all of God’s love, mercy, and grace in our hearts.

What do we keep in our hearts? What are the things we are being asked to reflect upon in our lives in order to bring us closer to God? What is the good news in our lives today?

O Lord, teach us how to reflect upon the good news in our lives.

Amen.

The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas

What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Jesus Christ is our light and it is important for us to remember that no matter how dark it is, His Light is always nearby. We might be blinded to it by our sins, or distracted from it by our doubts and fears, but it is always there waiting for us to reach out to it. It is also important to remember that we are called to reflect the light of God’s grace to others.

What are the things that keep us from seeing the light of Christ in our lives? What are we doing to reach out to our Lord and his children? How can we be better beacons of God’s love?

O Lord, be our light and the source of all our good.

Amen.

The Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

We are all offered the chance to be filled with wisdom and favor of God. However, not all of us accept this offer or recognize it when we are faced with the decision between good and evil. This is why we must fast and pray as Anna did in her life. We are asked to build our spiritual lives upon these two pillars of faith. We also must remember that fasting does not have to be just from food, but it can also be from anything else that keeps us away from God, distracts us from Him, or would be a worthy offering to our Lord. Prayer too is just as important as fasting and is our means of communing with God on a personal level. It helps build up our relationship with him, just as our conversations with family, friends, and neighbors do.

What are we willing to fast from in the coming days, months, and years? How are we preparing ourselves to receive God’s wisdom into our lives? How are we building our relationship with God through our prayers?

O Lord, help us to fast from those things that keep us away from you and to pray that we might be drawn to you so that we might be filled with your Wisdom and Favor.

Amen.

The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas

Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled.

Peace. It is something all of us search for throughout our lives and our hoped for end. However, the peace of living forever with our Lord and God does not come without a cost. We, like Simeon, must be righteous, devout, and patiently await our heavenly consolation. These three things are easier said than done as there are many things which will tempt us away from them. In the end, we will be judged by how we fulfill the Word of God. Let us hope we will so that we might find the peace of a good life and death.

What are the things we do that stand in the way of our peace? What keeps us from doing God’s Will? If we were to die today would we be at peace with our God and ourselves?

O Lord, grant us your peace and the willingness to accept it into our lives.

Amen.

Christmas

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.

We are all called to be shepherds to our family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. Like the shepherds of the Gospels we are given a chance to glorify and praise God for all we have experienced in this world, especially his love, mercy, and grace revealed to us through God’s choice to come to us as a Savior. He comes as an infant, totally dependent upon Mary and Joseph for His every need. It is through their daily duties and simple acts of love that they express their love for God.

How do we express our thanks for God’s works seen and unseen in our lives? How can we make our everyday chores and routines into meaningful prayers? What other things can we do to live a life that glorifies and praises God?

O Lord, help us to be a good shepherds of your children and to reflect upon all you have done for us in our lives.

Amen.