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Advent… a time of expectant and hopeful waiting… the time we prepare ourselves for the birth of Our Lord and Savior. Could there be a more important moment in the life of the soul?Today we begin our journey toward Christmas and the miracle of Bethlehem. We can be secure in our hope because we have the promise of the Christ Child… we have the wisdom of scripture… and we have one another.On the first Sunday of Advent I draw special meaning from today’s readings, and I hope you do, too. Jeremiah says the time is at hand when a descendant from the House of David will bring righteous judgment and justice across all the land. This was reassuring in the prophet’s time, and remains especially so now. We are, at times, confronted with seemingly impossible challenges. But scripture tells us never to despair because one called by God will redeem us. I also find solace in Luke’s Gospel, my favorite evangelist. He says rather than be afraid of change, stand tall and embrace it “because your redemption is at hand.”We have endured a lot of tests this year. So Advent begins with a plea from the psalmist for God’s ways to be made known to us, and for our vigilance and humility to guide us toward justice. We pray during Advent for the strength to overcome whatever obstacles may come our way, knowing that in the Christ Child we have the promise of salvation. And as always, we take comfort in the prayers we offer one another.Friend, we have such wonderful traditions at this time of year. When you light the first of four candles in your Advent wreath, know you are beginning the most hopeful journey of the liturgical year. Embrace the gift of love we are about to receive on Christmas Day. We may not know all that the New Year will bring. But we know that God will be with us for the journey in the presence of the Christ Child. May your Advent be full of expectation and joy. I am walking in hope beside you.

Today we celebrate the joyous feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of All—a day on the Church calendar commonly known as Christ the King. We may think of a king as someone with great power. But today’s feast day has a different meaning. The Church is asking us to acknowledge the power of Christ to forgive our sins… deliver us from evil… and to grant us eternal life with the Father and all the saints of heaven.Today’s feast day is another way of saying that God is greater than anything we can imagine. God’s love is immense and eternal, not subject to measurement. God’s grace is infinite, too, a wellspring of divine favor that renews our spirit and refreshes our soul. So in honor of Christ the King, today is a good day to renew our consecration to the living Christ whom we venerate in the Eucharist.One practice that can help us comprehend, in human terms, the enormity of God’s love is developing the habit of being grateful. Our celebration of Christ the King just happens to fall a few days before Thanksgiving, our great national holiday. If you want to glimpse who God is, practice gratitude. Everything we have comes from God. To live that thankfulness is our calling. Friend, even though we can’t completely grasp the concept of eternity or infinity, it’s good to remember this: God is the alpha and the omega in whom we are fulfilled. Be joyful and messengers of gratitude. I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving in the company of those you love. May the blessings of our faith be the gift you share without measure. I wish you a rich harvest.

Help us prepare your way, O Lord,exalting every valley and making lowevery hill and mountain to announceYour coming among usour Messiah and God.With hearts longing for your peacewe eagerly await your advent, O Lord,when the glory of God again fills the earth with your peace, and justice rains down from the highest heavens.May your kingdom come andYour will be done, when heaven and earth acknowledge Your presence among us O Lord our God, and love, mercy, forgiveness and truth fill the world With the glory of God.Amen.Father Joseph Veneroso, M.M.

Time to take stock. In just a couple of weeks, we begin a new liturgical year. But before then, we have a little work to do.Rather than think about a literal “end of the world”—the images in today’s readings—let’s think instead about the fulfillment of God’s reign on earth, something each of us can contribute to because we are all missioners. The world we hope to end is one of darkness and disillusion. The world we want to create is built on God’s eternal love and the promise of salvation that we are gifted in the Christ Child.From this perspective, preparing for the arrival of the Son of Man becomes a more hopeful kind of challenge. So I suggest taking the time between now and the beginning of Advent to see where God in your life right now. How do you reflect the joy of our faith at home? At work? In your neighborhood? In your parish? How much time are you making for prayer and self-reflection? Where God is absent, how are you being called to make the Lord’s presence known?Friend, as Advent approaches, now is a good time for an examination of conscience—a checklist for the soul that results in eyes that see, ears that hear, and a heart that overflows with the love of Christ himself. That’s all we really need to prepare for as one season ends—and a new one begins. May your journey be rich and rewarding.

