A Reflection for the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.

St. Matthew’s story of the Magi is the opposite of “Romeo and Juliet”: Heaven finds means to kill our hate with love.

The gospel is more recipe than record. The only way you know that you have received the gift of Christmas is to live in love.

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is the Gospel transposed onto celluloid. The message is the same in both.

So, who is Mary? Like any other character in the Gospel, we are meant to try on her life in meditation, to learn from her what it means to be a disciple. Mary is one of us.

The Christmas season is not your savior. Christ is. Your inability to feel joy in response to a season says nothing about your relationship to your savior.