While Easter Sunday brings images of light and renewed life, Christ in golden glory, the pure sunshine of a spring morning, innumerable flowers and songs of great joy, the Gospel reading for this highest feast sets a rather different scene.
Out on the Sea of Galilee, the time for catching fish is at night.
The Gospel this Sunday gives us one of the most popular lines of Scripture in the modern world: “Stop judging.”
The legendary golfer, Jack Nicklaus, had an annual spring ritual. Despite his countless career achievements, every year he would revisit his old golf teacher, Jack Grout, and together they would review the three fundamentals of the game. More
In the blessed days of Holy Week, we have opportunities to enter into the events of Jesus’ “hour.” In prayer and love for him, we can accompany Jesus in these days, reliving our understanding of the great sacrifices he made for us and for all people. One simple way of entering into the Gospel accounts of the Passion is to note the many interactions Jesus has along the way. In less than a day, he will face crowds and individuals, speaking to them, loving them, teaching them and forgiving them. More
The Gospel this week tells us the beloved story of the mercy of Jesus toward the woman caught in the act of adultery.More
Jesus proclaims to the world the tender mercy of the Father through his own merciful heart; he reaches out to the downtrodden through his parables, preaching and generous offers of forgiveness to everyone who draws near.More
This third Sunday of Lent, the Lord has strong words for us: “If you do not repent, you will all perish!” More
Everyone knows that St. Peter is impulsive, prone to speak and act in a hurry. We love to see him walk on the water with Jesus. We see him fall but we appreciate that he was ready to try — and that he succeeded for a time. St. Peter is a fascinating and very real character among the apostles of Jesus. We can learn from his initial impulses.More
The struggle with hypocrisy represents one more area of our common, broken human nature where pride rears its ugly head. The sin of pride makes us want to call out the sins of everyone around us rather than humbly, quietly and honestly working to root out sin from our lives. We are deceived into thinking that calling out the sins of others will somehow make us feel better about ourselves. It just does not work and it grates on everyone who listens to us. More
Just before this passage in the Gospel of St. Luke, we find Jesus calling his disciples to himself, then, from among them, calling the Twelve Apostles. We pick up the story this Sunday when those disciples and apostles arrive with Jesus “on a stretch of level ground” where “… a large number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon ...” have come to meet Jesus. To complete the context of the passage we hear this Sunday it is helpful to notice two verses which are left out. Those verses say that the great crowd “… came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and even those who were tormented by unclean spirits were cured. Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him because power came forth from him and healed them all.”More
Today’s readings invite us to ponder a critical, yet occasionally uncomfortable element of our Catholic faith — the prophetic role of Christ and his disciples. More
This Sunday gives us an odd set of Gospel readings, in that we hear St. Luke introduce his Gospel with his reasons for writing, and we immediately leap over the stories of Jesus’ childhood into one of the first episodes of his public life. Yet, despite the gap between the two passages, read today as one, they emphasize some similar things, in particular, the historical specifics of Christ’s life and action.More
The baptism of Jesus is the final feast day of the Christmas season, but it seems out of place. More
This Sunday, so close to the Christmas celebrations, we find the activity of some special hearts, those beating for Jesus, Mary and Elizabeth. More