Christmas, Cycle A - December 25, 2025

 Christmas – A  

December 25, 2025            6pm

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

The Name Emmanuel

 

There was a prophecy about seven hundred years before the birth of Christ. 

 

Isaiah said: “The Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel,” “which means ‘God-with-us.’” The gospel says that this prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus.

 

That’s the background for the reflection that I want to share right now. It is written by a Dutch priest named Henri Nouwen.

 

This reflection is on the green handouts that are at the end of each row of seats. I suggest that you pass them down and follow along.  

 

Jesus Is Emmanuel

 

Father Nouwen says:

“Jesus is God-with-us, Emmanuel. The great mystery of God becoming human is God’s desire to be loved by us.

 

“By becoming a vulnerable child, completely dependent on human care, God wants to take away all distance between the human and the divine.

 

“Who can be afraid of a little child who needs to be fed, to be cared for, to be taught, to be guided. We usually talk about God as the all-powerful, almighty God on whom we depend completely. 

 

“But God wanted to become the all-powerless, all-vulnerable God who completely depends on us. How can we be afraid of a God who wants to be ‘God-with-us’ and wants us to become ‘Us-with-God’”?    

 

I see two very basic lessons of faith here for this Christmas Day.

 

Lesson 1: Jesus Is Close

 

First: Jesus, and that means God, is close to us. 

 

Jesus is Emmanuel: God-with-us. So, God is with us in our humanity.

 

We don’t have to be looking and wondering where God is. We don’t have to struggle and sweat to try to be close to God.

 

God is not distant and far away and hard to reach. God who transcends this earth is now also here with us in Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us.

 

I recommend that each morning, as we begin the day, we remind ourselves of this and be aware of this. That’s really the essence of prayer – being aware of God and God’s presence. 

 

No matter what we have done or failed to do, even if we feel remorse or guilt or shame, God is with us. God’s presence is absolute. 

 

We don’t have the power to separate ourselves from God. We cannot remove what God has done for us in Jesus – Emmanuel – God-with-us – always and forever loving us. 

 

Lesson 2: Jesus Is Friend 

 

That takes us to the second lesson from the reflection on Emmanuel: Jesus is friend and so, don’t be afraid.

 

Father Nouwen asks: “Who can be afraid of a little child?” And “How can we be afraid of a God who wants to be ‘God-with-us’ and wants us to become ‘Us-with-God’”?

 

Have you ever thought: maybe this is why God came to us as an infant? So that we are not afraid of God. 

 

In fact, Jesus says: “I call you my friends.” He wants us to live as friends. 

 

We are to do good and avoid evil not out of fear of God’s punishment. No! Instead, our motivation for living well is to respond positively to Jesus as our friend.

 

Maybe it’s something like a married couple or two close friends. They want to do good for one another not because they are afraid of the other but as a way of living out of this loving relationship. 

 

Emmanuel gives us the wonderful opportunity of living positively with joy and peace in our friendship with Jesus, with God. He gives the opportunity, as Father Nouwen says, of being “Us-with-God.”  

 

Conclusion

 

So, maybe place this green handout on the night table next to your bed or tape it to the mirror in the bathroom. 

 

Let it remind you of these two wonderful messages today – that Jesus is close and Jesus is friend. What wonderful messages for celebrating Christmas Day! 

4th Sunday of Advent, Cycle A - December 21, 2025

 4th Sunday of Advent – A 

December 21, 2025            11am  

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton       

 

My Sleeping on a Homily 

 

Sometimes I find it difficult to get the idea for my Sunday homily.

 

I reflect on the readings early in the week. I ask myself: what are these passages, especially the gospel, saying to me today, in my life? 

 

And then, what are they saying to us today, in our lives? Sometimes it just doesn’t get clear.  

 

And then what I do is re-read the gospel and some Scriptural commentaries before going to bed, maybe on Wednesday evening. I just sleep on it.