“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” ~ Mark 12:43-44Everyone has something to give, so the saying goes—whether in wealth, talent, or time. Today’s Gospel, the story of the widow’s mite, is a great lesson in giving—but not so much from abundance as from poverty. The widow who had little to give made her contribution in the temple as the wealthy were making theirs. Her gesture was very modest—just two coins probably worth pennies—and accomplished without calling any attention to herself. But Jesus noticed her modesty and compared it to some of the wealthy who liked to give as a way of impressing others—and giving away only what they really didn’t need in the first place. When Jesus addressed his disciples, he had another kind of giving in mind. He talked about giving from a place of challenge or even deficit… giving out of concern for someone else’s well-being or just because the greater good is more important than our own. That was the widow in Mark’s Gospel. And many other people who have graced my life. With our remembrance of Veterans Day approaching this Thursday, I thank God for the example of our dedicated service men and women. They defended our country with valor and distinction, and in some cases with their lives. Their sacrifice can never be repaid. But we can honor their service to our nation by serving in our communities. Today’s reading also makes me think about the role of people who are challenged by physical impairment or special needs, or are in some way shut off from society. Some may write them off as non-contributors—people with nothing to give—but to me these are valued persons with unique gifts of their own, gifts that can be ours if we are open enough to receive them. The joyful irony is that gifts like these are also opportunities to deepen our faith—with acts of...

Mark’s Gospel today is a journey into the simplicity of a life well lived: Love God with your whole heart, soul, and strength; then love your neighbor as yourself. As Jesus reminds us, there is no other commandment above these. When a scribe confirmed that these two commandments are even greater than burnt offerings and sacrifices, Jesus saw that the man understood the meaning of God’s reign. In response he told the scribe, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”—an observation we would surely want to claim for ourselves. But it’s Mark’s final words that give us pause: “And no one dared to ask him any more questions.” What were the others afraid of? These were undoubtedly learned men schooled in Mosaic Law. Asking and answering questions of one another would have been commonplace. We can’t know for sure why the scribes felt threatened—and then fell silent. But I can say that in any relationship of value, asking questions is not only good but necessary. If one of us had been standing among the scribes that day, these are the questions we might have asked Jesus: • How can I build God’s reign on earth? • What can I do right now to welcome God into my life? • How can I reflect love of God in all of my relationships?I’ll try to answer my own questions this way: We build God’s reign through intimacy with Our Lord and his teachings, by witnessing compassion and love as Jesus did, and by sharing the joy of our faith with all those we know. That sounds a lot like living the two great commandments. With God’s grace, we, too, will not be far from the Kingdom of God.

Transforming the world may sound like a tall order for just one person. But imagine the good that can happen when each of us takes on the role of missioner and proclaims the joy of our faith. That’s what we celebrate today on World Mission Sunday: the good we have accomplished… and the good yet to be.Our calling in baptism is to go beyond our personal boundaries and engage with people and communities at all levels. Our gift of faith is precious. How can we not share it! The story of Bartemaeus in today’s Gospel is a good example of the power of faith—and the spirit of mission.Jesus encountered Bartemaeus on the road home from Jericho. A blind man, anxious to be healed, Bartemaeus repeatedly called for Jesus, probably disturbing the crowd that had gathered to hear Jesus preach. But Our Lord acknowledged Bartemaeus and rewarded his faith by restoring his vision. For present-day missioners, the eyes of faith are a window to the soul. Like Bartemaeus, we believe because we have experienced God’s love in deep and intimate ways.In proclaiming today World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis, too, is as overwhelmed as Bartemaeus, by the goodness of God. This is how he invites us to mission: “Dear brothers and sisters, when we experience the power of God’s love, when we recognize his presence as a Father in our personal and community life, we cannot help but proclaim and share what we have seen and heard.” Friend, on World Mission Sunday, this is my personal take-away: Like Bartemaeus, never be afraid to raise your voice in search of Jesus or in proclaiming his mercy. Let the world know the depth of your faith. Be the missioner you were called to be. And celebrate with joy because one day your reward will be very great.

“Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Mark 10:43-45Servant leadership is our meditation of the day… the calling we each have to play a lead role in responding to God’s presence in the world by imitating Christ himself: alleviating suffering, building up our Church, and honoring the gifts of natural and human life that surround us. These are all ways to serve and lead as faithful followers of God’s Word… and all ways we can live our baptismal call to mission.Think of servant leadership as an opportunity to express the fullness of our lives in Christ by using our unique gifts. With today’s Gospel in mind, I am inspired by some of the greatest examples of servant leadership in our Church. St. Oscar Romero, the Bishop of El Salvador, is one, a man who ultimately died for preaching the social Gospel of caring for the poor. Not only did St. Oscar lead his flock with complete trust in God but he preached with courage as well as humility.

“Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundreds times more now in this present age.”Mark 10:29-30Give a lot. Receive a lot in return. I think that is what Mark’s Gospel is trying to tell us today. When we care for one another in Christ’s name… when our only motivation is to proclaim the gift of salvation… God showers us with countless blessings.But, you say, we are only human! We have good days when being generous and caring is the easy thing to do; and we have challenging days when we wonder if our efforts have any meaning at all. That’s when I find it’s helpful to remember one important thing: we’re in good company. The apostles were just like us. They needed Jesus to reassure them. He told his followers that their faith would be rewarded many times over, and that living out of love for others, rather than in isolation or fear, is life-giving. The message is clear: love is both the gift and the reward.Witnessing love isn’t always easy or even simple. It can involve sacrifice and placing someone else’s needs ahead of ours. That is the nature of sacrifice. Like Peter, we may want to rebel or find another way out. But like Peter, we can find comfort in the words of Our Lord who only asks us to be open to the Spirit and the ultimate destination where God is taking us. And that is eternal life with the Father. Friend, just before the scripture line I shared with you above, Jesus tells a rich young man, seeking salvation, that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. “Rich” can mean financial wealth—that’s obvious… but it can also mean anything that seemingly masks our need for God. So decide how you will enter the Kingdom of heaven....

We know they have a special place in our lives. But what is it about children that makes them so privileged in our world?For God, it’s their innocence—something Jesus says we adults should emulate if we wish to enter the Kingdom. For us, I think it’s their vulnerability. Whether we are concerned because a child is ours through parenthood or family, or just because all children everywhere are reflections of God’s love, we know that protecting the youngest is what we are called to do. How difficult that becomes when we see children suffer through no fault of their own from poverty and neglect, or from violence and natural disasters. Yesterday was the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, a celebration of our belief that we are strengthened in our faith by the presence of angels just as Christ was during his lifetime. So I wonder: Is it possible to think of ourselves as both having a Guardian Angel and being someone’s angel, too?I believe we can. The role of a Guardian Angel is to enlighten and protect—to offer guidance and support when it is needed most. Our challenge is to find ways to live our deepest Christian values in a world that doesn’t always value children. And in doing so, to discover that by modeling the role of a Guardian Angel, we are witnessing God’s love in dynamic ways. Here are some suggestions:

Traditional Western theology, according to O’Murchu, has been rooted in an understanding of sinful humanity in a flawed creation. Over the centuries this paradigm has engendered co-dependent relationships among the people of God. Even worse has been an imperial image of God, which, after Constantine, which affirmed imperial models of human authority, whether in the church or society.Get your copy today >> https://maryknoll.link/poc

