For the next week the gospel assigned for each day is from John 6 which scholars call the Bread of Life discourse. The Church includes this chapter in the Easter season because the Bread of Life which we receive in the Eucharist is our direct connection with the Resurrection. The chapter starts off with the… Read More »
APRIL112024
While we certainly agree with St. Peter, “We must obey God,” there are lots of caveats that surround such a statement. After all, the Crusaders thought they were obeying God, the Inquistors, the Conquistadors, the Slave owners. The 9/11 terrorists claimed to be obeying God. In fact, we look back at those situations and see… Read More »
APRIL102924
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. It is the will of God that all be saved. However, Jesus warns us that we must accept the salvation offered to us, nothing is forced upon us. The light came into the… Read More »
APRIL92024
As a young priest I was in charge of the youth group of the parish. We used to stage a mock trial: is there enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian? We had a prosecutor, defense attorney, judge and jury who would pronounce a verdict. What was fascinating was how the trial progressed.… Read More »
APRIL82024
Yesterday the gospel was the story of Doubting Thomas. We thank God for his doubts because they help us to understand the Risen Jesus better. Today when the Church celebrates the feast of the Annunciation we have a similar story of doubt. When the Angel Gabriel announces to young Mary that she was to “conceive… Read More »
APRIL72024
Doubting Thomas actually had the right idea. “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” The only Risen Christ worth believing in is one who is wounded. The Son of God came to share… Read More »
APRIL62024
“It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” This word of the first followers of Jesus must become our word as well. A modern theologian, Karl Rahner, put it this way: Christians of tomorrow will either be mystics, people who have experienced something, or they will nothing. In… Read More »
APRIL52024
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. St. Luke situates the miraculous catch of fish at the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus, as the event that… Read More »
APRIL42024
After their encounter with the Risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus Mr. and Mrs. Cleopas hastened back to Jerusalem to meet with the apostles. They recounted what had taken place along the way,and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread. St. Luke tells this Resurrection story to those early… Read More »
APRIL32024
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” How can I get a burning heart? Christians in general and Catholics in particular can be head people. We learn our creeds and catechisms. We read the Bible. We listen to sermons. It all… Read More »