It has been reported to me ..... that there are rivalries among you. ( 1 Cor. 1:11 )

T h i s i s f r o m t h i s Sunday’s second reading. It is interesting that people often thought romantically about the early Church. The fact is that it was a time of difficulties, from outside the Church and from within. The Church suffered two hundred years of persecution by the Jewish leaders as heretics and by the Romans as superstition compared to their religion. From within the Church, they had to settle theological issues on who Jesus was as well as new practices based on the theological convictions.

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

    With this feast, we jump thirty years from Jesus’ birth to the start of His public life. Matthew’s Gospel told us that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Egypt to escape from Herod. On their return, they lived in Nazareth. When Jesus was twelve years old they went to Jerusalem where the incredible event of Jesus staying behind at the Temple took place. He had an encounter with the leaders of the Temple and they found His grasp of faith astounding. St. Luke next told of the account of the Baptism of Jesus when He was thirty years old.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Advent –preparing for Christmas

 This Sunday, we begin the season of Advent. We will take a few weeks’ break from consideration of moral issues. The reason for this is that our approach to morals has to do with responding to Jesus, who came to lead us home to the Father. So it would be good to take a look at the birth of Jesus as the foundation of our morals.