Today, the Church celebrates the First Sunday of Advent. Notice that Christmas is not included in that title, nor is it for the remainder of the liturgical season of Advent, even though much of the world around us is already acting like Christmas is here. I am in Rome right now, and even here, many places are decorated for Christmas. As Catholic Christians, though, we should know that Advent comes first, and cannot be forgotten as an important and necessary prelude to the joy of the Christmas season, which lasts not one day but a little over two weeks until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Dear Friends,

The Advent season is once again with us. Yet this year again, its commencement is shadowed by the deep anxieties of a world still struggling for peace in many countries. As we light the first candles—symbols of Hope—it is impossible to ignore the severe conflicts tearing at the global fabric, from the long-standing wars in Ukraine and between Israel and Hamas, to the devastating persecution faced by Christians in places like Nigeria, Sudan, and across the Middle East.

Today I am in Paris, having just visited the Cathedral of Saint-Denis just north of Paris. In that Cathedral is located the French Royal Necropolis. Surrounded by over 140 tombs of French Nobility, 40 of which are Kings, including King St. Louis IX, with their grand but sober funerary monuments, the immense temporal power that was wielded by those now laid to rest is evident, but even in death they seem to recognize that their power was finite and ultimately subservient to that of Christ’s, as on many monuments is incorporated effigies in prayerful posture often on their knees in the direction of an altar.

Dear Friends,

Our parish, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, is on a continuous journey to know, to love, and to serve Christ in our community, so that we get everyone who walks through our doors to heaven. In order to achieve this, together we must embrace Christ’s vision for our missionary discipleship so that our parish can thrive and be a place for others to grow together in faith.

Continuing the church’s practice of contemplating death and praying for the dead, especially in November, I now invite us to contemplate how hope is present, even in death, with our Holy Father from his homily given on All Souls’ Day.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ through Mary,

Among St. Vincent de Paul's famous statements, I picked the following:

1. "Go to the poor: you will find God,"
2. "The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility,"
3. "We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God."
4. "Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying". And,
5. "It is not enough to give bread. Love must be your calling."

As Catholics, it’s crucial that we understand not only the Catholic Church’s practices but also the reasons behind them, particularly in our funeral rites. Like all liturgical rites, funerals serve a specific purpose within the life of the Church. Catholic funeral rites consist of three liturgies, each with a distinct role in ministering to the bereaved and commemorating the deceased.

Dear friends,

This weekend, we at Our Lady of Mount Carmel are blessed to welcome the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (SHS), who are here to share their powerful story of faith, service, and urgent need. We have a profound opportunity to embody the love of Christ by generously supporting these courageous Missionary Sisters.

The Eucharist is truly a gift to us. In fact, it’s a continuation of Christ’s total gift of self that began with his incarnation, came to its culmination on the cross where he died for us, and continues to be present to us under the appearance of simple bread and wine. Because the Eucharist is such a precious gift to us, it must be treated with respect.

Dear friends,

I hear this frustrating, persistent, and often challenging question asked repeatedly in conversations about the goodness and omnipotence of God: Why do good people suffer so many challenges while the wicked seem to prosper and have an easy life?

It is rarely simple to give a soothing or immediately convincing answer to such a profound question. To complicate the matter, the question of suffering quickly spirals into deeper societal and existential quandaries. Consider the further questions that arise when we look at the world:

Dear friends,

Truly righteous or virtuous people know that they, too, are capable of contemptible behavior. They know that it is only because of the goodness of God that they have been spared situations in which their weaknesses would have overpowered them. The truly righteous are fundamentally humble.

We are no longer slaves to sin but beneficiaries of adoption as children of God in Christ through Mary. We are therefore made righteous by the Love of God."...God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us". Rom 5:8. Fear no more, but embrace the freedom of the children of God through Christ.

“Tho’ I’m no Catholic, I listen hard when the bells in the yellow—brick tower of their new church ring down the leaves … ring in Sunday morning and old age which adds as it takes away. Let them ring, only ring! … Let them ring for the eyes and ring for the hands and ring for the children of my friend who no longer hears them ring … O bells ring for the ringing! The beginning and the end of the ringing! Ring ring ring ring ring ring ring Catholic bells—!” (Excerpt of a poem by William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963)

Dear friends,

I am sure you have all heard this phrase: “To Jesus through Mary”. This simple, but profound truth is the very heart of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish. Our existence, our mission, is singular: to lead all who pass through our doors to heaven through a deep and abiding focus on the Eucharist, the very source and summit of our faith, and a devoted love for our Blessed Mother, Mary, our Patroness.

The spiritual and bodily meanings of proskynein [i.e., adoration on one’s knees] are really inseparable. The bodily gesture itself is the bearer of the spiritual meaning, which is precisely that of worship. When kneeling becomes merely external, a merely physical act, it becomes meaningless. On the other hand, when someone tries to take worship back into the purely spiritual realm and refuses to give it embodied form, the act of worship evaporates. Worship is one of those fundamental acts that affect the whole man. That is why bending the knee before the presence of the living God is something we cannot abandon.

Ever wonder why the bread we use at Mass, then consecrated into the Precious Body of the Blessed Sacrament, is different from other bread we might normally encounter, and not just Wonder Bread? The way in which the bread is made is strictly regulated by the Church, and the wine for the Precious Blood is no different. The regulations, while allowing for some broad differences (though not often seen in the USA), are very precise about the most important details to ensure that the bread is real bread and the wine is real wine that would be analogous to the same that our Lord would have used when he instituted the Eucharist.

Dear friends,

According to recent studies… a great number of priests quit each year. They don’t quit because they have a lack of faith in God. They don’t quit because they don’t believe in the calling God has placed on their life. Most don’t even quit because of financial reasons. Priests quit because they are overwhelmed with mental exhaustion.

According to Catholic theology, baptism is much more than merely a symbolic sign of belonging to the church. It is the means by which a person is incorporated into Christ, becoming a member of his mystical body. Baptism, accordingly, makes the baptized an alter Christus, another Christ, and thereby grants us the common offices of priest, prophet, and king. This is precisely why, for example, every candidate for baptism is anointed with oil, just as, in the Old Testament, priests, prophets, and kings were anointed upon assumption of their offices.

Dear friends,

Two weeks ago, I was out for a Pastors’ Retreat organized by Amazing Parish Movement. The retreat, which focused on the theme: “Abide in me”, taken from John 15, touched me deeply at very many different levels. It kept on reminding me over and over again that for my mission among you as your pastor to bear fruit, it must be rooted in Christ and his cross. This means that all my actions must flow from, be sustained by, and nourished by my deep relationship with the Lord. However, it is what happened at the airport in Dallas on my way to Missouri that inspired the title of this article. Somehow, it also anticipated my retreat experience.