 The world, in many ways, is far from peace. For some, their hearts are not at peace due to worries and concerns. We are about to celebrate, though, the coming of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, into our world and into our lives. The Prince of Peace offers peace that nothing and no one in this world can give. At Christmas, he invites us gently, the Infant Jesus, to welcome him into our lives, giving us peace that is beyond this world. We recall that holy night when he was born. It was a night that was not one of peace since there was no room for him in the inn. As he lay in the lowly manger, shepherds came to adore and to experience peace incarnate. The Prince of Peace is Savior of the world who came to fulfill the mission of his Eternal Father. The third verse of the famous Christmas carol O Holy Night describes his mission. Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His gospel is peace. Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother; And in His name all oppression shall cease. Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, Let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever, His power and glory evermore proclaim. His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim! May his mission be our mission so that we can be bearers of the Prince of Peace to all we encounter. May you have a blessed Christmas and may the charity of Christ urge us on! In God, the Infinite Love, Fr. Frank
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 Of all the observations on the nature of life I have come across from the popular comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz, there is one which I have been touched by the most. In a recurring plot, the main character, a fellow named Charlie Brown, falls for a beautiful peer of his known only as “The Little Red-Haired Girl.” Just being in the same room as her makes poor ole Charlie Brown tremble as he is enamored by her incredible beauty, talent, and personality… three characteristics he cannot possibly boast of his own. One day, he finds a pencil of hers and, to his astonishment, finds that it is covered in her teeth marks. This odd observation immediately causes Charlie Brown to find new confidence to pursue her and make her notice him, triumphantly exclaiming, “She’s human!” Especially as we approach Christmas, this simple yet amazing truth reflects upon one of the cornerstones of our Faith: “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). How much more relatable is a God Who became human! Yet often we may forget this in light of His divinity, instead placing God on a high pedestal for us to approach and gaze upon but never quite reach. We may discourage ourselves with this thinking of authentic Christian living as merely lofty ideals and unreachable standards— “speech and day dreams” according to St. Vincent Pallotti. The question, then, “What is God really like?” is answered during an exchange between Jesus and His disciple Philip: “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us,” (Jn 14:8) Philip asks, to which Jesus responds, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9). Not only do the emotions of Jesus reflect a necessary component of the image and likeness of God that each of us is made in, His emotions also reveal the nature of God. Believing that the written Word and the Living Word give us a trustworthy revelation of God, we know that God is in fact emotional. Jesus felt “compassion,” “pitied,” and was “deeply moved;” he was “angry,” “indignant,” and “consumed with zeal;” he was “troubled,” “greatly distressed,” “very sorrowful,” and “grieved;” he “sighed,” “wept,” “groaned,” and was “in agony;” he was “amazed;” he “rejoiced very greatly,” and was “full of joy;” he “greatly desired” and he “loved.” In our quest to be like Jesus, however, we often overlook his emotions. Jesus reveals what it means to be fully human and made in the image of God. His emotions reflect that Identity without any deficiency or distortion. When we compare our own emotional lives to His, we become aware of our need for a transformation of our emotions so that we can be fully human, as He is. Christmas reminds us of the incredible, baffling mystery of the Incarnation—God, the Creator of the universe humbled Himself by taking on human form! From the time Christ lay upon the wood of the manger through His expiration on the wood of the Cross, we see and are able to relate to not just the idealization of humanity, but how to endure life’s pains, sorrows, and tribulations, as well as its joys and triumphs. If we are the body of Christ, created and redeemed to represent Jesus in the world, then we, like St. Paul, need to “gaze upon him” and learn to reflect the emotions of Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Then we can know Him, and in knowing Him know God, and know ourselves as we were created to be. May God bless you, and God love you! Have a blessed Advent and Christmas! *This blog is reposted and was originally published December 25, 2015.* AuthorThomas Wong is an undergraduate at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. You can follow him at @ElGreaterWong.
