After Jesus spoke about John the Baptist, he issued warnings to specific communities. In Matthew 11:20, we read that Jesus ...

Father Joshua J. Whitfield provides a reflection on the readings and gospel for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Dec. 14, 2025.

The lectionary gospel reading for Advent 2 in Year A is Matt 3.1–12, and it contains many foundational themes of eschatology, the coming of God, and judgement, which set us up nicely for thinking ...

On the First Sunday of Advent, we stood at the threshold of the “I don’t know.” Crossing that could have helped us face what ...

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11,10-11). “Do not ...

Regardless of which Evangelist is the particular focus in the three-year Sunday cycle of readings, the Gospels of the Second and Third Sundays of Advent always focus on the person and work of St. John ...

Our knowledge of the figure of John the Baptist is very limited. We have only those references to him in the Christian gospels, where he stands alongside of Jesus. We also have references to him in ...