The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
When Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2: 41-52) after looking for him for three days he says to them, ‘Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s affairs?’ ‘Didn’t you know that I would be in my Father’s house, teaching his people?’ He claims a relationship with God…
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A Child is Born for You
Christmas Day December 25, 2015 Luke 2:1-14 says that Joseph was called by the census to the city of David called Bethlehem since he was of the family of David. While they were there the time for the birth of Mary’s son, Jesus, came. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a…
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How is it that the Mother of my Lord Comes to me?
Dear Brothers and Sisters: On this Fourth Sunday of Advent Luke reminds us of the simplicity of Mary and Elizabeth. It is good to ponder this habit of simplicity, to be free from complications, from putting on airs. Especially as everything is accelerating before Christmas it is important to be simple and to pray, waiting…
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God is Simple and so was the First Christmas
Dear Brothers and Sisters: At daybreak one Saturday in early December in 1531, Juan Diego was on his way to pray. When he came near a hill called Tepeyac dawn had already come, and he heard someone calling him, ‘Juanito, Juan Dieguito.” He saw a woman of great grandeur whose clothing was a bright as…
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Be Watchful at all Times in Advent
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I was happy to hear that some stores closed for Black Friday and even one store had its shopping cart closed, which did not stop others from buying $2.7 billion of goods that day. During the same time Pope Francis was visiting one of the largest slums outside of Nairobi, Kenya…
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Advent Weekday Email – Monday, November 30, 2015
Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle Andrew was the brother of Peter (prince of the apostles, first pope) who announced the Gospel in Greece and was crucified on an X shaped cross. He and Peter were the first called to be followers of Jesus Christ. The Letter to the Romans (10: 15-17) says, ‘How beautiful are…
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You Will be Like Stars that Shine Forever
Brothers and Sisters: Saint Frances Cabrini was the tenth of eleven children and was born two months premature in 1850 in a small town outside of Milan. Only four of the children survived. Her parents were good Catholics and her father read to her the stories of the missionaries in China and for this reason…
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Hold Fast to the Saints
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We had the great fortune last week to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints on a Sunday and so it gave us time to reflect on where we are going in life. The tomb of St. Peter can be seen today in Rome several stories beneath the altar of St. Peter’s…
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Can You Drink of the Cup I Will Drink?
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Sister Marianne Cope was born in Germany in 1838 and immigrated to the Syracuse, NY area with her family the next year. At the age of twenty-four she entered the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis at Syracuse, New York. Later on as Superior General of her congregation, Mother Marianne willingly…
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How to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven
Dear Brothers and Sisters, God appeared to Solomon in a dream shortly after he was anointed King of Israel just before his father David died. God said, ‘Ask what you would like me to give you.’ Solomon replied, ‘Give me a heart to understand how to govern your people, and how to discern good from…
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