March 5, 2025
Ash Wednesday Return to the LORD, your God, for gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment. Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing. All the readings today are rich in meaning for this important season. The gospel faces us with the three key […]
March 4, 2025
The Church gives us a vestibule to enter into Lent every year. Most Catholic Christian Eastern Rites began yesterday on Monday, while the Roman Rite begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday. Our readings are a preparatory piece for beginning the holy season of Lent. Sirach offers a reminder to follow the law of the Lord, especially […]
March 3, 2025
For human beings, it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God. Who knows our hearts better than Jesus himself? The Gospel of Mark (10:17-27) tells us of the rich young man who approached Jesus, yearning for eternal life. He had followed the commandments and lived a righteous life, yet his […]
March 2, 2025
8th Sunday in Ordinary Time Talking to his disciples, Jesus said, “Can a blind person guide a blind person?” and a bit later, he asked, “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye but do not recognize the beam in your own?” Over the years, we have all heard the usual answers to […]
March 1, 2025
Lent is just around the bend. In just a few days, we will mark our foreheads with a cross of ashes… “To dust, you shall return.” This remembrance of the shortness of our lives on this earth frames our entrance into this time of change. Lent is an invitation to allow God to turn over […]
February 28, 2025
A good friend, one you can let into your inmost self, is hard to find. This is the wisdom presented in the Old Testament from Sirach. A husband or wife who becomes one body should seek to be good friends if they are not already good friends before they are married. So, a discussion about […]
February 27, 2025
The first reading in today’s mass calls for conversion. It provides us with a unique list for self-examination. It warns us against avarice, lust, and pride, tempting God, or presuming that his mercy will ignore our sinfulness. The Gospel warns us against reckless sinning and scandal. While using graphic images of plucked eyes and maimed […]
February 26, 2025
Jesus was usually very patient with the apostles, even when they came running with reports that someone else was driving out demons in Jesus’ name! Mark records Jesus’ reply as calm and wise. No one could perform good deeds in his name and at the same time badmouth him. “For whoever is not against us […]
February 25, 2025
A deep secret to a deep friend The transfiguration event ends with a command from Jesus not to tell anyone of all they had seen and heard until He had risen from the dead. The story of his passion and death was not easy for him to let out. It took him a lot of […]
February 24, 2025
As we enter the last full week in Ordinary Time before Lent, which begins next Wednesday, March 5th, the first readings for all the days between today and Ash Wednesday constitute an overview of Sirach. One commentator has suggested that the Sirach readings this week offer “practical guides for shaping a life with God at […]