 

And almost always, I wake up in the morning and it’s clear. Sleeping on it has a way of helping me to see it as I had not seen it before.

 

Joseph Sleeping on His Dilemma 

 

I wonder if something like this is what happens to Joseph in today’s gospel.

 

Joseph and Mary are betrothed. In that culture, this was more than being engaged.

 

Betrothal meant that they were married but not yet living together as husband and wife. So, betrothal could only be ended by divorce.

 

Joseph learns that Mary is bearing a child and he knows that the child is not his. He must have been confused, upset, disappointed, and maybe angry.

 

The religious law of that day calls for Joseph to divorce Mary and for Mary to be publicly shamed and disgraced. But Joseph sees no good coming from this and doesn’t want it to happen.

 

So, he decides to divorce Mary quietly, without any accusation against her. Still, something tells Joseph to take time with his decision.  

 

He decides to sleep on it and see what he thinks in the morning. He wakes up and now things seem clear.  

 

Something tells him to trust Mary. In fact, Joseph senses that an angel told him in his dream that Mary’s pregnancy is an act of God, that this child will be very special, and that he should go ahead with the marriage. 

 

Joseph Responds 

 

In all of this, Joseph is a great example.

 

He doesn’t just react out of anger or hurt or pride. He doesn’t react hastily.

 

Instead, Joseph takes time to be with the situation. And he gets in touch with what God is saying within himself.

 

He is decisive and not rash, reflective and not reactive. And, of course, the result is wonderful.

 

Joseph cooperates in bringing God’s Son into the world. What a wonderful example he is!

 

I have to ask: how much more of God’s presence and peace can enter our world if we respond to situations as Joseph does? Step back – reflect – pray – sleep on it – get in touch with what God wants – what a helpful, positive approach this is! 

 

Joseph Respects

 

Joseph shows one more trait that I don’t want us to miss.

 

He is a religious man and respects the religious law, but he doesn’t want to expose Mary to shame and disgrace. So, he is going to live up to his faith, but in a way that is not self-righteous and not hurtful of Mary.

 

Well again, what a good example Joseph is! Sometimes, we think that we have to “stand up” for what we believe.

 

And sometimes, this “standing up” becomes a “putting down.” Sometimes we think that “standing up” for something we believe is right means “putting down” others whom we believe are wrong.

 

This is an unfortunate approach. And it can happen on religious, moral, lifestyle, or political issues.

 

This “standing up” for what I think is true or good or right by “putting down” another is not the way of Joseph or of Jesus. Joseph today is a great example of being able to “stand up” for something and still be respectful of the other person at the same time – a both/and approach. 

 

It is an example of great inner strength. It is not weakness. 

 

Joseph is a powerful example for us men today. And, for that matter, he is a powerful example for all of us, men and women, as we deal with situations in our lives. 

 

3rd Sunday of Advent, Cycle A - December 14, 2025

 3rd Sunday of Advent – A 

December 14, 2025            5pm 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

John the Baptist 

 

Back in the first century in Palestine, there was a man named John the Baptist.

 

We heard some things about him last Sunday and we hear more today. John expected the Messiah to come very soon. 

 

That word meant the Anointed One of God or the Savior. It is unclear how John the Baptist thought the Messiah would save us. 

 

Like a lot of people of his day, he might have been expecting a Messiah with military skill – that he would overthrow the rule of the Roman Empire and save his people in that way. 

 

Or maybe John the Baptist was expecting the Messiah to be a person of harsh judgment on the sinful – that he would save us in this way. 

 

John’s understanding of the Messiah is unclear. But at least at first, he was clear that Jesus was the Messiah or Savior.

 

Jesus

 

Well, Jesus listens to John and is even baptized by him, but then, he introduces a whole new idea about the Messiah or Savior.

 

For example, Jesus does not talk so much about judging and punishing. Instead, he shows compassion and forgiveness. 

