Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 10, 2023
As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way.
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.”
John the Baptist appeared in the desert
proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
People of the whole Judean countryside
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were going out to him
and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River
as they acknowledged their sins.
John was clothed in camel’s hair,
with a leather belt around his waist.
He fed on locusts and wild honey.
And this is what he proclaimed:
“One mightier than I is coming after me.
I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.
I have baptized you with water;
he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Reflection
I moved quite a few times in the last few years. Each time, I intentionally maneuvered my many boxes of Christmas decorations, delicate holiday mementos, and my children’s fragile handmade treasures, ensuring their safe arrival. But over the last couple of years, I haven’t had the same desire to pull out all of the things.
Instead, a simplicity calls to me through my grandmother’s old creche—long missing most of the moss that covers its frame. A rusty nail holds an angel on top. Baby Jesus lies in the manger, looking just a bit weary in his faded paint. I’ve realized that this simple creche is really all I need during this time of preparation—this wondrous time of waiting. I find it comforting to quietly reflect on the manger scene amid an otherwise hectic holiday season. It gives me a grounding of peace and joy.
In the Gospel of Mark, John advises the people to prepare for the Lord. He offers baptism as a means of repentance, a cleansing in preparation for the Holy Spirit. In all of our holiday bustle, we can take advice from this passage. Now is the time to slow down and reflect, to make things right, and to move forward to goodness and love.
I pray that we will all prepare for this time of great joy with a humble heart and times of quiet—to slow things down so that we can enjoy the little things and the embrace of our loved ones.
Be at peace.
Prayer
Gracious Father, we ask forgiveness for sins of pride, which shut us off from the knowledge of you. Grant us the grace of humility, which alone enables us to see you, hear you, and experience you every day. Instead of forming you in our image and likeness, may we become the person you created us to be. Generations of prophets and kings have longed to experience you and know you, but you hand yourself to us in your Word and in the Eucharist. May we hold you close. Amen.
Saint of the Day

This title of Mary refers to the house in which she was born and raised, and in which the angel Gabriel visited her in the Annunciation. Tradition holds that angels miraculously transported the house from Palestine to Loreto, Italy, in the 13th century.
It is now believed that this legend came from the fact that a patron family with the name “Angelo” either had the house moved or had stones for a replica home imported from the Holy Land. The stones in the shrine in Italy match the stones of a structure that still stands in Nazareth that is believed to be another part of Mary’s home.
The history that we have for the house—legendary or factual—states that after Jesus’ ascension, the apostles had the home converted to a church. During her pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 336, the Empress Helen had a large basilica built over it. At the close of the Crusades, European forces feared that the house would be destroyed, and it was moved. Miracles attended it wherever it went, and the house finally rested in Italy. A basilica encases the home once again, and the town of Loreto has grown around the shrine.
Just before opening the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Pope John XXIII made a pilgrimage to Loreto. Fifty years later, in 2012, Pope Benedict XVI made a second pilgrimage to the site to mark the anniversary of the council and to dedicate the Year of Faith to Our Lady of Loreto.
A portion of Mary’s house is kept in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica on campus, and the campus church for St. Mary’s College is named after Our Lady of Loreto. Because of the legend of the angelic flying house, Our Lady of Loreto is patron of airplane pilots and attendants, and of those serving in the Air Force. She is also patron of construction workers.
Our Lady of Loreto, who teaches us to make a home for Jesus in the world, pray for us!