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Our faith, based on the gospel reading for this Sunday, tells us that God does not love the world in some big, bland, generic way. God’s love is particular and concrete. Love that is not concrete is not love at all. Love is about this particular young man (not all men) whose addiction is costing our family dearly. Love considers this particular woman (not all women) who just became a widow. Love takes into account this particular guy, (not all guys) who right now is going through ...

Of the four gospel writers, Luke is by far the best storyteller. And today, we have Luke’s best story. By the way, scholars and archeologists to this day, cannot find, in the Holy Land, this place called Emmaus. They keep unearthing dig after dig, each, as the story tells us, 11 km from Jerusalem, but they still cannot find it. From a storyteller’s point of view, what is important is that these two disciples are going away from Jerusalem. And if you go away from Jerusalem, ...

Just when I thought things could not get worse, with all the suffering COVID-19 has brought the world, things actually did get worse with the mass shooting in Nova Scotia this week. With 23 known dead, what great pain there must be within those families, including the family of the shooter.

When I try to ponder something that is either too good or too bad, my mind boggles, and I lose words.  Even wordsmiths—writers, poets, and songwriters—often cannot find words. When words fail, then symbols, images, and rituals become ...

The Resurrected Lord told his disciples to remain in Jerusalem and to wait for his spirit to come to them, a spirit he promised them at the Last Supper, a spirit that would clothe them with power from on high (see Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4). Waiting is easier said than done. Waiting implies we remain in the same spot, even, and especially, when we would rather be elsewhere.

With the coronavirus severely curbing what we can do and who we can visit, we are forced to ...

All liturgical celebrations, not just Sunday Mass, have one theme. That one theme is the death and resurrection of the Lord, or what we theologically call the “Paschal Mystery.” You may have also heard the paschal mystery referred as the “Easter Mystery” or the “Christ-event.” When we celebrate a baptism, we are celebrating the paschal mystery. The candidate enters the baptismal font (the tomb) and joins with Christ in his death but also emerges from those same waters and so joins Christ in his resurrection. When we ...

Every Holy Week, the “Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ” is proclaimed twice — once on Passion/Palm Sunday to begin Holy Week and again, on Good Friday.  This year, had we been able to gather, we would have heard the passion readings of gospel writers Matthew (Passion Sunday) and John (Good Friday).  However, in the midst of these trying times, there is a line, found only in Luke’s passion reading, that really speaks to me.

The context is this: Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane just ...