 Prepare a full account of your stewardship. (Luke 16:2) We recently celebrated the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe with the arresting story of St. Dismas, “the good thief.” Saint Luke portrays Jesus crucified between two criminals, “one on his right, the other on his left.” (Luke 23:33) The civil and religious leaders of the day tortured to death the King of the Universe. As Jesus hung on the cross, fighting for every breath, the leaders sneered at him, the soldiers jeered, and even the other criminal reviled him, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us.” It was then that St. Dismas spoke his conscience and rebuked the other criminal, “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” Now, turning to Jesus, he asks, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” St. Dismas demonstrates the essentials of conscience. He is self aware, recognizes the evil he has done, and accepts his punishment as just. Jesus, however, was innocent. His crucifixion by the civil and religious leaders was wrong. Even to question him, to revile him, is an affront to God. The stark clarity of St. Dismas’ conscience is in sharp contrast to the onslaught of moral decisions we face every day. Is it right or wrong to discriminate against a person based solely on his or her sex? Is it right or wrong to give a smart phone to a 13 year old who is “the only one” in her class without one? Is it right or wrong for the soldier to disobey a direct order from his superior if it violates the Constitution of the United States of America? The Church recognizes the challenges of conscience. (Catechism 1792). Three of these are following the bad example of others, being caught up in our own passions, and a disordered understanding of autonomy. We are bombarded with so many messages from others telling us to value one thing or believe another. It is heroic to be authentic - to be your true self. St. Dismas could have “gone along with the crowd,” and mocked Jesus too. He did not. He was self aware and acknowledged his own truth - however ugly it was. We also have passions. Some of them are good, but we can get so caught up in them that we lose perspective. Our love for football deafens us to the creeping depression of our teenager. Like the priest and the scribe in the parable of the Good Samaritan, we are blind to those suffering along the road, or worse, we ignore the starving and wounded Lazarus at our door. The culture of individualism in which we swim, like fish in water, distorts our understanding of autonomy. We strongly believe in our right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” but fail to accept the responsibility to provide those same rights to others. Our autonomy creates and sustains our society which then provides and protects it. Pope Leo XIV, on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, preached, “Sometimes, unfortunately, where human self-reliance prevails, where material comfort and a certain complacency dull the conscience, this faith can grow old. Then death enters in the form of resignation and complaint, of nostalgia and fear. Instead of letting the old world pass away, one clings to it still, seeking the help of the rich and powerful, which often comes with contempt for the poor and lowly.” (August 15, 2025) Conscience is deeply personal but it is not private. Our moral decisions have public ramifications. A well formed conscience serves the common good. The common good is “the sum total of the social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.” (Catechism, 1906) The catechism summarizes: “The dignity of the human person requires the pursuit of the common good. Everyone should be concerned to create and support institutions that improve the conditions of human life.” (Catechism, 1926) We live in an increasingly interconnected world. The globalization of the economy unleashed an abundance of inexpensive goods for many and robbed jobs from generations of workers. The 2020 pandemic clearly taught us that nature - pollution, climate change, and viruses - knows no border. Even today, an economic policy to “punish” one country for unfair business practices ends up hurting soybean farmers in Iowa. We, the baptized disciples of Jesus, are the Church. We, as a communion of faith, must strengthen our conscience in service to the common good. When I started this series of articles on conscience, I thought we needed to reclaim conscience. Today, I believe it is more urgent than ever. We need to remember, regain, and reclaim conscience. On November 12, 2025 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a Special Message addressing their concern for the “evolving situation impacting immigrants.” The bishops are echoing Saint Dismas. The current administration, regardless of its good intentions, crossed a line. We may “never do evil so that good may result from it” (Catechism, 1789). We, as a Church in our country, must decide when our leaders cross the line. The bishops identified points on that line in their Special Message; profiling, vilification of immigrants, loss of legal status, and the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. It is fitting to give the last word to our brothers, the Bishops of the United States of America. “Catholic teaching exhorts nations to recognize the fundamental dignity of all persons, including immigrants. We bishops advocate for a meaningful reform of our nation’s immigration laws and procedures. Human dignity and national security are not in conflict. Both are possible if people of good will work together.” (Special Message)
