Year C – Holy Family Sunday

The Beretta Family

(Sam.1:20-22,24-28;1Jn.3:1-2,21-24; Lk.2:41-52)

Today, on Holy Family Sunday, we are reminded that the family is a vital pillar of every society.

Indeed, the most joyful and enduring societies in history have been those that strongly believed in the family. Why? It’s because it’s in the family that we learn unselfish love.

Unselfish love is caring for others without expecting anything in return – even when such loving is hard, like when you’re angry, hurt or disappointed.

In today’s Gospel, Mary and Joseph are frantic because they’ve lost Jesus. But this doesn’t diminish their love for him. To their great relief, they find him after three days, and then they return to Nazareth where, as Luke tells us, he grows ‘in wisdom, stature and in favour with God and men.’

Jesus’ Holy Family is the model for our own families. They show us how we can love without fully understanding each other. And they teach us that it’s in the family that we acquire the wisdom and values we need for the future.

Today, let’s hear the story of another holy family, the family of Alberto and Maria Beretta, who married in Milan in 1908.

Alberto was a businessman and Maria was a home-maker, and they had 13 children. Sadly, 5 died from Spanish ‘flu, and another died of tuberculosis. But Alberto and Maria never lost their faith in God.

They were devout Third Order Franciscans, and believed that their first responsibility was to give their children a good education and strong moral and spiritual values.

They went to Mass every morning, and every night they prayed the rosary together, entrusting their day to God.

The Beretta children in 1946. From L to R: Enrico (later Fr. Alberto), Gianna, Ferdinando, Fr. Giuseppe, Virginia, Francesco and Zita.

Their son Giuseppe said, ‘Before learning about faith from books or preaching, we breathed it at home. We touched it with our hands, seeing how our parents spoke to us, loved each other, lived the Gospel and practised it before our very eyes. They were extraordinary people, with great faith in God’s providence.’

As they grew up, several of the Beretta children chose to dedicate themselves to God. Giuseppe became a priest. Virginia became a doctor and a missionary nun in India.

Enrico became a Capuchin priest and worked for 33 years as a missionary in Brazil. He has since been declared venerable and is on his way to sainthood.

Enrico Beretta, in later life.

And Gianna, the tenth child, is already a saint. She had wanted to become a missionary nun in Brazil, but became a paediatrician instead, and in 1955, aged 33, she married Pietro Molla. [i] [ii] [iii]

Like Gianna, Pietro came from a large and deeply Catholic family. Shortly before their wedding, Gianna wrote to him, saying ‘With God’s help and blessing, we will do all we can to make our new family a little cenacle where Jesus will reign over all our affections, desires and actions.’

They had a son, two daughters and two miscarriages before their last pregnancy in 1961. That’s when a tumour was found in Gianna’s womb. Wanting to save the baby, she refused radical surgery and only agreed to a limited procedure to remove the fibroma.

Shortly before the birth, Gianna asked Pietro to promise that if a choice was needed, he should choose the baby’s life over hers. ‘I insist,’ she said.

In 1962, Gianna Emanuela was born, but Gianna herself developed a fatal infection that caused immense pain. As she suffered, she repeatedly prayed, ‘Jesus, I love you.’ She died a week later, aged only 39.

Pietro was devastated, and went on to raise their children himself. He was present with the children when she was canonised St Gianna Beretta Molla by Pope St John Paul II in 2004.

St Gianna had often wondered what God wanted of her. She prayed about it and eventually decided that God wanted her to be a wife, a mother and a doctor. She applied herself unselfishly to all three.

‘A vocation is a gift from God,’ she once wrote. ‘And our concern should be to know God’s will and to walk on that path, not by forcing things, but by being patient.’ [iv]

The Berettas became holy because their family taught them how to love.

As Thomas Merton says in his book No Man is an Island, unselfish love is from where true happiness comes. The more we give it, the happier we’ll be. [v]

And where’s the best place to learn this unselfish love?

In our family.


