Emmanuel
Searching For God
The Epiphany of the Lord
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: January 4, 2026
Everyone close your eyes and let us take a moment of silence….
The Magi searched and found Jesus when he was born. They had studied intently, they were searching for the truth, they followed the star. They asked for guidance, even from someone like Herod. They were able to experience the truth of Emmanuel, “God with us.” When almost no one else in the world at that time noticed anything special happening.
I wonder, if there were various media outlets, facebook, instragram, youtube, tiktok, X and so on at that time, what would be seen in all of those sources? What would be highlighted by the algorithms that bring us items? Almost certainly the birth of a baby to an average couple, in a small insignificant town of Bethlehem, in a small country ruled by the Roman Empire, would not have had any notice in any of the news. There would probably be lots of stories about what the Roman Empire was doing, what the Emperor was doing, what figures like Pontius Pilate was doing, what King Herod was doing.
Perhaps about scandals, their acts of war, the ways they were leading the Empire and the world. There might have been stories about terrorists or rebel groups opposed to the colonization and control of the Roman Empire.
Two thousand years later, none of them are really remembered or have any significance. But that little baby, still has great influence and importance in our lives and world.
Today, in our various media outlets and social media sources, what do we see? The acts of powerful countries, the empires like United States, China, Russia. The acts of war and use of violence in various ways. The acts of terrorists. We see and hear what the billionaires are doing. Sports events, movie stars, influencers. All of these we pay attention to, but if we want to find the presence of God in our world today we need to do what the Magi did.
We need to go beyond the rich, the powerful, the ones who make so much noise in our world. Find God in the smallest, seemingly least important places and people. Probably right in your own simple home and family. Among your simple friends. Maybe in this simple Catholic parish. The magi in their search for truth, found the presence of God not in the powerful figures of that day, not in the wealthy and ostentatious palaces. It was in a small unknown and insignificant place that they were able to find the presence of God.
So, if you are looking for the presence of God today, don’t spend much time paying attention to the powerful political leaders, or to the powerful nations that want to dominate others, or to the billionaires who think they are entitled to control everything in our lives, or the so-called stars and influencers. Pay attention to the small, hidden, quiet corners of your life.
Like the Wise Men, we all need to be on a journey, searching for the Christ Child. Are you ready to see the Christ Child today in some unexpected place, in some unexpected person? Don’t be disturbed by all the news of the powerful, the rich, the so-called famous in the world. To find God we need to discover the presence of God in small, unknown, seemingly insignificant places and people in our world. It helps if we have moments of silence. Go there and find Emmanuel, “God with us.”
The Time Has Come!
4th Sunday of Advent – Year A
Deacon Tom Vert
Preached: December 21, 2025
“The time has come!”
35 years ago on Boxing day, Carmela and I just got home from my grandparent’s place where we had celebrated our annual Christmas visit with them enjoying the special punch and Christmas goodies.
Carmela was 9 months pregnant, and we settled in for the night on the couch ready to watch Sister Act with Whoopi Goldberg. Just when we were comfy with the warm blankets Carmela’s water broke!
“The time has come!” and we scrambled to call the doctor and 26 hours later our first daughter was born!
We had waited in anticipation for months, preparing, planning and getting ready for that day when our lives would change forever!
Today we are called to have this same feeling as Advent is almost over, and the birth of the Christ child is 4 days away.
However, if you are like me, the distractions of the season can take my gaze away from the manger and instead I am focusing on the list of things to do.
I need finish the Christmas shopping, I have to load up the fridge as our daughter is coming home this week, I must help clean up for the guests arriving, make sure the hot tub is working properly, and on and on and on….
The distractions of everyday are taking over my focus and my stress level is increasing, and I am finding it hard to connect to the spiritual side these past few weeks.
Then I read St. Paul’s letter to the Romans in the 2nd reading preparing for the homily this weekend and I heard the final line “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
St. Paul was writing to the Romans in anticipation of his journey there one day, and to help them as they navigated the trials and tribulations of early Christian life.
Paul reminded them as he does us, that the gifts of grace and peace are available to us in our connection with God each day. We can tap into this if we truly understand the Christmas gift given to us by our heavenly Father.
What is this gift?
