Second Sunday of Advent
7 December 2025
Two kinds of people were coming out to see John. There were ordinary people, genuine penitents, looking for reconciliation with God. There were also Pharisees and Sadducees. However, these came out, not to express sorrow for sin, but to test John’s orthodoxy and observance of the Law.
John has little time for them. He sees them just as much in need of repentance and conversion as anyone else. They are not to think that simply because they are descendants of Abraham, their salvation is assured. It is not birth, race, religious affiliation, education, social status, or financial clout that makes us friends of God, but our awareness of our total dependence on him for everything we need. Salvation only comes to those who give themselves totally into God’s hands and make his will their own. No one is saved simply by being born a Law-abiding Jew, as the Pharisees seemed to think, any more than being baptised into the Christian Church alone brings salvation. Much more is expected. Jesus later on will say that those who presume they are God’s people, but without the actions to prove it, will have to give way to tax collectors and prostitutes, who, because they reformed, will go into the Kingdom first.
The words of John today are primarily directed to ourselves, to the Pharisee and Sadducee in each one of us. Our most dangerous enemy is complacency: ‘ I’m not perfect, of course, I’m not a religious fanatic but I keep the basics of my religion. I’m OK.’ Where our relationships with God are concerned, to stay in the same place is to go backwards. https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie
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The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
8 December 2025
That nativity, which we call Christmas, is a mystery beyond all understanding. All that matters is to believe it. Yet this unique event that would change all human life happened very quietly. In a small house, in a small town, in a small country, the angel Gabriel asked a question of a young woman. Even those in the house next door would not have known what was happening. Perhaps even Joseph in his carpenter’s shed had no idea that Mary received a message of any kind.
In El Greco’s painting ‘The Annunciation’ the angels pray grandly and rapturously. They too cannot understand the incarnation, but they know absolutely that this is a triumph of God’s goodness. In this long, thin picture we feel that the musicians may well extend indefinitely on either side. Heaven is in a state of joy. Mary, the conduit of grace, is immersed in white flame and seraphic attendants, like heavenly snowflakes. Gabriel folds his hands. His part is done. Mary opens hers: her part is just beginning.
There is a connection surely between the quietness of Mary and the overwhelming jubilation of heaven. When we are quiet, steadying our mind, looking at the things that matter, the Lord can give himself to us. Mary is his greatest joy, unimaginable though it is to us. Whenever we look towards God, towards that mystery his son will reveal he is always first looking at us. Advent urges us to be still and let heaven rejoice.
Sr Wendy Beckett
The Art of Christmas
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Third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday)
14 December 2025
Imprisoned. When I read the Gospel for today I asked myself what’s wrong with this picture? On a day the Church celebrates Gaudete Sunday, a word which commands us to rejoice, we hear about John the Baptist the greatest man born of woman, a man who dedicated his entire life to God was now behind bars. Maybe he was asking himself the same question. What’s wrong with this picture? Life doesn’t always go the way we want. We often find ourselves in circumstances that we really can’t make sense of. Situations that not only confuse us but can cause us to question ourselves and even God.
These curve balls that life throws us when we expect one thing and get another can alienate us and result in a faith crisis. We ask Why is God allowing this tragedy, or suffering? Why doesn’t God act the way I want God to act? I don’t understand it?
Jesus however is saying that in the midst of all the suffering we see and experience, God’s kingdom is present. The greatest challenge to our faith is almost always suffering because it is the most difficult to reconcile with an all loving God, and yet Jesus challenges us to be patient and trust in Him and look to the seeds of the kingdom all around us which are signs of hope. He is asking us to believe despite our circumstances and trust in His plan. The weeds grow with the wheat but in the end Jesus will sort them all out. In the end everything will be okay and if it’s not okay it’s not the end.
Digitalmissionaries.com
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Fourth Sunday of Advent
21 December 2025
Joseph – His courage is not just exemplified by his acceptance of God’s will in accepting Mary’s pregnancy but in so many other instances In each situation, Joseph never gave in but journeyed on. For us, it is a reminder that we cannot give in, that we can’t blame others, that we need to move always toward the light of God’s love.
His tenderness stands in stark juxtaposition to the harshness of his world and even to our world today. In the macho culture of then and now, Joseph reminds us that to show love, to exhibit care, to be compassionate, to admit our dependence on God and to each other is not a sign of weakness but of strength. Tenderness is not reserved to a gender but rather is a hallmark of an integrated and spiritual human being.
His respect for his wife and his family speaks volumes to a modern-day world where too many are diminished by society and by individuals. We too often forget that every living human being is a creation of God and that no one of us should ever forget that.
