September 5, 2024
“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool, so as to become wise.” (1 Corinthians 3:18) Saint Thomas Aquinas spent his lifetime extracting wisdom from Scripture. His most outstanding work, The Summa Theologica, is considered a great treasure of the Church, and Thomas’s […]
September 4, 2024
Saint Paul offers us some advice and encouragement in today’s first reading. “Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but God gives the increase.” This resonates with an old adage, “Do your best and trust God for the rest.” We who are called to ministry, whether ordained, vowed, or lay persons responding […]
September 3, 2024
Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great, Pope, and Doctor of the Church We do not often remember a saint on the day they became pope and not their death anniversary! Today, we honor Gregory the Great, who became our papal leader on this day in 590. (From 1570 – 1969, the precious liturgical calendar honored […]
September 2, 2024
No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself.” In this gospel from Luke, a physician by occupation, Jesus is misperceived by his people even after they marvel at his speaking. To them, he is merely Joseph’s son. Jesus came to the world to cure the sick and poor in spirit, heal souls, […]
September 1, 2024
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time The past five weeks of Sunday gospels have been taken from the sixth chapter of Saint John, which, as we know, is John’s profound reflection on Jesus as the Bread of Life. The lectionary today returns to the Gospel of Mark and to a topic with which we are only […]
August 31, 2024
There’s a saying: we cannot regain lost time. But we can do more than what is ordered by law. “How beautiful is a soul captivated by the love of God, totally given to God. She says I don’t want to be satisfied with just the law; I want to do everything for God.” Saint Peter […]
August 30, 2024
The parable of the ten virgins underscores the necessity of being spiritually prepared for Christ’s return. Saint Peter Julian Eymard uses this parable at least forty times in his conferences. When he speaks of the oil of the wise virgins, he says of the purity of heart and spirit: “What is the burning lamp? It […]
August 29, 2024
Passion of Saint John the Baptist The gruesome account of King Herod having John the Baptist beheaded and brought to him on a platter elicits a feeling of repulsiveness. Our Gospel reading is not unlike a modern-day shoddy soap opera plot: it’s the truly “culpable” who are highly offended and seek revenge on their truly […]
August 28, 2024
Imagine a nighttime view of the Bible lands from far above. It is thirty years after the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: pretend you can see a gleam of light in the darkness for every baptized Christian below. The district of Galilee in the North of Israel blazes with […]
August 27, 2024
Memorial of Saint Monica Saint Monica was the mother to Saint Augustine, who had very little or no interest in matters of faith in the initial stages of his life. The husband of Saint Monica was equally not interested. Saint Monica decided to cry out to God in prayer day and night for the conversion […]