Readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8-11,16  Psalm 89:2-5,27,29  Romans 16:25-27 Luke 1:26-38  Chants Head of The Virgin for The Annunciation, Pierre-Paul Prud’Hon, 1811 The Mystery Kept Secret What is announced to Mary in this Sunday’s Gospel is the revelation of all that the prophets had spoken. It is, as Paul declares in the Epistle, the mystery kept secret since before the…

v Readings: Isaiah 61:1-2, 10-11  Luke 1:46-50, 53-54  1 Thessalonians 5:16-24  John 1:6-8, 19-28 Chants St John the Baptist (detail) Donatello, 1438 One Who is Coming The mysterious figure of John the Baptist, introduced in last week’s readings, comes into sharper focus today. Who he is, we see in this Sunday’s Gospel, is best understood by who he isn’t. He…

Readings: Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11  Psalm 85:9-14  2 Peter 3:8-14  Mark 1:1-8  Chants Last Judgment (detail), Santa Maria Assunta, Torcello, Italy, 13th c. Straighten the Path Our God is coming. The time of exile—the long separation of humankind from God due to sin—is about to end. This is the good news proclaimed in this Sunday’s liturgy. Isaiah in the First Reading…

Readings: Isaiah 63:16-17, 19; 64:2–7 Psalm 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19  1 Corinthians 1:3-9  Mark 13:33-37  Chants Christ in Glory, Hunterian Psalter, England c. 1170 Straighten the Path The new Church year begins with a plea for God’s visitation. “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,” the prophet Isaiah cries in Sunday’s First Reading. In Sunday’s Psalm, too, we…