We read about Peter in our second reading. Word comes to him that a Centurion of the Roman guard named Cornelius, a Gentile and therefore in the eyes of the Jews an unclean man, wished to be baptized.
Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. Fortunately, most of us value the gift of family. We treasure it and understand its importance for both society and Church.
Why all this fuss over the birth of a child in a small, insignificant part of the Roman Empire? What difference does Jesus make? To start with, His birthday marks the division of human history into B.C., before Christ, and A.D., Anno Domini, after Christ.
There it is, right at the beginning of this Gospel, the perennial human question: what should we do? Very few of us escape that question at some time in our lives.
A famous pediatric cancer doctor at a well-known children’s hospital in London was being given an award. He started the pediatric cancer research center, but he was also known for his kindness and compassion.