Everything changes when we realize God loves us unconditionally! This realization is not easy for many of us to accept. We may have grown up in an environment in which we were rewarded with love when we did what our parents wanted us to do. I am a...
People in economic straits learn to make do with less. But, it is much more difficult for those whose standards of living were elevated and have fallen on hard times. Our readings for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, too, deal with hardships and...
The French Catholic theologian, Blaise Pascal, once remarked that “man’s greatness lies in his power of thought.” During this global pandemic, it is true that we’ve been required to think on our feet and respond to the...
The scripture readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ focus on covenants. In the Book of Exodus (24:3-8), at Mt. Sinai, Moses sprinkled blood upon the Israelites, a symbol of God’s desire to make them part of His “blood”...
About fifty years ago, in the unsettled and confusing times following the Second Vatican Council when it seemed everything was changing or up for grabs, some priests and deacons—wanting to be trendy—changed the words used when baptizing. Instead of...
“Get up. I myself am also a human being.” There was no way Simon Peter (Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48) would have allowed Cornelius to worship him as a deity. Peter was too aware of his human frailty, of his embarrassing fears, of his triple denial of...
Whenever Jesus wants to convey a difficult spiritual concept, he resorts to timeless images of daily living. Thus, his Words of Life are forever associated with pictures from the life that we live ourselves or with which we are somewhat familiar...
Out West there was a sheep farmer whose farm was right next to a cattle ranch, and the rancher’s dogs kept coming onto his land and killing his sheep, one or two a month. Several times the sheep farmer respectfully asked his neighbor to keep his...
