ponderings on life and faith
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, in regard to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and […]
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace […]
One of the questions I asked myself a lot in my early days of searching for God was Why did Jesus have to die? Why was today, which marks Jesus’ crucifixion, called Good Friday? It is a mystery that I believe we continually wrestle with as we journey in our spiritual life. And each year on Good Friday, confronted again […]
Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was […]
Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he […]
[C] OT4 A few weeks ago we were reflecting on the power of Scripture in our lives. In fact, the Pope had set aside a particular weekend for us to be able to focus on Scripture. You know, so many of us will have lots of books on our Kindles and our Kobos. We’ll have […]
There is something about Christmas that kids get, almost without explanation, and that we as adults can perhaps – overthink. As adults, we ask ourselves questions like … “why would God come to earth as a poor baby?” I mean, it makes for a cute story, but … really – Not with power? Not like a cosmic miracle? […]
In life, we need to prepare for anything that is important. Advent is no different. Last week, the first Sunday of Advent, our Gospel told us about scary, ominous things. Signs in the skies. Roaring of thunder. Perplexity of nations. Surreal. Almost so surreal that we could miss the most important message, which was “beware that your hearts don’t […]
When I was in Israel many years ago, I stood among the ruins of the city of Megiddo, looking over the Valley of Jezreel. The town had been there since 7000 BC, strategically placed on a hill that overlooked the opening of a narrow pass on the ancient routes connecting Egypt to the south and […]
“Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” [Gospel – 28th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B] What must I do to inherit eternal life? The young man’s question is […]
Is there a lesson hidden in the readings today? In our Gospel, we hear about John coming up to Jesus and saying to him, “Lord, we found somebody using your name, the name of the Messiah, to cast out demons, and we told him not to do it. You must tell him not to do it.” Well, you can understand John, because […]
When the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the […]
John 6:24-35 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell […]
When we look up at the sky and see the sun, we don’t really see the sun. We see the sun as it existed about 8 minutes ago. It takes the light that long to reach us. When we look up at the heavens and see the lights of the stars, we are not really […]
This weekend we celebrate Father’s Day. If truth be told, Father’s day is for me a day of reflections. Some of that is about my own father, who died when I was only 22. Some of the reflections are about the people who have been models of fatherhood for me in my journey through life. But mostly, it […]
Sixth Sunday of Easter (B) | Acts 10.25-26,34-35,44-48 | Psalm 98 | 1John 4.7-10 | John 15.9-17 One of the things that has helped me get through this past year, and its times of seclusion and separation, has been to rediscover some of the simpler joys in my life. One of those is music. At a time […]
One week ago, we celebrated an event that rivals the creation of the entire universe. For just as the infinite vastness we know as creation grew from tiniest speck, just as all of the forms of matter and energy came into being from nothing…. Just as all of the physical, chemical, and biological elements had their […]
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out […]
The word of the Lord came to Jonah, saying, Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to […]
I wasn’t a cradle-Catholic. Growing up, Christmas for me was a time to give and receive presents, and spend time with family. See the nephews play with new toys. Enjoy a family Christmas dinner. There wasn’t much of Christ or church in the day. That religious stuff was what religious folk did. And that was OK […]
