Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes: promises that we will be happy even if it seems we are out of step with what most of the world is doing.

This is the Sunday of the Word of God, and we begin our year-long reading from the Gospel of Matthew with Jesus' choosing of his first four disciples.

We are getting started with the long expanse of Ordinary Time and particularly with a continuous reading from Paul's first letter to the Christians of Corinth, Greece.

The Bishop of Rome Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI, died yesterday.  His resignation in 2013 provided an example to all of us that we all must acknowledge our limits.  Mary's identity as "Mother of God" means that she is pointing to her Son and encouraging us to greater amazement at his identity as truly God and truly human.

In our age of information, the Scriptures for Christmas Day are all about the Word who says everything to us.

Advent points us to completion and fulfillment.  What do we think such fulfillment will look like?

Entering the privileged time of Advent, we are invited into timelessness and the possibility of doing something productive with our swords.