You might have seen The Chosen, an online app that currently dramatizes the gospel. One of my favorite scenes is when Jesus and the disciples are very hungry. After a few days of not eating, they snack in a field of grains. Then they realize they are “doing wrong” on the Sabbath day. They realize […]

Hannah ends her fasting and sadness over her barrenness and rises at the pilgrimage site Shiloh. The priest Eli prays that her holy meal will be a blessing and her prayers will be answered. Indeed, she conceives and bears Samuel. Our reading continues with the responsorial today not being from the psalms but continuing the […]

Becoming. “So and so” became the father of “so and so.” We are all becoming the next generation of faithful followers of Christ. From Abraham, Jacob, Jehoshaphat, and so many men (and women!) in between, the years go by to reveal the Christ. For our families and us, faith transpires and transforms us one generation […]

Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto Isaiah reminds us that: “I, the LORD, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. If you would hearken to my commandments….” It is God alone who teaches these good and virtuous things. Today’s gospel speaks of people […]

Today’s first reading gives us a detailed description of the purification and rededication of the temple in Jerusalem, its celebration, and the implementation of the new feast of Hannukah. The praise of this ritual is echoed in today’s canticle from the first book of Chronicles (not a psalm!), where the grandeur and power of God […]

Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr Josaphat Kuntsevych lived in turbulent times between the Ruthenian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Since 1054, tensions have been high between these two branches of Christianity. Born and baptized into the Orthodox tradition in Poland (now part of Ukraine) in about 1580, he lived between religious […]

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Ávila, Doctor of the Church Our three-week diet on the letter to the Romans continues today with a reflection on justification through faith in Christ. Paul retraces the history of salvation through Abraham’s faith and his essential witness. While Paul remembers his tent business transactions in the use of his […]

Our readings today call us to the task of bringing about the gift of unity. Our first reading from the prophet Joel precedes the famous reading we hear on Ash Wednesday each year. This is the first time in the book of Joel that reform is called for—a call to penance. With the frightening things […]

Our calling as followers of God, as Paul exhorts today, is a calling to a more authentic Christian life. We are called to pursue many qualities that will make us more Christ-like. We are to be people of the beatitudes, blessed and recognizing that when we live these values of the Holy Spirit, we will […]