Friday of the First Week of Advent
Isaiah 29:17-24  +  Matthew 9:27-31
December 4, 2015

“And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.”

Although the liturgies of Lent also evoke the themes of darkness and blindness, these themes are fundamental to the Season of Advent.  The Sacred Liturgy during Advent often uses these themes to help Christians appreciate what man is without God. Continue reading →

St. Francis Xavier, Priest
Isaiah 26:1-6  +  Matthew 7:21,24-27
December 3, 2015

“For the Lord is an eternal Rock.”
Continue reading →

Wednesday of the First Week of Advent
Isaiah 25:6-10  +  Matthew 15:29-37
December 2, 2015

“You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes….” Continue reading →

Tuesday of the First Week of Advent
Isaiah 11:1-10  +  Luke 10:21-24
December 1, 2015

“Justice shall flower in His days, and profound peace, till the moon be no more.”

That verse—Psalm 72:7—was chanted by the cantor in the midst of the Responsorial.  The same verse also served as the refrain, but in a significantly different form.  As the refrain we chanted, “Justice shall flourish in His time, and fullness of peace for ever.”  There are several differences between these two versions of Psalm 72:7 that can foster our meditation. Continue reading →

Here is the homily preached to the IHM Sisters on November 30, 2015.

Here is the homily preached to the IHM Sisters on November 29, 2015.

The First Sunday of Advent [C]
Jeremiah 33:14-16  +  1 Thessalonians 3:12—4:2  +  Luke 21:25-28,34-36
November 29, 2015
 

“ ‘And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.’ ”

In praying about today’s Gospel passage, this “cloud” seemed full of meaning:  both specifically regarding Advent, and more generally regarding growth in our Christian spiritual life.  The more that I prayed about it, the more it seemed that this “cloud” in which the Son of Man comes “with power and great glory” signifies the two nights—two purifications—of the sensory part and of the spiritual part of the soul.  It’s through this cloud that the divine “Son of Man” wishes to come to you, His beloved, “with power and great glory”:  that is, the grace of contemplation. Continue reading →

Today is the last day of the Church’s liturgical year.
Here is the homily preached to the IHM Sisters on November 28, 2015.

Here is the homily preached to the IHM Sisters on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 2015.

Here is the homily preached to the IHM Sisters on November 24, 2015.