February 3, 2024
Most of us do not appreciate unsolicited advice. Yet, it is something entirely different when we find answers to the questions our heart is ready to ask. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved […]
February 2, 2024
Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. The Torah required that every firstborn son be consecrated to the Lord. The ritual asked poorer couples to sacrifice a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons when the boy was presented in the […]
February 1, 2024
We live in a time where utilitarianism abounds, and it shows in our interest in what is possible to obtain from a situation or relationship. This utilitarianism is a selfish way of looking at life, and it begs the question, what are we bringing that we expect someone else to match or surpass? Is this […]
January 31, 2024
Memorial of Saint John Bosco, Priest An old saying from the title of a 1940 Thomas Wolfe novel states, “You can never go home again.” This statement is meant to infer how we remember people and places from our upbringing in static terms. This old adage was proven true when Jesus returned to his hometown […]
January 30, 2024
Fans of the show The Chosen know the episode well from which today’s Gospel is taken. The writer/director also captures the energy and the characters in this story and the tremendous amount of anguish, hope, and struggles the different folks have for seeking Christ and their healing. They each lamented in different ways but also […]
January 29, 2024
The evangelist, Mark, paints a dramatic picture of Jesus and the possessed man in today’s gospel. I think this kind of description can assist us in our meditation and reflection today. In our imaginations, let us look at the picture that Mark places before us. First, allow us to begin with the possessed man who, […]
January 28, 2024
4th Sunday in Ordinary Time My grandmother lived with us for nine months of the year when I was growing up. She was a disciplinarian, always seeing that we behaved, did our chores, and corrected us when needed. She was also loving, merciful, and a woman of faith, encouraging us to sing hymns and pray. […]
January 27, 2024
All the readings today can apply to us somehow, but the Alleluia contains the most quoted verse in all Scripture: John 3:16. Most of you know it by heart. There are several action words in this verse, but the one that requires movement on our part is the verb “believes.” In the Gospel of John, […]
January 26, 2024
Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops At each Eucharist, we are invited to participate in two key actions: to be enveloped in a communion of fellow Christians around the table of the Lord and, nourished by the body and blood of Christ, “go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” Community. Evangelization. In listening […]
January 25, 2024
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul “Who are you, Sir? What would you have me to do?” For several reasons, the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul is one of my favorites. I summarize it for myself with the expression: “New beginnings!” Saint Paul, who liked to boast about his Jewishness, education, zeal, […]