Whenever a coach feels his/her team is not living up to their potential, he/she will always say something typical like, “We’ve got to get back to basics.” Without demoting anyone to the minor leagues, let’s look at some of the basics of liturgy that we would do well to return to. I’ll call them my seven deadly liturgical “sins”. The first four “sins” we have little control over due to COVID; the next three we are totally in control of. ...
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Faith is a very precarious thing isn’t it? The moment you think you have it, something will happen this very day to make you doubt that you had it at all. But don’t get discouraged because these scripture readings are telling you that you probably have more faith than you know and moreover, you never lose it entirely. Like learning how to ride a bicycle, you never lose it. Your faith will by tried and tested, no doubt. It will ...
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“Whoever abides in me and I in them bears much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”
(John 15: 5); we hear these words from Jesus in our Gospel reading this week. This is a lesson that is taking me a lifetime to learn, and in fact, is still a work in progress. More the second part of the statement than the first, as I don’t think there is much to debate in the first part. Having said that, ...
As you probably already know, the Bible is more like a mini library than a single book. I say that because the Bible is composed of many books written by many authors over hundreds of years. When it was put together in its final form, the form we have, one of the books included was the book entitled, The Acts of the Apostles. We hear from the Acts of the Apostles as our first reading each Sunday throughout the 50 ...
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Today, the 4th Sunday of Easter, is the familiar parable of the Good Shepherd. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”
Growing up in a solid Catholic family and benefiting from Catholic schooling, I always had an image of shepherds as being kind, loving, patient, strong and self-sacrificing. And I also ...
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For the longest time I questioned (and still question), why Jesus chose the 12 apostles that he did? I realize we all need an inner circle of trusted confidants, sounding boards, soul mates, good friends; I get that. Yet, given the fact that the apostles are portrayed so poorly in all four gospels, why choose these and not some others? The other question, that I do not have an answer to is: why did Jesus appear, after the resurrection, to ...
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The days are getting longer and warmer. We have had flocks of evening grosbeaks and redpolls at our feeders. Spring is here! It is a time of hope, of excitement, of possibility … And yet, the dominant emotions that I am seeing and hearing all around me are discouragement, sorrow and frustration. It is hard for many of us to see what we have because we are so acutely aware of what we are missing. Even Easter seemed to fall ...
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Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. What does that mean?
It seems simple enough – God is infinitely merciful and so if we repent, He forgives our sins. And every time we say the Our Father, we promise to forgive others in return for His forgiveness. So, one meaning for mercy is forgiveness.
But it has another meaning: compassion.
So, how does this relate to my day-to-day life?
Let me tell you about St. Giuseppe Moscati.
Giuseppe Moscati was the seventh of nine children born in ...
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“Faith is to believe what you do not see;
The reward of faith is to see what you believe.”
St. Augustine
Throughout our lives, we encounter experiences that knock our sense of balance off kilter and we discover that what we believed to be unchangeable is now somewhat unstable. When unexpected loss, trauma or darkness envelops us, or those we love, we sometimes question our deepest beliefs in God and in ourselves. Although varied reasons exist, few of us have managed to ...
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I wish I was more familiar with the Psalms. They are brilliant. I am convinced there is a psalm that names and gives hope to every conceivable situation we could ever find ourselves in. Here’s a line from Psalm 25: “No one has ever trusted in the Lord and been put to shame.” This is a pretty good mantra for Easter Sunday morning. Trust is the key, though.
A number of years ago, although it could have easily been in the ...
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