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20 Dec 2020 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Each year on our birthdays my mother would tell my sisters and me the story of our births. My dad, a traveling salesman during those years, was always out of town when my mom would start labor. But then by some miracle, he would get there before or just after each of us was born. Miracles and childbirth seem to go hand in hand. It is a miracle people are courageous enough to bear children given all that can go wrong. It is a miracle anyone conceives a child given the biological precision required. It is a miracle that the baby survives its time in the womb given all the possible genetic and healthcare threats. It is a miracle that the trauma of childbirth doesn’t overwhelm the baby and its parents more than it usually does. It is a miracle that more often than not, even in remote areas, the mother doesn’t die from infection. It is a miracle that despite even the most incredible odds, most babies thrive and grow. Conception and childbirth are miracles. Period. Jesus’ conception and birth are no exception. They point to a truth that anyone who watches a child come into the world knows as the truth: that love exists—as a separate, all-powerful being outside ourselves, and we are graced with its presence everyday of our lives. Hail Mary, for her role in bringing this truth to life.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

miracles childbirth

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Homily stories

20 Dec 2020 - Fourth Sunday of Advent, Cycle B

Each year on our birthdays my mother would tell my sisters and me the story of our births. My dad, a traveling salesman during those years, was always out of town when my mom would start labor. But then by some miracle, he would get there before or just after each of us was born. Miracles and childbirth seem to go hand in hand. It is a miracle people are courageous enough to bear children given all that can go wrong. It is a miracle anyone conceives a child given the biological precision required. It is a miracle that the baby survives its time in the womb given all the possible genetic and healthcare threats. It is a miracle that the trauma of childbirth doesn’t overwhelm the baby and its parents more than it usually does. It is a miracle that more often than not, even in remote areas, the mother doesn’t die from infection. It is a miracle that despite even the most incredible odds, most babies thrive and grow. Conception and childbirth are miracles. Period. Jesus’ conception and birth are no exception. They point to a truth that anyone who watches a child come into the world knows as the truth: that love exists—as a separate, all-powerful being outside ourselves, and we are graced with its presence everyday of our lives. Hail Mary, for her role in bringing this truth to life.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

miracles childbirth

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Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

27 Dec 2020

SUNDAY SUMMARY Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Abraham is running out of hope, but God never loses sight of the promise. Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9 God's covenant is binding for a thousand generations. Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Faith took Abraham on the ultimate journey into the clearly impossible—but for God. Luke 2:22-40 Simeon sees in the child Jesus the fulfillment of his nation's hopes and the crowning of his own. Homilist's overview of December. More resources for the month available in Seasonal notes.

Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Luke 2:22-40

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Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

27 Dec 2020

SUNDAY SUMMARY Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Abraham is running out of hope, but God never loses sight of the promise. Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9 God's covenant is binding for a thousand generations. Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Faith took Abraham on the ultimate journey into the clearly impossible—but for God. Luke 2:22-40 Simeon sees in the child Jesus the fulfillment of his nation's hopes and the crowning of his own. Homilist's overview of December. More resources for the month available in Seasonal notes.

Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Luke 2:22-40

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Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

27 Dec 2020

SUNDAY SUMMARY Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Abraham is running out of hope, but God never loses sight of the promise. Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9 God's covenant is binding for a thousand generations. Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Faith took Abraham on the ultimate journey into the clearly impossible—but for God. Luke 2:22-40 Simeon sees in the child Jesus the fulfillment of his nation's hopes and the crowning of his own. Homilist's overview of December. More resources for the month available in Seasonal notes.

Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Luke 2:22-40

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Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

27 Dec 2020

SUNDAY SUMMARY Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Abraham is running out of hope, but God never loses sight of the promise. Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9 God's covenant is binding for a thousand generations. Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Faith took Abraham on the ultimate journey into the clearly impossible—but for God. Luke 2:22-40 Simeon sees in the child Jesus the fulfillment of his nation's hopes and the crowning of his own. Homilist's overview of December. More resources for the month available in Seasonal notes.

