December 28th 2025. FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY

Gospel: Matthew 2:13-15;19-23

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

 

GOSPEL:                                Matthew 2:13-15;19-23

 After the wise men had left, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you, and escape into Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, because Herod intends to search for the child and do away with him'. So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him left that night or Egypt, where he stayed until Herod was dead. This was to fulfil what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: 'I called my son out of Egypt.'

 After Herod's death, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother with you and go back to the land of Israel, for those who wanted to kill the child are dead'. So Joseph got up and, taking the child and his mother with him, went back to the land of Israel. But when he learnt that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as ruler of Judaea he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he left for the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: 'He will be called a Nazarene.'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY

This passage recounts an event from the life of the Holy Family. Joseph is in a difficult situation because he wishes to protect his family whose very existence is threatened by Herod. In a dream he receives a revelation from God. His obedience to the promptings of the Lord enables him to protect his family.  .  . There is a great crisis of manliness in modern society because we have constructed a model of masculinity that is cut off from God. Men try to base their mission in life on their own capacities and abilities. The result is often aggressive and disordered actions, or completely inactive men who allow their wives to do everything. By contrast Joseph placed himself before God in his moment of vulnerability. His relationship with God and his obedience to the promptings of God were the source of his extraordinary capacity to be a father. Each of us is confronted on a daily basis by the many Herods that threaten our family stability and security. In the face of these difficulties, all of us, men and women, must exercise our role in the family by founding our actions on our relationship with God and obedience to him.

 

This passage speaks to us about the role of the father in a family

The Sunday after Christmas is traditionally the Feast of the Holy Family. The Son of God becomes incarnate and grows up at the heart of a regular human family. The family is not just some sort of functional institution. It is an existential reality. The ideal way to raise a child is as part of a family with a mother and father, but this feast speaks also to people who are not part of an ideal family in this sense. In order to live authentically, all of us have a definite role to play. This passage from Matthew speaks to us about the role of the father in a family, a role that is in a state of crisis in the modern world. The father’s role is to have custody of his family. Divine Providence ordained that this role for the Holy Family would fall to Joseph, a man of great humility and obedience. It is essential that the men of today rediscover their mission and importance.

 

Joseph is a difficult situation and must make a decision

Joseph has certain revelations from the Lord while he is dreaming. This does not refer to subconscious activity, but to a state of being in which we go beyond ourselves, allowing God to act on us in our weakness.  Joseph is confronted with problems that he cannot resolve with his own natural capacities. The men of our generation, too, do not know how to carry out their mission properly. Many women today are angry and aggressive for various reasons, and men find that they do not know what their role is anymore. This can lead to unhappiness and violent behaviour on the part of men.

 

Joseph listens to the angel of the Lord in his weakness. Thus he enters into collaboration with God. The crisis of masculinity that besets modern society is that we have constructed a masculinity that does not collaborate with God. As such is it destined to collapse.

Joseph feels weak in the face of the terrible spectre of Herod who threatens the existence of his wife and child, the only things in the world that matter to him. In this situation of weakness, Joseph does not retreat or run away but allows the angel to speak. Thus Joseph enters into collaboration with God. The men of our generation need to discover how to exercise their masculinity, not a masculinity founded on themselves but founded on a relationship with God. It is the exercise of a masculinity without God that has led to the current crisis. The strong, courageous and protective attitude that men ought to exercise is not just reserved to fathers. All men, whether single or in the consecrated life, are called to develop attitudes of help, support, clarity, decisiveness and generosity. Why did Joseph succeed in his mission to be a father of this sort? Because his departure point was obedience to the Lord. In the weakness of his sleep, which represents his not knowing what to do, the angel speaks to him and reveals the correct course of action. Instead of turning to the Lord, we can try to rely on ourselves, but this often results in aggressive and disordered actions. Or we can end up like a piece of furniture in the house, taking no action at all, while our wives have to do everything. And women do not want to have to exercise the authority of the father in their homes. They would prefer to have the space to carry out their own proper role in the family, whilst being supported, consoled and confirmed by their husbands.

 

The source of the extraordinary capacity to be a father is obedience to God

What is the source of the extraordinary capacity to carry out the service of being a father? Obedience to God! Joseph knew how to be a father because he knew how to relate to the Lord as a son. He knew how to govern the home because he allowed himself to be guided from above. We do now have to search in our own limited capacities for the solutions to the many Herods that threaten and menace our lives. We must seek those solutions in our relationship with God. This is the fountain and source of all that we must do. Once we ground our family role in our relationship with God, then we become the men and women, brothers and sisters, colleagues and friends that we are called to be. All we have to do is consign our weakness into the hands of God.

“In the S . tars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly

December 21 2025. Fourth Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Matthew 1:18-24

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio

  

Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel

GOSPEL: Matthew 1, 18-24

This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son
and they will call him ‘Emmanuel,’
a name which means ‘God-is-with-us’.

