Get ready to witness the magic of Christmas with the annual taping of the televised Christmas Mass organized by the Diocese of Palm Beach.

Join Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito on Friday, December 15, 2023, at 4:00 in the afternoon as he celebrates the joyous occasion of the Christmas Mass.

During this month of December, as we celebrate Mary and the anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, we need to look at Mary, our mother, and to the Church, our mother, in a world which has changed drastically during the past 2,000 years, but whose basic problems and needs have remained the same. The message of Christ has not changed, and it is only the teaching of Christ that helps us to address the problems and needs of society as well as those of our own lives. Mary was keenly aware of this. With her gaze fixed completely on God, she was able to cope with the many challenges and difficulties she encountered, especially those which came to her as the mother of the Lord. With her gaze fixed on Christ, the Church has handed on the Gospel of Christ for 2,000 years in times that have revealed the difficulties and needs of humanity in new contexts. The unchanging Gospel always answers these difficulties and needs.

This year, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Francis will place a golden rose before the image of Mary at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. This represents his own personal devotion to Mary as well as that of the entire Church. May Mary, our mother, and the Church, our mother, continue to be “compasses” by which we can find joy as a “community of faith and love” in which the “flesh and blood” of Christ is truly present!

Thank you to our sponsors yesterday on Giving Tuesday for their generosity and love. This year, we are blessed to have the Frank & Vera Ferola Charitable Foundation, Inc., generously offer to match donations on Giving Tuesday up to $25,000!

Celebrating Thanksgiving and the Solemnity of Christ the King brings together the reality that we are grateful to God for His mercy. As Abraham Lincoln invoked God’s providence and mercy, we realize that Christ is our King precisely because He is our Redeemer. God created us out of love, but He redeemed us out of mercy. It is His mercy which shows us the abundance of His love and how much He wants us to enter into a real relationship with Him. Despite our sin and rejection of God, God did not reject us. He sent His Son into the world, who gave His life upon the cross in order that we might have life.