Sunday Readings for September 11, 2016 the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Everyone knows the bible stories of the Prodigal Son and the Golden Calf. But they don’t usually put the two together as this Sunday’s readings do. So what…
The Golden Calf and Prodigal Son
An Integration of Church and State
I don’t often post political pieces. In fact, this may be a first. But as I sit at my desk writing this, I find myself deeply troubled by our current state of affairs. In our nation, the term, separation of Church and…
Book Review – Proclaiming the Message of Life by Fr. Frank Pavone
How often have you been to Mass, listened to the readings and homily and heard a clear message about the sanctity of life and why abortion is wrong? Or how the Church can help those who have suffered with the…
Shaped by Fire
Deep in each of us there exists a concept, a personal image of what Jesus looks like. That image was created by a lot of things. It comes from what we have heard, what others have modeled what people have…
Me? An evangelist?
Did you know that when you were baptized, you were anointed to be an evangelist? Yes, you and I, and every Christian are meant to bring others into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. How do we do that? There…
When to Not Imitate Jesus
As disciples of Jesus, we seek to follow Jesus–to be like him as much as possible while on earth. This conformity to Christ is a foretaste of future glory, when, as John writes, “we shall be like him, for we…
A Gospel to Make you Squirm
Readings for Sunday, September 4, 2016 the 23rd Sunday, Year C When I was a kid, I got the distinct impression there existed a two-track system in Catholicism. Some really decided to go for it. They became priests, nuns, and…
Which Is Better: Perfection or Mercy?
In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees challenge Jesus because he has allowed his disciples to pick grain from the fields as they pass through. The investigator in me really wants to know where they were going on the Sabbath, and what…
How to Have a Servant’s Heart
In the Gospel of John, Jesus showed us what a servant’s heart looks like when he washed the feet of the apostles. Parishes often reenact this event on Holy Thursday. Pitchers of water are poured over feet and then dried with…
Reverend William Henry Anderdon, Modern Evangelist
A man is not a saint because many years after his death he was proclaimed so. And a man is not an evangelist by having traveled much as he preached. The man of today’s essay may not be proclaimed a…