Focus on Faith

“Imagine the countless moments the Virgin Mary experienced during the months between the Annunciation and the Nativity — that special, private time that she and Jesus shared while he was growing in utero.”

“Maybe this Gaudete Sunday, and this strange year, is beckoning us to quiet down, do less, be more prayerful, take intentional time to count our blessings and give thanks for the fundamental things.”

Through prayer, God integrates even our rebellion into a greater, redemptive good.

Third Sunday of Advent
First reading: Is 61:1-2, 10-11
Second reading: 1 Thes 5:16-24
Gospel: Jn 1:6-8, 19-28

This year, Advent calls us to a new kind of hospitality to welcome the discomfort or stranger as an act of hope.

The ministry of a Catholic bishop must reflect the Catholic Church’s commitment to Christian unity and must give ecumenical engagement the same kind of attention as work for justice and peace, said a new Vatican document.

The process of naming a new bishop involves many levels of recommendations forwarded to the apostolic nuncio who prioritizes the information and forwards it to the pope, who makes the final determination.

Conversion during Advent is, in particular, “a question of converting our idea of God,” Pope Francis says. It is a time “to welcome not a fairy-tale character, but the God who challenges us, involves us and before whom a choice is imposed.”