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A boy goes up to his father and says, “Daddy, how does the sun, the moon, and the stars stay up in the sky without falling to earth?” The father answered, “I don’t know, son. “Daddy,” asked the son a second time, “How does winter turn into spring and spring turn into summer?” “I have no idea how that works, son.” “Daddy, how does a bear know it’s time to hibernate in the winter? And how does it know when ...

The last part of the first line of today’s gospel says, “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.” That’s what they went to see, a tomb. We know the rest of the story in ways these two could not possibly have known. If we were in their shoes, we probably would have gone to see a tomb as well. Yet, something shakes them. Something wakes them up.

Because we are humans, we can only describe and give ...

Within five days, we have heard two, long passion readings—Matthew’s version on Palm Sunday and John’s version today. It doesn’t really matter which version of the four I read, I always come away with a feeling of inadequacy. It’s the feeling that I could and should be a better follower of Christ, and that I’m probably no better than those who showed such disdain towards him 2000 years ago. I sincerely want to be a better disciple of Christ, but ...

We have begun the Triduum, the three holiest days of our lives. The Gospel begins with, “Jesus knew his hour had come.” Over the next three days we do not simply follow Jesus with our eyes. Rather, we see the meaning of our own lives as reliving what he lived. The hour of our lives has also come.

The first reading, from the Book of Exodus, is a story of our ancestors in faith, the Hebrew people, who also knew their hour had come. That reading is ...

Christmas and Easter are the high points of the liturgical year for Christians.  No doubt about it.  Yet, they are not stand-alone holidays.  Christmas and Easter are part of a pattern which looks like this: prepare-celebrate-savor.

In Advent, we prepare for the birth of Christ.  At Christmas we celebrate Jesus’ coming.  And since the coming of Christ into our world is so important, we need to savor it until the last day of the Christmas Season, that is, until the Feast ...

There is a sentence spoken at the end of that long gospel reading that, in my mind, seems to be misplaced for a couple of reasons. After Jesus breathes his last on the cross, the centurion says, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” It seems misplaced firstly because this profound truth was not spoken by one of Jesus’ closest followers, that is, by one of the Apostles or one of the women.  It was spoken by a soldier, who certainly ...

I mentioned last weekend how you could not become a member of the Early Church unless you had some knowledge of the story of the Woman at the Well (two Sundays ago), the story of the Man Born Blind (last Sunday), and the story of the Raising of Lazarus (today’s story). Catechists, those who were a little bit more adept, led those who were inept into these stories, led them out of these stories, and help them to apply these ...

Apparently, in the Early Church, you could not be welcomed into the Church, through baptism, unless you were guided into the spiritual insights of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (last Sunday’s gospel), the story of the man born blind (today’s gospel), and the story of the raising of Lazarus (next Sunday’s gospel).  Sponsors or mentors guided you into these stories, guided you out of these stories, and helped you to apply these stories to your own life. 

Isn’t ...