The “Hail, Mary” is probably one of the first prayers most of us learned. As we see in today’s Gospel, most of the words of this prayer are taken from the words of Luke’s Gospel. The angel Gabriel greets Mary with these words: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with...
The enemies are on the horizon. Judah is in a time of darkness or uncertainty, waiting for a light to show there is a better future coming. Today’s first reading is from Isaiah 29:17-24. Beginning with the first verse the reading lets us know that something new...
It is so easy for us to develop and then maintain a relationship with God based on natural religiosity. This leads us to only pay lip serve to God without any significance. We also develop a self-righteousness. We begin to judge and condemn others. As Catholics we...
Advent is in-between time. We live in the in-between time – between Jesus’ historical birth and his second coming. The prophet today announces that the veil that covers our lives and our hearts will be eliminated, giving rise to a new time, a new creation. That...
The entire first reading (Isa 11:1-10) gives us a prophetic vision of the coming Messiah, a figure who will bring justice, peace, and harmony to all creation. Today’s first reading also offers two quite famous verses we have all encountered: “But a shoot shall sprout...
