5th Sunday of Lent Filling out medical insurance forms a while back, I was to put a checkmark in all the boxes that applied to my current circumstance. I grinned at the last box: it read, “deceased.” I thought, now that would be impressive if I could fill out an insurance form after I’d died. […]

Let us destroy the tree in its vigor; let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name will be spoken no more (Jeremiah 11:19). As we approach Holy Week, the church places our focus on the coming suffering and death of Jesus. Jeremiah here serves as a prototype of […]

The lives of missionary disciples are a daily call to witness by the way they live to the values and priorities of the kingdom of God. Such a life requires courage and steadfastness. Some of us will find such witnesses inspiring and uplifting, most notably the martyrs of various times and places. Others will find […]

Why is it that news of wrongdoing by a priest is more hurtful/damaging/shocking than news of a “regular” person breaking the law? It is because we expect more from our priests. We know they are human and flawed, yet we expect them to be stronger in the fight against sin than the “average Joe” down […]

Feast of the Annunciation With Mary’s acceptance, her “Fiat,” to the angel’s request, one of the central mysteries of salvation history is realized. God becomes incarnate in Mary’s womb. Nine months from today, we will celebrate the birth of the Incarnate One in a manger in Bethlehem anew. We can draw from Scripture a clear […]

The man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there. After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, “Look, you are well; do not sin any more.” (John 5:13-14) This text is one of several in Jesus’ ministry as […]

Jesus said to [the royal official], “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” When Jesus speaks in the gospels, he is speaking to us today also. The royal official’s son was very sick and about to die. Everyone ever born is destined to die. This is a hard reality of life—unless […]

4th Sunday of Lent Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light (Ephesians 5:14). A shift takes place in this liturgy. The music needs an upbeat and excitement. We welcome the catechumens for the second scrutiny with a joyful Laetare: Be joyful … exult and be satisfied at her […]

Jesus addressed a parable “to those who were convinced of their own righteousness … and despised everyone else.” That final phrase drives home the point of the parable even more clearly. It’s when being convinced of our own virtue makes us look down on others that we show ourselves to have very little virtue of […]

Love, love, love! Today is all about love. Not the romantic love we see in movies or read in novels but the everlasting love God has for humankind. The challenge Jesus presents in the gospel is where we all too often fail. Although created in the image of God, we are not God but human […]