Words of Welcome

  Psalm 148 The joyous strains of the angel voices singing praise to God can be heard echoing from the heavens and across the mountains. They invite us to join in singing  “Gloria in Excelsis Deo!” Yes, “Glory to God in the Highest!” And as Isaiah declared: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness” ( Is. 61:10 ). Let us, therefore, join this joyous chorus that brings together the voices of heaven and earth and all that dwells within them, in shouting “Praise the Lord!” Or, if you prefer the Hebrew, we can shout “Hallelujah!”   This morning we gather on the third day of Christmas, which means our true loves should give us “three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree!” That means there are still nine more days of Christmas before the season closes on January 6, the Day of Epiphany. January 6 is the day western Christians cele

The Annunciation to Mary, by Fr. George Saget 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 The angel Gabriel revealed to Mary that God had chosen her to be the mother of the “Son of the Most High.” This son of hers would also receive the throne of his ancestor David and “reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” ( Lk 1:26-33 ). So, in answer to the song, “Mary Did You Know?” the answer is yes, Gabriel gave her the news.  Gabriel’s announcement to Mary is rooted in God’s promise to David made centuries before that David’s house and kingdom would be “made sure forever before me, your throne shall be established forever.” (2 Sam 7:16).  With this promise, we move closer to the “little town of Bethlehem,” where the Son of the Most High lay in a manger. To get a feel for the story that we read in Second Samuel, we need to remember that the story of David’s encounter with Nathan took place four hundred years before the story was written for exiles living in Babylon. When t

  Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 We lit the pink candle this morning, which means it’s time to rejoice. This is the message the prophet delivered to a group of people who had returned home from exile in Babylon:  “I will rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Paul puts it this way in his first letter to the Thessalonians: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” ( 1 Thess. 5:16-18) .  So, in the words of an old Three Dog Night song, let us sing: “Joy to the world, all the boys and girls, now Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, Joy to you and me.” When the exiles returned home from Babylon, they found their homeland lying in ruins. To get a sense of the devastation that is envisioned by this post-exilic prophet, we might think in terms of what we’ve observed from the wars in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. When you survey this kind of

  John the Baptist, Rosary Basilica, Lourdes Isaiah 40:1-11 Imagine this scene: You’re standing in the heavenly courts when God gets up to speak. God tells the heavenly council: “Comfort, O comfort my people.” Yes, “speak tenderly to Jerusalem” because the city has paid the penalty. Therefore, the time for healing has begun.      Then a voice from the council responds: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” so that “the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.” That’s good news for exiles living in Babylon because that means it’s time for God to lead them home on a brand-new freeway!   Then a third voice offers a word of caution. While God is faithful, people are a lot like grass that withers when “the breath of the Lord blows upon it.” Nevertheless, despite our tendency to fall short of God’s expectations, God’s word stands forever. In this, there is hope.  So, let us go to the mountain and shout out with our strength to