THOUGHTS from the
“TRAILER”
Let’s Run
As I prayed with these words from Luke earlier this week, however, the line the Lord italicized and bolded for me was this one, “Let us go over to Bethlehem.” Given the familiarity I just confessed to, I oftentimes simply stumble into Bethlehem rather than journeying to Bethlehem, intentionally as did the obedient and attentive shepherds. Some translations of this passage tell us that the shepherds not only left for Bethlehem but that they ran!
What’s In a Name?
Some years ago, Archbishop Vigneron of Detroit shared something about the name “Emmanuel” that I have never forgotten.
Do We Really Believe?
As we rush towards the Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord, I find myself thinking more and more about St. Joseph. The above passage, proclaimed last Sunday, continues to echo in my ears. Is there another man who can seriously rival Joseph for faith? Is there any intercessor who can better help us know what God can do to shattered dreams? Aside from Mary, who can teach us that, truly, nothing is impossible for God?
“It must be you.”
“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.