Fertility is one meaning of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is recognized in the sash tied across Mary’s waist indicating she is pregnant. Mary’s feast fits well as a celebration during the Advent season when we are all awaiting new life. The feast celebrates the pregnant Mary’s fruitful appearance to a…
Conception, a natural consideration in this season awaiting a baby’s birth, is not considered this Sunday. It is displaced by a warning from John the Baptist as the Gospel reading. Quite unfortunate, since today, December 8th, is a specific day celebrating conception. It is Mary’s Immaculate Conception. The festive celebration of Mary’s conception happens…
Advent is a time of pregnancy in which we are patiently waiting with a pregnant Mary each year. As she prepared to give birth to Jesus so we too prepare to give birth to the Christ child in our world. Meister Eckhart, a 14th century mystic, wrote: “What good is it if this eternal…
All the world rejoices in the birthing of new life. The faith of followers of Jesus flows from such joy. It is the joy of birth and of rebirth, the Resurrection. The Resurrection is a topic in this Sunday’s Gospel. The Sadducees deny resurrection. Resurrection proposes that every birth and every rebirth flow from…
Jesus is only passing through Jericho. He doesn’t intend to stay. Zacchaeus only wants to get a look at the man everyone is making a fuss about. He doesn’t intend to have Jesus over for dinner. Beyond what either man intended though something new was created, a friendship. It came into being less from…
The Gospels record healing as a life-giving power Jesus shared with people. Among the people with whom he shared his healing power was a young man, the only son of a widow from Nain. As this Sunday’s Gospel relates, the young man had died. Additional Gospel stories of people who died and were healed…
A loving Spirit can guide us throughout our lives. Such a Spirit can especially guide us as peacemakers through conflict. Dirk Willems was guided by such a Spirit, as was Ben Salmon, Medgar Evers, Maura Clark, Jean Donavan, Ita Ford, and Dorothy Kozel. Like Jesus, these disciples gave witness to the Spirit of truth.…