Is My Phylactery Showing?: 2020

How old was St. Joseph?

A colleague of mine posted the following on Facebook concerning the likely age of St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus:

St Joseph would have been in his late teens when Jesus was born. Note he is merciful and charitable to Mary before God tells Joseph about Jesus in a dream. Joseph’s faith in and love for God transcended his youth! When I was a teen, I would have been too vain, self-centered, and immature to accept God’s plan, let alone become the adoptive father of Jesus!

The world needs young people of faith, willing to know and love God, to do His will in their lives!

Someone commenting in the thread asked about sources for this material, indicating that she always thought of Joseph being old, and he responded:

I read a really good article on this.

Dec

Gaudete! Third Sunday of Advent 2020

Isaiah 61:1-2A, 10-11; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24; John 1:6-8, 19-28

Today is Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. The word Gaudete is Latin for “rejoice,” which is in today’s opening antiphon from Philippians 4:4 and in our second reading from 1 Thessalonians. That’s why this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday. And that is why we wear rose colored vestments—to remind us to look forward to the light that is coming in this season of preparation.

Nov

The Coming End Times—Thirty-Fourth Wednesday of Ordinary Time (Cycle II)

Revelation 15:1–4; Luke 21:12–19

Our readings today… well, they sound eerily familiar or at least foreboding. We’re experiencing a time that seems cataclysmic. We’re seeing the kinds of societal breakdown that we expect of the end days. We, of course, are seeing the impacts of the pandemic, which sounds just like the plagues from Revelation. I think we’ve all been seeing the signs of the times in our current events. But frankly, we’ve been seeing the signs of the times for years.

Nov

Be a Saint: Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Proverbs 31:10–13, 19–20, 30–31; 1 Thessalonians 5:1–6; Matthew 25:14–30

Originally, Deacon Mark was scheduled to preach, but he is unable to be here today.

Our readings this week have a lot to say about gifts and talents. Each of us has gifts and talents, and they are given to us for a reason. Now, we know that any capabilities we have come to us from God.

Oct

Heavenly Leaven—Friday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time

Ephesians 1:11–14; Luke 12:1–7

As Fr. Mariusz mentioned, this is the memorial of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, who is best known for promoting the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Frankly, I have to admit to being remiss in that, while I love the consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I was not as cognizant of St. Margaret Mary’s role in promoting this devotion as I should have been. I will be more cognizant going forward.

Oct

Entitled—Twentieth-Eighth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Isaiah 25:6–10a; Philippians 4:12–14, 19–20; Matthew 22:1–14

I am sometimes—maybe often—not gracious, not generous, not very giving, and lacking in recognition of the many gifts that I have been given. Sometimes I don’t treat those gifts with the respect they deserve. I can’t give a good excuse for why that is, but there must be something in me that seems to think that I deserve what I have, maybe even that I deserve more. To use the latest terminology, I think I’m entitled to what I have.

Sep

Let It Go—Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Sirach 27:30–28:7; Romans 14:7–9; Matthew 18:21–35

Our readings for the past week have had a lot to say about mercy and forgiveness, and forgiveness is the theme for today. We are warned repeatedly throughout scripture that we are required to forgive others to be forgiven ourselves. This should be no surprise to us.

Sep

Mercy and Justice—Twenty-Third Thursday in Ordinary Time (Cycle II)

1 Corinthians 8:1B-7, 11-13; Luke 6:27-38

We have two related notions here in our readings today. The first is that we ought not to put stumbling blocks in front of our neighbors, and the second is that we must not return an evil action for an evil action. These seem like two separate points, but they’re really related. That said, let’s start with the first.

The first line of our epistle reading sort of slapped me upside my head: “Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.

Sep

The Nativity of the of Blessed Virgin Mary

Micah 5:1–4a; Matthew 1:1–16, 18–23

Today we celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, nine months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8. Much of what we know about the Blessed Mother’s early life comes to us from an extrabiblical text that was handed down through tradition, an interesting work title The Protoevangelium of James, also sometimes called the Infancy Gospel of James. In it we read about Anna and Joaquin, the parents of the Blessed Mother.

Jul

Mercy in a Time of Cholera—Fifteenth Week of Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

Isaiah 55:10–11; Romans 8:18–23; Matthew 13:1–23

I think all of us have a very new understanding of what it means to suffer. It manifests itself in so many shades and degrees, and right now, it’s most clear in our isolation and fear in the midst of this pandemic.

Is My Phylactery Showing?

Faithful Catholic or modern-day pharisee? Sometimes I might be a bit of both.