Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Today begins the new liturgical year of the Catholic Church. The season of Advent stands at the head of our calendar because it is a season of preparation and new beginnings. The birth of Jesus in history marks the beginning of something new. Just as God made a covenant with Abraham and renewed that covenant with Noah, Moses, and the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament, so the coming of Christ in time marks the beginning of the new and eternal covenant which God makes with his people. We who wait for the…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As we come to the end of the liturgical year, the Church turns our attention to Christ the King. In this reflection we consider both the end and the beginning. This great solemnity turns our attention to the end, as Christ is presented to us as the King of all ages, of all time and space, the King who comes again in glory at the end of the age, the one before whom we will stand at the end of our lives. Since this feast is also at the end of our liturgical calendar,…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As we come to the end of the liturgical year, the Church turns our attention to Christ the King. In this reflection we consider both the end and the beginning. This great solemnity turns our attention to the end, as Christ is presented to us as the King of all ages, of all time and space, the King who comes again in glory at the end of the age, the one before whom we will stand at the end of our lives. Since this feast is also at the end of our liturgical calendar,…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In past years, I have written about the Catholic Church’s special focus on praying for the faithful departed in the month of November. As the month of November progresses and the sign of winter’s arrival intensify, we have a form of death presented clearly before our eyes. Lest the observation of death be only an external fact, the Church gives us this month as a way of understanding death and the natural end we will all face, in a spiritual key. At the risk of repeating themes, I have already treated in past years,…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Subsidiarity is a principle of Catholic social teaching that says that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest, or least-centralized competent authority, rather than a higher and more distant one, whenever possible. Ideally, this principle is applied to both civic and ecclesial spheres. In other words, rather than appeals to Washington, D.C. or to Rome, we ought to find a way to address issues at the most local level. This lesson from the social teaching of the Church comes to mind as we approach election day this week. Our election this year…read more