 

Jesus emphasizes union with God and with one another and not division. He stresses God coming to save us from what oppresses the human spirit and not from the oppression of a foreign ruler. 

 

Jesus replaces John’s austere life in the desert with a lifestyle centered on meals. He even has dinners with those labeled as sinners.

 

And to top it off, Jesus does something that John the Baptist never does.  He heals people and his physical healings seem to point to something deeper – to the healing of the deepest hungers and hurts of the human spirit.

 

“Are you the Messiah, the Savior? 

 

Eventually, John the Baptist is in prison. 

 

He has been arrested for calling into question the lifestyle of the Roman governor. And so, he is asking deeper questions about life and maybe having second thoughts about whether Jesus really is the Savior.

 

So, John sends some of his followers to ask Jesus: “Are you the Messiah, the Savior, or not? You look different from what we expected.”

 

Jesus responds by going back to Isaiah, to what we heard in our first reading. Isaiah gives the accurate description of what the Savior will do, and Jesus knows that John will understand this. 

 

So, Jesus says: “Tell John what’s happening. The blind now see and beyond that, everyone can now see a purpose for their lives.

 

“The deaf now hear and beyond that, everyone can now hear a message of acceptance and self-worth. The lame now walk and beyond that, everyone can now walk through the challenging bumps of life.

 

“Those as good as dead are now alive and beyond that, everyone can now have hope even for eternal life. And the poor now have good news and beyond that, everyone in need is to be cared for.”

 

So, Jesus is telling John that Isaiah’s description of what the Savior was to be like is fulfilled in himself. Jesus knows that John will understand this.

 

Trust and Faith

 

Apparently, John does, and he places his trust and faith in Jesus. 

 

Today’s passage invites you and me to do the same. So, with Jesus:

v We can now see his purpose for our lives.

v We can now hear his reassuring words of God’s love for us.

v We can now walk with him through the sufferings of life. 

v We can now have hope for life and a fullness of life.

v And the poor can now experience the good news through the compassion of Jesus flowing through us.

 

With Jesus, this is what it means to be saved. This is what he does for us and why we call him Savior.

 

So, I recommend that today, and each day of Advent right up to Christmas day, let’s offer this brief prayer. “Jesus, Emmanuel, I place my trust and faith in you as my Savior.”  

 

“Jesus, Emmanuel, I place my trust and faith in you as my Savior.” Let’s pray that every day right up to Christmas. 

2nd Sunday of Advent, Cycle A - December 7, 2025

 2^nd Sunday of Advent – A

December 7, 2025              8:30am  

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

My Name is John the Baptist 

 

My name is John the Baptist.

 

You just heard about me in the gospel passage. Now, it’s true that I am a bit controversial.

 

Some people cannot see beyond my appearance: my shoulder-length hair and scraggly beard; my faded jeans with holes in the knees; and my vegetarian diet with lots of tofu. That’s just the way I am, and I guess it turns off some people.

 

But there are others who look beyond my appearance. They come out to the Jordan River and listen to what I am saying, and I do have something to say.  

 

I Have a Mission 

 

You see, I have a sense of mission about my life.

 

In fact, it’s because I am so driven by this sense of mission that I don’t spend much time on my appearance. As you just heard, my mission is to “prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight.” 

 

“Making the Lord’s paths straight” is something like you building Interstate 95. You did this so that you could have a straight and fast road for traveling from Maine to Florida. 

 

Well, at least it used to be fast. I want you, and God wants you to build a spiritual I-95.

 

You need to prepare yourselves to let God come into your lives as fully as possible. And you need to do this 1) for your own personal lives and 2) for your community or society. 

 

Prepare Yourselves 

 

For your personal lives, you need to be aware that there is “one more powerful than you.”

 

That’s what I say about myself today: “There is one more powerful than I who is coming after me.” You know, sometimes we are led to think that we have to be completely independent and self-sufficient and make it 100% on our own.

 

The truth is that we are all dependent. We are first of all, dependent on God for our lives and everything we have. 

