Readings for April 21, 2013: Fourth Sunday of Easter What was the response to Jesus’ preaching, according to the New Testament? Some who heard him were impressed; others wanted to push him over a cliff (Luke 4:29). The same was…
Hearing the Shepherd’s Voice
Are YOU Feeding His Sheep?
Readings for April 14, 2013: Third Sunday of Easter On many occasions I’ve heard non-Catholics object to the papacy. Often, they say something like this: “I just can’t believe that one man on earth, the Pope, is holier than everyone…
What Does Mercy Have to Do with Easter?
Readings for April 7, 2013: Divine Mercy Sunday (Second Sunday of Easter) Several years ago, the Catholic Church designated the Sunday after Easter as “Divine Mercy Sunday.” That raises two very important questions — what exactly is “mercy” anyway, and…
Reflections on Easter
Readings for March 31, 2013: The Resurrection of the Lord, The Mass of Easter Sunday The serpent’s bite was a deadly one. The venom had worked its way deep into the heart of the entire human race, doing its gruesome…
Passion Sunday
Readings for March 24, 2013: Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Catholics seem preoccupied with the sufferings of Christ–The Crucifix, the sorrowful Mysteries, the Stations of the Cross. As if all this were not enough, Catholics must stand at attention…
Grace for the Taking
Readings for March 17, 2013: Fifth Sunday of Lent It really looked like the end of the road for her. Caught in the act of a capital crime, her fate lay in the hands of an angry mob. Desiring to…
How to Help Others in Their Lenten Journey
For many, Lent means spiritual self-improvement through sacrifice. It’s often all about what to “give up” for Lent. But Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness was not for his own sake. It was all to prepare for his ministry, a…
Reconciliation and the Prodigal Son
Readings for March 10, 2013: Fourth Sunday of Lent “For our sakes God made him who did not know sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the very holiness of God.” (2 Cor 5:21) Some Christians…
Truly Catholic Mercy
Most religions in the ancient world were local, national cults. The Egyptians worshiped Isis and Osiris. Athens was named after the goddess Athena. Ephesus was the center of the cult of Artemis. But when the Church was born on Pentecost…
The Fig Tree
Readings for March 3, 2013: Third Sunday of Lent Some think Lent is a time for fasting. I see it as a time of feasting. I come to this conclusion based on the story of the fig tree in Luke…