Blessed Cardinal John Newman once said this about holiness: “To obtain the gift of holiness is the work of a life.” (Miscellanies, 313) In pondering the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph there is a tendency to view holiness as something that...
After reading the Gospel of Luke (2:22-40), we should close our eyes and imagine how gently, how tenderly Mary and Joseph took turns holding Baby Jesus in their arms on the way to the Temple for the prescribed rituals of the Law. Then, once more, we...
In his 1981 Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, St. John Paul II had this to say about the Holy Family: “Through God’s mysterious design, it was in that family that the Son of God spent long years of a hidden life…Its life...
On one occasion during the U.S. Civil War, Union soldiers from the North and Confederate troops from the South were camped for the night a short distance from each other. A major battle was expected the following day, so each army’s band played...
Today we continue our Christmas celebration with a consideration of the Holy Family. This feast has the same first two readings every year but one of three different Gospels. The first reading is always the reading from Sirach (3:2-6, 12-14) about...
