Sixth Sunday of Easter, Year A, 14 May, 2023: Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21      Our Mass Readings shift the focus from the event of Jesus’ Resurrection to his progress through the Ascension to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.      What this indicates is that we are wrapped up in the […]

Monday, 1 May, St. Joseph the Worker: Genesis 1:26-2:3; Matthew 13:54-58 The Book of Genesis reminds us that work is our humble collaboration with God’s creativity. But Matthew’s Gospel depicts the dangers of identifying a person with his work or family: because his neighbors only know Jesus as the carpenter’s son, they can’t accept him […]

Low Sunday, 16 April, 2023: Acts: 2:42-47; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31      Well over a century-and-a-half ago, George MacDonald, a Scottish clergyman and novelist, wrote, “Seeing is not believing.” He was referring to today’s Gospel.     I agree. Thomas may say: Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put […]

Easter Sunday, 9 April, 2023: Acts: 10:34a, 37-43; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9 The older I become, the more the events of Holy Week ring so true! I can identify with the confusion, the fears, the disillusionment of Peter or Mary of Magdala. How often life educates our expectations, overthrowing the “happily-ever-after” scenario, fit only for […]

Thursday of the 5th WK of Lent: Genesis 17:3-9; John 8:51-59 Again, in John’s Gospel, Jesus identifies himself as I AM. I could search the mention of that name in the Scriptures, or receive it as an article of doctrine, or try to understand it in terms of metaphysics. All of these have value for […]

25 March, Annunciation: Isaiah 7:10-2, 8:10; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38 We read of Mary’s Son in the First Chapter of Luke’s Gospel: …the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end. In the […]

2 Samuel 7:4-5a, 12-14a, 16; Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22; Matthew 1:16, 18-21, 24a This week our pilgrimage to Jesus’ Passion is interrupted by two Solemnities that recall his human origins. Jesus’ place in our human realm is as dependent upon the good will of Saint Joseph as upon the consent of Mary. Jesus’ birth would […]

Monday of the 3rd WK of Lent: 2 Kings 5:1-15; Luke 4:24-30 Jesus is very realistic about rejection; it is even valuable, validating his prophetic mission. By contrast, a present day “Influencer” might consult a strategist, were his or her ratings disappointing on the internet. How dependent we are on approval! We reduce reality to […]

Thursday of the 7th WK of the Year: Sirach 1:1-10; Mark 9:14-29 Mark loses no opportunity to underline the coincidence between our faith, and God’s healing power in Jesus. The variant in this episode is the transparency, the honesty and lack of pretension of that human faith. Whose faith is not as deficient as that […]

Thursday of the 5th WK of the Year: Genesis 4:1-15, 25; Mark 8:11-14       After such a good start in the Book of Genesis, human affairs rapidly go from bad to worse. Things are not much different in Jesus’ ministry as portrayed by Mark.        That it is why it is so important that […]