Focus on Faith

For the next month and a half, our Sunday lectionary will make its way through the first three chapters of St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians.

Many couples are proud of the fact that they cooperate well together. I have heard couples say, in a self-congratulatory manner, “We are good at give and take. We compromise very well. We go 50-50 on lots of things. It goes my way about half the time. It goes my spouse’s way the other half. It is workable. It is practical. We are getting along just fine.”

One of the highlights of a pilgrimage I took to the Holy Land with grandparents from our archdiocese three years ago was to celebrate Sunday Mass in one of the caves outside of Bethlehem where the shepherds were watching their sheep on Christmas night.

"If you would like to destroy pride, become humble. If you would like to become humble, be grateful. Practice gratitude."

This weekend we celebrate the third Sunday in Advent. One of the few times of the year that we see a unique color used in the liturgy, namely rose.

It is an established fact that a pre-marriage preparation program enhances the probability of a successful marriage. Researchers report it statistically. Counselors and social workers know it empirically. Even the State of Minnesota acknowledges this. Divorces are a burden on the state, and to reduce them a discount is given on the fee for a marriage license for couples that show proof of participation in a pre-marriage program.

The word Advent means “coming,” and today’s liturgical texts focus on the coming of Jesus Christ — to be more precise, on multiple comings of Christ. Advent is about a lot more than Christmas.

Q) I was talking with a friend the other day, and she started saying negative things about Jesus and the Church. I knew that what she was saying wasn’t true. I didn’t say anything, but feel like I should have. I just feel so badly for not speaking up. Was that wrong?