“My son, I have many servants and messengers to whom I entrust the delivery of my messages and carry my wishes…But it must be you.”

This exchange took place in early December, 1531, between Saint Juan Diego and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe. This was the second time Juan Diego saw the Virgin Mary. In their first encounter, Our Lady had asked him to tell the bishop, Juan de Zumarraga, that she desired a Church to be built in her honor and for the glory of the one true God, the Creator of all. The bishop, understandably, did not believe that this simple peasant had actually seen the Mother of God. What happened afterwards (the Castilian roses, the miraculous imprinting of the image of Our Lady on Juan Diego’s tilma, and, of course, the bishop recognizing that Mary had in fact requested this) history now knows.

Sometimes, perhaps, you have moments in prayer that seem rather awkward, when God reveals something to you that seems so elemental that you should have known it (and perhaps did) but it is revealed with a piercing clarity that is striking. I had one of those moments last week praying with this text from Paul’s letter to his friend, Titus.

The revelation centered around that word “coming.” The Greek word used can also be translated as “appearing.” It can furthermore mean “shine, light up, manifest, come into light.” Finally, it can be translated as “advent.”

Here’s where the piercing clarity came.

Like so many over the holiday break, our family at ACTS XXIX went to the theater to watch the first two episodes of Season 3 of The Chosen. In fact, some of us went twice. It’s a joy to see this beautifully done visual meditation on Jesus’ life perform so well not just online but at the box office (it finished third over the holiday weekend, despite being on half the screens of major releases).

To be sure, the writers are taking some liberties, especially with character development, in their telling of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. I know some people find this troubling and would prefer to simply read the Scriptures. Personally, however, I find what is on the screen to be a great grace in reading the Word of God, and especially in reading the Gospels.

Back in August, some of us in ACTS XXIX had a chance to take part in a retreat with leaders of the campus ministry down at LSU. It was a grace-filled time to see what the Lord is doing at Christ the King (the student parish), and to watch the power of the gospel give new-found confidence to many of the young men and women present. On our way home, we had a chance to stop at the World War II Museum in New Orleans, one of the best and most moving I’ve been blessed to visit. As our time was short, we focused our attention on the D-Day exhibit.