When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

 

1. How does salvation work? Not by us taking the initiative and pursuing our own ideas! Rather, God takes the initiative and speaks to our hearts. If we are open to his action, and prepared to abandon our own plans, then he can achieve great fruits through us.

On this fourth Sunday of Advent we read from the first chapter of Matthew – the story of Joseph’s dream and his adhesion to the will of God. There are many details in this story. What key should we use for interpreting this text as we get ready to welcome the Lord? The passage begins: “This is how Jesus Christ came to be born.” Then we hear how a girl was with child through the work of the Holy Spirit. It is God who takes the initiative in our lives. So there is this girl who is pregnant through the activity of God and we have this man, Joseph, who is confronted with the situation and must find a solution. He comes up with various possible solutions, more or less noble, but then God again takes the initiative and speaks to his heart through a dream. This dream is an image of the profound interior spiritual life of this man. Joseph is told not to fear. This is how the Lord works. He takes the initiative and speaks to our hearts, helping us to enter into the events of the history of salvation. It is always possible to see the events of our life on two levels: on the purely biological level of cause and effect; or with an openness to the work of God. This dream of Joseph, and the faith in the depths of our hearts, tells us that there is something more, that the providential will of God is operating in things. We always run the risk of looking at things only on the surface, not seeing the invisible, that which is hidden.

 

2. We must believe in that dream, that inner voice that tells us that we have a place in God’s plan. Just as the Lord needed Joseph, so too he wishes to use all of us.

It is at this point – the moment when Joseph sees the seed of God in the depths of the event – that this man becomes a father and participates in the greatest event in the history of salvation. Each one of us can participate in such great things when we surrender to the invisible. How often life is pregnant with the providential work of God and we must learn to welcome it with a willingness to abandon our own projects and plans. Let us prepare for Christmas by opening ourselves to what the Lord wishes to do with us. Jesus always comes in unexpected ways. He was born in circumstances not considered apt for the Messiah, and right up to his death he had a form that was not welcomed by everyone. We must believe in that dream, that inner voice that tells us that we have a place in God’s plan. Just as the Lord needed Joseph, so too he wishes to use all of us. If we welcome the work of God in our lives, then it will reach its fruition. Just as Joseph named the child, an act of naming that was part of his paternal role, giving the child nobility and identity, so too we have the role of telling the new generation that they are salvation, that they are the handiwork of God. They were not born by chance. To welcome, to nourish, to protect the work of God, this is what we are called to constantly. God saves us, not in the way we think, but in the way he thinks, according to his sublime plan of love.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

When God enters history, he does so in ways that are difficult for us to comprehend. If the Lord confined himself to doing things that we understood or approved of, then he would end up acting in very mediocre ways! In the Gospel, Joseph finds himself with an apparently impossible decision to make. He believes that he must divorce Mary, but he does not want her to suffer the terrible consequences. An angel appears to him in a dream and addresses him as a “son of David”. Joseph is of noble lineage, even if he is a mere carpenter! It is Joseph who will have the honour of naming Jesus, and it is through this act that Jesus will be legally of the line of David. It is Joseph who confers on Jesus the Davidic dynasty by welcoming him as his son! There is a message here for all of us. If we, like Joseph, welcome the action of God in our lives, then we too, like Joseph, will recognize that we too are of noble lineage. We too can permit God to work wonders in our lives, as Joseph did. Like Mary, Joseph welcomes the power and action of God in a virginal way. He gives Jesus his identity. Jesus’ body was generated in the womb of Mary, but was nourished by the bread that Joseph earned. For our present generation, which has  a crisis of fatherhood, it is good to look at the figure of Joseph who welcomes Jesus, recognizes him, gives him an identity and nurtures him. Like Joseph, we too must be open to God. Like him we must be ready to say, “I am here Lord. Do with me whatever you will. I will put my name and my signature on the things that you ask me to do. I will expend myself for your sake”. This is the wonderful calling that the Lord has for all of us.

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.

December 14th 2025. Third Sunday of Advent

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:2-11

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

 

GOSPEL: Matthew 11:2-11

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, 
he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, 
“Are you the one who is to come,
or should we look for another?”
Jesus said to them in reply, 
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: 
the blind regain their sight, 
the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, 
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
As they were going off,
Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, 
“What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?
Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing?
Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces.
Then why did you go out? To see a prophet?
Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written:
Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;
he will prepare your way before you.
Amen, I say to you, among those born of women 
there has been none greater than John the Baptist; 
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

Christ saves us in ways we do not expect. Even John the Baptist was surprised at the kind of salvation Christ brought. It did not consist in castigating everyone so that they would behave better. Rather, Christ saves by entering into our weakness and transforming it.

