Welcome back to Ordinary Time! With the conclusion of Vespers (Evening Prayer) this Sunday, the solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord, we concluded the Christmas season and entered into the first week of Ordinary Time. As the legendary Malcom Reynolds said, “Oh,...
This Sunday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Epiphany. I must admit that I was delighted at the opportunity to (re)introduce the tradition of blessing chalk for use in blessing the doors of one’s house on this day. Taken from the old Roman Ritual, the blessing...
Merry Christmas! I hope that you have had – and are yet still having – many wonderful celebrations of the Nativity of the Lord. Speaking for myself, the marathon of Christmas Masses was both delightful and exhausting (I slept for a solid six hours after...
At long last we arrive at Christmas. Though Advent is relatively short – sometimes quite short, depending on where December 25 lands – there is something about the anticipation of the Nativity and makes it feel especially long. From start to finish, Advent...
In my experience, the week before Christmas is often a quiet one. I won’t say it’s exactly peaceful – we all have various last-minute things needing done personally and ecclesially! Still, I find that the proximity (and inevitability!) of the coming...
