Reflections (Page 7)

One summer the New Yorker magazine used for its front cover a painting of a scene from the beach. There were five people in the painting: four adults and a little girl. Three of the adults were pacing back and forth with anxious expressions while talking on their cell phones, and the other adult was seated on a beach chair, staring intently at his laptop computer. In the meantime, the girl was holding a seashell up to her ear, listening to the sound of the sea…

A speaker once opened the Holy Bible and pointed to the intersection of the Old and New Testaments. There, he noted, is John the Baptist’s role and mission within salvation history! Having followed generations of prophets who proclaimed that the Messiah was coming, the Baptist had been given the unique role of pointing Jesus out and introducing Him to a world in desperate need: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29 After doing so,…

So, they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. (John 1:39) That must have been the best time of their whole life, the time spent “hanging out” with Jesus. This is the ideal picture of discipleship which the Gospel of John (1:35-42) has to offer, and it pairs up with the other fascinating picture offered by young Samuel (1 Samuel 3-10, 19) opening to the Lord and to the Lord’s voice. Speak, LORD, for…

The solemnity of the Epiphany was one of the first feasts celebrated by the Church, much sooner than Christmas. The reason for its importance lies in the fact that this feast is about the contemplation of the mystery kept hidden for generations and millennia and finally revealed fully in Jesus, the Son of God made flesh. It is the mystery of the Father’s wish to save everyone. It is the mystery of the Father’s wish to have everyone become a child…

The sheriff’s department in a large city once distributed a list of rules titled “How to Raise a Juvenile Delinquent in Your Own Family.” The rules were: (1) Begin at infancy to give the child everything he wants; this will teach him that the world owes him a living; (2) Pick up everything he leaves lying around; this will teach him that he can always shift responsibility to others; (3) Always take his side against neighbors, teachers, and police officers. These people…

By Deacon Steve Greco We are all called to be saints. The only alternative is too awful to think about: an eternity separated from God. In order to become saints, we must pursue holiness in our lives. We must seek to live authentic Catholic lives, seeking God’s will in all we do. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of holiness: “The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me’ … Jesus is the model…

I don’t know about you, but whenever I think of the Holy Family, I’m drawn to images painted by great artists. Most depict Mary, Joseph, shepherds, and animals surrounding the infant Jesus. For me, I also like to envision Mary and Joseph holding Jesus in their arms. As they gaze at Him and hold Him close, they not only hear him breathe, but actually, feel it; baby’s breath, if you will. To rework an old saying from an automotive legend:…

Every Christmas season, I look forward to the “Christmas Letters” section in the various publications that I receive. Many are reflections from readers that go way back, to times past. In reading them, what is most remarkable is that the memories of those times remain vivid, as though they happened yesterday. If you were to categorize them, there would be three: Some are letters remembering soldiers returning home from war, and the gratefulness that they—did; still others recount the loss…

In the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we meet two people, worlds apart: a very successful king and a 14-year-old Jewish girl from the obscure hamlet of Nazareth.  There had been significant ups and downs in King David’s past, yet, all things considered, he had had a very successful life. When he had time to reflect, he realized that his success was due to God’s generous favors, hence, he decided to build a house for the Lord as an expression…

During the 1980s, a saying swooped into American culture that has been attributed to Malcolm Forbes; namely, that “The one who dies with the most toys—wins!” At face value, it implies that the most important thing in life is to collect playthings and have fun while we can enjoy it. But sadly, it seems to go a step further by portraying our lives as a contest, where we “win” not by being fulfilled while we’re alive, but by being the…

Working with the Holy Spirit we continue to build up the glory to which we are destined as Body of Christ, so that, at the end of time, we may be as glorious as Jesus Christ, our Head, is. On the first Sunday of Advent we were invited by Jesus to work on our glorification through watchfulness to be heartened by signs of his presence among us and in us; and, thus, to face boldly and redress any situation hindering such glorification.…

Just over two months ago, on October 7, the nation of Israel was surprised by a number of deadly, vicious, and unjustified terror attacks launched from the Palestinian city of Gaza; many Israeli civilians—innocent men, women, and children—were brutally tortured, murdered, or captured and taken away as hostages. An Israeli named Amir, his wife Miri, and their two little girls, ages three and one, lived in Israel near Gaza in a small kibbutz—a Jewish community or village in which all the…