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In the midst of the sorrow and pain that abortion inflicts on so many of our sisters, brothers, and children, we should never forget the icon of God’s love that is a mother cradling her child. This icon wonderfully shines forth in so many beautiful images of the Virgin Mother Mary and the Infant Jesus. These images inspire us to do exactly what changes minds and hearts—that is, pray. We know the power of prayer coming from a loving Mother’s Heart can and does change the world

The sacramental world view shows us that just as Jesus descended into the waters of the Jordan, He also comes into our world, and sanctifies it by His very Presence. He comes into our soul, our heart, our life, our family, our world, and puts everything in right order by the power of His love and mercy.

When we are tempted in this new year to lose hope and become despondent, we should remember to whom 2022 belongs and to whom we belong. It is the Lord who is the Master of history and the King who rules over us. When we are thinking that we cannot make a difference in our own life and in the lives of others, it is then that we turn to Jesus and His Mother in prayer.

The gift most desired is the gift of our heart. The One who so greatly desires this gift is the Infant who is laid in the manger bed of Bethlehem. By coming into the world as one of us while remaining most high God, He has already given us His Heart, small in size yet infinitely large with His unfailing love for us. He so desires us to come to Him and give our heart as a gift to Him. When we give over our heart to Him, we give our all, our sorrows and joys, our successes and failures, our strengths and weaknesses.

At a time when God’s help is needed to draw souls to Christ, to bolster and revive a culture that is often divided, confused and hostile to the Gospel, we should look to the “Holy Virgin Mary, the Mother of the True God, the Woman who stamps out the stone serpent” for her help and protection

So, why is the Immaculate Conception so important for Catholics?  What is the big deal? Let’s try to unpack what it is all about.

On the First Sunday of Advent each one of us is called by God to begin a pilgrimage of hope. We begin from wherever we are in life. Our destination is the stable in Bethlehem, where we will kneel in adoration before God, born as a tiny Child of the Virgin Mary.

This time of year can become a whirlwind of frantic activity pushed along by a wind of noise. Preparation for family dinners, gifts, travel and guests can prevent us from doing the most needed preparation—that of making our hearts ready for the coming of the King of heaven and earth. That is why we so need Advent—a time to see and hear anew.

Blessed Miguel teaches us by his devotion to Christ and His Church that no worldly power can give us what the Lord alone can give us—eternal life and perfect fulfillment in His Kingdom. Ideas, political parties, governments and ideologies rise and fall.  Jesus’ love for us manifested on the Cross shows us that union with Him and communion with each other awaits us in His Kingdom. Nothing else will satisfy the human heart.

During this time of the year when the days grow shorter and shorter as the encroaching darkness seems to overtake the light, we are provided with an opportunity to reflect on the struggle between the power of good and the power of evil that rages all around us.

A tremendous gift was given to me by my grandfather’s death. The grace of this gift was a deep and convicted belief in the need to pray for those who have died. I gained a beautiful insight into the unbreakable bond that God’s providential love establishes between us in our life.

Carlo’s Catholic faith, however, defined the way he lived his life. He was always concerned for others. He expressed special care for his friends whose parents had divorced. He invited them home to offer them support. He defended his peers with disabilities when they were bullied. Outside of his studies, he did volunteer work with the homeless and the poor.

We have heard about Jesus, encountered Him in our lives, known His love. However, the difficulties of life and the burdens that we bear can make Him seem distant or absent. We find ourselves on the road away from Jerusalem, walking from the saving events of Jesus’ Passion and Death. We wonder where we are going and what the journey is all about.  Then the Lord Jesus shows up.

I have come to believe more and more deeply in my life that if I want to be intimately united with Jesus, I must come to know and love His Immaculate Mother. She always brings me to her Son.

October is the Month of the Rosary. On October 7, the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, holding up for us the power that the praying of the Rosary brings into our lives. Its power is love. When we meditate on the mysteries of the lives of Jesus and Mary, the power of God’s love fills our minds and our hearts.

On our own journey through this world, which can be difficult and arduous at times,   God sends angels before us to do His Will and to aid us on the way to salvation in the Promised Land of Heaven. They are these (most often) invisible spirits who surround us and keep us moving in the right direction.

When I was growing up, my mother routinely asked me a question when I was walking out the door of our home. Whether it was to go to school, out with friends, to Mass, to run an errand, or to visit relatives, the question for years was always the same, “Do you have your rosary?”

Jesus knows that we need to be drawn into the glory and mystery of His Cross in many difficult and painful circumstances. That brings us to the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Mother who stood at the foot of her Son’s Cross.  Jesus wants us to be united with the Cross as He tells us, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mt 16:24). He leaves nothing to chance in this invitation. He gives us His own Mother to show us the way.

The birth of Our Blessed Mother was like that moment on Cape Ann when I saw light breaking through the darkness.  Before the birth of Christ her Son, the brilliant Sun of Justice, Our Lady’s birth was that rosy streak of brightness that loudly proclaimed to all, “The Son, true God and true man, is on His way, the glory of His love and mercy will shine upon all!”  Her birth was the dawn coming into a world of darkness and into lives of longing for God’s presence.

The Church always has tremendous care for the lives of our families. We always look to Jesus, Mary and Joseph for help and hope, especially when families find themselves in times of darkness and desperation.