This past Friday hundreds of thousands of people came together in Washington for the National March for Life, and before that we celebrated the “Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn.” A couple of years ago, we had a major victory in the fight to protect infants from the sin of abortion with the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. However, this victory has left many wondering why should we continue such events as the March for Life. Here is why.

Did you know? Every Mass is offered for an intention; depending on if it is a Sunday or weekday Mass, we always mention “For {insert intention here} for whom this Mass is being offered.” If you look just to the left of this reflection, you should see the Mass schedule, listed with the intentions that that Mass is being offered for. Nine times out of ten, those Masses are offered for someone who is deceased; but the Mass can actually be offered for any intention. Do you know someone who is sick? Have a Mass offered for them. Got a friend or relative who has fallen away from the Church? Have a Mass offered for them. Just had your first child? Have a Mass offered for them. Masses can be offered for any intention that we want to bring to God. 

This week we begin the season of Ordinary Time. Given the name, many people perhaps think of it as the “filler” of the Gospel. Some may even go so far as to say it is the “boring” parts of the Bible. Ordinary time, however, is anything but ordinary. 

In Christian tradition, we do know the names of the Magi to be Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. However, there is little suggesting they were kings. Instead, most evidence from both the Bible and other historical documents suggest these men were astrologers. This would likely make them royal advisers, but not kings. Also, because of this, the consensus is that these men were not Jewish. They were foreigners and pagans, men who did not know God or His Law. And yet, we see them coming to pay homage to the newborn “king of the Jews.” Furthermore, we can tell from their gifts that they have some idea of who Jesus really is: the Son of God. 

Many often joke about how it must have been to be the family of Jesus (God); Jesus standing on the bathwater, Jesus sneaking and multiplying cookies, etc.; and there is some humor to that. But the importance of this feast comes down to: the Holy Family is meant to be the model for all families. If you want to have a healthy family life, then look to them for guidance and example. Some are perhaps thinking, “That is not a fair comparison. Jesus is God and Mary is without sin; of course they are going to be the perfect family. How is that supposed to help my family?” Do not forget that they were not without their problems, too. Remember, Jesus was hunted from his birth; they had to spend two years as exiles in Egypt; Mary lost Jesus for three whole days. They had their fair share of drama as well, but they stayed strong in the face of all of that. 

One question that I have been surprised to get as often as I have is: “What would have happened if Adam and Eve had not eaten the fruit?” This is a question that has been asked numerous times over the history of the Church. However, the answer has always been the same: that we can play the “what if” game all we want, it is moot point because at the end of the day they ate it. That being said, one thing we know for sure would have been the same whether they ate the fruit or not is this: Jesus would have still been born.

This past week, the Church celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This feast celebrates the apparition of our Lady to Saint Juan Diego. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has since gone on to become one of the most famous images of Mary as well as one of the most unique. The image itself contains some of the deepest symbolism of any such images. Let’s take a look at some of this symbolism.

Periodically throughout the year, the Church celebrates certain days called holy days of obligation. These are seen as occasions of supreme importance where a Christian is obligated to attend Mass. It is in fact a mortal sin to skip Mass on these days without serious reason. Examples of such occasions would be December 8 (Immaculate Conception) and August 15 (the Assumption of Mary). But did you know: every Sunday is actually a holy day of obligation. This means we are obligated to go to Mass every Sunday, not just whatever day is most convenient to us.

During the season of Advent, many of us have different ways of preparing for Christmas. Some may decorate gradually, putting out a different piece of the Nativity set each day; others may do the Advent Calendar. Easily the most common devotion of Advent, though, is the Advent wreath. But what actually is the Advent wreath? What does each part represent?

Many people are perhaps familiar by now with where the word “Eucharist” comes from and what it means. For those not yet familiar, the word comes from the Greek word “eucharistia,” which translates to “thanksgiving.” The Eucharist is a lot of things for us: our new Passover, the source and summit of the Christian life, the Bread of Angels come down from Heaven. But the Church chose to name it “Eucharist” because it is our means of offering thanks to God for all that He has done for us. 