[i] https://aleteia.org/2024/01/17/the-extraordinary-beretta-family-a-nursery-for-holiness/

[ii] Of the unlisted children, Ferdinando became a doctor, Francesco a civil engineer, Zita a pharmacologist, and Amelia died in her 20s.

[iii] https://saintgianna.org/famoflife.htm

[iv] Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla: A Woman’s Life. Pauline Books, Boston, 2002: 71-72.

[v] Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island, Harvest Books, New York, 1955:3.

Year C – Christmas Day

Nutcracker

(Is.9:1-7; Titus 2:11-14; Lk.2:1-14)

Every year at this time we see so many Christmas decorations, from Christmas trees to Christmas lights, nativity scenes and even Nutcracker dolls. What do they all mean?

The Nativity scenes, of course, tell the story of Jesus’ birth in a humble stable – and this, of course, is what Christmas is all about. The Christmas lights represent the angels who lit up the night sky for the shepherds (and our candy canes symbolise the shepherds’ crooks).

The stars reflect the Star of Bethlehem that guided the Wise Men from the East, (and Santa reminds us of the three gifts they gave Jesus).

And the Christmas Trees? St John Paul II said that the Christmas tree symbolises Jesus, who is always with us. The Christmas tree, he said, is the evergreen Tree of Life in the Book of Genesis (2:9). Evergreens represent undying life, and eternal life is exactly what the resurrected Jesus offers us.

Our circular wreaths represent God himself, for God has no beginning or end.

And the Nutcracker dolls? Traditionally, they remind us of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet, and the story of a young girl who gets a Nutcracker doll for Christmas. But that’s just a fairytale.

There’s a much better story that Nutcrackers point to. A true story.

Mother Julian of Norwich was born in England in 1343. She was a mystic who spent her life praying and meditating. When she was 30, she got very sick and as she slowly recovered, God gave her several visions.

One vision was of a hand holding a little hazelnut, as round as a ball. ‘What is it?’ Julian wondered, and God replied: ‘That is everything that has been made.’

She spent the next 20 years wondering what that could mean, and she wrote down her thoughts in a book called Revelations of Divine Love. It’s the oldest book ever written by a woman in English.

Julian wondered how something as small as a hazelnut could even exist, and how it doesn’t just vanish because it’s so small. Then she realised three things about it. It exists because God made it, God loves it and God looks after it.

God must have made that nut, she thought, otherwise it wouldn’t exist at all. God must also have loved it to have created it. And God must still be looking after it, because it continues to exist.

Julian then realised that this applies to all of God’s creation, because the world is full of things which have been created and sustained by God’s love.

But things don’t always stay the same, she thought, because God allows them to change. Small things like hazelnuts can grow into big trees, and even big trees eventually grow old and decay.

That’s why, Julian says, we shouldn’t look for peace and joy only from created things. We tend to put all our faith and hopes into things we can see, hear, taste and touch. But created things cannot give us true contentment when they are always changing and only partially reflect the beauty of their maker.

If you want lasting peace and joy, Julian says, you must get as close as you can to God himself, for he is always wise, always good and he never changes. He is the source of all life, and he wants us close to him.

That’s why Jesus came to us as a baby all those years ago. Baby Jesus, the Son of God, small and fragile and not much bigger than a hazelnut, came to us seeking love.

Jesus grew up and tried to teach us about life and love. Then he returned to heaven, hoping that we would follow him. And in the meantime, he left his Holy Spirit behind to support and encourage us.

Sometimes, even the smallest, most humble thing can be a window into the mystery of God. When you study it closely, you can get a wonderful sense of God’s almighty love and power.

The English poet William Blake wrote about this in his poem, Auguries of Innocence:

To see a world in a grain of sand, and a heaven in a wild flower: Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.

Mother Julian of Norwich found God by studying a tiny hazelnut. She learnt how important it is to look beyond the surface of things, because all of creation reflects God’s love and care.

Today, we’re all invited to get close to God by loving little baby Jesus. He is our God who loves to be embraced and enjoyed.

The next time you see a Nutcracker doll or a hazelnut, remember baby Jesus.

Even the smallest things can teach us about God.

