"He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up." Did you grow up in a small town? Whenever you see stories of tight-knit communities, a common refrain is that everybody knows everybody and that's very difficult to change. If you leave and return, people expect you to be and act a certain way, and it's strange for them if you do not. In today's Gospel, we see that Jesus was already moving "in the power of the Spirit and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He...was praised by all." His ministry has begun! News of his growing popularity must have proceeded him to Nazareth.

When you think of being Catholic, what do you think of? Perhaps you grew up with your only associations being fasting, nuns with rulers, and "Catholic guilt." Our faith can sometimes have the connotation of restriction and absence, not abundance.

Think of what it's like to wait a long time. Can you imagine what it would be like to wait for centuries? No one person lives that long, of course. But for the Israelites, they had heard the stories from generation to generation. They had been conquered time and time again, and now "the people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ." They had been waiting for a Messiah, one who did miraculous deeds and said profound things; someone aglow with the glory of God.

We are at it again, Christmas season. Instead of bringing joy, the complexities of this season can rob us of the joy that God intended it to bring in our lives. Perhaps for you this season has become a time of loneliness and sadness because of the loss of a loved one. Or maybe you dread this Christmas season because for you, it is marked by intense stress-related activities the gifts you have to buy; hosting out of town family members; long trip to visit with loved ones; elaborate meals to cook; reconnecting with family members or inlaws you don’t want to see. If Christmas is bringing you something other than joy, something is amiss.

Hundreds of years before the birth of our Lord, the prophet Zephaniah parted the murky pall that hung over God’s people and saw a day of unbridled joy. Yes, judgment had come upon the nation. Yes, exile had interrupted everyone’s dreams for a better life. Yes, God’s people had lost so much faith in the Onewho parted the Red Sea and established David’s kingdom.

The gospel tells us that the word of the Lord visited JB (John the Baptist) in the wilderness. God can pitch his tent with you, to address you in what seems to be your very ordinary life. The word of the Lord can visit us as it did with JB when our lives are in the wilderness places of life. We usually expect God to show up when everything is polished and prepared, but in fact, the Scripture suggests God, more times than not, comes to us when the garden of life has become a desert when dreams have died and health has waned.

Did you realize that when you awoke this morning, you opened your eyes to a brand!new year? That’s right! When the sun’s light kissed your face and quickened your pulse and drew you into this second day of December, you breathed the air of a new year of worship? Why? Because today is the first day, the first Sunday of a new year of Christian worship. The season of Advent marks the beginning of the Church year. So, I say Happy New year!

What Do Catholics Believe? Every Sunday during Mass, we declare that: “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible…etc.” Have you wondered why we have a creed or how the creed came about?

Do you know why the priest or deacon says at the end of the Mass: "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord?" The dismissal reminds us that the only way to serve the Lord is in peace and love. Our response, “Thanks be to God,” does not mean we are anxious to be finished and on our way. The Mass is not just obligation but power and force for change individually and together. Thanks be to God!

Do you know why we break the bread at Mass? The reason we break the bread at Mass is that through Communion we, though many in number, become one body because we eat the one bread of life, which is Christ.

During the Lamb of God, the priest breaks the body of Christ. This means that as the body of Jesus was broken on the cross to “take away the sins of the world,” so it is broken again to nourish us in our constant effort to rise above sinfulness and to grow in goodness.