On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, the Gospel takes us to a tender and joy-filled moment: Mary’s visit to Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-45). This encounter between two women of faith—one carrying the Savior and the other His forerunner—brims with the Holy Spirit's presence and points us toward the heart of the Advent season.

Today, Gaudete Sunday, is the midpoint in the Advent Season. It is a day of rejoicing that the Lord will return in glory. Many times though, the realization that Christmas is just ten days away causes stress when we consider all we have to do between now and then! There's decorating, grocery shopping, baking, cleaning, the gifts we still have to buy, the handwritten cards, letters and e-cards. The list goes on and on. We can just feel overwhelmed and ask ourselves how can a season of joy cause so much anxiety!

A week and a half ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving. A time for family and friends to gather and give thanks for the friendships, love, and connection among each other and for God. Today, we are invited to continue to give thanks to God. We hear in Psalm 126 “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”

January 1st is traditionally the day that people begin their New Year’s resolution. Usually, these resolutions involve some physical challenge. Maybe it’s to eat healthier meals, exercise, lose weight, join a gym, hire a Trainer or Life Coach, etc… Certainly, these are noble goals that are good for our body’s health but what about the health of your soul?

This King – this Jesus – lived 2,000 years ago and His life ended in total rejection, shame and betrayal. Who honors such a king? Why can’t these Christians see all the damage their religion has done through the ages? What is this Kingdom their Messiah wanted to establish?

… Gratitude is one of the easiest ways to connect with God. Gratitude is also one of the greatest ways to get out of self-pity or to get out of the dumps. Gratitude is simply a wonderful way to pray and realize how much God does indeed love us.

Allow me to introduce to you one of our contemporary Franciscan brothers and Servant of God, Father Martin de Porres Maria Ward, OFM Conv. I had the privilege of spending a week with Fr. Martin and our friars of Brazil in 1998. And now the Church allows us to invoke his intercession as we pray for favors such as healing in body and heart, the conversions of others, etc…

The darkness made way for the sun to come up.
There was a cold breeze as the leaves swirled in flight.
Frost covered the last flowers that had been planted months ago.
Soon there will be snow to cover them too (just not today).
And, God said, “It is good.”

This weekend at Assumption Church, we reflect on the beautiful and powerful encounter between Jesus and Bartimaeus, as told in the Gospel of Mark 10:46-52. In this passage, we witness a blind man, sitting on the roadside in Jericho, calling out to Jesus, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" What unfolds in this encounter is a profound story of faith, persistence, and healing.

Last weekend at the 10:00 AM Mass, I mentioned that the person in the Gospel and I have something in common — many possessions. In my case, it’s mainly shirts, 166 of them to be exact. Then, on Monday, one of the parishioners asked me, “How do you decide which one of the 166 shirts to wear each day?” My response was, “Well, it depends. Some days it’s the next shirt in the drawer, or it’s just the first shirt I see. Other days, it depends on who I’m seeing and what that person might like.”

As members of the Body of Christ we are united with every other Catholic throughout the world. Catholics number 1.390 Billion people or 17.7 % of the world’s population. A total of 2.4 billion people (including Catholics) out of 8.2 billion people are Christian. That means of course that 5.8 billion people, for one reason or another, have not explicitly embraced Christ.

In his September 26th column in the Catholic Sun, Bishop Lucia calls our attention to reflect on the Church’s Social Teaching - which the Church has been building upon for generations. As we begin Respect Life Month, it is important that we know the Catholic Church’s consistent ethic of life. I encourage you to read the Bishop’s entire column which can be found on the Syracuse Diocese website: “To hope and Act with Creation” What follows is his summary of Church teaching on the consistent ethic of life.

“Take a deep breath… now do a real one.” This is the advice from a bride’s little sister when I asked her and members of the wedding party “Do you have any advice for the bride and groom?” This past weekend, I celebrated my sixth of eight weddings this wedding season. And the line “Take a deep breath… now do a real one” was advice I took before writing this bulletin article.

After teaching high school for six years and working in higher education for almost 25 years, late summer and early autumn seem to draw my attention to new beginnings: the beginning of school, the beginning of college football, nature’s display of her most beautiful array of color. From one day to the next, this time is filled with the excitement of new life experiences and the bright promise of special things to come.

After a long week of work, we may not feel that human labor is a gift from God, but it is important to recall that indeed it is a divine gift. In the beginning, human labor was created by God for us who were created in His image and likeness. In the midst of the work of creation by the hand of God, humanity was called to take responsibility for all of creation:

declaration of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. However, this title honoring Mary as Queen appears in the writings of the early Church Fathers and we reflect on this title when praying both the fifteenth decade of the

Together, we have been reflecting on Rev. Christopher Seibt's series on Saint John's Gospel, Chapter 6, and The Mass. Here is the last article in that series based on this week’s Gospel.

Together, we have been reflecting on Rev. Christopher Seibt's series on Saint John's Gospel, Chapter 6, and The Mass. Here is the third article in that series based on this weekend’s Gospel.

Last week we began Rev.Christopher Seibt's series on Saint John's Gospel, Chapter 6, and The Mass. Here is the second article in that series based on this weekend’s Gospel.

For the next several weeks, as the Church calls us to reflect on the Sixth Chapter of John's Gospel, the Bread of Life Discourse, I would like to share with you Rev. Christopher R. Seibt's reflections on the celebration of the Mass and this passage from John's Gospel.