Year C – 4th Sunday of Advent

Ark of the Covenant

(Mic.5:1-4; Heb.10:5-10; Lk.1:39-44)

In the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones searches for the Ark of the Covenant in Egypt. He bravely fights off the Nazis, but in the end he loses the Ark somewhere in a huge US government warehouse.

The story is fiction, of course, but in ancient times there really was an Ark of the Covenant – a golden chest that God asked Moses to make as a sign of his covenant with Israel. It held three precious items: the Ten Commandments inscribed on stone tablets, a golden jar of manna and the priestly rod of Aaron (Heb.9:4).  

These three things represented God’s power, presence and promises to his people, and the Ark itself reflected that power. Indeed, when the priests started carrying the Ark across the Jordan River, the waters stopped flowing (Josh.3). The Ark made the walls of Jericho collapse (Josh.6), and the Philistines suffered great plagues after stealing it, so they returned it to the Israelites (1Sam.5).

For hundreds of years the Ark was kept in Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Then just before the Babylonians invaded the city in 586 BC, Jeremiah hid it in a cave (2Mac.2:5). But it hasn’t been seen since. [i]

Now, it’s significant that there are many parallels between the Ark of the Covenant and Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth in today’s Gospel.

The Ark was made pure and holy, and for a divine purpose: to house God’s presence. So was Mary: she was created pure and holy and for a divine purpose, to carry the Son of God.

The Ark stays for three months in the house of Obed-Edom in Judea’s hill country (2Sam.6:1-11). Mary stays for three months in Elizabeth’s house, in the same hill country (Lk.1:39).

And just as ‘the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household,’ so Elizabeth calls Mary and her unborn child ‘blessed’ three times.

When the Ark is brought to King David he asks: ‘How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?’ Similarly, when Mary arrives, Elizabeth asks ‘Why should I be honoured with a visit from the mother of my Lord?’

As well, when David sees the Ark, he leaps and dances with joy. As Mary approaches, John the Baptist leaps inside Elizabeth’s womb.

And finally, the Ark goes to Jerusalem, where God’s presence and glory is revealed in the Temple (2 Sam.6:12). Mary goes to Jerusalem, too, where she presents God incarnate in the Temple (Lk.1:56; 2:21-22).

The message here is that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant.

The early Church Fathers understood this well. St Athanasius wrote: ‘O noble Virgin… clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna… the flesh in which divinity resides.’ [ii]

More recently, Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that just as the Ark carried the law, the manna, and Aaron’s rod, so Mary carried Jesus Christ – the lawgiver, the bread of life, and the eternal High Priest.

And it’s significant, he said, that when Mary was carrying Jesus, she didn’t stay at home. Instead, she went out into the world to see her cousin Elizabeth, and there Jesus’ presence opened the heart of John the Baptist.

Every morning, Mother Teresa did something very similar. She went to Mass to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Then, bearing Jesus, she went out to serve the sick and the poor in the streets of Calcutta.

We, too, become a blessed tabernacle – a new Ark of the Covenant – every time we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist. Just like Mary and Mother Teresa, we become bearers of Christ’s body, blood, soul, and divinity. And we, too, are invited to carry Jesus out into the world.

In her autobiography, Story of a Soul, St Thérèse of Lisieux often speaks about carrying God within her and being a vessel of His love and mercy. St Bernadette of Lourdes also saw herself as a humble vessel, carrying God’s divine grace into the world.

So, the next time you receive the Holy Eucharist, think about what it really means.

The Holy Eucharist unites you intimately with Jesus. It fills you with his graces, it strengthens you against sin and it helps make you holy.

Whenever you receive the Holy Eucharist, you become an Ark of the Covenant.

A dwelling place for God.


[i] According to Ethiopian tradition, the Ark was brought to Ethiopia by the son of the Queen of Sheba. They say it’s kept in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, but we cannot be sure because the public aren’t allowed to see it.

[ii] Quoted in Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, Image, NY, 2018:65.

