Category: Faith & Life

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, closing the Christmas season and opening Ordinary Time in this new year. The baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of his public ministry. I remember the last time I returned to my country, Argentina. Arriving at our community house in Buenos Aires, I encountered a shocking image: Monsignor Virginio Bressanelly, SCJ, a former General Superior of our congregation and a retired bishop of more than 80 years of age, was washing the sidewalk of our house! Although I knew of his simplicity, as he had been my formator, to see an ex-general superior and a bishop doing that kind of work gave me a great surprise. I believe that John the Baptist was even more shocked when he saw his cousin Jesus coming to him, blending into the great mass of sinners, to be baptized by him.

The Book of Nahum does not mention reigning kings, so its historical setting must be reconstructed from events referenced in the text. Two decisive moments provide the framework: first, the brutal siege of the Egyptian city of Thebes in 663 B.C., carried out by King Assurbanipal of Assyria; second, the prophecy concerning the destruction of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which was fulfilled in 612 B.C.

Christmas Day is among the most celebrated feasts in the world. Everything else in life stops while the Christian world, in particular, celebrates the birth of the Savior of the World that took place over 2,000 years ago in the small town of Bethlehem. The first Christmas was celebrated by Mary and Joseph, but a multitude of angels saw to it that poor shepherds from the nearby fields joined the celebration as representatives of the entire Christian world to come. Though the Incarnation took place nine months prior when the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would conceive a Child, that Child exited her sacred womb and breathed His first breath of air on that holy night.

Each year at Christmas, we celebrate with gratitude and reverence the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Christmas reminds us that God is not distant or remote, but has entered human history and drawn near to our lives. When we entrust our way to the Lord and place our confidence in His guidance, we can continue our journey with hope, even when the path ahead is unclear.

The farmer waits for the rain—patient, steadfast, enduring the burning heat of the sun. He tills the soil, prepares the furrows, removes the stones, and lifts his prayer for heaven’s blessing. Saint James exhorts us to imitate this perseverance and trust, urging us to strengthen our hearts, for the Lord is near. The prophet Isaiah announces with joy the coming of the Messiah: “The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom.” This desert symbolizes the barrenness we may experience—moments of deep loneliness or spiritual dryness. A land that cannot bear fruit reflects the emptiness of a life lived without purpose, consumed by selfishness and comfort, sustained merely because the air is free. When we neglect good works, our lives resemble a field without harvest—the fruits the Lord longs to find in us. A life without fruit is squandered before God. Yet Isaiah proclaims hope: “Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak.” The Lord comes to empower us, to enter our hearts and homes, and to guide us forward as pilgrims growing in His love.

What is Advent?

The season of Advent is a time of expectation, when we prepare our home and our hearts to celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day. The word Advent is derived from the Latin word adventus, which means “coming”…..

The language of the Gospel, especially its apocalyptic tones, often strikes a dissonant chord within our modern psyche. We either spiral into fearful speculation about a punishing God and a catastrophic end, or we flatten its profound mystery into a mere moralism about the suddenness of physical death. Both interpretations are a flight from the true, transformative power of the Word, born from a misreading of its sacred genre. Let us remember the fundamental key: the Gospel is, by its very nature, Good News. Any interpretation that breeds anxiety instead of hope, fear instead of conversion, or turmoil instead of peace within the soul is a distortion, moving us away from the heart of God, which is love and salvation.

What powerful words these were. As Jesus hung dying on the Cross for the salvation of the world, He hung between two thieves. These thieves represent all of us. One of them wanted Jesus to save His earthly life by coming down from the Cross and saving him at the same time.