Genesis 15:1-6; 21:1-3 Psalm 105:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Hebrews 11:8, 11-12, 17-19 Luke 2:22-40

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Exploring the word

27 Dec 2020 - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

Most of us like to keep things simple. In life we draw up a plan and then step-by-step try to put it into action. Get an education, get a job, start a family, build up savings, then retire. It sounds so easy and straightforward, doesn’t it? Our plans don’t generally include the unforeseen contingencies. Maybe you train for a career that doesn’t even exist in 10 years. Maybe the family you create unhappily comes apart. Maybe you build up savings that are wiped out when financial institutions collapse. Maybe you don’t live long enough to retire. Despite the uncertainty of our plans, we continue to make them. How many of you keep a to-do list? We make a plan each day when we rise and hope to carry it out, item by item and hour by hour. Among the most frustrating episodes we face is the encounter with a person who thwarts those plans: swerving into our lane unannounced or calling with news that changes everything. Like most couples, Abraham and Sarah had counted on having children. After long years of disappointment, they faced old age without heirs. Then God made a promise to miraculously change their fate. Abraham committed his faith to the bargain, and the child arrived who would make his descendants like stars in the sky. Parenthood in the senior years is not the usual destination, but the word impossible is not in God’s dictionary. A simple plan it wasn’t. But it fulfilled the divine purposes just fine. The circumstances around the birth of Jesus were far from simple as well. Conception before marriage is not the usual plan. Nor is accepting paternity for a child not your own. But the most atypical part of this situation was the conception of a virgin and the adoption of a divine Son. Mary and Joseph were stepping way out of the normal scheme of things to embrace this unique family plan—this Holy Family blueprint. Simeon, a man who’d spent his life waiting for God’s atypical activity, and Anna, a prophetess used to spotting divine markings whenever she saw them, both blessed and announced the revelation of this child. As far as they were concerned, their life plan was achieved with the arrival of Jesus. But then, they were the sort of folks who didn’t mind when God swerved into view without warning, or called in news that changes everything. Simeon was clear that the great news contained its own share of pain: for Mary and Joseph, for the child’s bitter enemies, and also for his devoted friends. As old Abraham might remind us, you have to commit your faith to the bargain. Impossible is just not a word God recognizes. Related scripture links Other advice for families: Deut. 5:16; 30:19; Mark 9:36-37; John 19:26-27 Plea for unity: Phil. 2:1-4 Be ye perfect: Matt. 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36 Fruits of the Spirit: Gal. 5:22-23 But above all, love: 1 Cor. 13

Authors Alice Camille

life plans

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Homily stories

27 Dec 2020 - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

Joseph, husband of Mary, had guts. He had the guts to pay attention to his dreams. He had the guts to trust his inner wisdom as opposed to conventional wisdom when he discovered that Mary was pregnant before their marriage, and also when he fled with his family to Egypt to escape the horrors of Herod who ended up sacrificing innocent children to protect his own power. Joseph was wise enough to be led by God as to where his family would live and how they would live. Today’s parents need to have guts, too. We need to have the guts to oppose those elements of modern culture that are dangerous to our own faith and the faith of our children. We need to trust our deeper instincts when they tell us to limit our kids’ TV viewing and cell phone time, or say no to certain fashions, or hold to a curfew, or monitor what movies they watch. We need to listen for the promptings of God through our hopes and our conscience when we are teaching our children the importance of relationships above things, or the value of using our talents for the good of all rather than simply for self-aggrandizement. We need to trust our deeper instincts rather than assume that what the general culture is espousing will be just fine for our kids. Joseph had guts. And he had heart. And he had great love for Mary and Jesus. He showed great leadership in his family. Let’s ask his help and guidance so that we might do the same.

Authors Tom McGrath

saint joseph

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Quotes

27 Dec 2020 - Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Cycle B

The more holy someone is, the more cordial they should be with others. —Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) Jesus is the only person in recorded history whose parents thought he was a child of God rather than their own creative project and possession. —Polly Berrien Berends in Gently Lead It is necessary to go back to seeing the family as the sanctuary of life. The family is indeed sacred: It is the place in which life—the gift of God—can be properly welcomed and protected against the many attacks to which it is exposed, and can develop in accordance with what constitutes authentic human growth. —Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus, 1991

Teresa of Ávila

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