The Fourth Sunday of Advent, we experience the first of two “Birth Stories” in the Gospel of Matthew. Today, on the feast of the birth of the Messiah and Lord, (titles bestowed on him by the angel of the shepherds), we experience a very different story of the birth of Jesus.
Characteristic of Matthew’s Gospel is a two-pronged approach. What led him in that direction? To call his Gospel a compromise document is not off the wall. A valid hypothesis is this: Matthew writes for the Christian Community of Antioch in Syria about 85 A.D.
It was standing room only Dec. 11 at St. Damian Church in Damiansville to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe as parishes did locally and around the world to celebrate Our Lady’s Dec. 12 feast day.
