In today’s Gospel we hear an Annunciation Story. It is not the Annunciation Story to Mary of the birth of Jesus but the Annunciation Story to the priest Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist. Luke has purposely made these two Annunciation Stories as well as...
Who does he think he is? Some of the Jewish religious leaders, some chief priests and elders, irritated by Jesus put this question to him in today’s Gospel: “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” What has Jesus done? He...
In today’s Gospel Jesus compares his generation to children in the marketplace. These children refuse to respond: “We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge, but you did not mourn.” The children try both happy and sad songs but the other...
We all like to receive invitations. During this Advent season we receive many invitations to parties and open houses. The most important invitation that we can receive this Advent is Jesus’ invitation in today’s Gospel: “Come to me, all you who labor and are...
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...
