El reformador protestante Martín Lutero dijo una vez: «No mienta cuando ore». Sus palabras pueden ser más leyenda que realidad, pero su contenido todavía suena muy cierto. Y son buenas para recordar mientras nos preparamos para el día feriado de la semana que viene (enero 18) en honor de Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. King nos enseñó a ser honestos acerca de nuestra fe y las convicciones que deben derivarse de ella. Tomó la Escritura en serio -especialmente sus pasajes sobre el perdón, el amor y la justicia- y actuó en ellos, negándose a tener en cuenta el costo.

This Christmas, in this Year of Mercy, let us go over to Bethlehem in our hearts to see this Child. And then let us share him joyfully with the world.

Al entrar en los últimos días de Adviento antes de nosotros entregar, con razón, nuestros corazones a la alegría de la Navidad, podemos tomarnos unos minutos para considerar dos breves pasajes del pasado sobre el significado profundo de la temporada.

As we enter the last few days of Advent before we rightly give our hearts over to the joy of Christmas, we might take a few minutes to consider two brief passages from the past about the deeper meaning of the season.

It is my sincerest prayer that this Chanukah will be particularly strengthening for your community’s families.

Each innocent life lost in the December 2 violence in San Bernardino was precious.

Advent is a season of preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. Every Christmas reminds us that God so loved the world that he sent his only son to be born as one of us, in order to redeem and renew creation.

Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) are vital programs that assist many thousands of needy children.

Here at home, as we get ready for Christ the King Sunday (Nov. 22) and the end of the Church year, it’s a good time to ponder these two events — the World Meeting of Families and the synod of bishops – and take strength from what they achieved.

I ask the clergy and people of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to pray in a special way in the coming days for the families of all those killed in Paris.