Who would have thought we would be in the situation that we find ourselves in? A virus spread around the world, countries in lock down or stay at home order, businesses closed. And to top it all off Masses are not open to the public. Its times like this that we need Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist the most. I understand why we cannot come to Mass right now, but as a priest and pastor of souls it causes me great sadness. It is sad to not have my parish family with me at a time when the Mass and the Eucharist can bring such strength and consolation.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus invites us with Peter, James and John to witness a glimpse of His glory. They went up the mountain with Jesus to pray. While Jesus was praying, “his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” We hear the Father’s voice. "This is my chosen Son: listen to him.” The Father reconfirms his love for his Son. This time it is addressed to all of us, as Jesus appears bathed in the light of glory. He stands between Moses and Elijah—two great leaders in Israel’s history.

Today is the first Sunday of the lenten season. We all know that Lent is all about crawfish boils, fish frys, and other seafood delights. I think we should be required to eat meat on Fridays during Lent, rather than to give it up. That would be more of a sacrifice for us in this part of the world.        Because of all of this we tend to lose focus on why we do these things. Why do we give up meat during Lent? Why do we fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday? For the sake of space I’ll provide two answers to why we do this.

As we enter into the Seventh week of Ordinary Time, our Gospel instructs us, “Be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” There are many lessons that we can learn from this week’s Gospel. Jesus calls us to love others, and to do good for one another. In our readings, we see that Jesus not only calls us be His disciples, but to draw us near to him. He is calling us to a deeper relationship with Him.

Mardi Gras is less than two weeks away. It’s a great time for family and friends to enjoy time together. Even if parades and costumes isn’t your thing it still provides us with an opportunity to pause from our usual routine.

I would like to write about Saint Mary MacKillop, because she was, and is, an example for us to honor God in our daily lives. Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1842, Mary MacKillop was the eldest of eight children. She found inspiration in the words of Jesus, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:37-39).

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus. 40 days after His birth Mary and Joseph brought Him to the Temple as prescribed by the law of God.         We meet the prophet Simeon who was also a priest in the Temple. Because of the premonition given him by the Holy Spirit he knew he would be able to see the Messiah before he died. Who knows what he thought about that day. I’m sure he probably didn’t wake up that day knowing that he would indeed see the Christ child. His attentiveness to God and the movement of His Spirit in subtle ways led to him recognizing Jesus for who He truly is.

The liturgy of the Word this weekend lets us look to our future, that Jesus is doing everything we have said about him. Jesus started his mission in Galilee, the place where the prophet Isaiah prophesized in the first reading “The people who walked in darkness have seen the great light.” (Is. 9: 2)  Jesus is that great light appearing in the darkest places.  That is the picture of the heavenly kingdom on the day of Salvation. At the last day we will be gathered together under the great light, the presence of God.

Last Sunday we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, which is the official end of the Christmas Season. We are now in this brief period of Ordinary Time, which will last until the coming of Lent and Ash Wednesday.

Last week we celebrated the Epiphany of the Lord; when Christ was made known to the nations. This week we celebrate the the Baptism of the Lord. Today Christ too is made know to the nations. We hear this in the closing line from today’s Gospel, “And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” We see Christ not only was born on Christmas morning, but made himself known to us in many ways, especially as the wise men came in His own Baptism and in His self manifestation at the wedding of Cana.

Today we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord. Sometimes referred to as King’s Day, it is traditionally celebrated on January 6th. On this day we celebrate when Jesus’ divinity was publicly manifested to the world. We might be thinking to ourselves, “Didn’t this happen when Jesus was born?” Not exactly. When Jesus was born not too many people knew about it. The only people that knew that Jesus was born was Joseph and Mary, of course, and the shepherds.

Our Advent journey is almost over. Our preparation to receive the Christ child is concluding. The Christmas celebration is almost upon us. We are so close it is like the morning just before the breaking of the dawn. The coming dawn, and the rising sun, is a perfect image of Christ’s coming into the world. His being born of a Virgin and placed in a manger. Jesus is the Light of the World, and this Light has broken the darkness. What was begun in the crib reached its completion on the Cross. His birth and coming into the world announced our salvation, and evil’s defeat.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,      There are only ten days until Christmas! This third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete” Sunday. There are two times we can observe the liturgical color, rose on Gaudete Sunday (Third Sunday of Advent), and on Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday of Lent). Both Gaudete and Laetare terms can be translated “rejoice.” We light the rose candle in the Advent wreath on this Sunday. In the midst of our Advent preparations we anticipate Jesus’ coming joyfully. The theme of joy rings out in the Scripture passages for today’s Mass. Therefore, we should rejoice and be glad in preparing the way of the Lord.

The readings this weekend lay out some typical Advent themes, for lack of a better word. We see this especially in the first reading from Isaiah and in the Gospel.       The prophet Isaiah gives us one of the most important Messianic prophecies, or prophecies related to the coming Messiah. He begins by saying that a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse. This is another way of saying that the Messiah will be of David’s line, as Jesse is the father of David. This isn’t the origin of the Davidic understanding of the Messiah. It simply helps to give us the clue that Isaiah is referring to the Messiah.  

The new Liturgical Church Year begins. We begin Year A, which emphasizes the gospel of St. Mathew. Advent is here! Advent is season of waiting. It rings like a bell in the early morning, rousing us to reality. In the Gospel today, Jesus says: “Stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come." (Mathew 24:42). It is noted that the Church draws our attention again to our final destiny. What began with Christ's birth in  Bethlehem will finally culminate in his Second Coming at the end of time.

This Sunday we end our current liturgical year with the celebration of Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. This is a relatively new celebration in the Church, as it was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 amidst that tumultuous time that saw the rise of communism and socialism.    The pope wanted the world to realize whom we all should bow to first. Properly understood, serving Christ first leads us to serve our brothers and sisters around us regardless of race, color, or nationality. With all the sovereign powers around the world it is Jesus Christ from whom their authority comes from. The horrors of the 20th Century bear testimony to the world of what it looks like when this is forgotten.

This coming Monday is November 11th, Veterans Day. Every Veterans Day we remember those men and women who have served our country in the military. We are thankful for all of our veterans, and I am personally thankful to all of our VOL parishioners who have served. Did you know Veterans Day has a Catholic origin? November 11th is the Feast of St. Martin of Tours. St. Martin of Tours is the famous 4th Century Roman Officer turned Catholic bishop. His conversion story is noteworthy. As we are told, one day he came across a poor man while he was on his horse. Filled with compassion for him, yet having nothing to give him, he tore his cloak in two and gave one half to him. That same night he dreamt the same scene, but instead of the poor man he saw that the face of Christ. This led to him leaving the service of the Roman government and entering the service of God, eventually becoming bishop of Tours in France.