When I read the questions Jesus poses to the disciples in this week’s gospel, it reminds me of some of the formation I received in leading groups of faith. One of the cardinal rules was to never put anyone on the spot. Never make them feel so uncomfortable that they may consider not returning next week. That’s why we would always preface a faith question with “there are no wrong answers“, which seemed to quell some of the fears of ...
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Historically we have said that, as a Church, the two major ways our faith is passed on is through Scripture and Tradition. Scripture is what was huddle around each time we gather for liturgy and each time we open and read our Bibles at home. It is God’s Word preserved, interpreted, and passed on so that we can know how God called our ancestors to live back then and how God calls us to live here and now. Tradition, on ...
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Today we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. In 1950 Pope Pius XII defined Mary’s Assumption into heaven as dogma of Roman Catholicism: “The Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heaven.”
As a child growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, Mary was always an integral part of my religious upbringing. In May we took our bicycles to school for the Queen of the May parade, when our bicycles would be ...
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The Scripture stories we have today are about the importance of discerning the voice of God and about the importance of community.
A little context to help us enter the first reading. The prophet Elijah lived some 900 years before the birth of Jesus. At that time the Jewish people were divided into two sister countries, Israel in the North and Judah in the South. In the North, where God had called Elijah to preach, the Jewish king, Ahab, had married a woman named Jezebel. (That ...
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“Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
I was halfway through writing this week’s reflection when I received word that my Aunt had died, and somehow the words that I had been going to write seemed irrelevant. I thought about the last time that I spoke with my aunt. She had recently been told that cancer would take her life, but it was the loneliness of her current situation that she found unbearable. Because ...
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Of all the miracles Jesus performed this is the only miracle found in all four gospels. The Early Church must have thought this story was indispensable in the lives of people. They just had to tell this story. In fact, it is found twice in the Gospel of Matthew.
Opening lines are very telling. This is the opening line of today’s gospel account: When Jesus heard that Herod had beheaded John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. ...
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James Cameron’s movie, “Aliens” is a good metaphor for many of the world’s great religions. Near the beginning of the movie when the astronauts go into a cave to find the alien being their ship’s instruments had indicated while they were in orbit, they cannot find it. We, the audience watching the movie, know they cannot see the monster because they are inside of it. We cannot see our own Faith objectively because we are “inside” of it. At least, we are inside of a community of ...
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You may or may not have noticed, but there is a connection between today’s 1st reading (1 Kg. 3:5-12) and the gospel (Mt. 13:44-52). It is deliberately set up that way from week to week in the Lectionary. In these two readings we are deterred from seeking or settling for anything that is 2nd best, superficial, or mediocre. These Scripture readings rail against dumbing down your life to some low-stub-your-toe-run-of-the-mill kind of spirituality. What they do, instead, is invite you ...
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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 and evil.” You have before you a woman who has ...
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Have you ever wanted to say something biting to someone, but at the last minute decided against it, and later on were really glad that you showed some restraint? Did you ever label someone as an enemy only to discover, with the passage of time, that same person as an ally? Did you ever want to cut someone out of your life, but you did not and were glad you did not burn what would later become an important bridge in your life? These readings, especially ...
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