His obedience to God offers us a parallel for our lives. When the disappointments of life wear us down, when personal tragedy befalls us, when the beauty of life is obscured by darkness, we often doubt the presence of God. But it is faith and the belief that if we remain obedient to His plan, we will be given the strength to move beyond.
All of these characteristics – and more – provide a measuring stick for how well we are living our faith.
Reflectionsonhim.com
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The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
25 December 2025
Reflection for Christmas Eve
When Pope Julius I authorised December 25 to be celebrated as the birthday of Jesus in AD 353, who would have ever thought that it would become what it is today? In 1223 when St Francis of Assisi used a nearby cave to set up a manger filled with straw, and his friend, Vellita, brought in an ox and a donkey, just like those at Bethlehem, nobody saw how that novel idea was going to evolve through centuries.
Let us remember the famous lines of Alexander Pope: ’What do I profit if Jesus is born in thousands of cribs all over the world during this Christmas, but is not born in my heart?’ How should we prepare for Christ’s rebirth in our daily lives? As a first step, John the Baptist urges us to repent daily of our sins and to renew our lives by leveling the hills of pride and selfishness, by filling and by straightening the crooked paths of hatred. Our second step is to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice and humility. It was by sacrifice that the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Magi were able to find the Savior. They were humble enough to see God in the Child in the manger. We, too, can experience Jesus by sharing Him with others, just as God shared His Son with us. Let us remember that the angels wished peace on earth only to those able to receive that peace, those who possessed the good will and largeness of heart to share Jesus our Savior with others in love, kindness, mercy, forgiveness and humble service.
Fr Antony Kadavil
vaticannews.va
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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
28 December 2025
That God comes to us as a newborn offers us a new beginning. It also reminds us that the divine life is vulnerable, fragile, and needs to be cared for and protected. There is nothing sentimental or romantic about Matthew’s version of the Christmas story. It’s reality life.
When it comes to the holy life of God with us, Emmanuel, Jesus, it is always a matter of life and death; the child’s, each other’s, our own. God has entrusted his Son to each one of us in a variety of ways. Just like Joseph we stand in the middle between Jesus and Herod, between life and death, between the life-giver and the life-taker. We can’t stay in the middle. Day by day, minute by minute, we choose. Will we get up and take the child and his mother or will we sleep through and miss what God is doing in our lives? What will it be for you? For me? What are we choosing? Are we nurturing and growing the life of Christ within us? How are we caring for the sacred pieces and parts of our lives? How are we creating a home for Jesus?
Don’t be too anxious or distracted by Herod. Remember, neither God nor Joseph dealt directly with Herod. They didn’t give Herod time, attention, or effort. That doesn’t mean we deny or ignore the Herods of our lives. It means, rather, that we gain more by nurturing, feeding, and growing the divine life. It means that our work is to cultivate deep relationships, a life of prayer, and love for all people. It means that in the end holiness always wins.
Michael K. Marsh
interruptingthesilence.com
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Second Sunday after Christmas
4 January 2026
In the 2,000 plus years that have unfolded since that night in Bethlehem, certainly there are instances when darkness has been diminished, when hurts have been healed, when pain has been alleviated, when the human spirit has shone with compassion, and inclusivity, and hospitality. Yet, we still experience so much darkness in the world.
‘The light shines in the darkness,’ writes John. And maybe that’s the thing. Maybe that’s the gospel writer’s point. It is not that the light obliterates the darkness; it is simply that the light is there, sometimes helping to change a situation, and making it much better, but more often the light is a steady, (albeit flickering) constant, faithful presence. This, I think, is the message of the incarnation, the story behind the story that we will tell each other this day. God enters into the darkness to sit alongside of us as a Providential advocate, a Providential presence – God with us – Emmanuel. God refuses to dwell in the heavens above and from a safe distance watch the drama of human life play out. Instead, our Provident God climbs right into the darkest places to be with us; and in that holy and luminous action, we find reason enough to hope. So, wherever there is darkness in your life, in my life, any where in our world, we can be absolutely sure – that our Provident God, our Emmanuel, God with us is there too – a Light in our darkness. And because we are in relationship with the Provident God who is the Light, THE Source of the Light, we, too are called to be Light.
Sisters of Divine Providence
cdpsisters.org
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The Epiphany of the Lord
6 January 2026
For many Christians, the Feast of the Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season. Yet the Epiphany is at the heart of the Christmas message. The word ‘epiphany’ means ‘manifestation’ or ‘showing’. Fundamentally, the Christian vocation is to show Jesus and his glory to the world.
