Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, who was born in New York City in the year 1774. She was an Episcopal by faith and was born into a well-do-to family. She married a businessman William Seton and they had five children. William lost all his wealth in business and contracted tuberculosis. Elizabeth traveled to Italy with her husband to seek a cure for him, however he died in 1803. While in Italy Elizabeth stayed with the family of her husband's friend who was a Roman Catholic. Her stay with this devout family influenced her and she desired to become a Catholic. When she returned to the United States after her husband's death she moved to Maryland where she entered the Catholic church even though at that time Catholics were being persecuted. Shortly after that she founded the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph, which is the first religious community for women in the United States. She also started the first parochial school in the country under the guidance of the first American Bishop John Carroll. In her struggle to start these schools, the living conditions were very harsh especially during the cold winter months and two of her daughters died from consumption. Her youngest daughter Catherine was the first American to join the Sisters of Mercy.
She founded several orphanages, schools and hospitals some of which are still functioning today. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton is the patroness of Catholic education, especially for women's education.
Saint Elizabeth Seton pray for us!

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint John of the Cross who is a Carmelite contemplative mystic born in 1542 in Spain. He was a close spiritual friend of Saint Teresa of Avila and with her guidance, he introduced the reform to the Carmelite Order of Friars. The reform consisted of reverting back to living the Carmelite vocation and the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience as they were formulated in the Rule of Saint Albert in the 1200's. 
Saint John was not only a contemplative but he was a poet and a writer. His works have inspired many generations of mystics both Christian and non-Christian. Popular among his writings are "The Spiritual Canticle" which is based on the Book of Song of Songs where the soul is depicted as the bride who is seeking to be reunited with her bridegroom who is God. Two of his other works which are also popular are "The Ascent to Mount Carmel" and "The Living Flames of Love" which discusses the soul seeking union with God.  Finally "The Dark Night of the Soul" was written by Saint John when he was in the prison during the time of inquisition. He was suspected of deviating from the Church teachings in introducing the reforms to the order which required strict observance of the Rules of Saint Albert and his own brothers of the Carmelite order locked him up in a cell for several months. In this book Saint John of the Cross writes about the soul that is unable to feel the presence of God but knows by faith that God is present. This leaves the soul is a spiritual dryness which is very painful spiritual suffering. God allows souls to experience the dark night for the strengthening and growth of the soul. 
Saint John of Cross eventually escaped from prison after nine months and was successful in implementing the reforms of Saint Teresa Avila among the friars. 
Saint John of the Cross pray for us, especially those who are going through the dark night of the soul at this moment!

Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In the year 1531 the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego who was of the Aztec tribe in Mexico. He was a recent convert to Christianity. Christian missionaries from Spain had arrived in South America but there was tremendous hostility between the natives and the missionaries because of the Spanish colonists who were hostile to the Natives. The Aztec people of Mexico followed certain ancient religions where it was common practice to offer human sacrifices to appease the pagan gods. The Christian missionaries tried hard to preach to the Aztec people and bring them to the realization of the Gospel of God's conditional love that was revealed in Jesus but were unsuccessful.
One day the Blessed Mother appeared to Juan Diego and requested him to go to the local Bishop and ask for a church to be built on the site of her apparition. However the Bishop asked Juan Diego to request the Lady for a sign so that he can comply to her request. When Juan Diego related this to the Blessed Mother at the next apparition, she showed him a rose bush which was covered with roses in winter and it was species of rose which is only found in Spain where the Bishop was from originally. So Juan Diego collected the roses in his tilma cloak and went back to the Bishop. When he opened the tilma to show the roses, the Bishop and his staff noticed that the image of the Blessed Mother was imprinted on the tilma. Even today the tilma is kept in Mexico city for pilgrims to observe.
The tilma made of cactus plant has miraculously not disintegrated even though several years have passed. Also the cloak of the Blessed Mother reflects the positions of the stars and constellations as they were exactly on the day of her appearance. Also recent studies reveal that the eye of the Blessed Mother reflects the image of the Bishop and the staff as they observed the miracle.
Immediately after this miracle nine million people became Christians in Mexico within just nine years. Innumerable human lives were thus saved because they abandoned the practice of human sacrifices. Today Our Lady of Guadalupe is also considered as the patroness of the innumerable unborn children and the patroness of the Americas.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us!

