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Every Valley Filled and Mountain Brought Low

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4th Sunday of Advent 2024
This Epistle is an instruction for the “Ministers of the Mysteries of God” – the newly ordained priests.  It emphasizes that natural talent is not what makes a man a good and holy minister of Our Lord.  In this Gospel, the mountains and hills which must be brought low are our vices which stand as an obstacle to Our Lord’s coming, and the valleys which must be filled refer to the love of God we are lacking and must strive to increase.  Through mortification to attack our vices, and meditation to increase our love, we may prepare a fitting place in our souls for the birth of the Divine Child.
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The Dogmas of Christmas

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Christmas Conference 2024
In a moment in time the Word assumed a human nature and from then on, He was completely God and completely man and will be so for all eternity.  This feast of Christmas also includes the doctrine of the Virgin Birth.  The Blessed Mother was virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ.  This miracle foreshadowed the Resurrection, in which Christ passed through His tomb while leaving it shut.

The reason why the Son became man was first to honor His Father, and only secondarily for the salvation of mankind.  All things were made as an expression of His goodness, and all mankind was made for God first.  God became a Father in a new way on Christmas, because it was only then that He became Father in the flesh.  Our Lord came to dwell forever in our hearts as the King of Peace.  This is a feast of hope which offers a foretaste of the final victory at the end of time.  The three Masses of Christmas focus, first on the eternal birth of the Son from the Father, then the birth of the Word in the Flesh, and finally the birth of the Word in men’s hearts.  Christ appeared as a helpless child, and all are drawn to the innocence and purity of an infant.  It teaches each one of us to become like little children so we might enter the kingdom of Heaven.
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He Is in Our Midst

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3rd Sunday of Advent – Gaudete Sunday 2024
This is a season of penance, but today we have a glimpse of the coming joy of Christmas.  On this day, the Holy Ghost instructs us to rejoice.  The Blessed Virgin is one of the models for this season, especially during the Ember Days of Advent.  We are part of those generations prophesied in Holy Scripture who would call the Virgin Mary blessed.  St. Paul instructs us not to be anxious nor attached to the passing things of this world.  We must make the right choices, not because it will benefit us financially, but because of our love for God.  Although we are joyful on this day, we still have work to do.  Let us detach ourselves from the money and pleasures that so easily control us and follow Christ Our Lord to freedom.
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Advent and Battling Lukewarmness

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The Advent Conferences 2024
Bishop’s Conference for AdventLearn about the historical and liturgical meaning of the season of Advent, as well as the great danger of a vice we all suffer from – lukewarmness.
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The Best Gift for His Mother, Part 2

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The Advent Conferences 2024
Bishop’s 2nd Immaculate Conception ConferenceLearn how the account of the fall of man found in the book of Genesis predicts the great privilege of the Immaculate Conception that would be given to the Mother of God.
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Fair as the Moon, Resplendent as the Sun

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Immaculate Conception 2024
In 1854 Pope Pius IX made the dogmatic pronouncement of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This incomparable dogma first began to be known immediately after the fall of Adam.  The Fathers of the Church tell us that the reference to the “woman” in the Protoevangelium refers to the Immaculate Conception.  A debate among saints and theologians arose in the Church questioning how this was possible, since Our Lady had to be redeemed as well.  The question was answered by Duns Scotus, leading to the establishment of the feast we celebrate today.  From the moment of her conception the Virgin Mary was more pleasing to God than all the saints and angels combined.  She prays for us in a special way as we celebrate her feast through the Mass. On this day, let us tell our Mother with all our hearts how much we love her.
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The Best Gift for His Mother

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First Friday, December 2024
Conference on Grace and The Immaculate ConceptionWhen we speak of perfect passive conception, we refer to the moment in which the product of active conception is infused with a soul and becomes a human person.  From this moment of perfect passive conception, the Virgin Mary was redeemed in a preservative, not a liberative, manner.  The Blessed Mother from this point possessed a greater union with God than all the angels and saints.  Our Lady was not only free from the guilt of Original Sin, but also the concupiscence of the flesh, of the eyes, and the pride of life.  By a divine ligature, she was unable to consent to even the slightest imperfections.

Sanctifying Grace is a created share in the supernatural life of God.  When God breathed human life into Adam, He breathed a share of divine life into him as well.  Grace must be valued above all things.  We must be willing to live and die to preserve it.  The Blessed Mother was given the plenitude of grace in preparation for her role as the Mother of God, as well as Mother to each one of us.
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Our Spiritual Resolutions

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1st Sunday of Advent 2024
Today is New Year’s Day in the Church, and we are reminded by the violet color at the beginning of the liturgical year to do penance for our sins.  We have a lot of work to do this Advent to prepare for the coming of Our Lord into our souls.  This is the time to make spiritual New Year’s resolutions.  If we wish to obtain our heavenly reward, we must perform the spiritual and corporal works of mercy and maintain purity of body and soul through prayer and mortification.  The Son of God honored our flesh when He took to Himself a human nature.  In following the purpose of this Advent season, let us “put aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light!”
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God’s Chastisements and the Three Days of Darkness

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Last Sunday after Pentecost 2024

This Sunday is not only a reminder of the end of time, but a reminder of the end of each individual life and our particular judgment.  Christ foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, typifying the chastisements the world will face in the last days.  We should be encouraged in seeing how God spared the Christian community of Jerusalem who heeded His warnings.  We too should watch for the signs in our own times and prepare our souls for Christ’s coming.  Whether or not we witness the Three Days of Darkness and the coming punishments of the world, we know that we are all destined to face God and must prepare to do so with the time we have left.
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We Must Answer to God

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26th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
In this Epistle St. Paul encourages the Thessalonians, who were enduring persecution for the Faith, instructing them to persevere in their struggle.  The parables in the Gospel similarly encourage Christ’s followers by explaining the external growth of the Church as well as our internal growth in sanctity.  God’s ways are not ours; His way is irresistible.  We should be encouraged by the words of this Gospel and never forget the favors God has sent us.  Our battle is with principalities and powers, and it is easy to be fooled by the sophistries of a pagan society – a society which constantly makes excuses for the murder of the unborn.  Each of us, even the great and powerful, will have to make an answer to God for the choices of his life.
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