 I distinctly remember a few years ago when I looked a friend in the eyes over coffee just prior to Advent and said, “I’m so grateful that Advent is about to start - I’m ready for other people to be waiting, too.” The reality is that we spend a lot of our lives waiting - waiting for the light to turn green, waiting for a relationship to be mended, or waiting for the Lord to reveal more of His plan to us. The waiting is inescapable - and yet it is so easy to feel like waiting equals failure. Our world would have us believe a lot of lies about waiting - mainly that waiting means that God isn’t faithful, that He has somehow forgotten us. There have been so many times in my life where I have believed the lie that God is not faithful in the waiting - that the waiting is wasted. In a season of life that contains its fair share of waiting, I have had to remind myself again and again that He is in the waiting. As Christians, we know there is such a thing as waiting well— as not only seeking God in the waiting, but knowing that God is seeking us in the waiting. I’m sure that the relief that I experienced in that conversation with a friend a few years ago speaks a lot of truth about the ache of our own hearts - an ache that is lived out during Advent. The Church gives us the Advent season not only to prepare our hearts for the coming of our Lord at Christmas, but to also remind ourselves of the beauty in the waiting. The beauty of being a Christian is that we CAN hope in the waiting - we can hope in the waiting because we know Who we are waiting for. “Let us allow ourselves, then,” Pope Francis encourages, “to teach hope, to faithfully await the coming of the Lord, and whatever desert we might have in our life will become a flowering garden.” This Advent, I am going to breathe another sigh of relief and of gratitude that others are waiting with me, but that we have a God worth waiting for. May we as a Church wait hopefully for the coming of our Lord together, knowing that He is in the waiting. And may the desert of our waiting reveal to us, as Pope Francis said, a flowering garden this Christmas. *This is a repost and was originally published December 5, 2017.* AuthorLauren Scharmer is the director of a multi parish youth ministry program in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
 When you turn on the radio any time between Thanksgiving and December 25th, you are bound to hear the nostalgic melodies, catchy rhythms, and modern remixes of Christmas music. The four weeks leading up to the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord are treated as a season of celebration, the most wonderful time of the year. Ironically, we forget that we’re still waiting! In order to embrace the anticipatory season of Advent, I am offering four hymns to add to your December playlist. The first song is “Save Us, O Lord” by Bob Dufford, S.J. This piece is based on Psalm 80, which petitions God to protect and restore his people. This psalm likely refers to the Babylonian Exile and how the physical distance from Jerusalem fostered a pining for proximity with God. It is from this position of great longing that the psalmist remembers the liberation of his ancestors from Egypt and consequently asks God to continue his saving work. During the season of Advent, we too experience a kind of exile. Looking at our world, it can seem as though God’s “vineyards are trampled, uprooted, and burned” (Save Us, O Lord, verse 3, by Bob Dufford, S.J.). While this dissatisfaction can be a cause of despair, it also serves as a reminder of the restoration promised to us. Just as the Israelites returned to Jerusalem after seventy years in exile, we too can be certain our redemption will come. The next song is “O Come Divine Messiah,” a French carol which continues with the anticipatory theme. This carol highlights the prophetic role of proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. The prophets arouse hope by not only acknowledging the weight of desolation but also by emphasizing the promise of consolation. This piece calls on Christ to bring about his promise to conquer suffering. This song is certain of Christ’s power to triumph over sadness, but it is also aware of the humility with which he embraced human nature. As we experience the stress that surrounds the preparation for Christmas, we can be assured that when we face difficulties, we are accompanied by a God who sympathizes with our condition and always reigns victorious. Good things come to those who wait. The Israelites truly believed in this. The song “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” a German hymn from the 16th century, refers to the covenant in which David was promised an heir whose kingdom would be without end. Although a millennium passed before the birth of Jesus, the Israelites waited for God. They trusted in his promise to come as Emmanuel, God with us. We too are reassured by God’s omnipresence. The Advent wreath is a common sight during this time, and the evergreen branches remind us that God is present in all seasons of our lives. As we near the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year, we must remember the rose that never wilts: Jesus. No one received the hopeful message of the Messiah’s coming as well as Mary. In “Gabriel’s Message,” a Basque carol, we are reminded that waiting does not entail inaction. This piece narrates the Annunciation and particularly highlights how Mary responds to God’s will. The third verse observes that she “bowed her head, ‘To me be as it pleaseth God,’ she said, ‘my soul shall laud and magnify His holy Name’” (Gabriel’s Message, verse 3). Mary’s Fiat and Magnificat demonstrate the proper response in the season of expectation. We are to give God our yes every day with the goal of serving and glorifying him in all we do. Although we do not know the plan for all of our tomorrows, we cannot ignore the steps that can be taken today. These hymns call us to stop and ponder what and who we are waiting for. They remind us that we are awaiting the fulfillment of God’s kingdom where darkness does not prevail. The Scriptural basis of these hymns connect us to salvation history defined by the expectation of Jesus. We can learn from the Old Testament to hope in God’s promises and from the example of Mary to put our efforts toward building the Kingdom of God. As we prepare our homes for Christmas, let us prepare our hearts for the Second Coming by trusting in God’s saving power, carrying our crosses with Jesus, being aware of his presence, and acting in obedience like Mary.
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