St. John the Baptist

Advent is about watching and preparing. The Mass readings for the First Sunday of Advent reveal this fact to us. Of course, we are watching and preparing for the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, at Christmas, but the readings remind us…

John isn’t exactly a funny name to us but when St. John the Baptist was born, his relatives were scratching their heads over it. “Where did that come from? Nobody else in the family has that name.” “Elizabeth dear, shouldn’t the boy be…

All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. … The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his…

My daughter was baptized 10 years ago on this very feast. Wearing a flowing white baptismal gown that goes back several generations in my wife’s family, she was quite the fussy baby, and she cried during the entire rite. Except,…

Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. (James 5:7) I gave a talk in a parish on…

Nothing provides more excitement and joy than finding something new. Discoveries are made every day — new plants, medicines, heavenly bodies. In order to talk and marvel about these new discoveries, we give them names. One of the greatest…