Category: Prayers in English

“It was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not experience death until he had seen the Anointed of the Lord.” –Luke 2:26 Mass Readings: December 29 First: 1 John 2:3-11; Resp: Psalm 96:1-6; Gospel: Luke 2:22-35 Sometimes when we look at the manger scene, we don’t see how we fit into Christmas. We see figures from ancient times in a distant land. Yet how do we live Christmas in the here and now? Thank God the reality of Christmas is not limited to a particular time or place. Christmas transcends geography and chronology. It is not...

“This fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.” –1 John 1:3 The birth of Jesus made it possible for people to see, hear, touch, and hold Jesus (see 1 Jn 1:1ff). It made it possible to have a personal relationship with Him. Jesus’ Ascension, the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the birth of the Church made it possible for all people to have a much more personal, deep, and intimate relationship with Jesus (see Catechism, 788). Astoundingly, we can even live inside Jesus while He lives inside us (see Jn 14:20;...

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” –John 1:14 On this great celebration of Christmas, we recall Jesus being constricted for love of us: Jesus, Son of God and Eternal Word of God, Whom the universe cannot contain (2 Chr 6:18), is constricted in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus, through Whom all things came into being (Jn 1:3), accepts the constraints and limitations of a human body. After birth, Jesus was “wrapped in swaddling clothes” (Lk 2:12). These clothes encircled His body, constricting Him. The Baby Jesus was hunted down by the government. His...

“You shall go before the Lord to prepare straight paths for Him, giving His people a knowledge of salvation in freedom from their sins.” –Luke 1:76-77 On this Christmas Eve day and last day of Advent, we sing, for the last time until next Advent, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel.” We are mourning in lonely exile. We cry out and sing out for God to visit and ransom His people this Christmas season (Lk 1:68). We must be “rid of fear and delivered from the enemy” (Lk 1:74). We need Emmanuel, the Messiah, Jesus. Only Jesus,...

“Who can stand when He appears?” –Malachi 3:2 Mass Readings: December 23 First: Malachi 3:1-4,23-24; Resp: Psalm 25:4-5,8-10,14; Gospel: Luke 1:57-66 Jesus is coming! He is coming in a new way into our lives and our world this Christmas. “Yes, He is coming” (Mal 3:1). His first coming was humble and generally unrecognized by most of the world. The secular culture is working hard to ensure that Jesus’ coming this Christmas will also be unrecognized. The culture has replaced Jesus’ Christmas coming with the “holiday” coming of Santa Claus. This Christmas, will you be among the humble shepherds who recognized...