The Word

The Christmas season closes with the feast of the Baptism of the Lord This is not the end of things but rather the beginning The readings remind us that the one born of our flesh is the servant of God mdash the very Son of God mdash who brings a promise of justice and hope to a world in desperate

Nowadays we seem to be dissatisfied if we are considered ordinary We seek to be the first or the best or at least to belong to the group that is first or best Yet most of us are really quite ordinary people living ordinary lives Despite this there need be nothing ordinary about being ordinary W

Today we seem deluged with reports of anger abuse and even murder at the hand of a family member Spouses are not attentive to each other parents neglect children and children disregard elders It is time to return to good oldfashioned family values But just what constitutes good old-fashioned f

Is it over yet Are the carols gone from the air waves Have the stores dismantled their decorations Has Christmas been put away to make room for Valentine rsquo s Day It always happens so fast We waited and waited for Christmas and then it came and went in a flash But it did not happen like th

Although darkness can be very soothing and romantic as well it can also be very frightening We lose our way in the dark we bump into things we cannot perceive what or who might threaten our safety The phrase ldquo under the cover of darkness rdquo suggests some manner of deception In our vu

Today we move out of the realm of religious testimony into the real world of history Both the first and the third readings situate Jesus within the family of David nbsp This is a family with skeletons in its closet Judah reneged on his responsibilities so his daughter-in-law Tamar tricked him

The chorus from Handel rsquo s Messiah begins with a delicate ldquo For unto us a child is born rdquo and builds to a thunderous ldquo And his name shall be called Wonderful rdquo The Gospels for the three Christmas Masses follow a similar progression Images from the first two Gospels are cap

The wilderness which can seduce us with its beauty and its majesty has many faces In one part of the country its dense forests and lush vegetation fill up our senses In another its stark barrenness purges us of affectation while its grandeur takes away our breath It is a place of wonder and e

The readings for the feast of the Immaculate Conception are rich in meaning but frequently misunderstood when viewed through the lens of the feast itself First contrary to some artistic depictions of the Immaculate Conception the Genesis account states that it is the woman rsquo s offspring rath