Christmas and the Epiphany challenge us to renew our appreciation of the commitment God has made to us by becoming human. In the person and life of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, God has demonstrated beyond all doubt how much he loves us and shares his life with us. God shares his life with us especially through the Church and the sacraments. In the person and life of Jesus Christ, God has embraced human nature completely and he has become one with it. This is the mystery of Christmas and it remains true for all time and for all God’s people everywhere.
The Feast of the Epiphany invites us to consider once again the real meaning of Christmas and to respond accordingly. The wise men, in presenting Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, acknowledged him as Saviour of all people. The feast invites us to ask: what gift can we present to Jesus that acknowledges him as our Saviour?
Surely the most appropriate gift is striving to live a life that imitates his teaching and example. Therefore, the Epiphany is an ideal time to reflect on the practice of our Christian faith so that, during the coming year, we will ‘show’ the world the glory of the Saviour who has redeemed us from sin and who gives us life through his Church and the celebration of the sacraments.
John Littleton, Journeying through the Year
www.columba.ie
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The Baptism of the Lord
11 January 2026
It would be useful for us today to reflect on the meaning of our own baptism and how it relates with that of Jesus.
We often hear a very simplistic description of the effects of the Sacrament of Baptism as ‘taking away original sin and making us children of God’. Many, especially those baptised as infants, may see it as a one-off ceremony, imposed on them by parents to bind them to a way of life in which they have no further say. However, if one truly understands the full meaning of our baptism, this is unlikely to happen.
Baptism is not, as is true of all the sacraments, an isolated ritual. It takes place in the context of our whole life. Whether we are baptised as children or as adults, what primarily is happening is that we become incorporated, ‘em-bodied’, into the Christian community.
We become – not passively, but actively – members of the Body of Christ. It can never be something imposed on us against our will. That is why, for adults, there is now a long process of initiation leading up to Baptism and, hopefully a further process of community support after the Baptism has taken place.
We are called to be living witnesses of the Gospel, to be the salt of the earth, to be a city on a hill, a candle radiating light in the surrounding darkness. We are called, in short, to be united with the others in our Christian community in the building up of God’s Kingdom.
Our baptism is not simply some past event recorded in some dusty parish register. It is a living reality which is to be constantly deepened and enriched.
Living Space home
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Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
18 January 2026
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and Catholic Schools Week begin today
John also declared, ‘I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him.
John’s words in today’s Gospel form a declaration of trust. His words are led from the Spirit: he allowed the Spirit to guide him and this led to greater trust in Jesus.
Whilst we may not be approached by Jesus and be asked to baptise him in the local river, there are many prompts, many signs, through which we can begin to listen the the Holy Spirit. First and foremost are the Sacraments and Scripture. By our own baptism we have been signed by the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus was at the Jordan. And, through the Eucharist, we meet Jesus in a special and intimate way. In Scripture we are reminded of Jesus’s ministry, his birth, work, crucifixion and death, and his resurrection from the dead, and we are invited to live in synergy with this life, to emulate Christ through the gifts of the Spirit.
This invitiation is no less outlandish, no less surprising, than what John experienced. But faith IS an unexpected journey of surprise and, through it, we become the fullest people that we were designed to be.
At the heart of our journey is the Spirit, and his constant invitation to our hearts. We know where to begin. But are we open, as was John, to listening to him in our lives? Are we open to spending the time in prayer?
Mount Saint Joseph Abbey
msjroscrea.ie
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Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
25 January 2026 • Sunday of the Word of God
We know that the days are now getting longer, even if it is not obvious yet. Light is starting to make a comeback. We have turned the corner. In this morning’s gospel reading, Matthew compares the beginning of
the public ministry of Jesus to the coming of the light. The people that lived in darkness have seen a great light. A new light is rising over people, the light of God’s powerful presence. The opening words of Jesus’ public ministry are, ‘the kingdom of God is at hand’. The powerful presence of God is at hand, a presence that is full of light because it is full of love. God’s presence in Jesus will mean healing for the broken and acceptance for the rejected; it will bring forgiveness to sinners and a place at table for the outsiders. This is a light to which people will be drawn, a divine light. The gospel reading speaks of large crowds following Jesus from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordania. That same light rises over all of us today. The invitation of Jesus in the gospel reading today is to repent, in other words, to turn more fully towards the light of God present in Jesus, present now in the risen Lord. That call to turn is always with us and we never cease trying to respond to it ever more generously.
Fr Martin Hogan is curate in the parish of
Finglas, Finglas West and Rivermount
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