This third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday”, the Sunday of Joy. Advent in fact is oriented to the coming joy. We hear in the Gospel that John has doubts. He expected a Messiah who would castigate people and put things in order. Jesus replies with a list of his works (which are not the works the Baptist expected) and says, “Blessed is he who takes no offence at me”. The fact is that salvation is always different to what we expect. The last line of the passage is very revealing. Jesus tells us that John is the greatest man ever born, but that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is still greater. John stands at the frontier between the Old and the New Testaments. He is the greatest of the prophets, but yet we are called to live something that greater than that which the entire Old Testament bore within itself. The Gospel of Matthew was written for a Jewish-Christian audience. They too risked being scandalised by the fact that Jesus represents a completely unexpected sort of fulfilment of the promises of the Old Testament. The observance of the Law, the entire story of the old covenant was being radically challenged.

 

Each one of us has a greater dignity than all the prophets and great leaders who came before Christ. We are greater in the sense that Christ touches us, saves us and raises us up.

The signs of the new order were, according to Jesus, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, lepers being cleansed. In this new order, each one of us through the grace of Christ bears the divine nature, in this sense making us greater than John the Baptist himself – this is what is difficult to accept. These Christians of the first century who heard the Gospel of Matthew were asked to consider themselves greater than any of the prophets. Each Christian is greater than Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses or Abraham because he bears within himself the salvation that these men longed for. We are invited to consider the greatness of our own dignity. How blessed we are to hear what others longed to hear and see that which generations before the advent of Christ longed to see! We have the sacraments, the announcement of the mercy of God, which is greater than the old Law. When we accept Christ as our Messiah, mercy and truth encounter each other, and in our flesh we become an announcement of the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

We are all crippled, blind and deaf on an existential level. Christ enters and touches our condition, transforming it, operating salvation through us so that we become signs of his Kingdom.

It doesn’t matter if we are blind, lame, or deaf, God accepts us as we are and operates in us. This is the greatness the Church has. How many saints during history have come from situations of poverty and sin but have yet been borne to the greatness of the Kingdom! Each one of us is crippled on an existential level, each one of us suffers from interior blindness and deafness. Like lepers, we are isolated from others in our own self-insulation. This is where the Messiah enters our lives! He comes for the sick, not the healthy. He doesn’t come for the perfect, like John the Baptist, greatest born of woman, but Christ comes for the poorest of the poor. That is why the smallest in the Kingdom is greater than John the Baptist – he has the dignity of being saved by Christ! Let us allow God to save us! Let us stop pretending to be perfect. No matter how perfect we may appear in ourselves, it is nothing to what we are when the Lord is operating through us.

 

ALTERNATIVE HOMILY

On this “Gaudete” Sunday, what reason do we have to be joyful? The passage from the Gospel answers this question in a clear manner. John the Baptist sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if he really is the Messiah or not. John was living a frugal life of prayer and penance. His message to the people was that they must change their behaviour and live righteously. Perhaps John was disconcerted to find that Jesus was doing things in a different way? Maybe he had begun to wonder if Jesus was really the Christ after all? Jesus responds to the question in a surprising way: he tells John’s disciples to go and tell him what they have witnessed – that the blind see, the deaf hear, lepers are cleansed and the dead are raised to life. John was telling people to change their behaviour but Jesus was transforming people from the inside. This is the reason that we rejoice on Sunday. The Good News is not about a Saviour who lines us all up and demands obedience under threat of punishment. Jesus saves us in a completely different way. He draws us to him by his integrity and by his fidelity to the Father. He does not demand rote actions from us but he relates to us personally and heals us within. I am the blind man who cannot see the glory of God, cannot hear what the Lord has to say to me. I am the lame man who does not move beyond myself. I am the leper who lives in isolation from others, the dead man who cannot be raised by human means. Jesus acts on me from within and heals my vision, my ability to listen. He cleanses me of my impurity and brings me into communion with others. He raises the dead man within me. The key is that I must be the poor man who knows how to rejoice in the Good News. While I remain with the attitude of the rich, I will be so full of myself that I cannot accept this message.

“In the Stars the Glory of His Eyes – Tales from an Irish Tour Guide in Rome”

FROM IGNATIUS PRESS

Tales of unexpected blessings, hilarious true stories, unique perspectives on the lives of the saints. An original, entertaining and orthodox presentation of the Catholic faith. You won’t be able to put it down!

"Captivating."

— Elizabeth Lev, Professor of Art History, Rome.

“Entertaining.”

— Cardinal Seán Brady, Ireland.

"I laughed out loud many times, and told the stories to others who laughed just as hard."

— Sally Read, Author.

"Enchanting."

— Bishop Brendan Leahy, Diocese of Limerick.

"Unique and insightful."

— Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, Cashel and Emly.