The Gospel reading for the Third Sunday of Advent (or as I liked to call it in my youth, “Pink-Candle-of-Joy, Is-It-Really-Still-TWO-Weeks-Until-Christmas?” Sunday) caught me off-guard this time around. Luke’s Gospel is mostly widely recognized for Verse 16, where John the…
Mercy Missed
Take Up Your Cross, Parents
Being a parent is wonderful. It has made my life richer and better. That doesn’t mean it’s easy, though; let’s be honest. It’s also a challenge — but it is a challenge we should be willing to take up. It…
Wilderness Dwellers
Sometimes I think that the circumstances that we hear about in the Bible are simply lost on us because we weren’t there. The atmosphere and history of a place can enrich a story or occurrence that happened in that place….
One Small Pebble
And if my people upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land. (2…
Now What? Decisions of Evangelizers
As evangelizers, we are a sent people. Catholic Mass in our western Latin Rite concludes with one of these four exhortations: Go forth, the Mass is ended. [In Latin, literally, “go, it is missa [sent]”–same origin as mission] Go and…
What the Baptist can teach us about Joy
Readings for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 13, 2015 On the third Sunday of Advent, the penitential purple of the season changes to rose and we celebrate “Gaudete” or “Rejoice!” Sunday. “Shout for joy, daughter of Sion” says Zephaniah….
Sanctum Sanctorum
Here’s a fun bit of drawing and reading from Catechism class about the Holy of Holies* in Solomon’s temple: “The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high; and he overlaid it with pure gold. In the…
Preparing the Way of the Lord in our Lives
Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus: a time for us to “be watchful”, to “stay awake, to “prepare the way of the Lord” and “make straight his paths”. But what does this mean for us?…
Why Rituals are Important
Editor’s Note: Join me in welcoming Peter Serzo to the New Evangelizers blog. Recently I attended a service at a non-denominational church and I sat next to a former Catholic (her words, not mine). A warm welcoming lady, she was lamenting…
Response to Prayer-Shaming
I have no idea if this is a growing trend or only the reaction of a few sad individuals, but in the last few days there have been more and more examples of prayer shaming. In the wake of the…