 

Every day, you need to 1) thank God for what you have, 2) ask God for what you need, and 3) listen to God for what you are to do – 1) thank God for what you have, 2) ask God for what you need, and 3) listen to God for what you are to do. This is praying, what prayer is all about. 

 

Maybe you can do this as soon as you get up in the morning or before you go to bed at night or whenever there is a time that works for you. I’m telling you, you need to do this if you are going to stay aware that there is “one more powerful than you are.”   

 

Prepare Your Community 

 

Then, you also need to do what you can to let God enter this community more fully.

 

The prophet Isaiah in today’s first reading foresees a very ideal society. He imagines that “the wolf and the lamb, and the cow and the bear” will all live together peacefully. 

 

It’s beautiful, this picture of peace and harmony, but it’s only going to happen if you care for the people in your community. Maybe you could start by looking at the problem of food insecurity.

 

Food insecurity means that people have uncertainty about where their next meal will come from and are getting less food than they need, even having to skip meals. The Maryland Food Bank states that there are 90,000 people in Baltimore City and 102,000 people in Baltimore County who suffer from some degree of food insecurity. 

 

You are already doing something on this by supporting the Our Daily Bread program. Keep it up because this is a way of letting God enter your community more fully. 

 

Conclusion

 

Okay, I want you to have a good Christmas, but you need to use these weeks of Advent to get ready – “Prepare the way of the Lord and make his paths straight.”

 

Build that spiritual I-95. If you do, then the Lord can come more fully into your personal lives and into your community this Christmas. 

 

 

 

Solemnity of Christ the King, Cycle C - November 23, 2025

Solemnity of Christ the King – C 

November 23, 2025            5pm 

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton

 

Christ the King

 

In the year 1925, exactly 100 years ago, there were 30 sovereign states or countries in our world ruled by kings.

 

In that same year, our Church created the feast that we celebrate today – the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. At that time, the world was still trying to recover from the devastation of World War I.

 

In that context, the Pope, Pius XI, wanted to lift up to everyone, kings and other civil rulers and everyone, he wanted to lift up who is our real king and ruler. The Holy Father wanted us to remember that Jesus Christ is to govern our lives and how we live and what we do.  

 

The Church placed this celebration on the last Sunday of the liturgical year. So, we have journeyed through Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time and have now come to the end of the liturgical year.

 

And here, at this point, we celebrate that Jesus Christ and he alone is the ultimate ruler of our lives. Now, calling Jesus “King of the Universe” can feel distant and maybe even unreal to us. 

 

Earthly kings and rulers govern with armies, wealth, and force. But the kingship of Jesus is different. 

 

He is the King whose throne is the Cross and whose crown is made of thorns. In today’s Gospel, Jesus rules not from a palace but from Calvary. 

 

He is not into domination. Instead, the kingship of Christ is about service, sacrifice, and self-giving. 

 

The Image of the Invisible God 

 

Saint Paul in our second reading expresses why Christ is our King.

 

He describes Jesus as the “image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” So, Jesus is God with us.

 

If we see and know him, we see and know God. As the Son of God, he is the first or “firstborn” and exists before all else that is.

 

And Paul then adds, “In him all things hold together.” So, if Christ as our loving God and King holds the universe together, he can also hold our lives together, no matter how stressed or strained we may feel.

 

Our Response to Christ the King

 

Recognizing Christ as our King is not just a theological statement or a belief in our heads. 

 

It is to be a daily decision. It means allowing Jesus to rule in the places of our lives where we might prefer to rule ourselves. 

 

So, I am asking us to do one thing today and this week. Allow Jesus, Christ the King to shape our choices, our relationships, and even our attitudes. 

 

For example, allow him to help us when we want revenge and retribution. Remember that after Peter cut off the ear of one of the soldiers, Jesus forbade any more violence and he healed that man’s ear.

