We begin each year with the celebration of the solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. For this, the Gospel gives us the examples of docility and humility in Mary and the shepherds (Luke 2:16-21) as important dispositions that enable God’s plan to be fulfilled in us. God desires to bless us with peace, protection,…
Month: December 2020
The Last Hour – December 31, 2020
John reminds his audience that ‘it is the last hour’. Though in context of the Letter this refers to the period leading to the end of time, we can appropriate it here as today is the last for this year. We take the admonition of John today and ask ourselves where we stand before God….
False Love – December 30, 2020
John cautions us today against false love. He cautions us against carrying so great a gift as the love which the Father has lavished on us and pouring it away on ephemerals. The love of the world, as John calls it, is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride…
The Light of Christ – December 29, 2020
For the rest of the days of the Octave of Christmas, we read from the First Letter of St. John. Today John links knowledge of God with obedience to the commandments of God. Hence to know God is to keep his words and commands, and the end point is to have the love for God…
The Holy Innocents – December 28, 2020
Comites Christi, Companions of Christ, is the name given to those saints whose feast days directly follow Christmas. In the Roman Liturgy these companions are St. Stephen, St. John the Apostle and the Holy Innocents. We remember today these Holy Innocents, babes, children two years and under whom Herod slaughtered. What was his reason? Another…
The Holy Family – December 27, 2020
The feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, usually falls at that time of the year when most families are together for the holidays. This is an opportunity, not only to look upon the family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph as models but also to hear God speak to us in his…
Love – December 26, 2020
We all know the story of St. Stephen, one of the first seven deacons, and the first martyr of our Christian faith post Resurrection. That the feast of his death comes immediately after the birth of the Lord already tells of ‘the wonderful exchange’ of the birth of God for us. The exchange of our…
The Nativity of the Lord – December 25, 2020
Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Day It is Christmas. Jesus the Christ is born. He is born to us today. All the prophecies of old are fulfilled. Today is a special day made holy and special by a sacred mystery. From today, our chronological time, the weary round of time, of merely…
O Holy Night – December 24, 2020
The canticle of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist is a prophecy. He speaks filled with the Holy Spirit. It is clear that while he speaks on the occasion of the birth of his son John, he only spends two verses on John. The rest of his song is dedicated to praising the Lord,…
The Nearness of God – December 23, 2020
The prophet Malachi says in our first reading today that Elijah the prophet will be sent before the ‘great and terrible day of the Lord comes.’ So we understand that it is both terrible and comforting to dwell in the inconceivable nearness of God. It is terrible because this is great Light being shone on…
God’s Transformative Care – December 22, 2020
Today comes with a note of joy and thanksgiving for what the Lord has done. Hannah gives thanks for answered prayers for a son, Samuel. Mary gives thanks in her ‘Magnificat’ that the Lord has ‘regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.’ So, you see, our brokenness and wounds are the cracks through which the…
Love and Service – December 21, 2020
When the Lord visits us, great things happen in our lives. The Lord did not only visit Mary; by her fiat the Lord took flesh in her. She could not contain him alone. The Lord propelled her in love and into love. This love so filled Mary’s heart upon hearing the news that Elizabeth her…
The Evening Chapel 