Year C – 3rd Sunday of Advent

The Gigantic Secret

(Zeph.3:14-18; Phil.4:4-7; Lk.3:10-18)

When I was a boy living with my family in India, my mother said something that intrigued me.

She said, ‘You can always tell if someone’s a Christian by their eyes.’ I wondered if this was true, so I started checking the eyes of everyone I knew, including Hindus and Christians.

Since then, I’ve checked countless eyes, and today I’d say they’re not a reliable indicator of faith, because other factors may apply. However, there is some truth in my mother’s words, for our eyes can say a lot about our hearts.

If you do develop a deep, personal relationship with Jesus, you will discover an interior peace and purpose that’s simply profound. It’s like turning on a bright light inside you, and so often it shines through your eyes.

But what is that bright light? It’s joy. GK Chesterton talks about it in his book Orthodoxy. He calls joy ‘the small publicity of the pagan (and) the gigantic secret of the Christian.’ [i]

Why is it ‘small publicity’ to the pagan? Chesterton says it’s because their joys are small. Only the little things in life give them pleasure; the big things just leave them cold.

‘To the pagan,’ he says, ‘the small things are as sweet as the small brooks breaking out of the mountain; but the broad things (like the existence of God) are as bitter as the sea.’  

Christian joy, however, is different because it’s the big things (especially God himself) that give us life and a sense of purpose. And it’s a ‘gigantic secret’ because our secular world can’t see or understand this.

Our world tends to think that Christianity is far too serious and restrictive to produce anything like joy. But joy is central to our Christian identity, even when times are hard. It comes from realising just how much God loves us, despite our failings, and that he’s always with us, regardless of what happens.

We can see this joy flourishing in hard times in our readings today.

In our first reading, the prophet Zephaniah is in Jerusalem, where idolatry and corruption are rife. You might think he’d be unhappy, but he’s not. Instead, he says ‘Rejoice! Have no fear!’ because God is coming, and God has promised to renew their lives.

Similarly, in his letter St Paul tells the Thessalonians to be joyful, because God is near. Stop worrying, he says, for God loves you. And if you need anything, just ask for it, for God will give you a peace that’s beyond all understanding.

And in our Gospel, St John the Baptist is in the desert. He’s in occupied territory living an austere life, but he’s not unhappy. Instead, he joyfully announces the good news: the Messiah is coming!

We can see this joy flourishing in the lives of the saints, too. St John Bosco spent his life helping troubled boys in Turin, and although he faced many serious obstacles, his faith was so strong that he was known for his joyfulness and laughter.

St. Philip Neri lived at a time of great turmoil, and he faced great resistance in working with the poor in Rome. But he loved God so much that his spirit of joy and fun became legendary.

And more recently, Chiara Luce Badano was an ordinary Italian girl, born in 1971. She loved singing, dancing and being with friends. When she was 17, she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. It turned out to be a cancer that spread quickly, and soon she was paralysed.

But instead of being terrified, she was filled with a supernatural joy that surprised everyone. She offered her suffering as a sacrifice to God, saying, ‘For you, Jesus. If you want it, I want it too!’

Some of her friends said, ‘We thought we’d visit Chiara to keep her spirits up. However, we soon realised that we were the ones who needed her. Her life was a magnet drawing us towards her.’

One of her doctors said, ‘Through her smile, and through her eyes full of light, she showed us that death doesn’t exist; only life exists.’

Just before she died, aged 18, Chiara said, ‘Don’t cry for me. I’m going to Jesus. At my funeral, I don’t want people crying, but singing with all their hearts.’

Chiara was beatified in 2010.’[ii]

She was called ‘Luce’ because of the bright light that constantly burned inside her. It even shined through her eyes.

This, then, is the gigantic secret: Joy isn’t about avoiding hardship or pursuing pleasure – it’s about discovering God’s presence in our lives.

When we find this joy, it’s like switching on a bright light inside us.

And if you look carefully, you might just see it shining through our eyes.


