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Reflection on the Gospel Matthew 1:18-24 ​ A fundamental conviction is expressed in Christian piety by the role given to Mary the Mother of Jesus. From earliest times Mary has typified the perfected Church of the end-time. ​ When Christians have asked themselves whether it is really possible that the redemption should be completed in the world by people themselves so unredeemed as yet, the veneration of the Immaculate Conception or total sinlessness of Mary, attributed to the

When Fr. William agreed to meet with me for our latest video, I was delighted.  Delighted to have time to sit down with him and that he would be our historical reference for the fourth and fifth joyful mysteries which have eluded me for some time. Eluded me in the sense that I felt I was only skimming the surface of understanding failing to fully comprehend their meaning.  The fourth mystery, the Presentation at the Temple, seems to be what it says however, upon invitation in

On Thursday afternoon, I had the privilege of sitting down with Fr. Juan in our school chapel to ask him my questions about the third Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, the Nativity.  With this being a week of Advent so full of joy, he was the perfect spiritual guide to seek out. It might seem a bit early in our Advent journey to already be discussing the Nativity--why talk about the birth of Jesus almost two weeks before Christmas?  Well, two reasons.  The first is that we have s

Gaudete Sunday Today is Gaudete Sunday which in Latin means the “Sunday of Rejoicing.” To express this note of hope and exultation, the priest even wears rose colored vestments as an exception to the usual somber violet. For, within two weeks we will be celebrating the solemnity of the birth of Jesus Christ. After four weeks of meditating on the “last days” we now turn our meditative attention to Christmas, the historic “first coming” of the Lord among us some two thousand ye

"The light of His grace streamed in upon her unobstructed and the radiant colors of all the virtues were found in the clear crystal of her purity."  Sr. Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P. Child Mary by Kristyn Brown This reflection from the Magnificat for today's Feast of the Immaculate Conception by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, O.P. is just perfect.  Light.  Pure, radiant light, free of Original Sin from her conception and full of grace.  That is the Immaculate Conception, Mary.  Beauty, stre

"How sweet to my tongue is your promise, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103 In writing this post on St. Ambrose in remembrance of his feast day, I have to share that I am staring a bit at a blank page--very much as he is portrayed above in this painting by Matthais Stom. I am at a bit of a loss for words to reflect upon when writing about someone of such huge importance and impact. However, I must admit that it is a bit of a fun idea, isn't it, to think that one

Reflection on the Gospel Reading Matthew 3:1-12 The figure and message of John the Baptizer was harsh and yet attractive. Living a solitary existence John emerged from the desert (now in Transjordan), clothed in the rough garb reminiscent of the ancient prophets, preaching a startling simple message: Reform your lives because the reign of God is at hand! Unpolished, straightforward in his criticism of contemporary society, John’s spreading reputation from Jerusalem, all Judea

“Make me brave to speak my mood, O my Jesus, as I would! Or teach me, which I rather seek, What to do and what to speak. — ANACREONTIC HYMN — St. John Damascene When I stood under the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel for the first time, a new level of understanding about the creation of the world and the final judgement sank into my heart. A couple of hours later, I felt the same as I stood before the Pietà in St. Peter’s, contemplating Christ’s passion and death. When we create

Reflection on the Second Reading Romans 13:11-14 Paul shared the early Christians’ expectation of Christ’s imminent return. He may have been one of the first apostles to proclaim this apocalyptic gospel drawn from late Jewish traditions. In this passage he urged the Romans to be unceasingly aware of the new order Jesus came to bring. They were to mirror his life in word and action. At the same time, as C.H. Dodd pointed out, the idea of the imminent “Day of the Lord” may have

I'm sure that there are those of you reading this who have spent Advent before reflecting on Mary's life and journey as the mother of Jesus, but I have to admit, I haven't.  I've wanted to, seen the devotionals available to me, thought about it, but never took that step to do it. Until this year.  It's been on my mind and heart for awhile and I'd like to invite you to join me. I want to spend this Advent learning more about Mary so that I can come to know Jesus deeper.  I wa

Albert the Great. Sounds like a "great" name, and yes, that pun is intended--it evens rhymes. Czech people have even felt the need to top it off by having "Albert" supermarkets and hypermarkets. Apparently being great is not enough nowadays--blame inflation. But Albert the Great was not selling food, as you very well know. Saint Albert is celebrated today, the 15th of November, and he is the patron saint of the natural sciences. Albertus Magnus is known as the Universal Doc

"Seated upon the throne of the priesthood, glorious Leo, you shut the mouths of the spiritual lions. With divinely inspired teachings of the honored Trinity, you shed the light of the knowledge of God upon your flock. Therefore, you are glorified as a divine initiate of the grace of God." Kantakion, Tone 3 Encounter of Leo the Great with Attila Today, November 10th, we celebrate the Memorial of Pope St. Leo the Great. He was elected Bishop of Rome in 440 A.D. on September

There are some saints with whom you instantly connect. We all have them. Saint Teresa of Avila is one of them for me. Saint Teresa passed away on the night of the 4th of October 1582 but is celebrated today, the 15th of October, due to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar as a replacement to the Julian calendar in Spain that year, which caused all days from October 5th (included) to be skipped until October 15th. Teresa therefore died on a day that never existed. Saint

“Let us put ourselves into His hands, and not be startled though He leads us by a strange way, a mirabilis via , as the Church speaks. Let us be sure He will lead us right, that He will bring us to that which is, not indeed what we think best, nor what is best for another, but what is best for us.” If we reflect on the 19th-century’s English theology, we can meet with many different names. However, the most outstanding is the name of Saint John Henry Newman, who spent the fir

As today (October 1st) is the feast day of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, also known as Thérèse of the Child Jesus, or the Little Flower, we couldn’t let the opportunity to think about the “little way” pass us by and how it perfectly exemplifies what Fr. William preaches about the saints--those ordinary people who did ordinary things extraordinarily well. Saint Thérèse is one of the 38 Doctors of the Catholic Church--those people who over the last 2000 years have influenced the th

You know you've heard it as many times as I have from Fr. William, ' And how many of us stop our journey of Catholic formation after our...

"...most merciful and most just,utterly hidden and utterly present, most beautiful and most strong..., suffering no change and changing...

We have a pope!  I don't know about you, but I've been glued to podcasts and Instagram listening, reading, looking at photos and so happy...