Love Your Neighbor As Yourself
This weekend we hear from Matthew one of the most well known passages from his Gospel. This is understandable; the simplicity of its message is appealing, the seeming lightheartedness of its message compelling. Love God. Love others. Easy, right? Why, then, is it paired this weekend with the passages from [...]
St. Paul Exhorts Us to Find Joy in Our Suffering
This weekend, we hear part of a letter Paul has written from a prison cell. Paul’s message to the Philippians has a very specific message of unity, the emergence of joy from suffering, and the defining characteristics of leadership modeled on that of Christ. Paul emphasizes the significance of suffering [...]
Our Part in the Miracle
In our readings of these few weeks, we hear many miracle accounts, stories that remind of us just who Jesus really is. The story of the “loaves and fishes” is no exception. Straight forward enough, Matthew tells us of the feeding of the five thousand and we are once again [...]
Are We Really Evangelists?
I wasn’t always such an enthusiastic Catholic. Like so many others, despite my parents’ (and grandparents’) commitment to making sure I received the sacraments and attended my catechism classes, my teenage and young adult doubts and, to some extent, angst, caused me to step away from my faith for a [...]
Reflections on Memorial Day
The history of Memorial Day is a long one and, like so many other holidays we mark, its beginnings are just mysterious enough to lend some romance to the celebration. Although not declared a national holiday by federal law until 1967, it’s widely believed that this day, originally called “Decoration [...]
Reflecting on the Pascal Mystery During Holy Week
It’s Palm Sunday and so begins Holy Week. I have come to appreciate the wisdom of setting aside such a significant period of time to reflect on the great gift of the Paschal Mystery. It is also fitting that we would mark the beginning of this week with Jesus’s Passion. [...]
Entering into Lent
It’s the last weekend in Ordinary Time before we enter into the season of Lent. For me, this season of the liturgical calendar is a favorite. I get excited about entering into the desert. I look forward to the massive overindulgence of Fat Tuesday, the solemn ritual of Ash Wednesday, [...]
What Does It Mean to Follow Christ?
This weekend’s Gospel from Mark is a favorite of mine. It is deceptively simple. Like most of Mark’s gospel, it is clean, straightforward, and without embellishment. At one time or another we have all heard a homily or read some theologians reflection on the story of Jesus as a fisher [...]
The Initiating Community
As Christians, it is our calling and our mission to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ and God’s inexhaustible love for every one of us into the world. When we live out this purpose, we have the extreme privilege of drawing people closer into relationship with God. When we [...]
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