How can I keep from singing! On this Easter Sunday we gather in celebration, we gather in happiness, we gather in triumph. Jesus, the one who was battered and bruised, who was tortured and tormented, who was crushed and crucified has been raised from the dead. Jesus, our Risen Lord, has conquered all enemies, even… Read More »

This is a day of silence and stillness. We are in a time of pause between the agony of Good Friday and the joy of Easter. We are to notice emptiness. In our day we fill emptiness with FaceBook, Sirius Radio, streaming video, chat rooms. But the liturgy asks us to stop, be silent, reflect.… Read More »

It is customary on Good Friday to tell the story of the passion of the Christ using St. John’s account. Maybe because the fourth gospel does not contain a scene of what in the other three gospels is referred to as “the agony in the garden” — St. John begins his passion narrative with the… Read More »

We come to a deeper understanding of the gift of the Holy Eucharist when we see its origin at the Passover meal. Jesus gathered his disciples around him for the ritual meal which is still a part of Jewish piety. During the meal there is a ceremonial telling of the story of the first Passover.… Read More »

There has been 2000 years worth of questions about what motivated Judas to betray Jesus. The Bible does not tell us and we have no other sources so we can’t know for sure. My own speculation is that Judas never knew Jesus as a person. For him, Jesus was the savior of the nation, the… Read More »

Chapter 13 of St. John’s Gospel opens with the story of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples. As the chapter continues Jesus confronts Judas Iscariot about “what you are going to do” and challenges Peter about his coming denial. In other words, Jesus washed the feet of those whom he knew were going to… Read More »

There is a nostalgic desire to put ourselves in Mary’s place that we might be the ones who anoint the feet of Jesus. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to care for the Lord! But when Jesus reminds us “the poor you have with you always” he is telling us that we DO have… Read More »

You can get whiplash on this Sunday. We go from palms to passion, from glory to grief, from cheers to jeers, from triumph to tragedy, from joy to despair, from “hosanna” to “crucify him,” from praise to crucifixion in the seeming blink of an eye. What is going on here? Why can’t we just stay… Read More »

The prophets of Israel had two modes: they were either fussing or they were consoling. They fussed even when things seemed to be going well because they could see the underlying rot. They consoled when things were terrible because they knew God’s mercy and fidelity. Prophets such as Ezekiel spoke of the “new” thing God… Read More »

At first it seems hard to understand why Jesus stirred up such hostility. He was a nice person, doing good, caring for the hurting. And, of course, there is a memory of earlier men of God like Jeremiah provoking similar negative reactions. I suspect it is part of the human tendency to tear down the… Read More »