Posted by Carol Johnson on 1/21/25
After Mass I congratulated a very young reader, still a teenager, on how well he had proclaimed one of the readings at that Mass. It was his first time reading at a Sunday liturgy. In his response to me, intending to highlight that it was his first time as ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 1/13/25
Being a complete unknown in Israel at the time, the Lord traveled 80 miles from his hometown of Nazareth to Bethany beyond the Jordan to be baptized by St. John the Baptist. The baptism of the Lord is the first event in which the Gospels present the Lord as ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 1/13/25
St. Matthew tells us that the Magi came on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage” (Matthew 2:3). St. Matthew concludes the story, “And on entering the house, ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 1/13/25
With hope of healing her husband William's illness, Elizabeth Ann Bayley left New York in the fall of 1803. They hoped that Italy’s warmer weather would help William's tuberculosis subside. They took their eldest daughter, Ana Maria, age 8, with them and left their other four children (ages 2-7) ... Read More »
Posted by Carol Johnson on 1/02/25
St. Luke tells us that eight days after his birth, as was the Jewish religious tradition, the child Jesus was circumcised and formally given his name. Not many years ago, the Church, instead of focusing on these things that happened a week after the birth of the Son of ... Read More »