Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, which traditionally calls us to reflect on Mary’s “seven sorrows.” In the 15th century, this feast had another name, Our Lady of Compassion. I believe that this title more appropriately places Mary in a relational and dynamic reality in […]

In our first reading, Paul sends a beautiful greeting of praise and encouragement to the Colossians. He has seen that the gospel he preached to them has taken root and is bearing much fruit. “We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the holy ones.” Today […]

Our gospel reading today offers us quite the challenge. We have the owner sending workers into his vineyard, with some working the whole day and others working fewer hours or for a mere hour. When the day’s wages are distributed, every worker gets the same amount. There is a revolt as some of the earlier […]

Memorial of Saint John Marie Vianney I have recently been enjoying an excellent book by Peter Kalellis on friendship. He posits that a singularly crucial aspect of forming and maintaining an enriching friendship is mutual trust. Trust is truly foundational for any reciprocal relationship. Our two readings today offer us two opposed visions of trust. […]

Today we hear the parable of the sower and the seed again. Only the seeds that fell on rich soil grew and bore much fruit. It was only a short time ago that I did the annual spring cultivation of my garden. I had to break up the soil, pull out the remaining roots and […]

“Go first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” As I read and re-read this passage from Matthew, I was drawn to the above command. As I contemplated it, I kept trying to discern what this command could mean for us disciples today. Who are the lost sheep today to whom we are […]

This is the time of the year that farmers are hard at work getting their crops into the fields. It is also a time when many of us are busy getting plants into our own gardens hoping that there will be enough rain and sunshine to ensure that our “crops” are plentiful. In today’s reading […]

One line in today’s reading stands out for me. In response to a silly question of the Pharisees, Jesus makes clear, “God is the God of the living, not of the dead.” “God of the living” raises for me a concern as it might relate to a serious condition regarding the state of our Church, […]

In our first reading, Paul is leaving Ephesus after three years of evangelizing the people there. There is great sadness at his leaving. He was in many ways their father in the faith, and the thought of his leaving brought tears and weeping. But Paul knew that he had to press on in his missionary […]

In today’s first reading, we read that in the earliest years of the Church, while the apostles were still alive, there are members of the community who wanted to exclude people from joining the Church. It is not that these people were sinners; it’s just that they did not fit a specific criterion which the […]