Our Community
My soul rejoices in my God. (Is 61:10) Today the Church places before our eyes the greatest examples of waiting that we have in the Bible. John the Baptist and Mary, the Mother of Jesus. If we want to learn what to do in the waiting, we can look to them. What do they do in the waiting? Both Mary and John teach us how to wait – that we are in fact called to
This Sunday is traditionally called Gaudete Sunday because of the first word of its entrance antiphon, “Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, Gaudete,” (“[You all] Rejoice, in the Lord always: again I say rejoice”).[1] We on rejoice because the Lord is near; our joyful period of waiting is rapidly coming to a close. On the third Sunday of this season, we finally find reference to that which we are liturgically preparing to remember in the
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, Carrying them in his bosom, leading the ewes with care. (Isaiah 40:11) When we know we are loved it changes everything, when we know we are awaited it changes everything. The story of Josephine Bakhita demonstrates the power of hope. Our faith leads us to trust God, and through it we come to hope in his promises. Hope then changes the
In our commercial culture the time before Christmas is celebrated as if it were already Christmas Day, and/or is seen merely as shopping season in preparation for the exchange of presents on Christmas. In the midst of this cultural attitude towards this season of preparation, it is easy to fall into the trap of seeing Advent as merely a warning track which tells us to get ready for presents, family, and good food. The Collect
O Lord make us turn to you; let us see your face, and we shall be saved. (Psalm 80:4) We do not get to choose whether or even how long we wait, but we do get to choose how we wait. We wait because we are human; but how we wait determines whether we flourish or fail as humans. We wait in faith. We cry out in our waiting, O Lord make us turn to
We may easily be confused when we arrive at Mass for the 1st Sunday of Advent and hear the following prayer for the Collect: Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to possess the heavenly Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you
One of the guiding principles of the early church in formulating her doctrine was the phrase, “the law of prayer [is] the law of believing.” In that time, the Church Fathers, plagued as they were with heresies no less than we are and faced with formidable intellectual rhetoricians as opponents in debating such crucial doctrine concerning the Trinity, Christ, and Mary, in many cases pointed to the historical tradition of the liturgical prayers of the
Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. (Mt 25:34) Heaven – unending communion with God – that is what you are made for. We ought to long to hear those words; come blest of my Father and enter into the kingdom prepared for you. Jesus gives us a very clear measure today of what is necessary to in communion with him.
We don’t like to admit that Hell is a reality – it makes us uncomfortable to think about. Yet, Jesus speaks often speaks of it. No one goes to Hell accidently, and “God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end.” God loves us so much that he gives us the freedom to choose against loving
These are the conditions for each of us to win at the game of life. If we wish to enter and share the joy of the wedding feast, we must live so as to love God above all things and our neighbor for God’s sake. This is what Jesus means when he says stay awake! Stay awake to the fact you will die, and that heaven awaits you, if only you choose it. “Every action
Get an email for every update.
Listen to Fr. Will’s Homily from last week about the amazing things happening at St. Mary’s and learn how you can help.
