Just as the sun that rises on the bad and on the good would cease being the sun if it didn’t shine on the bad and the good, so God (whose very being is Love) would cease being God if he stopped loving. And so Jesus’ call to be perfect just as [our] heavenly Father […]

Colloquially, we sometimes speak of “dying for a cup of coffee” or “dying for a vacation.” Teresa of Avila had a similar longing, but it wasn’t for coffee, but a consuming desire to see God. As a child she briefly ran away from home with her brother hoping to go to the land of the […]

The sin of our first parents resulted in their expulsion from Eden and humanity’s tragic exile and alienation from God. It was to undo the disastrous effects of their disobedience that the Father sent his Son to redeem us. Today’s gospel gives a symbolic sign of this redemption. For in the feeding of the four […]

In the light of our first reading we might ask: Which is the truer human freedom: Being able to do something you want to do, or (out of love) not doing something you would like to do? In our Christian tradition, true freedom is inseparable from love. Thus, just as true love is not possible […]

In instructing The Twelve to shake the dust off their feet in places where they are not welcomed or listened to, Jesus may be warning them of the contagious nature of unbelief and how at moments of weakness we can be susceptible to its influence when witnessing unbelief in others. However, this can also be […]

God’s timing can frequently be at odds with our impatient desires, expectations, and anxieties. Saint Mark doesn’t tell us what was going through the mind of Jairus when Jesus interrupted his journey to establish who in the crowd had touched him. It’s fair to assume that they weren’t happy thoughts as every second that Jesus […]

In the spiritual life, faith and hope are closely linked to the virtue of waiting in trust for the fulfillment of God’s promises. This can be difficult when spiritual growth seems excruciatingly slow and God’s promises of salvation, freedom from sin, and eternal union with him appear untrustworthy. Simeon, however, seems to have been able […]

If everyone who does the will of the Father in heaven is Christ’s brother and sister, does this mean that those who fail to do the Father’s will are not his brother or sister? If so, then who among us can claim (as we frequently do) that Christ is our brother? For who among us […]

The valiant struggle to end the evil of abortion can, at times, seem as fruitless as that quest for Christian Unity highlighted during this octave of prayer for the fragmented Body of Christ. And yet, even without this noble goal being reached, the very struggle to safeguard the life of the unborn serves as a […]

It is something of a paradox that the path to true humility leads to realizing just how great we truly are! Clearly the psalmist (quoted in our first reading) trod this path and in his amazement exclaims: What is man that you are mindful of him? For, you crowned him with glory and honor—and made […]