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Christ the King Sunday, and Matthew provides us a description of king: one who looks after ‘the least of these brothers and sisters’ when they are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned, strangers.  Or one who may himself be experiencing some of that.  Hard for us to reconcile our image of kingship with the image Matthew offers … no signs of palaces, crowns, riches in these images. 

Through Baptism, we become part of the Body of Christ, …

I
was in high school (a Roman Catholic all girls high school) and dating the
captain of the boys’ Roman Catholic high school hockey team.  There was an eagerly anticipated big game
scheduled for the weekend.  However, I
was in the school choir, who were in the midst of the Kiwanis Music Festival,
kind of a big deal in music circles in St. John’s, NL in the 1970’s.  Our director, who knew a thing or two about
teenage girls, …

In the mid 1990’s, singer Joan Osborne sang What If God Was One of Us, which asked
the question: “If you were faced with Him in all His glory, What would you
ask if you had just one question?” 
Then, and now, I am with Solomon – understanding and wisdom. 

When charged by God with “Ask what I
should give you,” Solomon responds “an understanding mind to govern
your people able to discern between good …

It
is a quote that I use frequently when sleep does not come.  This week has been one of those weeks.  We are being battered, and though important
to put it in perspective, remembering that others have suffered much worse for
far longer, the tragedies are relentless. 
Every week there is something else. 
Poor Nova Scotia; I’m not sure how much more they can take.

“Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the …

Where does one begin, as we sit where we sit right
now?  Two weeks ago, we watched with
interest as Covid-19 continued to spread. 
I, ashamed as I am to admit it today, was one of the naysayers – ‘the
media is blowing this out of proportion.’ 
Yet, now here we are, a country – nay a world as there seems not to be
one country in the world that has not been affected – watching, waiting,
hoping, despairing, …

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine …”

The new decade has not started well.  While January 1st dawned filled
with hope and promise as all New Year’s seem to, much has happened in the few
short weeks since to bring hope crashing down. 
Australia continues to burn; three days into the year, an Iranian
general is killed on orders from an American president, leading to the death of
176 innocent …

For the Northern Hemisphere, the Church’s liturgical year seems to often be in sync with nature – even though we struggle culturally to live that rhythm in the way the Church envisions. The readings we hear proclaimed these past several weeks; the feasts of All Saints and All Souls; the shorter days and longer nights; our secular celebration of Remembrance Day; barren trees; snow – during November, the focus of the Church and the world seems to be …

Two Dutch people spring to mind whenever I hear the parable of the Prodigal Son – painter Rembrandt and priest Henri Nouwen.
In 1986, Fr. Henri Nouwen spent several hours gazing at Rembrandt’s painting The Return of the Prodigal Son at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. One of Rembrandt’s last paintings, it was painted, Nouwen says, “after a life of suffering.” First captivated by the painting when he spotted a replica of it on a poster …

The Gospel we hear proclaimed today, and the first
reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, are like the conclusion of Part 1
and the beginning of Part II of Luke’s story. 
We know that Luke wrote both the Gospel attributed to him and the Acts
of the Apostles.  Throughout the
liturgical year, the only time we hear from Acts in our Sunday liturgy is during
the Easter season when it replaces the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) as …

“This is the curiosity about sin – it is far
more easily recognized in another than in ourselves.  Matthew’s Gospel asks: “Why do you see the
speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own?”  (Mt 7:3) Ironic isn’t it, that uncanny
ability humans have?  Luke says it
differently as we hear today: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the
first to throw a stone at her.”