May 22nd LPI

At every Mass we recall that one of the great promises of Jesus is the gift of peace. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.” We then pass the peace as a sign that we as Christians are people of peace. That’s the theory. However, as we heard in the first… Read More »

The Acts of the Apostles are written some forty years after the events they report. In hindsight St. Luke observes: They had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. That led Paul and companions to inaugurate the mission to Europe. My guess is that at the time… Read More »

In the report of the so-called Council of Jerusalem one line stood out: ‘It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us not to place on you any burden beyond these necessities” which St. Luke says includes avoiding meat sacrified to idols and unlawful marriage. When St. Paul, writing thirty years earlier,  talks… Read More »

Last Sunday we read from John 13: “I give you a new commandment: love one another.” In the next chapter of John’s Gospel we are given to understand what makes that possible: “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” It is because we are loved that we can in turn love another.… Read More »

Jesus reminds us that pruning is part of the process of being his disciples. We must cut off what is not essential in order to promote growth. We experience the need for pruning in the Church because we tend to make essential to the gospel things which are merely cultural. Right at the beginning the… Read More »

On the first missionary journey St. Paul traveled along what is now the southern part of Turkey. At many of the stopping places he suffered abuse of one form or another. You might think having reached the end of the journey he would take a ship back home. But Paul, instead, retraces his steps through… Read More »

Judas, not the Iscariot, said to him, “Master, then what happened that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” In response that question Jesus talked about loving him and keeping his word and the love of God and the gift of the Spirit. I can only picture Judas, not the Iscariot,… Read More »

Don’t you love to get something new? A new car – doesn’t it have a wonderful smell. A new outfit – ready to step out and show my stuff. A new restaurant – some dish that promises to tickle my taste buds. A new movie – okay, do me. The new gets us pumped up.… Read More »

Sometimes discerning the will of God is simply a crap shoot. Peter wanted to  find the will of God in replacing Judas as an apostle. He in a spirit of prayer invoked the Holy Spirit. He sought the scriptures for guidance. He gathered the community together so they could take counsel about the right course… Read More »