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December 3, 2014Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest    Reading 1 Is 25:6-10a On this mountain the LORD of hostswill provide for all peoplesA feast of rich food and choice wines,juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines.On this mountain he will destroythe veil that veils all peoples,The web that is woven over all nations;he will destroy death forever.The Lord GOD will wipe awaythe tears from all faces;The reproach of his people he will removefrom the whole earth; for the LORD has spoken. On that day it will be said:“Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!This is...

December 2, 2014Tuesday of the First Week of Advent    Reading 1 Is 11:1-10 On that day,A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,and from his roots a bud shall blossom.The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:a Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,A Spirit of counsel and of strength,a Spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.Not by appearance shall he judge,nor by hearsay shall he decide,But he shall judge the poor with justice,and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.He shall strike the ruthless with the...

December 1, 2014Monday of the First Week of Advent    Reading 1 Is 2:1-5 This is what Isaiah, son of Amoz,saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come,The mountain of the LORD’s houseshall be established as the highest mountainand raised above the hills.All nations shall stream toward it;many peoples shall come and say:“Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain,to the house of the God of Jacob,That he may instruct us in his ways,and we may walk in his paths.”For from Zion shall go forth instruction,and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.He shall judge between the nations,and impose...

“A Prayer to the God Who Acts” (Isaiah 64:1-9) Today is the First Sunday in Advent, the first day of a brand new church year. And this season of Advent is a time of waiting, a time of penitential preparation, as we wait for the coming of our King. Christ is coming, our Savior and Redeemer. We prepare for the celebration of our Savior’s birth at Christmas. And we wait for his coming again at the end of this age. Advent is a time for remembering God’s promises to send a Savior. It is a time to repent of our...

In Times Like These You Need a Savior – A Homily for the First Sunday of Advent By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe Gospel today surely announces a critical Advent theme: Watch! And while I want to comment primarily on the reading from Isaiah, the Gospel admonition certainly deserves some attention as well.For it is too often the case that many today hold the unbiblical notion that most, if not all, are going to Heaven. But for many weeks now we have been reading parables in the gospels wherein the Lord Jesus warns us that some (perhaps many and possibly even most) are...

November 30, 2014First Sunday of Advent    Reading 1 Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 You, LORD, are our father,our redeemer you are named forever.Why do you let us wander, O LORD, from your ways,and harden our hearts so that we fear you not?Return for the sake of your servants,the tribes of your heritage.Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,with the mountains quaking before you,while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,such as they had not heard of from of old.No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but youdoing such deeds for...

The Sunday Propers: Advent and Penance Kevin Tierney While it is sometimes forgotten in the minds of Catholics today, the season of Advent is ultimately a penitential season.   The priest wears purple vestments (with the exception of Gaudete Sunday) and the Gloria being omitted are two ways this is signified.  When the reader hears “penitential”, he automatically thinks of sorrow for sin, such as during the Lenten season.  While this is indeed part of our penitential journey during this season, the Propers of this Sunday’s liturgy in the Extraordinary Form tell us a different story.The Catechism of the Council of Trent...

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, has announced that Mass will be celebrated ad orientem in the diocsean cathedral during Advent, to remind the faithful of the symbolism of facing East. Explaining the move, Bishop Conley writes: But the symbolism of facing together, and awaiting Christ, is rich, time-honored and important. Especially during Advent, as we await the coming of the Lord, facing the east together—even symbolically facing Christ together at the altar and on the crucifix—is a powerful witness to Christ’s imminent return.

Here on the 4th Sunday of Advent, we are but a day away, practically speaking, from the unfolding of the great mystery of the Word made flesh. It is possible for us to look right past this 4th Sunday of Advent, but we do well to pause and ponder what is taught to us today about the salvation that is to unfold. One significant way we can do this is by pondering the first reading today from the prophet Micah. In four short verses we behold a kind of summary of our salvation, a snapshot of what ails us and...

Code: ZE04121203Date: 2004-12-12Pope Defends Nativity Scene as a Sign of Faith and CultureIn Angelus Address on Gaudete SundayVATICAN CITY, DEC. 12, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Christmas crib is a sign of faith and culture, says John Paul II. "Small or large, simple or elaborate, the crib constitutes a familiar and particularly expressive representation of Christmas," the Pope said. "It is an element of our culture and art, but above all a sign of faith in God, who came to Bethlehem 'to dwell among us.'" The Holy Father made his comment today from the window of study, as he greeted the crowds...

