As our biological father gives life, our biological mother bears life. So God the Father gives life, His own life, so that we may live spiritually, Mary bears His life so that we may live spiritually. She is the mediatrix of all grace - grace is the life of God. As the source of grace, Jesus Christ came into the world through Mary, and so God chooses to continue to give the grace that He gives through her.

(Talk preached for an audience of Catholic women during a Silent Retreat)

Fathers represent, and therefore teach us, about God the Father with whom we are destined to spend eternity. If we do not learn to know Him and love Him as a father, it will hinder our chances of achieving that end.

The pouring out of animal blood in the Old Testament was a sign of contrition and a rendering of the life of the sinner who offered the sacrifice back to God. That means living for God. If your life has been given to God, your life is to be used as God sees fit. It's not a token offering - "God, I offer you my life" - and then go about your business like nothing has changed. I can't say I am giving you my car and not hand over the keys and let you use it as you see fit. The blood of animals itself had no power, of course, to wash away sin. But it was the contrition of the one offering the sacrifice which was pleasing to God. Contrition means conversion. One who does no agree to end his sinful ways is clearly not sorry for his sinful ways. Sorrow means amending our ways.

The common interpretation says that this Gospel today (4th Sunday after Lent [Laetare Sunday] - John 6:1-15) is about the mercy of God, His benevolence towards man. But let's take it in context - yesterday we had the readings about the chaste Susanna (Dan 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62) and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). Susanna was a holy woman falsely accused, and God, through the prophet Daniel, came to her defense. The woman caught in adultery was genuinely repentent. Yes, God is merciful ... to the just and to the repentant. But what about today? Even atheists and pagans know about the story of the loaves and the fishes. But did you ever, why five loaves? Why two fishes?

Today we are confronted with a great mystery of our faith. The Lord reveals to his disciples that He will suffer, that He will die, and that He will rise again on the third day [Luke 18: 31-43]. And we are told they could not understand this saying. We can understand, perhaps, how his rising from the dead might be difficult for them to grasp. Such a thing had only happened a couple of times in their recorded history. But that He would suffer and the He would die - why should this be difficult for them to understand?

(Talk preached for an audience of Catholic men during a Silent Retreat)

Fathers represent, and therefore teach us, about God the Father with whom we are destined to spend eternity. If we do not learn to know Him and love Him as a father, it will hinder our chances of achieving that end.

As our biological father gives life, our biological mother bears life. So God the Father gives life, His own life, so that we may live spiritually, Mary bears His life so that we may live spiritually. She is the mediatrix of all grace - grace is the life of God. As the source of grace, Jesus Christ came into the world through Mary, and so God chooses to continue to give the grace that He gives through her.

"That he might redeem them who were under the law: that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying: Abba, Father. So that he is no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, an heir also through God." (Gal 4:5-7) We should meditate on this truth often. The humanity of Jesus Christ was something new upon the earth, something new in creation. It was new because it was not humanity like any other. This humanity, while truly itentical to ours, was also for the firs time up to that point, truly holy.

"You shall find an Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12) This was given as a sign by the angel. a sign that this was somebody special, that this was who they were looking for. In other words, this was a little out of the ordinary. What, then, does the Lord's birth portend? He, the creator and Lord of all, unlimited power and majesty, born in a stable. And hardly a stable at that, we are told, a hollow on the side of a cave, exposed to the elements. Born in obscurity, only the cloths of the poor to be wrapped in. If the birth of a King is commensurate to his dignity or his kingship, then what can we say about the birth of Jesus? He has come to rule the humble.

The Propers of Christmas Eve are very much about the relationship of the Messiah to His people. And what is that relationship? The prophet Jeremiah tells us, "They shall be my people and I shall be their God." (Jer 32:38) But today's Propers point out which conditions He will be our God as well as the significant benefits of this arrangement.