Tagged: Prayer Intention

“Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.” –Luke 2:19 The world begins the year with noisemakers, fireworks, and cacophony. The Church begins the year at the manger with Mary, treasuring “all these things” and “reflecting on them in her heart.” The world begins the year with a noisy night; we Christians begin with “silent night.” That which begins with a bang often ends in “dead silence.” That which begins in “live silence” often ends in a bang, which changes the world. The Lord commands us, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10,...

“You have the anointing.” –1 John 2:20 The word “Christ” means “Anointed One,” the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah.” Therefore, by calling ourselves “Christians,” we call ourselves “anointed ones.” Moreover, the word “Christmas” means “the Mass of the Anointed One.” The word “antichrist” means “against the Anointed One.” Thus, the idea of anointing is very dominant in Christianity or, we could say, in “the way of the Anointed.” The heart of following Christ, “the Anointed One,” is to “have the anointing that comes from the Holy One” (1 Jn 2:20). “The anointing” we “received from Him” must remain...

“On the third day they came upon Him in the temple.” –Luke 2:46 Shakespeare said the world is a stage and we are all players in the theater of life. Others say life is a party or game. Job said life was a drudgery (Jb 7:1). The Lord reveals to us that life is a Passover (see Lk 2:41) – a communal celebration of our God-given freedom from slavery. Life is not just a nostalgic look at Passovers past, but a living of Passover present. Life is losing Christ for three days (see Lk 2:46), being crucified and buried with...

“They came…in accord with the dictate in the law of the Lord.” –Luke 2:24 In today’s Gospel reading recounting the presentation of Jesus and the purification of Mary in the Temple, Mary and Joseph do everything according to the law of Moses. Mary presents herself in the Temple to be purified forty days after the “uncleanness” of childbirth, though this was unnecessary since she was sinless and ever pure (see Lv 12:6-8). Mary and Joseph offered their first-born Son, Jesus, to the Lord, though this was unnecessary because the Baby Jesus was God Himself. However, the law required the first-born...

“He ordered the massacre of all the boys…in Bethlehem.” –Matthew 2:16 At the first Christmas, Herod killed several innocent children. This Christmas, many thousands of innocent children will be killed each day not only through surgical but especially chemical abortions. Today’s death toll of innocent babies is unprecedented in the history of the human race. St. Joseph saved his Foster-Son, Jesus, from death by obeying a revelation he received in a dream. Likewise, the Lord has revealed to us how we can stop the massacre of infants. He told us through Pope St. John Paul II that prayer and fasting...