From Season to Season

My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, for they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, for fear they will collapse on the way.   - Matthew 15:32   For many in our day, this Advent season will go by unnoticed; even Christmas will be little more than another day. The cold of winter, the gnawing pangs of hunger, the stress of the holiday season, and the insecurities of an unstable economy are all realities of Advent. The pressures of day-to-day life can eclipse the promise that Advent brings to a tired world. It is only by the grace of God that any of us are able to endure the trials and challenges of life in a world where many fight to survive.             For Catholics in England living during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the world seemed as though it had been turned upside-down. The “Old Religion” had been outlawed in favor of the...

Many will come from the east and west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet of the Kingdom of Heaven. - Matthew 8:11 In the First Reading and Gospel of today’s Mass , we hear, as if for the first time, the promise of the Lord’s Advent: “For over all, the Lord’s glory will be a shelter and protection.” The promised Messiah, the Long-Awaited One of Israel, comes to offer salvation for all God’s children. Isaiah saw the vision of a world cleansed from its fear and sin, a world where God’s glory would be manifest to all. In Jesus, this promise is fulfilled.     Opening our hearts to hear this promise in a new way this Advent, we remember the great missionary, Saint Francis Xavier . Inspired by no other motive than a desire to spread the Gospel, this holy, simple priest left the security of his Jesuit community to set out on a mission that took him to India, numerous islands in the South Pacific, Japan, and finally, to a small island off the...