Friday of the 3rd Week of Lent: HOS 14:2-10; MK 12:28-24 This dialogue in Mark’s Gospel occurs in the last week of Jesus’ life after many contentious encounters with scribes and others. But Jesus allows this scribe to respond honestly; he listens to the person, does not presume opposition. To which of his disciples did […]

Second Sunday of Lent, Year B: Genesis 22:1-2, 9a,10-13, 15-18; Romans 8:31b-34; Mark 9:2-20 Although this Gospel describes a very extraordinary spiritual experience, like all spiritual breakthroughs, it needs to be carefully considered, reconsidered and digested over time. Look at Peter’s knee-jerk reaction: he would box Jesus, Moses and Elijah into individual tents to capture […]

Thursday after Ash Wednesday: DEUT 30:15-20; LK 9:22-25 Both readings bring us to that precarious boundary between life and death, presence and absence. A quote from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom: The day when God is absent, when he is silent—that is the beginning of prayer…when we say to God, ‘I can’t live without you, why are […]

Sixth Sunday, Year B, 11 FEB, 2024: Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46; 1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45 There’s a real conflict between Jesus’ desire to heal the leper and that man’s disobedience in spreading the news of Jesus’ “power.” In Jesus, God’s merciful, compassionate drive to heal and restore humanity is at work. It is a creative […]

Saints Robert, Alberic and Stephen, 26 JAN, 2024: Genesis 12:1-4; Acts 4:32-35; Mark 10:17-30 I’ve been tempted to identify our struggles to survive with those of our Founders when they began life at Citeaux. But they faced depravations and insecurities, unsupported by any over-arching administration, which our present organization would, rightly, not allow. Our Order […]

Although there are obviously exceptions—and perhaps even a significant number of exceptions—Catholics are not usually known for preaching on street corners, or actively recruiting new members for the church. Indeed, so much so that Pope Francis has felt the need to exhort priests and bishops to go out in active evangelizing ministry and not simply […]

Christmas Day Mass, 25 December, 2023: Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-18 This life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. That verse is certainly a crucial reminder for our times. The fact is, we recognize light because it contrasts with the […]

Fourth Sunday of Advent, 24 December, 2023: 2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a-16; Romans 16:25-27; Luke 1:26-38 I don’t need to tell you how many beautiful paintings of the Annunciation there are. It is, perhaps, too easy to miss the more ominous details not only of those pictures but in today’s Gospel. Think, for example, of […]

22 DEC: 1 SAM 1:24-28; LK 1:46-56 Elizabeth, past the age of childbearing, is pregnant for the first time. Mary, betrothed but unmarried, is pregnant, period. As much as they are drawn to each other under such precarious conditions, neither expresses despair or fear, but exaltation. Isn’t it significant that all the verbs in Mary’s […]

JGS 13:2-7, 24-25a; LK 1:5-25 Isn’t it odd that when the angel tells the righteous Zechariah that his prayer for a son has been heard, he protests the biological improbability of such an outcome? What had his prayer been like? Had he only expressed the pious sentiments expected of a priest? Was he shifting the […]