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Jesus picked Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John to come and follow Him. The invitation offered to these fishermen is a testimony that there was something mesmerizing about His ministry which they wanted to be a part of. In surrendering to Jesus’ command, they would find great joy in taking the risk. Today, Jesus calls us to follow Him.

Ordinary Time is not very ordinary at all. Ordinary Time, celebration of Sunday, is the identifying mark of the first day of the week the Lord was raised up and creation came at last to completion. How we live Sunday proclaims to the world what we believe about redeemed time now and forever.

This feast marks the end of Christmas and is called “Epiphany.” In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Epiphany celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. It focuses primarily on this revelation to the Three Wise Men, but also on His Baptism in the River Jordan at the Wedding at Cana. The Epiphany helps us better understand the Nativity because the revelation of Christ as the Son of God, both as an infant and at His Baptism, illuminate the Mysteries of the Christmas Season.

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Mary is the mother and model of the Church, who receives the divine Word in faith and offers herself to God as the “good soil” in which he can continue to accomplish his mystery of salvation.

Welcome to Christmas! For most of us, it is a season of Joy, giving, lights, color, sound, time with family, and rejoicing. It is also a time to thank God for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon us.

Joseph is a powerful model for us at this time of year. He is a model of adult commitment which our culture desperately needs and a reminder to us to renew those commitments that shape our life and our soul.

John would await reports and when he heard about the healings of Jesus, he knew he was the one. What about us? How do we know? What do we look for? The signs of Jesus in this world are of love, generosity, healing, peace, reconciliation, and all that goes to make for a better world. Now is the time to restore our faith in Him.

On this Second Sunday of Advent, we read the following in St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to think in harmony with one another, in keeping with Christ Jesus, that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Paul speaks of the internal and collective harmony that flows from life in Jesus Christ. Yet we see disharmony around the world.

oday, we begin the Season of Advent, a time to come out of the darkness and into the light. It may seem difficult because we find ourselves using lamps in the morning instead of having the sunlight shine through our windows. It is also a time of preparation. Advent is about preparing ourselves for the coming of Christ in every way Christ may come.

On this final Sunday of the Church Liturgical Year, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. We honor Christ, King of the Universe, as Lord over all creation. Essentially a magnification of the Feast of the Ascension, it was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925. This feast was established and proclaimed by the Pope to reassert the sovereignty of Christ and the Church over all forms of government and to remind Christians of the fidelity and loyalty they owed to Christ.

Pope Francis has highlighted the need for compassion in our dealings with one another. This intervention by Pope Francis may be seen as coming from Jesus, when He said “I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents can withstand or contradict.” We look forward to the time when nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For our God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and He is not God of the dead but of the living. God responds that amazing things are in store for those He calls to Him, with the promise of eternal life in Him. Christ gains victory for us through His resurrection.

Conversion is uncomfortable and hard and never quite finished. Jesus looks up, sees him, and tells him to come down so that He could stay at his house. This did not sit well with the crowd for this man was a despised sinner and cheater. At that moment he makes his promise to Jesus to amend his ways. Salvation entered his house and heart that day. Would we do the same?

Jesus is showing us that it is not social status which matters in the eyes of God. He cares about how our hearts are oriented. We must remember that everything we are and have comes from God. And we are all in need of God’s mercy.

The Readings for this Sunday are about persistence in prayer. In the First Reading Moses becomes tired in prayer and Aaron and Hur support him. The Psalm declares “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Like Naaman, this healing was a catalyst for the Samaritan and turned him on a new spiritual path. He was able to recognize that Jesus wasn’t offering a return to his previous life but was inviting him to a new one. Through his healing,

To be a faith-filled Christian is not simply about having an inner conviction, but also having the courage and strength to live our beliefs on a daily basis and have an impact on our world. Faith is a gift, and God is the source and giver of that gift.

Sometimes, being indifferent is worse than showing some type of emotion whether good or bad. The rich man lost out because he did not notice Lazarus. He did not reach out to help when he had every opportunity to do so.

Jesus is not praising dishonesty here. He is praising ingenuity — ingenuity as the antithesis of complaint, whining, and despair. Jesus points out that those who are outside our religious circles tend to be more ingenious in times of trouble than we committed believers, who too often give of ourselves over to grumbling and inaction.

As followers of Jesus, we can’t let vengeance enter into our hearts and minds. The three parables in today’s Gospel reveal a God who does not seek vengeance on the sinner. He is one who is always ready to seek out and forgive.