[i] GK Chesterton, Orthodoxy, Ch.9, 1957 – https://archive.org/details/orthodoxy00chesuoft/page/240/mode/2up

[ii] https://aleteia.org/2017/11/26/meet-chiara-badano-an-average-teenager-who-loved-to-play-tennis-and-listen-to-pop-music/

Year C – 2nd Sunday of Advent

The M – Z of Advent

(Bar.5:1-9; Phil.1:4-6; Lk.3:1-6)

Today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent, and Advent, of course, occupies the first four weeks of every new liturgical year. It’s during these four weeks that we are invited to prepare ourselves well for the coming of Jesus Christ into our lives.

Today we continue exploring what Advent is all about, by focusing on the alphabet. Last week we covered the letters A to L. Today, it’s the letters M to Z.

M is for St. Martin of Tours, who is well known for sharing his cloak with a beggar who turned out to be Jesus. St Martin is a good example of the kindness and generosity we’re all called to show others during Advent.

N is for the Nativity, the birth of Jesus which is central to the Advent season. It was St. Francis of Assisi who set up the very first nativity scene in the 13th century. He did this to make the story of Christ’s birth accessible to everyone and to inspire us to reflect on God’s extraordinary humility in becoming a man.

O is for the O Antiphons, which are prayers recited during the last seven days of Advent. Each prayer begins with ‘O’ and addresses Jesus with various titles such as ‘O Wisdom’ and ‘O Emmanuel.’ These antiphons are full of biblical references, and have been used by many saints to prepare themselves for the coming of Christ. They are paraphrased in the popular Christmas carol, O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

P is for Prayer, because Advent is the ideal time for prayer and spiritual reflection. In her writings, St. Teresa of Avila tells us that contemplative prayer is a wonderful way to deepen our relationship with God.

And Mother Teresa offers us this prayer for Advent:

Mary, Mother of Jesus, be a mother to each of us, so that we, like you, may be pure in heart; that we, like you, love Jesus; that we, like you, serve the poorest, for we are all poor. Amen.

Q is for Quiet, which is what we all need for fruitful prayer and reflection. In his writings, the mystical poet St. John of the Cross teaches us that silence and solitude are essential for deepening our relationship with God.

R is for Repentance, which means changing the way we do things. This is what we all need to do in Advent to truly connect with God. The great missionary, St Francis Xavier, stressed the need for everyone to experience personal conversion and a return to God’s grace.

S is for St. John the Baptist, who dedicated his life to preparing others for the coming of Christ. He called everyone to repent, to change the way they live, and to immerse themselves in the cleansing waters of Baptism.

T is for Tradition, because Advent is rich with wonderful traditions, like buying Christmas presents, erecting Christmas trees and nativity scenes, putting up lights and decorations and planning celebrations. Advent calendars also help families count down the days until Christmas.

U is for Unity, which is what Advent seeks to foster among all Christians. St. Catherine of Siena worked tirelessly for the unity of the Church, and she encouraged believers to come together in faith and love during this holy season.

V is for Vigil, because we are all called to keep vigil, to stay watchful for Jesus’ arrival. Our vigil Masses give us a special opportunity to do this, in a spirit of communal worship and reflection. St. Benedict used to stress the importance of these gatherings in preparing us for the coming of Christ.

W is for Waiting, which is what we all do in Advent. We’re waiting for Jesus to come into our lives. St. Anne, the mother of Mary, is a good example of someone who waited in hope and faith. Her story encourages us to be patient, and to trust in God’s timing.

X is for Xmas, which is shorthand for Christmas. Many people think this is just a secular abbreviation, but the ‘X’ comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Christós. So, the X literally means Jesus, and in Advent this is who we are preparing ourselves to meet.

Y is for Yearning, which is something we all do. We all yearn for peace, joy and love; we all long for a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives. In her writings, St. Teresa of Avila expresses this longing and tells us to seek a closer relationship with God, for he is the source of all peace, joy and love.

And finally,

Z is for Zeal, which is the enthusiasm we all need to prepare ourselves well for Christmas. One saint who had plenty of zeal was St. Paul. He worked hard spreading the Gospel and encouraging people to prepare themselves for the coming of Jesus Christ.

May we all do the same.