(3) Letter from Hebron.       Continuing our imagination of how God’s preparation for the coming of His Messiah might have been experienced at the time, we imagine another letter sent in the Fall of perhaps 5 BC....       Dear Friend, good to hear from you! Yes, indeed, I got word of the census also. Enrollment for a loyalty pledge to Rome. What next?! I was hoping that Herod’s moratorium on Caesar’s enrollment would be extended longer – two years was hardly enough! Herod’s paranoia hasn’t cooled. First he executes his wife, and two years ago their two sons. Good grief! Who will be the next victims of his paranoia?!       So now Rome appoints Varus as governor, but he can’t arrive for some time, and we have this temporary guy, Quirinius. Do you know anything about him? I guess he’s doing Rome’s bidding. Herod’s bound to be doubly paranoid now. Plus with the massive movements of people returning to their ances...

  (2) Rumors from Hebron. Late June, perhaps 5 BC.       Dear Friend, in our last conversation I told you the strange story of the priest serving in the Temple in Jerusalem last Fall. He was from my home town, Ain Karim in Hebron. His name was Zechariah, and while offering the incense in the Temple, suddenly he was struck mute! Coming out, he couldn’t speak a word! ( Luke 1:5-25 .) Do you remember my telling you?       Well, guess what! The old gossip who started the rumor that the priest’s wife – Elizabeth is her name – was pregnant – was right! Another Hannah bearing a child in her old age! ( 1 Sam 1 .)       It was my wife who noticed first. She was out in the garden last Spring planting the vegetable and flower seeds and happened to notice Elizabeth out in front of her house,  looking for someone on the road. Soon a young girl, maybe about 15,  and bit older man, maybe in his 30's – later we le...

(1) Rumors from Jerusalem. This Advent, as we prepare to once again welcome the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, perhaps we might consider God’s immediate preparation for His Messiah and how it may have been understood by an ordinary person at the time. Imagine .... I am a faithful believer in God. My home is in Judea, in Hebron. Seems it’s about 6 BC, and that rotten imposter of a Jewish King, Herod, is on the throne. Ah! He’s just a puppet of Rome! Oh, where is the Messiah to set things right? When will the Kingdom be restored to Israel? (Cf., Ac 1:6 .)            It has been 600 or 700 years since Isaiah had prophesied. He said that a Voice would cry out in the wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord” ( Is 40:3 ). Where’s that Voice? I’ve visited with the Essenes, with their group that left Jerusalem decades ago, no maybe a couple hundred years ago. They are faithful believers, even if they have some strict rules. They went “out in the wil...

Thanksgiving.         Our Lady of Lourdes Church’s Thanksgiving Day Mass will be at 9:00 AM on Thursday, November 24th.  All are welcome to come and give thanks. (There will be no 5:30 PM Mass that day.)       St. Paul tells us, “Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  ( 1 Thess. 5:18 .)       St. John Chrysostom (c. 349-407) says our thanks should be given “not only in our deliverance from evils but also at the time when we suffer those evils.” When we really believe that “in everything God works for good with those who love Him” ( Ro 8:28 ), then we can give thanks in every circumstance. St. Josemaria Escriva (1902-1975) wrote in The Way , 658, “If things go well, let us rejoice, blessing God who makes them prosper. And if they go badly?  Let us rejoice, blessing God who allows us to share in the sweetness of Hi...

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.       The last Sunday of the Church’s Liturgical Year is the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  In the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest, and we, give thanks to the Father for His “Only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ” whom the Father anointed “as eternal priest and King of all creation,” – ALL creation: angels, humanity, animals, plants, galaxies. The prayer continues, “So that, by offering Himself on the altar of the Cross as a spotless sacrifice to bring us peace, He might accomplish the mysteries of human redemption and, making all created things subject to His rule,” – note, ALL creation subject to Christ’s rule. Continuing: “He might present to the immensity of [the Father’s] majesty an eternal and universal kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.”  Wow!       Bl. John Duns Scot...

The Second Coming of Christ.       The Liturgical Year of the Church comes to a close Sat. Nov. 26, 2022, and a new liturgical year begins with the first Sunday of Advent on Sun. Nov. 27th. At this time of year the Biblical readings at Mass tend to focus on the end times – where is history headed, what is the culmination.       This theme is a fitting ending to our series of articles on what Jesus and the Bible have to say about how we are to live in this world, so today’s last article of that series explores what the second coming of Jesus Christ is all about.       We’ve already discussed the “antichrist,” the “man of lawlessness,” who will exalt himself and proclaim himself to be God ( 2 Thes 2:2-4 ). He comes first before Christ returns. He will be given great power ( Rev 13:2 ) and practically the whole world will go to war against God ( Dan 7:25 . Rev 13:6 ; Ps 2 ). From the Bible, it appears the antichrist will not ...

  The Antichrist's Deception.       Continuing our series on what Jesus and the Bible have to say about living in this world, today we take a second look at the Biblical term, “antichrist.” Previously we looked at St. John’s expression of “many antichrists” which have come, and he also speaks of “the” antichrist as an individual figure who is still to come (e.g., 1 Jn 2:18 ).       In St. John’s second letter he refers to the antichrist as “the deceiver.” He writes, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist” ( 2 Jn 7 ). So “the deceiver” is another name for the antichrist. St. John says we can know him by his denial that Jesus Christ is God incarnate – God who assumed our human flesh.       Christ uses similar language when He warns us to beware of false Christs. “Many will come in my name sa...