2021

January 1 is the Solemnity (Holy Day) of Mary, Mother of God. To call Mary the “Mother of God” must not be understood as a claim for Mary’s motherhood of divinity itself, but in the sense that Mary was mother of Jesus, who is truly God. The Council of Ephesus in 431—long before the schisms with the Eastern churches and the Protestants—proclaimed “Mother of God” a theologically correct title for Mary.  

Over a twenty-four-hour period, there are four Masses celebrated by the Church: the Vigil of Christmas, Midnight Mass, Mass at Dawn, and Christmas Day Mass. The readings for all four are so beautiful, it is like one continual spiritual feast, a veritable gorging on Scripture.  

The Fourth Sunday of Advent marks a switch in focus from John the Baptist (on the previous two Sundays) to the events immediately leading up to the birth of Christ. 

The Eucharist stands at the core of Catholic imagination and practice. It is the reaching out and down through time of the mystery of Christ’s salvific self-offering in and through the ministry of the priest from within Christ’s own Church.

Even as our days remain filled with many activities, we can still remain close to God; we can still “abide” with Him (John 15:4). To remain with Him we need to develop a habit of love: hospitality toward His coming in love throughout the day. Of course, we need to go to the Blessed Sacrament to pray, but we also need to learn how to receive His love throughout the course of a workday or during family commitments. In order to receive His love, we need to be affectively vulnerable toward Him and become adept at noticing when He comes to us within these affective movements of love.  

Each year we observe the mysteries of Christ’s incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension and anticipate his second coming. This provides a cycle of fasting and feasting in our home according to the liturgical calendar. We have enjoyed reading about others’ traditions and deciding what ours will be.