Saturday of the 1st Week of Lent Deu 26:16-19Mt 5:43-48 “But I say this to you: love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you…” Of all Jesus’s teachings, I find this one of the hardest ones to swallow: Love your enemies, pray for them. Wait, what…? When I first read that, I was... Continue Reading →
23 February, Friday — Crying Foul
Friday of the 1st Week of Lent Eze 18:21-28Mt 5:20-26 “Listen, you House of Israel: Is what I do unjust? Is it not what you do that is unjust?” If you have managed children before, you’ll discover that they are the first to point out if you have been fair in your treatment of them... Continue Reading →
22 February, Thursday — What a friend we have in Jesus
22 Feb – Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, the Apostle The feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome, Italy has been celebrated from the early days of the Christian era on Jan 18, in commemoration of the day when St. Peter held his first service in Rome. The feast of the... Continue Reading →
18 February, Sunday — The whole truth & nothing but the truth
1st Sunday of Lent Gen 9:8-151 Pet 3:18-22Mk 1:12-15 “Repent, and believe the Good News.” So we begin Lent, with readings from the covenant between God and Noah and, in the second reading, we have our first Pope telling us that the flood is actually a prefigurement of our baptism, where we are made clean... Continue Reading →
17 February, Saturday — Responding continuously to Jesus’ call
Saturday after Ash Wednesday Is 58:9-14Lk 5:27-32 Jesus noticed a tax collector, Levi by name, sitting at the customs house, and said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he got up and followed him. I always wonder why and how Levi, also known as Matthew, was able to immediately follow Jesus. Perhaps he had... Continue Reading →
16 February, Friday — Who are we fasting for?
Friday after Ash Wednesday Is 58:1-9Mt 9:14-15 They ask me for laws that are just, they long for God to draw near. “Why should we fast if you never see it? Why do penance if you never notice?” Today, as the first Friday after Ash Wednesday, will probably be the day I am the keenest... Continue Reading →
15 February, Thursday — “…your parents named you well.”
Thursday after Ash Wednesday Dt 30:15-20Lk 9:22-25 Then to all he said: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me.” What does deny oneself, taking up one’s cross and follow Jesus mean? It means to lay our "ego strength" aside.... Continue Reading →
11 February, Sunday — The more we seem to lose, the more we gain.
11 Feb – Dedication of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd Lv 13:1-2,44-461 Cor 10:31-11:1Mk 1:40-45 Feeling sorry for him, Jesus stretched out his hand… In today’s gospel reading, we see both the human and divine natures of Jesus. I am particularly struck by the words used to describe how Jesus feels when He sees... Continue Reading →
1 April, Saturday — Choice
Saturday of the 5th Week of Lent Eze 37:21-28Jn 11:45-56 “I will be their God, they shall be my people.” Jesus came to save mankind from sin and death. He told the Jews that he was their God -- the I AM. In fact, Jesus made many statements that were either outrageous or true. He... Continue Reading →
31 March, Friday — Waiting for Godot
Friday of the 5th Week of Lent Jer 20:10-13Jn 10:31-42 …let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for I have committed my cause to you. When I was in my twenties, I broke off an engagement to someone I loved because of enmity with his family. It marked a turning point in my... Continue Reading →
OXYGEN 