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After calling a foreigner a "dog," Jesus is moved by the woman's chutzpah and cures her daughter. Can the pain and suffering of others move us beyond our own prejudices to help the most needy we encounter?

Jesus taught his disciples that nothing that enters us from without can make us impure. Rather, the malice and bad thoughts in our hearts that come out in our words and actions make us impure. This is a call to us to let go of the superficial things of religion and examine our own hearts and actions.

Our love has to reach out to heal others, starting at home and then reaching out beyond our home, always rooted in prayer.

Unlike other teachers of his day, Jesus taught with authority and his words liberated people from suffering. Perhaps we can make a New Year's resolution to make our words liberate others.

In today's Gospel we hear the genealogy of Jesus going back 42 generations to Abraham, emphasizing that God has been on this bruising journey with us for a long time. In Advent, we are called not to remain aloof and pure, but to be more in touch with the world so that we can bring God's presence to it.

In our readings today, the Jewish Priests refuse to speak about God while the pagan prophet Balaam speaks eloquently of God's wonders. It is our job today to give witness to our hope arising because of Jesus Christ, and in Advent, we prepare ourselves to embody that presence.

Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God was among us. So, while this is not heaven, the fulness of the Kingdom, we do not have to look to the future to see the Kingdom. We can find the Kingdom of God here and now in how we live out the salvation of God.

Jesus healed lepers and allowed them to rejoin the wider society. Mother Cabrini worked tirelessly on behalf of immigrants to the United States towards the same end. May we follow their example and work to integrate into our society those who today cry out for mercy.

Jesus noticed that Martha was anxious about many things, but only one thing is required—simply to sit at the feet of Jesus, where our anxiety can melt away when we drink in the presence of our master and God. Are you anxious about something? Try just sitting at the feet of Jesus.

On this Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and marking one year since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, we join with Pope Francis to make this a day of fasting and penance, asking Mary to join in praying for peace in our world. She, who invoked a powerful miracle from Jesus with her comment "they have no more wine," will surely get a response when she tells him "they have no more peace."

Jesus was criticized for healing on the sabbath, but the law of love is the highest law and must come first and foremost. This dedication is shown in the life of St. Peter Claver, SJ who cared for enslaved people in the New World.

In healing a deaf man who was not Jewish, Jesus broke down barriers to God's mercy. May we also not look to the law but at how best to share God's love to those who need it most, whomever and wherever they are.