Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Last year, the Immaculate Conception fell on a Saturday. This year, December 8 is Sunday! Now what? Sunday is always a holy day of obligation. The Code of Canon Law … Read More
First Sunday of Advent – 01 December 2019 Isaiah 2:1-5. Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9. Romans 13:11-14. Matthew 24:37-44. Coming That Is Certain Yet Unknown. We begin a new liturgical year today, focusing on the parousia, the “end time”, … Read More
Second Sunday of Advent By this time of year, the election campaign season in the United States will be in full swing. If it’s anything like recent years, it will be ugly, brutal, and on full display across our media … Read More
First Sunday of Advent When digital planners and calendars weren’t yet the norm, I always looked forward to the ritual cracking open of my brand-new liturgical calendar ordo and my pristine dayplanner to make my first calendar entry for the … Read More
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time In our line of work, it can be easy to fall into a spirit of pessimism, crankiness, stress, or general worry. Especially this time of year, when the pressures of the secular calendar, our home … Read More
As I write this, we are two days away from Opening Day. If you are a baseball fan, you immediately know that by “Opening Day,” I mean the day regular season Major League Baseball begins — usually during the first … Read More
The Fourth Sunday in Advent A popular late Advent custom among some Hispanic communities is Las Posadas, which means “the inns.” For nine evenings, starting on December 16, neighborhoods remember the journey of Mary, pregnant with Jesus, and Joseph as … Read More
The Third Sunday of Advent I was surprised to find reviews of my local church on Tripadvisor one day. The reviews read a lot like others for must-see tourist sites, but they also reiterated a truth: People won’t remember what … Read More
The Second Sunday of Advent In today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we hear: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day … Read More
The First Sunday of Advent It’s easy at Advent to become a bit overzealous with our rubrics around these four short weeks. Of course we should encourage one another to observe the distinct spirit of Advent and not let too … Read More