Catholic Fire

Gospel: Matthew 1:18 - 24 When the angel says, "For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", he is underlining the fact that she obeyed the will of God, and that her relationship with Joseph remains the same. It is not she who chose to be Mother of God -- God chose this for her, and she accepted it. The angel, therefore, allows Joseph to receive Mary and to love her in a new way but which is nonetheless in continuity with His first love for her.... "She shall bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus." Each of these words from the angel carries weight and allows us to understand the role that God is giving to Joseph. Naming a new-born child is something that comes under the authority of the father, and in doing this the father acts as God's instrument; for, to name a tiny child is surely to point him already in a certain direction. And we are told how Joseph is to name the child: "You shall call His name, Jesus, for it is He who shal...

Gospel Mt. 11: 2 - 11 John the Baptist's presence is wonderful for Elizabeth, for Zechariah, for all those who will follow John the Baptist and who will love him. But his presence is very awkward for the Sanhedrin, for the high priests, for the Pharisees and for all those who await a glorious Messiah. A glorious Messiah would not have chosen someone like John the Baptist as a forerunner! John the Baptist is the child of poverty, the child of the silence, the child of trust, the child of gratuity, he is the child of the desert. A John the Baptist can only announce the mystery of the Lamb, that is to say the mystery of the one who takes the place of sinners, who carries the whole of humanity. Zechariah's canticle will announce the great deliverance, but a deliverance that takes place in the interiority of love, that takes place in the divine light of truth and that completely excludes all triumphalism. ~ From the Daily Gospel with Fr. Philippe, OP (Priest, Philosophy Professo...

Gospel: Mt. 11: 11 - 15 John the Baptist is the one who announces, who proclaims. He is the one who wants to awaken his people. Advent is marked by Mary's silence, and this silence is striking. But in order to recognize their Savior, the people people of Israel will need to be awakened by a John the Baptist. In a similar way, the people of God today also need witnesses who proclaim that God is completely given to us. In this gift He manifests just how much He loves us and desires to be close to us and present among us. During this time of Advent, we need to be awakened in our faith, in our hope and in our charity. John the Baptist shakes those who are falling asleep. He shakes believers who no longer have enough faith to stay awake. Through John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit wants to remind us that this time preceding Christmas is a time of mercy, so that we might be ready to welcome the Son of God, this little child who is our God, our Creator, and our Savior. May we welco...

Gospel Luke 1: 39 -45 The feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is truly Mary who shows her presence. This enables us to understand that in our Christian life, Christ's presence and Mary's presence are primary and come before any spoken words. A mother is a silent presence, a presence that will help her children sleep peacefully, trustingly...a presence of love, of warmth for the heart, so that we might truly be in her hands, asking her to carry us and to teach us this evangelical way of littleness, which will allow us to obey just as a child obeys his mother. ~ From The Daily Gospel with Fr. Philippe , O.P., Priest, Philosophy Professor, Founder of the Community of St. John

Luke 5: 17 - 26 Advent is a time of great poverty, and a time of joy . This time of penance has been transformed liturgically speaking into a time of poverty in joy. In earlier days, Advent was a time of great penance. Nowadays it is far less so, but it is a time of great poverty. Be servants to your brothers, your fathers, be servants to your sisters, be servant of all those who are in the world and who need these signs of service and love. During Advent, be fervent servants of God's poor ones . It is necessary to be very much a servant in order to discover the poor. If we are not a servant, we do not discover the poor. I knew someone who didn't know what to do with his income. I suggested that he give it to the poor, but he answered, "But I never see any poor people. There are no poor people today. We have so many adept social workers that there are no more poor around." So I held out my hand .... To receive the poverty of our brothers and sisters require...