Ad Jesum per Mariam

Witnesses Who Chose God Above Life Itself Today’s Homily contrasts two models of leadership and discipleship . . . . . . drawn from Scripture and tradition. King David is presented as a leader chosen by God who, despite his sins, remained humble, repentant, and rooted in reverence for the Lord. His strength was not perfection, but his willingness to return to God and recognize that his authority a...

Sheep Without a Shepherd Ther readings and Gospel present . . . . . . the shared human experience of being overwhelmed by responsibility and need. King Solomon, faced with ruling a vast people, does not ask for power, wealth, or long life, but humbly asks God for the wisdom to discern what is truly right. His prayer pleases the Lord because it flows from humility and a desire to serve well rather...

The Kingdom Grows in Silence Today’s Homily focuses on Jesus’ parables of the seed . . . . . . and mustard seed from the Gospel of Mark along with the story of King David’s sin and repentance from the Book of Samuel. The Mysterious, Gradual, and Often Hidden Nature of Spiritual Growth The Homily highlights the mysterious, gradual, and often hidden nature of spiritual growth in the Kingdom of God....

Jesus Asks, Why Are You Afraid? Awakening Faith Within TheHomily reviews the Gospel account of Jesus calming the storm . . . . . . (Mark 4:35–41) with moral and spiritual lessons drawn from King David’s repentance and everyday human experience. The disciples’ fear during the storm reveals their fragile faith, even though Christ is present with them. Jesus’ calm, even while asleep, demonstrates per...

True Happiness Is Found in God The Gospel of the Beatitudes presents a vision of happiness that overturns ordinary human expectations. While the world associates blessedness with wealth, power, and security, Jesus proclaims the blessed as those who are poor in spirit, meek, merciful, pure of heart, and persecuted for righteousness. Drawing from Greek and Hebrew traditions, the Homily explains that...

Waiting for God’s Time The Gospel recounts Jesus ascending the mountain to call and appoint the Twelve Apostles, . . . . . . choosing them to be with him, to preach, and to exercise spiritual authority. This act highlights divine initiative: God chooses, calls, and sends according to His will, not human ambition. The Homily then turns to the Old Testament encounter between David and Saul. Saul, co...

Jesus: The True King Before the Sea of Need The Homily focuses on the Gospel of Mark . . . . . . and the Old Testament account of David and Saul to contrast two radically different models of kingship and authority. In the Gospel, Jesus draws overwhelming crowds from every direction . . . Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, and beyond. The weight of human need is so great that his disciples must prepare a b...

God’s Call and Our Response The Homily reflects on readings from Scripture, focusing on how Saul . . . . . . despite being appointed and anointed by God and filled with the Holy Spirit . . . fell from grace. The central question, “How have the warriors fallen?” is repeated to emphasize a tragic decline rooted in disobedience to God and jealousy. Saul stopped listening to God, chose his own ego, an...

Jesus Tells Us: Follow Me: The Claim That Changes Everything Today’s Homily reflects on call and claims as central to God’s action in human lives. Drawing first from Saul’s unexpected anointing as king, it shows that God’s call is never earned, sought, or managed . . . it arrives unanticipated and places a claim on the person to grow into what God has given. Saul’s tragedy is not that he was unwor...

He Must Increase, I Must Decrease He Must Increase, . . . The Homily weaves together the Letter of St. John and the Gospel’s encounter . . . . . . with John the Baptist to confront a central Christian tension: believers are truly begotten of God and called to freedom from sin, yet they still struggle daily with weakness and divided hearts. St. John’s stark claim that those begotten of God do not s...

The Heavens Were Opened Today’s Homily centers on the Baptism of the Lord, which concludes the Christmas season . . . . . . and inaugurates Jesus’ public ministry. Though troubling to early Christians . . . since Jesus is sinless and baptism was for repentance . . . Matthew emphasizes that Jesus submits to baptism to “fulfill all righteousness.” In doing so, Jesus completes God’s long-standing pat...

Where Christ Is, There Is Our Home Where Christ Is, . . . Today’s Homily on the Feast of the Epiphany explores the manifestation of Christ . . . . . . not only to Israel, but to all nations. Through the journey of the Magi, the Homily reveals God’s universal plan of salvation and the deeply personal invitation each person receives to seek, meet, and honor Christ. The Magi’s response to the star be...

Finding the Child by Finding the Mother Today’s Homily reflects on the Gospel of Christ’s birth and naming, . . . . . . emphasizing that the Nativity is not a past event but a living, ever-new mystery that renews time itself. The Church proclaims that the birth of Jesus . . . God entering human history. . . stands at the true beginning of every year, making time “full” through Christ. January 1st,...

