As a first-time pastor in a parish, I received a phone call one afternoon from a young married couple, “Father, our 2-year-old son drowned in our pool this morning. We are at the hospital. Please help us.” I sped over. The little boy was gone, his body cold, slightly blue, laid out on a bed. His parents were distraught and in shock. For the next few years, I walked with the couple along their difficult and painful road.

What is Christmas? Why we need Christmas or Christ’s Incarnation?

Christmas is the fulfillment of God’s promise in Genesis 3:15, that he will send a Redeemer, Son of a woman to fight against the Devil. “I will put enmity you (serpent) and the woman and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.”

Entering into expectation.

I love to think about a Jewish Grandmother or Grandfather – about 2,500 years ago – having their grandchild on their knee and telling them about the uniqueness of their identity. That they are God’s chosen people. That they have been set apart for a unique role to play in the healing and redemption of the world. And, that they are waiting.

Advent is preparation for the coming of the Lord as our Savoir or Judge. Mary Immaculate can help us best prepare for welcoming Jesus into our hearts, the way she was prepared by the Father to be a fit dwelling place of our Savior. (This year’s celebration of Immaculate Conception is on Monday 12/9.)

When I was a young priest, about one year after ordination, I was called to the hospital to anoint a dying mother of three young children. She had a painful, terminal cancer. After celebrating Last Rites with her, I said, “Don’t be afraid.” She looked me square in the eye from her hospital bed and said, “Oh Father, I am in a lot of pain, but I am not afraid. Something wonderful is about to happen.” A few days later she died.

When I was a young boy in Burlington, Vermont, my dad had a good friend named Phil who owned a sporting goods store. I loved sports, so meandering the treasure-filled aisles was an unmitigated joy. One afternoon, we were shopping for a baseball glove. Dad said to me, “Hey Johnny, see that man who just walked into the store? That’s Phil.” I remember being fascinated and a little terrified.

Dear Family of God,

Jesus said: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” The autumn leaves are reminding us not only that winter is near but that life in this world is temporary, and death is certain. Our Liturgical Cycle B is ending, and we will start a new liturgical calendar in two weeks.

With our readings this week focusing on two widows giving to provide for the need of a prophet (or the temple), it naturally raises questions about the practice of tithing. Are Catholics obliged to tithe? If so, how much? And, how should we think about tithing?

Although tithing is traditionally understood to give 10% of your gross income (5% percent to your local parish, and 5% to charitable causes) the Church does not specify how much –or what percentage – a person should give to the Church.

How do we practice in our lives the first and greatest commandment?

Obedience to God is the proof of our love for God. Jesus said: “If you love me, you will do what I commanded you.” For some of us it is not just following the Law, if we want to be perfect, as Jesus said to rich man, “Go sell all your possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and come follow me.” This is the great challenge that Jesus offering to all of us today.

We live in interesting times. A time when it appears that everything has been politicized. There are forces in our culture that think the foundation of our culture should be the government. This is most clearly shown by those who advocate for socialism (or communism) and think that the means of production—the factories, the companies, the machines, etc. that produce the goods and services of our economy—should reside primarily (or exclusively) in the hands of government bureaucrats.

According to Dr. John Bergsma: The key to receiving lasting glory is Jesus Himself, and the center of Jesus’ mission is His freely laying down His life for the sake of us sinners. Leaders of this world, Jesus says, exercise leadership for their own benefit. This is the way Satan understands leadership—for the benefit of the one in authority.

During your life, you may have had the above question. To help us answer it I would like to quote from the ‘Dialogue’ of St. Catherine of Siena. This is a private revelation that Catherine received from the Lord. As a private revelation, it is not necessary for a Catholic to believe but has been judged worthy to believe by the Church and containing no doctrinal error. Put more colloquially, we are free to believe it if it spurns us on to love God more and to set it aside if it does not.

Some years ago I was on a plane flight where I struck up a conversation with the young man next to me. He was a college student at the University of Arizona. After discussing a number of topics about family and personal interests the conversation turned towards faith. He informed me that he used to be Catholic but was no longer practicing. When I inquired as to why he left the practice of his faith, he responded (to my frustrated dismay), “I got really into science.”