It is the gift of God’s presence among us, “Emmanuel”, which means “God with us”; and the name “Jesus” which is the Greek translation for the name “Joshua” that means “God saves”!
This is the point of the entire book of Romans that Paul wrote!
Paul says to the people, look at Christ!!
He is the fulfillment of the entire Old Testament as we heard in the readings this past month and the first reading today:
From Isaiah, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign…the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel” and “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”.
From Micah “But you, Bethlehem, though you are small among the clans of Judah…will come…one who will be ruler over Israel”.
From Jeramiah ““The days are coming…when I will raise up…a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land…this is the name…The Lord Our Righteous Savior.”
The anticipation and waiting for the time when God would send a Saviour, a Messiah, was an active yearning by the Jewish people, and God fulfilled this plan in sending his Son into the world.
Paul tells the Romans in today’s readings the entire holy Scriptures foreshadowed the gospel about his Son, “descended from David according to the flesh…but established as Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness”!
This incredible gift of God himself present among us is what we celebrate this week, the Incarnation, or entry of God into the world so that we can relate to God in a wonderful way as God who understands our journey as he has walked with us!
Then Paul tells us the second gift that we receive and that is that “we have received the grace of apostleship…who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
We receive the gift to be disciples, brothers and sisters, and we are then called to share that gift with others that they may see the joy and peace that is beyond all understanding available to each of us through God’s grace.
It is not easy to keep the focus on this gift, to avoid the distractions, and to eliminate the stress as the world comes at us.
So, I would challenge us these next four days, when we get a little overwhelmed, or when get the feeling of anxiety welling up inside us, go to your nativity scene, take the child Jesus and look at him closely and say, “the time has come!”
The Scandal Of The Holy Family
4th Sunday Of Advent
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: December 18, 2022
The Holy Family is not the Traditional Family. Often you will hear people today, sometimes politicians, sometimes religious leaders, speak about the Traditional Family, and the values of the Traditional Family. But, the Holy Family itself would not be considered a Traditional Family.
God comes in a helpless little baby. Born away from home with no place to stay. As part of an oppressed people occupied by a foreign empire. God did not come among the rich, the powerful, the influential. Soon they would be forced to leave their homeland, like one of our modern day migrants.
Jesus was born in the context of a scandal. Mary was a young, unwed and pregnant woman. When she first received news of her pregnancy, she would have realized that she faced possible rejection by her family and community. She was faced with a humiliating situation. People gossiping about her, and at first she would be wondering if Joseph would accept her or not.
Joseph was also faced with great uncertainty. He was probably not sure what to think and was discerning about what to do next. His first thought was to quietly dismiss Mary, to lessen the reaction she would face.
Joseph and Mary were faced with a frightening and uncertain situation. It is not surprising that the first words both of them heard from the angel was “do not be afraid.”
The story of Joseph facing this situation is described in Matthew’s Gospel that we just heard. As he is discerning what to do, after a dream in which he reflects on a passage of the Prophet Isaiah, he overcomes his fear and chooses to take Mary as his wife and support her.
Joseph, reflecting on Isaiah, sees that this child will be Emmanuel, “God is with us.” In this surprising, unexpected, unplanned event. In this experience of scandal, God is with us.
One of the great spiritual battles each one of us faces to allow God to be with us is to overcome fear. We all need to hear in our hearts, “do not be afraid.” Fear is an obstacle to God being with us.
Sometimes we think that God is not with us for various reasons: We say, I am a sinner or I have made too many mistakes in life or my life situation is broken in some way. Some of us might say that my life or my family is not traditional or holy. Some might say that I am not important or famous.
But, the story of the birth of Jesus should help us to realize that God comes to us in surprising places and ways. God comes even in the midst of scandal. God comes where we do not expect. Often God comes among people who are rejected, excluded or avoided by so called traditional society.
The challenge we have is to recognize in our lives, Emmanuel, “God is with us.” Do not allow fear to prevent you from seeing God is with you, in your life, as it is. Our challenge is to find God with us even in unexpected places and situations.
The Holy Family was not a Traditional Family. Yet, there we can say, Emmanuel, God is with us.
Look around in your life, in unexpected places, in surprising events, in the messes of your life. Find God with you even there.