Each year on December 8th the Church celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. On this day we remember that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived in the womb of Saint Anne without the stain of original sin. The merits of Jesus' passion, death and resurrection which won victory over sin and death was applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the moment of her conception because she was chosen from the very beginning to become the Mother of God. 
In 1830 the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Catherine Laboure in Rue Du Bac, France and taught her this prayer: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee”. Later Pope Pius IX confirmed the infallibility of the Immaculate Conception on 8 December 1854. Four years later in 1858 Our Lady appears to Saint Bernadette in Lourdes, France on the Feast of the Annunciation and when Bernadette asked her who she was the Blessed Virgin said "I am the Immaculate Conception". 
May we imitate the fiat of Our Blessed Mother in saying "Yes" to Jesus to be our savior and king! O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Ambrose who was a prolific orator of his time.  He was also the Bishop of Milan, when Saint Augustine met him. Due to their interaction Saint Augustine was converted to Christianity and the many years of prayers of his mother Saint Monica was heard. Saint Ambrose also was zealous for his faith and refuted the Arian heresy which denied the existence of the Word of God from before the creation of this world who became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. They believed that Jesus came to be only at the moment of his incarnation. This was confirmed to be an error during the First  Council of Nicaea.
Saint Ambrose pray for us to have a greater appreciation for our faith and belief in Jesus Christ, the one true God and true man!
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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is most popularly known around the world as Santa Claus. There are so many songs, movies and literary work on Santa Claus including some versions with Mrs. Claus. However we should all know that Santa Claus a.k.a Saint Nicholas was a Catholic priest and Bishop who lived in Myra which is in modern day Turkey.
Legend has it that Bishop Nicholas found out about a father of three daughters who was unable to marry them off because they were extremely poor and could not afford to pay the dowry. So he dropped a bag of gold for each daughter anonymously. That is how the tradition of Santa Claus delivering presents the night before Christmas began.
Saint Nicholas was full of zeal for the Church and her teachings and defended heresies of his time and suffered persecutions and imprisonment for his faith.
Saint Nicholas help us to be generous to those we meet today and prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ this Advent!
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Today we celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis Xavier.
Saint Francis Xavier was born in 1506 in Spain. He went to study in the University of Paris and there he met Saint Ignatius of Loyola and his four companions and he was immediately drawn to join with them and together they formed the Society of Jesus and became a Jesuit.
In the year 1541 Saint Francis and five others were sent by the King of Portugal to preach the Gospel in Goa, India. Through his preaching the entire city of Goa came to believe in Jesus Christ and were baptized. His followers continued his mission in India and the Jesuits have become the main cause for the spread of Christianity not just in Goa but all of India even to this day. The Jesuits played an important role in my formation and that of my family members for many generations. My brother, father, grandparents and many cousins and uncles were all educated by Jesuits in the Southern part of India. My own spiritual director in India from the age of 18 to 25 was a Jesuit priest, Fr. Francis Rebello.
Saint Francis Xavier also preached in many other parts of Asia including Japan, Malaysia, and Indonesia. On his way to China he became ill and died at sea on December 2, 1552.
Saint Francis Xavier patron of missions please pray for us to have your zeal for evangelization!​

Today is the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle who is the brother of Simon Peter. It was Andrew who brought Peter the first Pope of the Church to Jesus. Jesus gave the Aramaic name “Cephas” which means rock and in Greek “Peter”.  Andrew and Peter were the sons of John and fishermen. Jesus calls them saying that he will make them fishers of men and they immediately leave their nets and follow Jesus. Andrew is also the resourceful one who brings the boy with the five small loaves of bread and two small fish to Jesus, which Jesus multiplies to feed five thousand men.
After the resurrection Andrew preached in Greece where he was martyred on a cross in the form of an X. His relics are preserved in the Cathedral of Saint Andrew, Patras in Greece. And the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople who is the head of the Greek Orthodox Church traces back his succession to Saint Andrew. It is also believed that Andrew preached in Turkey.
Saint Andrew you preserved in your faith to the point of death, we pray you intercede for us to emulate your courage and zeal for our faith!

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Miraculous Medal. In 1830s Saint Catherine was a novice of the Sisters of Charity in Rue Du Bac, France. One night as she was sleeping, her guardian angel appeared to her and took her to the Chapel where she was told that the Blessed Virgin Mary wished to speak with her. Saint Catherine followed and immediately on entering the chapel she found that the chapel was filled with light and Our Lady appeared to her and requested there be a Confraternity for Children of Mary. She later appeared a second time to request a medal be made in her honor where she is standing on a globe and rays of light emit from her hands and on the other side the two hearts of Jesus and Mary were to be stamped.  In a third apparition Our Lady explained that the rays from her hands were graces that God wishes to bestow on all who ask. The Medal was called Miraculous Medal because many were saved miraculously from contagious disease and from other harm when they wore this medal during 1830's in France. While the apparitions happened in France the message was meant for the entire world. 
The words on the medal were "“O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.”
You can read more details on the official site here: 
http://www.chapellenotredamedelamedaillemiraculeuse.com/langues/english/apparitions-et-la-medaille-miraculeuse-gb/

My children, parents, sister and I had the great privilege of visiting the Chapel and Shrine in 2010 during our trip to Lourdes, France. We were there on the Feast day of Saint Vicent de Paul and I believe it was divine providence that we were there on that day because Saint Catherine also experienced visions and supernatural phenomena when the relic of the heart of Saint Vicent de Paul changed colors on three consecutive days. 
Saint Catherine and Saint Vicent pray for us and Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you!

Each year the Feast of Christ the King is celebrated on the last Sunday of Ordinary time. This year it was on November 24th. 
One may wonder which kingdom is Christ the King of. In order to understand this we need to take a step back and understand the expectations of the Jewish nation at the time of Jesus Christ who were under the oppression of the Roman empire. The prophets had foretold that God would send a savior and a messiah who would free the Israelites from the bondage that they were in and that the messiah would rule forever and his kingdom will have no end. Most the Israelites at the time of Jesus were expecting a political messiah and a political king to come and defeat the oppression of the Romans. However very few like the Blessed Virgin Mary, Joseph the foster father of Jesus, John the Baptist, Prophet Simeon, Prophetess Anna, the three wise men from the east and later on the disciples of Jesus recognized in Jesus the fulfillment of the promises God made in the scripture, as a spiritual deliverance from the bondage of sin. The spirit is of more value than the body and spiritual deliverance from the fallen nature of man and restoration of access to heaven was an eternal cosmic event and far more important than the temporal political freedom from the Romans that most of the Jewish nation were expecting at the time of Jesus. 
By his incarnation, passion, death and resurrection, Jesus has a formed a new kingdom for the glory of God. This City of God has citizens who are united to God and one another by baptism and in prayer and service. Jesus is the king of this heavenly kingdom. This kingdom is among us, it is in our very own hearts. Jesus Christ is the sovereign King of this kingdom which has citizens from all nations and will remain forever and ever. In this kingdom there is no division or war, in this kingdom there is love, peace and harmony. 
Jesus Christ Sovereign King of the Universe, be the king of my heart!