I want you to close your eyes. Are they closed? (I’m serious.) Okay. Now think of the greatest saint in history. Answer the question: Why is he or she a great saint?

In the Beatitudes, Jesus utilizes a literary device called anaphora. As a reader and a writer, I love anaphora. It’s a clean, unfussy way to communicate a point.

It doesn’t matter who we are. If we are human beings with a soul, we stand on the shore of a great and powerful sea, a net in our hands and a hunger in our soul.

John the Baptist recognizes Jesus when he sees him, though there is nothing extraordinary-looking about him. This is how Jesus comes to us: veiled in the ordinary.

Jesus didn’t give John an explanation as the two stood in the River Jordan. He merely said, “Allow it for now.”

It is human nature to seek. If we are rich, we want to be richer. If we are smart, we want to be smarter. If we are powerful, we want to be more powerful.

Whatever their plans were, I think it’s safe to say that the future God had in store for Mary and Joseph was not one either of them expected.

Advent is drawing quickly to a close, and Christmas is coming soon. The change is upon us. Do we rise to accept it, or do we fall on our faces in fear?