As we continue our Advent watching, pray for the gifts of courage and perseverance.

“Am I not your mother? Are you not under the protection of my mantle?”

Even as the desert wastes become fertile and full of flowers, those suffering from illness and physical limitations will receive healing and wholeness.

John calls his desert-followers—and each of us—to Advent honesty and vulnerability. In his clarion call, Advent hope and the hard work of conversion come together.

At its best, our devotion to the Mother of God celebrates the part Mary played in the decisive moments of salvation history.

God’s disciples need to have firmly anchored in their souls the remembrance of their Master, Jesus Christ, and to think of him day and night.

The liturgy today reminds us that, in the fullness of time, we too will enjoy the abundance of God’s table.

The One for who's coming we continue to watch and wait for is the One who will bring about the full restoration and unity of creation.

Jesus uses their exchange as an opportunity to highlight the truth that, in the fullness of the Reign of God, all peoples—Jews and Gentiles—will have a place at God’s table.

While we look forward to celebrating the Incarnation at Christmas, we also spend these days looking toward the future, to the second Advent of Christ, when he will return in glory and the promises made to the prophets will be fulfilled.

Our Advent journey is one of lament and longing, a cry for that life which only God can give.

Inspired by Mary’s commitment and faith, each of us is invited to pray for the courage and faith to continue along the paths God has chosen for us.

These last days of the Church year call us to a certain sense of urgency because, as Paul reminded the Thessalonians, the Lord will return “as a thief in the night” (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6).

As we celebrate the memory of Saint Gertrude, let us pray for the grace to open our hearts to the consoling and transforming love of Christ’s own Heart that so indelibly shaped Gertrude’s life and teaching.

Darkness is not the end. The dawn will come and, with it, the Bridegroom who will invite us into eternal wedding banquet of the Reign of God.

Martin had taken to heart the words of the Gospel, “whatever you did for the least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40), and his life was never the same.

Like those leaders called out by Jesus and Malachi, we also have a special kind of covenantal relationship with those whom we are called to serve.

This is the day when each of us as Church can take a moment and reflect and look at one another and say, “Yes, this is right because this is who we are.”

While the love of God always comes first, our response to that love should take us outside of ourselves, as we are asked to share with others the love and compassion that we ourselves have received from God.

Because we do not know many details of the lives of Simon and Jude, we are left to reflect simply on what it means to be an apostle, sent by Christ into the world.