The custom of celebrating the feast of St. John the Apostle on December 27 goes back to the early days of the Church. This is somewhat surprising since the fourth evangelist does not give any hint of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem in his Gospel. Instead the Fourth Gospel opens up… Read More »

Merry Christmas seems like an odd thing to say. There is nothing merry about a young girl being pregnant and unmarried. There is nothing merry about a young couple driven into homelessness because of government policy. There is nothing merry about living as refugees in a foreign land with a new born child. The sentimental… Read More »

All you need do is walk outside at night and see the sheer prevalence of darkness – according to astrophysicists 95% of the universe is dark. Thus says the Prophet Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”… Read More »

When I was in Jersey City I used to go to the local public school on Dr. Seuss day to read Green Eggs and Ham to the first grade. This was not a new book for the children but one that they were very familiar with. So as I would come to the punch line… Read More »

In the past few months St. James has had a baby boom — four births! For a small parish nothing speaks of the future more than a crying infant! The neighbors of Zechariah and Elizabeth speak for us: “What, then, will this child be?” When you look at a new born you see unlimited potential.… Read More »

As the saying goes: the rich get rich and the poor get poorer. (The current political environment reinforces the conventional wisdom.) However, Mary has an upside down vision. In her prayer we call the Magnificat (after its first word in Latin), Mary prays, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted… Read More »

Today is the only day of the year when a selection from the Biblical book the Song of Songs is included in the lectionary — and there is even an alternative if you don’t want to use the selection. The erotic love poetry in this bit of divine revelation seems to be a bit much for… Read More »

The liturgy yesterday gave the opportunity to reflect on two different ways of approaching God in prayer — that of Zechariah and that of Mary. Today the contrast is between asking something of God and not asking. Mary asked “How can this be?” She wanted to understand God’s will. King Ahaz said, “I will not… Read More »

Two questions with two different results: when Zechariah received the astonishing news of his son’s birth he asked the angel, “How shall I know this?” Mary’s response to the angel’s announcement to her was “How can this be?” Zechariah is slapped down for his question. Mary is encouraged for hers. It is not questioning God that… Read More »

What enabled Saint Joseph to trust the dream? I have lots of crazy dreams that if I believed would have me flying like superman or leading the charge into battle. Joseph did not dismiss the angelic message as “another crazy dream” but instead trusted it for what it ways — a divine message. Of course… Read More »