Restoration & Transformation In today’s Gospel, Jesus heals the leper by his word and by the touch of his hand. “I do will it. Be made clean.” Jesus restores him to physical health, and in doing so, also restores his…

“...Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17) St. Paul in today’s second reading describes his approach to evangelization. “I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do…

“He spoke with authority, not like the scribes and Pharisees.” Like the scribes and Pharisees, we acquire authority by trial and error. We accumulate knowledge through study, and the more our knowledge and experience grows, the greater authority we can…

Peter was free because he was set free. At the heart of Peter’s story is not his own gifts and abilities; at the center is the encounter with Christ that changed his life. He experienced a love that healed him…

Meeting Jesus Changes Us At the end of today’s Gospel, we hear that the wise men “returned to their own country by a different way.” On the surface, they took a “different way” in order to avoid Herod’s jealous wrath,…

Welcome God’s love into your home! I think that’s a pretty simple summary of today’s feast of the Holy Family. God the Son really entered our human family. In Nazareth, he learned to walk and speak, to labor and to…

The True Meaning of Christmas: Encountering Jesus in the Eucharist I had been an avid reader of books for many years before I discovered that many people start at the end. I was unfamiliar with the practice of reading the…

Jesus Christ reveals to us the truth about our identity. In today’s Gospel, crowds come to John the Baptist asking who he is. He answers by describing who he is in relation to Jesus Christ. “I am not Elijah...I am…

Preparing a Place for Jesus As we prepare for the celebration of Christmas, let us remember to make a place for Jesus in our homes. The Gospel passage of the Second Sunday in Advent always recalls the preaching of St.…