Today’s Reflection

Our Lord asks us to let the life continue in us that he began on earth in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Let him live in us; let his hidden life in Nazareth continue in us; let his life of universal charity continue in us; let his life of humility be prolonged in us.…

Christ rested in Mary – still, silent, helpless, utterly dependent. The Creator trusted himself to his creature . . . His hands were folded; her hands did the work of his hands. His life was her life; his heartbeat was the beating of her heart. This was a foreshadowing of what the Incarnation would mean…

Keep the transcendent dimension of your life burning bright through prayer and sacrament, through love and peace, mercy and justice. It changes every fiber of your being when the transcendent is your priority. Live for God. Nothing else is worth it. Father Matthew Kelty O.C.S.O.  

Just as nature retreats deep into itself during the winter months, so the Christian is invited to turn inward during the blessed time of Advent in preparation for the Lord’s coming. . . Advent is a quiet, contemplative time of waiting for the Light that will come and shine on us on Christmas Day, rescuing…

Advent is the season. . .of the growth of Christ, of Divine Love growing in silence. It is the season of humility, silence, and growth. If we have truly given our humanity to be changed into Christ, it is essential to us that we do not disturb this time of growth. It is a time…

My dear friend, in the body I am at Nazareth but in spirit I have been at Bethlehem for the last month. As I write to you I feel as though I am with Mary and Joseph beside the crib. It is good to be there. Outside are the cold and the snow, images of…

It was Christ himself who chose the stable to be born in. He still chooses unlikely places. In each of us, just beyond the noise of our outward life, there is some place of silence and darkness, an emptiness where, if we have courage enough, we are alone with ourselves. There in this place of…

The Christmas story reminds us once again that it was not man’s idea that the Son of God should be born in a stable. And so the first thing we learn from Jesus’ birth is that the Lord will not always be found where we expect to find him. We tend to look for him…

You must do like the shepherds when they stay in the fields during winter. Life is a very long winter. The shepherds make a fire, but from time to time they hurry off to pick up some more wood to keep it going. If only we knew, like the shepherds, how to keep up the…

Somehow I realized that songs, music, good feelings, beautiful liturgies, nice presents, big dinners, and many sweet words do not make Christmas. Christmas is saying ‘yes’ to something beyond all emotions and feelings. Christmas is saying ‘yes’ to a hope based on God’s initiative, which has nothing to do with what I think or feel.…