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  Pro-life / pro-immigration reflection on the reading for Sunday, January 11, 2025, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. (Year A)   The first reading is from Isaiah 42, including verses 6-7: “I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice, “I have grasped you by the hand; I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out prisoners from confinement, and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.”   The reading is stunningly rich, but perhaps we can note three tiny details.   The Lord says, I formed you. Pro-lifers, with good reason, take this to heart. We were formed by God, beginning with an explosion of life in our mothers’ wombs. Don’t hold me to these numbers; these are approximations to begin with, now showing up in my memory which is broken instrument, clunky to begin and getting worse every year: but I think that a human experiences cell division for the entire b...

  December 29, 2025: Feast of the Holy Family (Year A)   The Gospel reading at Mass today is about the flight into Egypt. There’s a controversy about how to understand it.   Pope Pius XII, in 1952, declared that the Holy Family, in this flight into Egypt, became the model and patron all migrants and refugees, everywhere, regardless of why they are on the road. Oddly, some of the people who agree that the US should deport millions of people fuss about linking the flight to Egypt to refugee status in general. In fact, a new argument has surfaced: the Holy Family visited Egypt but then went home when there was no longer any danger; so they are not the model and patron for refugees, but rather the model for the civic-minded and obedient visitors. They had the good sense and proper deference to the law to self-deport.   May I back off a bit, and recall that Jesus said that we should welcome immigrants and be made welcome in heaven, or alternatively we can refu...

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  Communicating with reality: Emmanuel Reflections from a consistent ethic of hospitality: pro-life, pro-immigration. Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year A).   The Responsorial Psalm today is taken from Isaiah 7:10-14, about God’s promise of one to come: Emmanuel. Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.   Grandmom: Look, Becca. This is a picture of your mom, when she was seven. You look so much like her! Becca, age four: “That’s not Mom. That’s me.” Grandmom: No, that’s your mom, when she was younger. Becca: No, it’s me, when I was older. Reality intrudes. We struggle with it, but reality is stubborn.   We didn’t say we wanted a baby! She can’t be pregnant! What do you mean, she can’t be pregnant? Do you maybe sort of remember anything about where this child may have come from? Well, I kiss...

Our day! La fiesta de la Virgen de Guadalupe! What a wonderful day! Because it’s an image of Mary pregnant, pro-lifers claim the day as ours. Because Mary is shown as a mestiza, immigrants and their advocates claim the day as ours. Because the image is pro-life AND pro-immigrant, people committed to the unity of the Church from left to right claim the day as ours. Because the Virgin of Guadalupe is Patroness of the Americas, people committed to unity across national borders from north to south claim the day as ours. Because the Virgin of Guadalupe is the Apostle to Mexico, the evangelist and missionary to Mexico, people with discernment regard Mexico with respect and affection, and hope that the children of Guadalupe will accept us as friends and even brothers and sisters. Because the Virgin of Guadalupe was such an effective missionary, intelligent Christians notice that her message was 90% simple presence, solid olive solidarity. Hey Mary! You are amazingly graceful! Yo...