Fr. Thomas Esposito
The Name of Jesus
A Word to Enkindle, May 04, 2026
Jesus is the pivot point of the Hail Mary prayer. In the original Latin text, the prayer consists of two parts, each containing 15 syllables. The first part contains the biblical witness of the Annunciation and Visitation; the second features the doctrinal affirmation of Mary as the Mother of God who prays for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
‘Blessed are you among women…’
A Word to Enkindle, March 31, 2026
Elizabeth’s words to Mary form the bridge from the Annunciation to the Visitation in the Hail Mary prayer: “Blessed are you among women, and blest is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42). After Mary’s hasty journey to her kinswoman, she, carrying Jesus in her womb-ark, receives an exuberant welcome from Elizabeth and John the Baptist. The unborn babies, Jesus and John, meet for the first time as their mothers embrace.
‘The Lord is with you’
A Word to Enkindle, March 02, 2026
Gabriel is not the first messenger of the LORD to greet someone with the phrase “The LORD is with you” (Lk 1:28). An anonymous angel hails Gideon, a young man from a poor and insignificant family, as the lad desperately hides his family’s wheat harvest from the marauding Midianites: “The LORD is with you, you mighty warrior!” (Jgs 6:12). Gideon then receives his commission to save Israel from the hand of its enemy and to be a judge over the 12 tribes.
Hail Mary, full of grace
A Word to Enkindle, January 27, 2026
St. Luke gives us the angel Gabriel’s annunciation greeting to Mary as “Chaire, kecharitōmenē” (Lk 1:28). There are thrilling grammatical and theological mysteries packed into these two Greek words.
Winter solstice, light of Christ
A Word to Enkindle, December 23, 2025
The days are darkest in late December. Our calendar year ends with the briefest appearances of sunlight. The wintry chill that covers so many lands, the leafless trees, and the absence of flowers and plants all provide a hint of death at work in the sleeping earth.
‘But deliver us from evil…’
A Word to Enkindle, November 10, 2025
The two petitions that conclude the “Our Father” prayer form a single sentence. “And lead us not into temptation” is inseparable from “but deliver us from evil,” according to faith as well as grammar. And just as the word “temptation” needed to be mined for deeper insights, so too does the word “evil.”
And lead us not into temptation
A Word to Enkindle, October 06, 2025
“And lead us not into temptation” by Fr. Thomas for Texas Catholic. In the last decade, the liturgical versions of the Our Father have been changed in both French and Italian to soften the apparent harshness of this petition. The French translation is now “Ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation,” “Do not let us […]
And forgive us for our trespasses as we forgive…
A Word to Enkindle, September 08, 2025
“And forgive us for our trespasses as we forgive…” by Fr. Thomas for Texas Catholic. This petition is the most scandalous of them all. The verb tenses reveal the heart of the matter. A literal translation of Matthew’s version reads, “Forgive us our debts just as we have (already) forgiven those indebted to us” (Mt […]
‘Give us this day our daily bread’
A Word to Enkindle, July 27, 2025
“‘Give us this day our daily bread’” by Fr. Thomas for Texas Catholic. My ideal translation of this phrase would be “Give us our ‘supersubstantial’ bread today.” That would sound gloriously awkward at Mass, and ‘supersubstantial’ would be a liturgical tongue twister for children trying to say the word quickly five times in a row. […]
Thy Kingdom Come
A Word to Enkindle, April 01, 2025
The more I reflect on the petitions of the Our Father, the more I’m convinced that I have no idea what I’m praying when I mumble those words multiple times every day.
The current object of my loving mystification is “Thy kingdom come.” In an effort to be slightly less intimidated by this vast and marvelous petition, I will arrange my musings as responses to the time-honored journalistic questions.