Focus on Faith

Fourth Sunday of Advent
First reading: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Second reading: Rom 16:25-27
Gospel: Lk 1:26-38

A weekly encounter with the homeless at the Jesuit-run Boston College High School hasn’t slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among them: Create a sacred space in your home, have family members take turns leading prayer and establish a routine with your family.

There was a recurring theme during a Dec. 7-11 young adult ministry conference: Zoom encounters were adequate in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they quickly became a poor substitute for in-person ministry and worship.

he humble image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a reminder of the gift of God’s abundant blessings to all men and women, Pope Francis said.

Meeting with delegations from Castelli in Italy’s Abruzzo region and from Kocevje, Slovenia — responsible, respectively, for the Nativity scene and Christmas tree in St. Peter’s Square — the pope said that Christmas “reminds us that Jesus is our peace, our joy, our strength, our comfort.”

Even though the world is facing a pandemic that may limit many people’s ability to celebrate the sacraments, particularly those people who are in isolation, quarantining or hospitalized with COVID-19, confession by phone is still most likely invalid, said Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Feast day: Dec. 13 The moral virtue of courage, or fortitude, enables us to stand firm in times of difficulty and to persevere in doing good. […]