Today’s scripture offers us a “Moses moment,” if you will, an insight into good leadership when it really counts.Two of the men who had left Egypt with Moses were visited by the spirit and began to prophesy in camp. That alarmed a young man who told Moses to intervene and have them stop. But Moses answered by saying, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the people of the Lord were prophets!”That’s our cue to welcome the Spirit into our lives—the presence of God that is always available to us—and, yes, to preach in word and deed the Good News of our faith. No need to react to what other people are saying or doing. As Moses suggests, better to focus on our own gifts and capabilities and share them in the same spirit in which they were given—freely and generously by a loving God.A challenge worth contemplating at the beginning of a new week is just how we see God’s presence at work in the Church today. Is it a broad vision or a narrow one? Are we each a humble reflection of God’s eternal love, or are we more concerned with the doings of other people?Friend , now is a good time to become the prophet that Moses talked about, and to let God’s love overflow from you in all directions. Through baptism and the sacraments, each of us has the capacity to do great things. Now is a good time to show the world how.

“They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they remained silent.” Mark 9:33-34The song says: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” What could be simpler—or more profound?This Tuesday, people the world over will celebrate the International Day of Peace, an initiative of the United Nations General Assembly. In pronouncements and special events, nations of Good will be encouraged to strengthen the ideal of peace by observing 24 hours of non-violence. Our Holy Father Pope Francis often talks about “a culture of care” that emanates directly from our relationship with God—something he calls a privileged path to peace. “In many parts of the world,” says the Pontiff, “there is a need for paths of peace to heal open wounds.” Then he puts the burden on each of us: “There is also a need for peacemakers, men and women prepared to work boldly and creatively to initiate processes of healing and renewed encounter.”Are you up to the task? I hope we all are. Conflict and struggle are inevitable when one side, or one person, must prevail over another. It took the apostles a long time to figure this out. But once they did they became great missioners. So if we need a guide to peacemaking, I suggest the teachings of Our Lord himself. Jesus understood that peace can only be achieved when the weakest and most vulnerable are protected and valued.Friend, we don’t have to transform the whole world. Just ourselves. When we act out of love and compassion, when we build communities that accept and care for one another, we become the peacemakers that Jesus called us to be. And that’s when the world can’t help but become more just, more inclusive, more respectful… and more a reflection of the image of God. So as the song says, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me…” That’s when we will have done our job.

“But who do you say that I am?” Mark 8:29The question of the day may surprise you: Who is Jesus? Is he a prophet? A great teacher? A political disruptor? Is he really the Messiah?In today’s Gospel, Peter recognizes Jesus as the Christ, and says so reassuringly. But when Jesus tells his disciples—for the first time—that the Son of Man must suffer and die, then rise after three days, Peter has second thoughts. In fact, he rebukes Jesus perhaps wanting to keep his own vision for a Messiah intact—and denying a future that includes pain and suffering. At this moment, Peter was channeling things of this world and not the divine plan of salvation that Jesus had been preaching. So the Lord had to bring his disciple back to reality with a few admonishing words. And doesn’t this all sound a little familiar? Sometimes we lose our focus, too, straying away from God’s plan in favor of our own. That’s rarely a good idea.So the question we must ask ourselves today comes down to this: Who is Jesus in our lives? Like Peter we can say, “You are the Christ.” But, just as it was ultimately for Peter, the proof will be in the ways we express our faith… how we live family life, how we raise our children, how we treat our neighbors… how we live our lives in all the big and small ways of being good missioners. We know that Peter took a while to express his faith fully. But even after denying Christ three times, he returned to give his deepest devotion to his Lord. The truth is, like Peter, we will always have moments of confusion and doubt, too. Especially if God’s plan is not our plan. But with confidence in the promise of salvation—and the belief that God is always with us—we can be worthy of our calling to eternal life. Friend, living our faith is not a one-and-done kind of experience. The commitments we make to one another—and to God—must be renewed throughout our lives otherwise they weaken and fray. Affirm who Jesus...

For most of this nation’s history, religious socialists made their case to a population that was, for the most part, hospitable to religion and resistant to socialism. Today, those trends are moving in opposite directions. A majority of young people and persons of color in the U.S. express support for socialism. At the same time, even as religious affiliation has dropped, most Americans still say religion is important to them.Get your copy today >> https://maryknoll.link/3gx