Born in Time, Born into Glory . . . A Christmas Lesson For All of Us Today’s Homily centers on the profound pairing of Christmas Day and the Feast of St. Stephen, . . . . . . highlighting the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation alongside the Church’s first martyr. Christ humbles Himself, laying aside heavenly glory to enter human fragility, while Stephen, in turn, lays aside earthly life to be clothed...

The Meaning of Christmas: Sharing Our Humanity, Sharing His Divinity The Homily reflects on the Prologue of the Gospel of John, . . . . . . proclaiming Jesus as the eternal Word who was with God and is God, through whom all things were made. This Word, existing from the beginning, did not come into being but became flesh in the Incarnation. The Homily links this mystery to the liturgical gesture o...

The Hidden Moment That Changed the World The Homily centers on the Annunciation (Luke 1:26–38) as the hidden . . . . . . yet decisive turning point of human history. Though proclaimed quietly to a single listener . . . Mary . . . it is an announcement of universal significance: the Word takes flesh. The Homily emphasizes how God’s greatest act enters the world not through spectacle, but through hu...

Emmanuel: God With Us: Let the King of Glory Enter Today’s Homily centers on the Advent call to welcome the King of Glory . . . . . . Emmanuel, God with us . . . through obedience and trust, rather than self-reliance. Drawing from Matthew’s Gospel and the Psalm proclamation, the homily presents three figures as models of response to God’s invitation. King Ahaz represents the human tendency to solv...

Our Lady’s Promise: I Remain With You This Homily weaves together . . . . . . the Visitation (Luke 1:39–45), the mystery of Advent, and the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, revealing a single, unifying truth: the Lord is always on the way to His people. God does not arrive once and withdraw; He continually comes, drawing near in mercy, joy, and life. This dynamic is first revealed when Mary, b...

Preparing for the Coming Messiah in Advent: The Fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets Today’s Gospel reveals that Elijah has already come in the person of John the Baptist, . . . . . . though he was not recognized and was rejected, just as Jesus Himself will be. John fulfills Elijah’s mission: preparing hearts for the coming of the Messiah through repentance and reconciliation. Advent, therefore...

The Sign Humanity Could Not Ask For Today’s Homily unpacks the Gospel’s declaration . . . . . . that Christ’s birth fulfills ancient prophecy, urging believers to move beyond a narrow, sentimental view of the Nativity into its vast theological depth. Isaiah’s prophecy to King Ahaz reveals humanity’s reluctance to hope when confronted with God’s generosity: though invited to ask for a sign, the fai...

When the Storm Comes: The Revealing of the Heart Today’s Advent readings warn against proud self-sufficiency and complacency . . . . . . believing life is secure without ongoing conversion. The Prophet’s image of a proud city brought low echoes Jesus’ teaching that merely calling on the Lord isn’t enough; discipleship requires acting on Christ’s words. Life’s Storms Reveal the True Foundation of O...

Let it be Done For You According to Your Faith: Seeing Through the Light of Christ Today’s Homily draws on the day’s readings . . . Isaiah’s prophecy, . . . . . . the psalm “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” and Matthew’s account of Jesus healing two blind men . . . to explore the deep spiritual meaning of sight, hearing, and faith. Physical blindness and deafness point to humanity’s deeper...

Into the Inner Desert: Rediscovering Our Relationship with God During Advent Today’s Gospel reading centers on John the Baptist’s call to repent and be fruitful. John preaches in the desert . . . a place free of distractions . . . where people must face the fundamental question: What is my relationship with God? Advent invites all Christians into this same interior desert, prompting honest self-ex...

Show Us Your Face, O Lord Today’s Gospel and Homily reflect on Christ’s compassion and mission during Advent. Jesus travels through villages teaching, proclaiming the Kingdom, and healing every disease. Seeing the crowds “like sheep without a shepherd,” He sends His disciples to proclaim the nearness of God’s Kingdom and to heal freely, just as they have freely received. Lord, Show Us Your Face Th...

Reading the Signs of the Kingdom Today's Gospel passage uses the fig tree’s budding branches . . . . . . as a sign that summer is near, just as unfolding events reveal the nearness of God’s Kingdom. The reflection connects this to Daniel chapter 7, where turbulent waters . . . symbols of chaotic evil . . . give rise to four beasts representing earthly kingdoms that rise and fall. In contrast, the...