 

Allow Jesus to shape our choice of internet or social media sites. Jesus chose to enjoy things that were life-giving to himself and others, like the wedding at Cana or dinners with all kinds of people.

 

And allow Jesus to shape our attitudes to the strangers in our midst, yes, even the immigrants. He is the one who said that when we do something good for a stranger, you do it for me and that will be a criterion for our judgment before God. 

 

Conclusion 

So, I ask you to work at that today and this week – allow Jesus, Christ our King to shape our choices, our relationships, and even our attitudes.

 

If we do this, we can be in the position of one of the persons who was being crucified with Jesus. He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

 

And Jesus, dying on the cross, makes that magnificent response, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” We can live with inner peace and with trust in that promise.       

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C - November 16, 2025

33^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time – C 

November 16, 2025           8:30

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 

 

Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket

 

Some years ago, I came across a short story titled Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket – Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket.

 

In the story, a man named Tom has started putting together a proposal for the supermarket chain he works for. He has put an outline of his proposal and some data on a yellow sheet of paper.

 

Tom thinks that the proposal could lead to a big promotion. Well, one evening, his wife Clara goes out to a movie.

 

Tom doesn’t go because he wants to work on his proposal. Suddenly, a breeze blows the yellow piece of paper off of the desk and out the window of the apartment. 

 

The paper becomes lodged on the brick ledge just below Tom’s reach – eleven stories up. Tom convinces himself that he can retrieve the paper.

 

So, he carefully makes his way out of the apartment window and onto the ledge. He moves slowly and then manages to stoop down, grab the yellow paper, and stuff it into his pocket.

 

Tom carefully shuffles back to the window, but it has slipped closed and he can’t pry it open. He is trapped on the narrow brick ledge, eleven stories above Lexington Avenue in New York. 

 

Tom’s calls for help are not heard, and Clara won’t be home for several hours. He starts thinking about dying and feels afraid and angry.

 

Tom realizes that they will find just one thing in his pocket – the yellow sheet of paper. His notes will make no sense to anyone else.

 

Tom thinks of the hours and days he has spent away from his wife. He thinks of his ambition and career and his lack of attention to other things – things that now seem so much more important.

 

He feels afraid and angry. He judges that he has wasted his life.  

 

The Gospel and Now

 

Jesus does not want us to waste our lives as Tom, in the story, was afraid he had done.

 

Instead, Jesus wants us to live today, the present, in the best way we can. He wants us to attend to the important things of life right now.

 

That’s his point in this gospel. Jesus speaks of all kinds of frightful signs and events that will come at some unknown time. 

 

But he doesn’t want us to get caught up in forecasting an end-time and living with fear. Instead, he is trying to shake us up and focus on the present. 

 

Tend to the important things of life right now and that will be the way to be ready for that unknown future moment. That is Jesus’ point.    

 

Making Now Special

 

Now, to do this, I want to ask each of us to do three things this week – three things to do sometime this week and I think they will be easy to remember. 

 

First, is there something from the past I need to settle? An apology that I need to make or a sin I need to have forgiven?

 

If there is something, go to the other person involved or to a priest for confession or whatever is appropriate for the matter. Settle one thing from the past and get that weight off of you. 

 

Second, is there some anxiety or worry about the future weighing you down? About health or finances or something else?

 

If there is, entrust that to God with a prayer of trust. Try to let God ease that anxiety or worry and get that weight off of you. 

 

And third, with something from the past and the future dealt with, now really live the present. Do something good for one person in your life – your wife or husband or parent or child or close friend.

 

Maybe it will be a text message or phone call to let them know you are thinking about them and appreciating them. But do one thing to tend someone special and important in your life. 

  

Conclusion

 

So, do these three things and you will not feel that you are wasting your life, as Tom in the short story feared. 

 

And by the way, the story ended with Tom breaking the glass on the window and climbing back into the apartment. And the first thing he did was to forget the yellow paper and go to find his wife Clara at the movies.