Advent's theme can be summed up in the word's of Isaiah 40: Prepare the way of the Lord! But what are the mountains that need to be leveled and the valleys that need to be filled in? Here's a road map through the desert of...
Advent is a season of joy & hope. Paul says to rejoice in hope. But what is hope, anyway? How does this theological virtue differ from faith and what does it have to do with rejoicing?...
[dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]he Jesse Tree is a centuries-old family Advent devotion that has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in recent years. It has particular value since it helps both kids and adults a like to locate Jesus, the Messiah, within the lineage...
The Advent season is more about preparing for the second coming of Christ than for Christmas. To prepare for his final coming is more about action than end-times speculation....
Augustine contrasts the role of John the Baptist, the voice crying out in the wilderness, with that of his cousin, Jesus, the Word of God made flesh. The humility of John, who prepared the way of the Lord, is highlighted. His joy was complete to...
Hippolytus on the proper interpretation of Scripture, and the Incarnation of the Son as the hidden Word of God made manifest and visible. [dropcaps type='normal' font_size='100' color='' background_color='' border_color='']T[/dropcaps]here is only one God, brethren, and we learn about him only from sacred Scripture. It is therefore...
John of the Cross here gives forceful expression to the faith of the Church that in Jesus Christ, God the Father has given us his complete and ultimate revelation of Himself and His plan for our lives. The glimplses of God and partial revelations of...
Ambrose reflects on the Virgin Mary's Visitation of her cousin Elizabeth as recounted by the evangelist Luke in the first chapter of his Gospel. The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the second joyful mystery of the rosary....
Bede the Venerable, one of the greatest Christian writers of the early Middle Ages, here reflects on the Magnificat, the Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary proclaimed during her visitation of her cousin Elizabeth and sung every night in the Church's evening prayer, part of...
Saint Leo says the genealogy of Jesus given us in Luke and Matthew's gospels shows that Jesus was truly one of us, possessing a complete human nature. He did not merely appear in human form, as in the biblical types and scriptural symbols of the...