Christianity is a religion of anticipation, of hope. We as Christians are waiting for something more that is to come. What is it that we are waiting for? Contrary to popular belief, what we are waiting for is not just to die and go to heaven. What we are awaiting is our Lord’s return!

Every year as we approach the feast of Christ the King, our readings for Mass begin to shift focus from the general life and ministry of Jesus to specifically the “end times.” We will hear prophecies from Old and New Testament about the “Day of the Lord” as well as readings from Revelation and other apocalyptic books. However, we must acknowledge the level of confusion that come from other religions and denominations about these things. One specifically that a lot of Catholics have fallen into believing is called “Rapture Theory.”  

This weekend, the Church celebrates what is called “Hallowtide,” or the feasts of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. The name “Hallowtide” comes from the older English version of the name All Hallows Day. “Hallow” means holy or saintly, which incidentally means that Halloween (All Hallows Eve), despite the secular world’s attempt to assert otherwise, is actually originally a Christian holiday. 

How far would you be willing to go for the Gospel? For Christ? Often times, when we meet resistance, let alone outright opposition, to the Christian life, we tend to shrink away and hide our faith. I am not referring solely to speaking about the faith, but rather just simply living it. This was not the case for St. Isaac Jogues, whose feast day we celebrated earlier this month. 

One topic I have found myself discussing a lot recently is marriage. Marriage is one of the seven sacraments, but it is actually the only one to predate (in a sense) the ministry of Jesus. It goes all the way back to the beginning, when in Gen. 2:24 we are told: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” But in John 2, at the Wedding at Cana, Jesus’ changing of water into wine is meant to signify his taking marriage (something already present and good in itself) and changes it into something new and of the highest quality, a sacrament. 

We know that Jesus’ mission is to call us to repentance and conversion, to save us from

our sin. But what is the means by which we receive that salvation? Is it just through faith, belief?

Or is there something more? The Bible is actually quite clear.

In Matthew 28, Jesus tells the Apostles to go out and make disciples of all nations

through baptism and teaching them His commandments. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that

whoever is not born of water and Spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This and many

other passages tells us that baptism is the means of being initially brought into that salvation

from sin.

In the first few months of my priesthood, I had virtually the same experience with three different people on three different occasions. The first was when I went to the hospital to visit a patient there who turned out to be a lifelong Protestant and, while I was there, I half-jokingly suggested that if he should want to come into the Church, I could make that happen. The second was, upon hearing about this, another parishioner came to visit me and told me that that was essentially how she had come into the Church herself: through a simple invitation. Later that day, I came across an article on Facebook suggesting that, as modern evangelizers, the goal should be to invite people rather than try to outright persuade them of the truth.

This weekend is Priesthood Sunday. So let’s ask the question: what is a priest? From a sacramental perspective, a priest is a living sacrament where the man is united to Jesus in a unique way. When the priest acts as priest (celebrating Mass, hearing confessions, etc.), he acts “in persona Christi” or “in the person of Christ.” This means that in the Mass or in the confessional, it is not Fr. So-and-so who is praying or speaking, it is Jesus Himself. Every sacrament serves as a sign pointing to some higher, spiritual reality; the priest is a living sacrament in that he serves as the sign of Jesus’ presence within the Church. 

Often times with these reflections, I try to offer something people have not come across before. Sometimes, though, it is good to go back to the basics. With that in mind, let’s look at some basics about receiving Communion.

Often times, when I am teaching the Mass, I will start by asking the person to define the word sacred. Almost every time, I get the response “holy” or “blessed.” These are not necessarily wrong but they are too broad. A rosary is holy and blessed, but a rosary is not sacred. All sacred items are holy but not all holy items are sacred. Instead, for something to be sacred, it means that that item is reserved specifically for the purpose of worship.