Many years ago a social worker was assigned to visit and, if possible, assist various families who lived in a poor area of a city. Some of these persons were down-on-their luck, and were struggling financially through no fault of their own; others...
Perhaps the clearest message that we should welcome from our readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time is that God and His plan of salvation for all should be our life’s top priority. However, the didactic story of the prophet Jonah proves that...
Last Sunday, on the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we found ourselves in a vineyard parable (Mt 20:1-16) filled with workers and a landowner. In the story, you might remember that there were workers who had toiled in the fields from dawn to dusk...
The Lord has put it on my heart to launch an army of Jonahs. Satan, the great divider, is creating discord in our communities, our churches, our government institutions and our families. Taking after the prophet Jonah, who preached a...
In Mark’s Gospel (14:22-26), we read about the Institution of the Lord’s Supper. There, in the Upper Room, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to his disciples, and said: “Take, this is my body.” Shortly thereafter, Jesus took a cup...
This is the recent change made by Pope Francis to the Italian translation of the Lord’s Prayer. A similar alteration has also been made in French: ‘Do not let us fall into temptation’. On the face of it, both changes remove an uncomfortable...
John 20:19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” Upon reading this passage...
In 1985 the country of Lebanon in the Middle East was undergoing something of a civil war, marked by terrorism, bombings, and frequent fighting among rival groups. It was a very dangerous place, even for journalists—as an American named Terry...
