The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth is described in the Gospel of Luke, "Mary set out

and traveled to the hill country in haste

to a town of Judah,

where she entered the house of Zechariah

and greeted Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting,

the infant leaped in her womb,

and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,

cried out in a loud voice and said,

“Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of your womb." We recite these words when we recited the 'Hail Mary." How should we think about the Visitation? This week on OVC.

The Visitation, Anonymous, German, 15th century German

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122224.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The Third Sunday of Advent brings us the story of St. John the Baptist telling those to be baptized to put sin behind them, be generous, don't abuse others or take advantage. It is very different from self-help as the next thing St. John says is to prepare for the one that will baptize with water and fire.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121524.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

The Gospel of Luke tells the story of St. John the Baptist on the Second Sunday of Advent:

A voice of one crying out in the desert:

“Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths.

Every valley shall be filled

and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

The winding roads shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth,

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

Help always comes from the boonies, the outsiders. Learn more this week on OVC.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120824.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

This weekend we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. ""My kingdom does not belong to this world.

If my kingdom did belong to this world,

my attendants would be fighting

to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.

But as it is, my kingdom is not here." John 18

How is Jesus a king as David was king and God is king. This week on OVC.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/112424.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Spiritual, but not religious is to be alone in a dangerous neighborhood. Christ is both the Messiah and the New Temple. Why does he answer our human needs for security. This week on OVC.

Architectural model of the temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem After a design by Thomas Newberry British (1883)

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 554 This monumental nineteenth-century architectural model of Solomon’s Temple exhibits skilled craftsmanship and exquisite artistry, as well as architectural ingenuity and conceptual brilliance.

Readings 33rd Sunday in OT: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111724.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

In the image, Melchizedek lays his hands on Abram. The Book of Hebrews looks at this moment in Genesis as the origin of the priesthood of Christ. "Brothers and sisters:

The levitical priests were many

because they were prevented by death from remaining in office,

but Jesus, because he remains forever,

has a priesthood that does not pass away.

Therefore, he is always able to save those who approach God through him,

since he lives forever to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7. What does this have to do with Jesus and the Temple Mount in the Gospel for the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time. This week on OVC.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110324.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Ambition, glory and honor - is the desire for these things evil. Jesus doesn't say that. Instead, to be ambitious in service, to be the least of all and the servant of all, this is ambition, glory and honor in God's eyes.

""You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles

lord it over them,

and their great ones make their authority over them felt.

But it shall not be so among you.

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;

whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.

For the Son of Man did not come to be served

but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10

Readings for the 29th Sunday in OT: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102024.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

Prudence is good judgment expressed in the choices you make. The grace of prudence is to choose wisely about matters eternal. In this week's OVC, the Lord teaches this lesson to a wealthy young man.

"I prayed, and prudence was given me;

I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

I preferred her to scepter and throne,

and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,

nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;

because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,

and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.

Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,

and I chose to have her rather than the light,

because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.

Yet all good things together came to me in her company,

and countless riches at her hands." Wisdom 7

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101324.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

"But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

and be joined to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh." Mark 10.

This week, Jesus on Marriage and Divorce on OVC.

Art: Marriage Contract: Late Period, 380–343 B.C. Dating to the 30th Dynasty, just before the conquest of the Persian Empire and hence of Egypt by Alexander the Great, this papyrus records a marriage contract. It is written in Demotic, which refers both to the language itself (a late form of Egyptian) and to the script.

Readings: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/100624.cfm

Music by St. Mark Choir pursuant to One License Annual License w/Podcasting # A-726294

My Sunday homily on vocation to the priesthood.