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  • The Scandal We Long For – A Sermon on Matthew 1:18-25

    The Scandal We Long For – A Sermon on Matthew 1:18-25

    What is the most shocking part of today’s gospel (Matthew 1:18-25, Advent 4A)? What’s the thing that makes you wonder whether it really happened the way Matthew describes? What’s the hardest part to believe? For most people, I suspect, the thing that raises questions, controversy, and debate is Mary’s virginity. Aren’t virginity and pregnancy mutually…

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  • The Womb that Contains What the Heavens Cannot

    The Womb that Contains What the Heavens Cannot

    From you, our God who is before eternity, became a child! He has made your womb His throne, making it more spacious than the heavens. In you, O woman full of grace, all creation exults. Glory to you! (Joseph Raya, Theotokos: Mary Mother of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, 40.)  

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  • What are you Giving for Christmas?

    What are you Giving for Christmas?

    At Christmas we often think, and rightfully so, of God’s gift of Jesus to the world. We celebrate and rejoice that God has been born into this world as one of us. God is with us in a new way. God has given us himself in the baby Jesus. The early Church, while recognizing God’s…

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  • Advent Preparation – Let the Baby be Born

    Advent Preparation – Let the Baby be Born

    “Now the birth of Jesus took place in this way….” (Matthew 1:18-25) Matthew’s description of how Jesus’ birth happens does not mention anything that is on my to-do list. There is no busyness in his description. There are very few words spoken. Mary and Joseph are silent. They say nothing. An angel announces and declares as…

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  • Recognizing the One Who is to Come – A Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11

    Recognizing the One Who is to Come – A Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11

    “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another” (from Matthew 11:2-11, Advent 3A)? That doesn’t sound like the guy we heard from last week. So what’s happened to John the Baptist? Last week he was a name calling wild man. He stood in the wilderness announcing that the…

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  • Our Lady of Guadalupe

    Our Lady of Guadalupe

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  • The Feast of Thomas Merton

    The Feast of Thomas Merton

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  • Too Content to Repent? A Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12, Advent 2A

    Too Content to Repent? A Sermon on Matthew 3:1-12, Advent 2A

    “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (From Matthew 3:1-12, Advent 2A). Those words drew the people to John the Baptist. The people of Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region along the Jordan went to him. I wonder what they expected? Were they really ready for St. John? Did they expect to hear…

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  • Re-membering is Paradise, A Sermon on Luke 23:33-43

    Re-membering is Paradise, A Sermon on Luke 23:33-43

    “Jesus, remember me” (From Luke 23:33-43, Proper 29C, The Feast of Christ the King). Those words from the thief on the cross echo a cry that arises deep within each one of us. We all know what it is like to be remembered and we know what it is like to be forgotten. Think of…

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