The Gospel stories about the birth of Jesus are not a simple retelling of the events that took place then, at the stable in Bethlehem. In his commentaries on the birth of Jesus, the renowned scripture scholar, Raymond Brown, highlights that these narratives were written long after Jesus had already been crucified and had risen…
The Sunday Gospel 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16 Ps 89:2-3, 4-5, 27, 29 Rom 16:25-27 Lk 1:26-38 Do you hear it? If there is one message the world needs right now, in a moment of high anxiety and seemingly unending wars, you can find it buried deep in this beautiful Gospel for the 4th…
In the days of apartheid in South Africa, Christians there used to light candles and place them in their windows as a sign to themselves and others that they believed that someday this injustice would end. A candle burning in a window was a sign of hope and a political statement. The government didn’t miss…
Jem Sullivan Is 61:1-2a, 10-11 Lk 1:46-48, 49-50, 53-54 1 Thes 5:16-24 Jn 1:6-8, 19-28 “Rejoice in the Lord!” is the invitation we hear this Third Sunday of Advent, when God’s word calls us, once again, to enter into the mystery of the Incarnation, soon to be celebrated in the great feast of Christmas.…
When all is said and done, our lives are not all that serene and peaceful. In a manner of speaking, we are always somewhat pathetic. That shouldn’t scare us. Pathetic is not a pejorative term. The word comes from the Greek, ‘pathos’, which means pain. To be pathetic is to live in pain, and we…
Deacon Greg Kandra Is 40:1-5, 9-11 Ps 85:9-10-11-12, 13-14 2 Pt 3:8-14 Mk 1:1-8 If nothing else, Advent should remind us of this inconvenient truth: We are people in a hurry. The other day, I was leaving Walmart and noticed a tent set up in the parking lot. I looked closer. They had drones…
No community should botch its deaths. Mircea Eliade said that. What underlies his wisdom here is the truth that what we cease to celebrate we will soon cease to cherish. With that in mind, I would like to highlight what we, both the religious and secular community, need to celebrate and cherish as we mourn…
Jem Sullivan Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 1 Cor 1:3-9 Mk 13:33-37 Advent offers us a graced time to recognise that the deepest longings of our heart are for God. The prophet Isaiah shines a bright light on this indwelling desire, etched by God into each human heart. For this reason, Isaiah…
I live on both sides of a border. Not a geographical one, but one that separates the church pew from the academic halls of theology. I was raised a conservative Catholic. Although my dad worked politically for the Liberal party, most everything within my upbringing was conservative, particularly as this pertains to religion. I was…
Deacon Greg Kandra Ez 43:11-12, 15-17 Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28 Mt 25:31-46 Are we here already? Suddenly, we find ourselves at the end of the liturgical year, gazing down the road toward Advent and Christmas, and facing one of the biggest feasts on the Church calendar, with one of the longest…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser