What has God given to us? Everything–and that is why we must acknowledge and give thanks for Our Lord’s gifts. We must never forget that God owes us nothing; everything is a free gift of His immeasurable love for us.

So many of us think that evil justifies evil, at least when evil is done unto us. In the context of the family, this pernicious principle manifests itself when spouses keep a running tally of the other’s apparent wrongs or, worse, use the faults of extended family members to cover up their own. The only true way to overcome evil is by embracing the good, even if this means we must suffer the wrongs of others.

Our Lord begins his public ministry by instituting the sacrament of marriage. This is why we must be mindful to treat the occasion properly, never forgetting that the true joy we should feel is for the public sacrament that was just effectuated and God’s blessing over the union.

The Cross is a necessary part of any great undertaking, including the sacrament of marriage. This is because the Cross represents a sacrificing of oneself or, rather, a consecration to any cause that is good and noble. For to have a truly Christian marriage, one must be prepared to set aside oneself for one’s family.

To receive the sacraments fruitfully, we need to receive them with good dispositions that can only come through prayer. An easy and fruitful way to strengthen our interior life is by making visits to the Blessed Sacrament.

Without faith, we cannot please God or weather life’s storms. Faith is a supernatural gift; but we must do our part to receive this gift and strengthen our resolve to serve God. In this sermon, four keys to developing and maintaining a stronger faith in the new year are set forth.

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God has created man and woman with distinctive characteristics and roles, particular in the life of the family. Fathers, for instance, are directed to lead their families in all things, including spiritually. But in order to accomplish this, fathers must cultivate a strong interior life and draw themselves closer to God.

It is not easy for human beings to come to knowledge of the truth. To relieve us of our ignorance, God uses patterns throughout history, such as the example of the family as a model for parishes, religious orders, and society writ large. When it comes to our salvation, Jesus Christ is the pattern that we must follow. For though we are not perfect like He is, his obedience to the Father and purity of worship remains a model for us all.

This time after the Nativity is a period to deepen our contemplation of God’s revelation, particularly why the elderly Simeon and Anna could recognize Who Our Lord is. In a period where our society disregards and mistreats the elderly, we might ask why the Infant Jesus graced two elderly persons to know Him while others remained ignorant.