In contrast to Luke (in today’s gospel) Saint Matthew records Jesus saying that faith the size of a tiny mustard seed will move mountains—and not just a little mulberry tree! How tiny must our faith be, then, if even uprooting a mulberry tree and planting it in the sea is beyond us? Needless to say, […]

Solemnity of Saint Bernard: Sirach 3:17-24; Ephesians 3:14-19; Matthew 11:25-30      I remember an academic guest speaker, when I was a novice, who dismissed Saint Bernard’s confessions of being a sinner as something a pious writer “had to say.” But I don’t think Bernard was putting on an act since he described himself as the […]

Nineteenth Sunday, Year C, 7 August, 2022: Wisdom 18:6-9; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19; Luke 12:32-48      As Jesus invites us to change, watching for a future as yet undisclosed, he addresses us from a dynamic central to Judaism’s engagement with the living God. Stuck in a dead end—be it idolatry, bondage in Egypt, exile in Babylon, […]

Christ breathing his last on the cross amid the jeers and cruel mocking of those who crucified him, epitomizes what seems to be the weakness and powerlessness of good in the face of the apparently overwhelming power of evil. Again and again in the long and violent history of humanity, evil tyrants, dictators, and corrupt […]

Sixteenth Sunday, Year C, 17 July, 2022: Genesis 18:1-10a; Colossians 1:24-28; Luke 10:38-42     Today’s succinct Gospel is richly detailed, details well worth exploring.     Martha, who welcomes Jesus, is mentioned first so perhaps she is the head of this household. If she is prosperous enough to offer hospitality, she is not rich enough to […]

Fourteenth Sunday, Year C, 3 July, 2022: Isaiah 66:10-14c; Galatians 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12, 17-20      I don’t think that anyone sitting here in choir is likely to say, “This Gospel doesn’t apply to me; this is addressed to people in the active ministry.” I imagine that we all realize that our way of proclaiming the […]

Sacred Heart of Jesus, 24 June, 2022: Ezekiel 14:11-16; Romans 5:5b-14; Luke 15:3-7      The heart is a potent symbol in the Scriptures and, far deeper than the sentimental imagery of advertising or greeting cards, is the gateway to deep communion with God. It is an image at the boundary between the contingent and the […]

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, 12 June, 2022: Proverbs 8:22-31; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15       Most of our Solemnities celebrate an event that reveals God’s active presence among us. How often do we sing in choir: “On this Christ is born…” or “…was baptized in the Jordan…” or “…transfigured on the holy mountain…” […]

Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year C, 22 May, 2022: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-24, 22-23; John 14: 23-29      This brief passage from John’s Gospel is densely packed. Jesus speaks of his departing and returning; he also refers to the apostles’ sense of loss but that they should be glad for him. He tells them […]

1 May, 2022: Third Sunday of Easter, Year C: Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19      Children, have you caught anything to eat?      That’s a game-changing question, because Jesus shifts the emphasis from fishing to earn a living, to providing a meal for his apostles. This is no command to change, it’s a […]