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When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of king Herod, behold there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying “Where is he that is born King of the Jews?”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My very Dear Sons,

As it moved toward the fullness of time human history was driven by three major currents: that of the Romans in terms of the greatest political empire ever to be realized (we see this in the Gospel, as Joseph and Mary must travel to Bethlehem to participate in the census mandated by the Romans); that of the Greeks in regard to the highest intellectual achievements in literature, philosophy, and the arts; and, finally, that of the prophetic tradition of the Jews, to whom was entrusted the revelation […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My very dear sons,

If, in her Immaculate Conception, the mercy of God anticipated the work of salvation by preserving Mary from all sin; if, at the Annunciation, Divine Mercy was announced, by Divine embassy, as a reality already coming into the world; here, in the Stable of Bethlehem we have the long awaited arrival of Divine Mercy in person, le fait accompli, although presented in a rather informal and initially unimpressive manner, that is to say in the diminutive person of the Word Incarnate speaking only, as yet, in the ill-defined forms of “baby talk.” Misericordia praesens, misericordia vagiens.

Even the Donkey and the Ox, gazing silently upon the scene, seem mildly astonished. The world expected a King, that is to say a “kingly” sovereign […]

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Very Dear Sons,
Today begins, in the Roman Catholic Church, an Extraordinary Jubilee dedicated to Divine Mercy. This is no trifling event. There is nothing the world so needs at present, there is nothing each one of us so needs so urgently, as this mercy that God would give us. As the Holy Father explained in his Bull of Indiction:

We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers […]

Post haec vidi turbam magnam…After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands (Apoc. 7:9).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

My very dear sons,

“A certain man running up and kneeling before [Jesus], asked him: Good Master, what shall I do that I may receive life everlasting? Why callest thou me good? None is good but one, that is God.” (Mk. 10: 17-18)  How is it that, while Our Lord thus affirms that God alone is good, Saint John in the Apocalypse, shows a multitude of human beings, so great that no one could number it, standing like so many […]

Saint Monica’s Church, Edmond, Oklahoma

Your Excellency Archbishop Coakley,

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, especially the grieving members of the Costello family,

Before going any further I must also mention how touched we are by the presence of an impressive number of dignitaries, for both the state and national levels, in particular that of Madame Governor Fallin and of our distinguished Senators and Representatives. Please forgive me, if I am not able to mention everyone by name at this sizeable gathering.

“It could be said, wrote Pope Saint John Paul II, that human history is marked from the very beginning by the limit God the Creator places upon evil.” (Memory and Identity, 38) The remark is profound. It echoes something the great Saint Augustine once said:

You are beset […]

Signum magnum apparuit in caelo, A great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

My very dear sons,

Often has Saint John’s vision of the woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet been understood as a prophecy describing historical events surrounding a given generation of believers. Such was surely the case of the early Christians, who expected the end of the world to come very shortly. In this prophetic image we contemplate both the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Church herself as she endures the hardships of her earthly pilgrimage and the great war that is waged between God and the devil, between the […]