The Real St. Nicholas – How Did a Cantankerous but Holy Bishop Become Jolly Ole St. Nick?By: Msgr. Charles Pope  Today is the Feast of St. Nicholas. The real St. Nicholas was nothing close to the St. Nick  (Santa Claus) of the modern age. He was a thin curmudgeonly man with a zeal for the Lord that caused flairs of anger. Compromise was unknown to him. The slow transformation of him into “Jolly ole’ Saint Nicholas is a remarkable recasting of him centuries in the making. Some years ago the Washington Post featured an article entitled Poles Apart: Nicholas...

The Second Sunday of Advent usually features the Ministry of St. John the Baptist. He was the  Prophet who fulfilled the Office of Elijah of whom it was said: See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction (Mal 4:4-6). Therefore St. John is a prophet who prepared the people of his time for the coming of Jesus, by...

Today (Dec 6) is the Feast of St. Nicholas. The real St. Nicholas was nothing close to the St. Nick (Santa Claus) of the modern age. He was a thin curmudgeonly man with a zeal for the Lord that caused flairs of anger. Compromise was unknown to him. The slow transformation of him into “Jolly ole’ Saint Nicholas is a remarkable recasting of him centuries in the making. Some years ago the Washington Post featured an article entitled Poles Apart: Nicholas of Myra; How a 4th-Century Bishop Achieved Fame 1,500 Years Later, With a Whole New Attitude.On this feast of...

Those Were the Days of Giants! A Brief Reflection on the Fasting and Abstinence that were once common in Advent and LentBy: Msgr. Charles Pope I was explaining to a new Catholic recently that the color purple (violet) used in advent is akin to its use in Lent, in that both are considered penitential seasons. Hence we are to give special attention to our sins and our need for salvation. Traditionally we would also take part in penitential practices of fasting and abstinence.Of course, in recent decades Advent has almost wholly lost any real penitential practices. There is no...

I was asked by the Young Adult group in my parish to address some ads on our local buses and subway trains here in Washington. The members of the Young adult group found the ads offensive and troubling, especially since they were aimed at kids. The ads are posted by the American “Humanist” Association (AHA) and are indeed aimed at kids and teenagers. The focus of the message is “Kids without God: You’re not the only one.” I have altered the ad at the upper right of this post to avoid listing its website but as you can see God...

A couple of items have appeared in the news which, when juxtaposed, go a long way to show just who the real threat is in the Church/State debate of recent decades. I’d like to excerpt these stories and make some comments. But first, we do well to recall the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.The part...

What is the perfect gift? We tend to answer this question more in terms of what we want. But today’s Gospel teaches us that the perfect gift is what God is offering, more that what we specifically want. One of the goals of the spiritual is to come to value, above all else, what God offers more than our latest interest of perceived need.In reviewing today’s Gospel I am going to take a stance regarding St. John the Baptist that I realize is not without controversy. As the Gospel opens John, who is in prison, sends disciples with a strange...

In this, the final full day of Advent, we read the closing words of the Old Testament, from the book of the prophet Malachi. These closing words, these final lines of the Old Testament are nothing short of astonishing. Terms like “riveting” and “stunning” also come to mind.While they ring with a promise, they also warn of great peril to those who do not lay hold of the promise. The words come forth almost like iron pellets. And though there is the way through, but it is only by being refined as through fire and by becoming fire.Consider the words:...

The coming of Christ at Christmas was as an infant. And thus we don’t usually think of wedding imagery related to the First coming of Jesus.  Yet, since the first coming of Christ is certainly fulfilled, we now focus more on his Second coming, of which the first coming is a sacramental reminder.Thus, in Advent our longing and thrill are also and essentially  directed to his glorious second coming. And now Mother Church, the New Jerusalem, our Mother looks for her groom Jesus to come again all his glory:I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of...

I was explaining to a new Catholic recently that the color purple (violet) used in advent is akin to its use in Lent, in that both are considered penitential seasons. Hence we are to give special attention to our sins and our need for salvation. Traditionally Advent was a time we would, like Lent take part in penitential practices such as fasting and abstinence.Of course, in recent decades Advent has almost wholly lost any real penitential practices. There is no fasting or abstinence required, they are not really even mentioned. Confession is encouraged and the readings still retain a kind...