As I get older, my appreciation for Mary Magdalene grows as well. She is the first to encounter the Risen Lord. I guess somebody had to be the first; somebody had to have that honour. It’s her struggle with faith and how she stays in the game that really impresses me. She is so genuine. I can relate to her on so many levels. My own faith journey, on a good day, is three steps forward and two steps back. ...
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Today’s passion reading is full of contrasts. I suppose if the name Good Friday is to point us ultimately to something good, there’s going to have to be a lot of contrasts to the lies, violence, betrayal, whipping, cruelty, and even murder that dominate today’s gospel reading. I have to believe that a fundamental goodness must still live in contrast to endless shouts to “Crucify him.” I have to believe that truth, as inconvenient as it is at times, is ...
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This gospel story of the foot washing is like all other gospels stories—it’s full of symbolism. Once I think I’ve got its meaning, I soon realize there’s a deeper meaning that I am being called to. And if I respond to this greater calling, I usually only do it with the greatest of reluctance. Afterall, who of us, honestly, likes to be shaken out of our comfort zone? I certainly don’t. In that sense, Peter, in his reluctance to have ...
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Have you ever read a really good book, a second time, and got something from that second reading that you missed on the first go? Or have you ever rewatched an engaging movie and drawn out of it a gem, that slipped by you the first time? I’m sure you have. These Passion readings do that for me. Without much effort, something different speaks to me each time I engage with them. Maybe that’s what God’s Word is supposed to ...
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There is a drive in all three readings to leave the past in the past and to forge a new future. The reason this drive is in the readings is because it’s the fundamental drive in God, and since Jesus came to do God’s will, it’s the fundamental drive in Jesus as well—to make all things new. We cannot make all things new without God nor without letting go of the past. Holding onto past sins or living in a ...
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We have to celebrate
Next week, Holy Week, we will enter the holiest week of our lives. Passion (Palm) Sunday begins the journey. It is aptly named—”Passion Sunday”—and is a key to what is about to unfold. The words passion and patience originate from the same root word which means “to suffer” or “to endure.” Later on, the word passion took on the more informal connotation as a strong “desire.” Jesus enters his Passion with these words, “With desire have I ...
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Family. Are there any more complicated relationships in your life than the ones you have with your family? Either with your spouse, your children, your siblings or your parents. I know in my case, with regard to relationships with my siblings, they have probably been the most unpredictable, on-again, off-again, difficult to navigate relationships in my entire life. This is not to assign blame for this to any particular individual, it has just seemed to work out that way over ...
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The Gospel this 4th Sunday of Lent is the parable of the prodigal son. We have listened to it countless times – the story of the father whose loving reception of his wayward son gave him a new life. It moves us every time we hear it. The message of grace and acceptance, no matter how far one falls, is one we need to hear again and again. The point of the parable could be to try harder to become like the ...
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This gospel episode begins by telling us that Jesus was teaching the crowd. Jesus often targets a particular group with his teaching, like the Scribes or Pharisees or a particular person like a centurion or a leper or a Canaanite woman. But this is not the case here. He is teaching the crowd, which means this teaching is for every person on this earth at all times and in all places including us right here.
Some of the people listening to ...
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We all need conversion; that’s a given. Lent is given to us as a gift to ponder what conversion looks like in each of our lives, what it looks like for the Church, and what it might look like for the world. One of the most important conversions Pope Francis says the world needs is an ecological conversion. Ecological conversion is a change in how we look at, interact and behave, to care for our common home—the earth. It is ...
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