Twenty one years ago, while driving back from a retreat in Arizona, I visited Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. It was November, and the tourists were pretty much gone for the season except for a few stragglers like myself. I remember getting very close to the mule deer, within a few meters, and they weren’t afraid at all. I suspected that they had gotten acclimated to the huge number of visitors to the park over the summer, and …
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The story of the feeding of the multitude apparently is the only “miracle” story that’s common to all four gospels writers. However, John—our gospel writer today—prefers to use the word “signs,” over the word miracles. I think the reason he does this is that a miracle keeps you right where you are, in a place of awe, excitement and fascination. But a sign invites you forward into deeper reflection. It was the great philosopher Socrates, as you may recall, …
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Jesus, no doubt, worked miracles. As a child, the first Biblical stories that stuck with me—and it’s probably true of you, too–were the stories of Jesus’ miracles. I would be fully content with skipping over his teachings just to get to the next story of a blind person seeing, a lame person walking, the calming of a storm, or the multiplication of the fish and loaves. Only as I got older did I realize the miracles of Jesus never …
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I know some of you have been watching the series called “The Chosen.” It is, by far, the best portrayal of Jesus and his early followers I have ever seen. I’m watching it by the old fashion method of DVDs that I purchased. However, if you are able to access this series by going to The Chosen app or The Chosen website or even YouTube or Facebook or Netflix, it would be well worth your effort. Some episodes have …
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If you were to wake me up at 3 o’clock in the morning by shining a flashlight in my eyes and asking me to name the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, I would probably only come up with one—courage (sometimes called fortitude). It’s the only gift I’ve ever wanted, but it seems to be the one that has eluded me the most.
I think of courage when I think of the three Scripture readings that …
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The late Fr. Henri Nouwen shared an encounter he had with a man who was dying in the hospital. The dying man said to him, “My whole life’s work was continually being interrupted until I finally realized that these interruptions were my life’s work.” We tend to think that in the past, life was less complicated, less multi-tasking, simpler and more trouble-free. People got up with the sun, when down with the sun, and didn’t start a second task …
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I recently had the opportunity to see the musical, The Lion King, in New York City. The animated movie came out 30 years ago in 1994, while the Broadway musical came out three years later in 1997 and has been playing there ever since. Like Cats and Les Misérables, The Lion King is more than just entertainment; it has deep spiritual themes running through it. In the first act, the lion king, Mufasa, sing to his young son, Simba, …
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The gospel ends with, “Jesus explained everything in private to his disciples.” Oh, great. We’re going to get it all explained to us as well. No! Mark, the gospel writer tells us that Jesus explained everything to them, but he doesn’t tell us what Jesus told them. Thank you very much. Maybe some of us, who have to put homilies together, would like an explanation, a bone thrown in our direction once in a while. …
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A couple of weeks ago, our bishop, Archbishop Guy Desrochers, granted permission for us to reinstate sharing in the Blood of Christ at Mass. That was welcomed news to many who have been longing to drink from the Cup for the past four years, but because of Covid-19 were not able to. Through nobody’s fault, but through an abundance of caution, we were not able to fulfill Jesus’ command at the Last Supper when he …
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Satan, or whatever you consider the demonic to be, gets significant air time in today’s first reading and in the gospel. Satan, or the devil, is known by many evil traits, but the two most prominent are “liar” and “accuser.” Contrast that with the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of truth (not lies) and who is your Advocate, your defense lawyer (not your accuser). To the degree we have allowed ourselves to be loved …
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