April 6, 2025
5th Sunday of Lent Here are a few things to look for in this gospel reading of what this scene has been often called, “the woman caught in adultery.” First, we have the crowd of people who have come to the temple area to see and listen to Jesus. This crowd seems to disappear, at […]
April 5, 2025
Today’s Gospel presents us the reactions of the crowd to these words from Jesus: “Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’” (John 7:38) Some said he was the Messiah, yet others used scripture to argue he could not be… “So a division occurred in the crowd because […]
April 4, 2025
We all need to hear and believe deep in our hearts today’s Responsorial Psalm, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.” So many hearts in our country and throughout the globe continue to be broken, and they don’t know where to look for consolation, healing, and hope. There is the husband who furiously digs in […]
April 3, 2025
In the 5th chapter of Saint John’s Gospel, Jesus returns to Jerusalem, as required for the various feast days. While there, he heals a man who has been crippled for nearly forty years. Since this occurred on the Sabbath, the local Jewish leaders were angry. But when Jesus called God his own Father, making himself […]
April 2, 2025
Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. These lines from Isaiah immortalized in song, are well-known and loved. They are a needed reminder that our God is not some implacable judge, ready to toss into hell all those […]
April 1, 2025
As our focus shifts to the second part of Lent this week, we recall the baptismal readings that renew our covenant at the Easter Vigil or Easter Sunday liturgies. Our reading from Ezekiel recalls the temple where living water flows and heals those in search of such need. Our psalm echoes that God’s dwelling is […]
March 31, 2025
When you speak, do you use your hands, gesturing to make a point? In today’s gospel, John 4:43-54, a royal official asks Jesus to come to Capernaum and heal his son, who is ill. When I read Jesus’ response, I could hear his exasperation and impatience as he said, “Unless you people see signs and […]
March 30, 2025
4th Sunday of Lent We celebrate Laetare Sunday (in Latin, ‘laetare’ means ‘rejoice’) and pause to reflect on joy in this season of penance and sacrifice. Saint Paul gives us the reason for our joy: Brothers and sisters, whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things […]
March 29, 2025
Whenever I hear today’s Gospel, I think Jesus is talking to someone other than me. However, our Church, filled with so many blessings, allows us to repeatedly listen to the words spoken by Our Savior and try to understand them more explicitly. Amid our Lenten season, we are invited to reconciliation with God and with […]
March 28, 2025
I ponder the scribe’s intentions when he asks Jesus, ‘Which is the first of all commandments?’ After failed attempts by others to entrap Jesus with questions about Rome’s taxes or life after death, the scribe delved into the heart of God’s revelation to the Israelites. Was Jesus merely a shrewd deceiver, or did he truly […]