Friday of the Second Week of Easter
It is so, so easy these days to feel a lot of anxiety about the world we live in: will we lose all our drinkable water by 2020? Will there be a nuclear attack from North Korea? Will the Catholic Church keep hemorrhaging members (currently 30% of the American population considers itself ex-Catholic)? Am I doing enough to fight poverty? Am I doing enough to maintain my health? And so on. The anxiety-producing questions are both global and local in scope, both focused on the needs of others, as well as the needs each one of us has individually.
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
We adopted our dog, Luna, as a puppy while we were still living in Virginia. She is a mixed breed, part Border Collie or Australian Shepherd. She had a lot of energy as a puppy and even for the first few years as an adult dog. I grew up with dogs and had even owned one with Vince prior to Luna, but she was my “wild child.” She acted up and challenged my authority as the “alpha dog,” especially when Vince was away on trips. I eventually took her to an obedience training class to better learn how to train her so that she would listen to me. It worked and helped improve my relationship with her so that we had much more positive interactions and I was much less angry and frustrated with her. I think I’m fairly typical in wanting my dog and my children to be obedient, to listen to me. And yet I sometimes resist the notion that as an adult I am called to be obedient as well.
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
As a chaplain at a hospital, I have begun to look at scripture and the paschal mystery in whole new ways. It happened that after having read today readings I thought of the fact that sometimes we put restraints on patients who may hurt themselves. Metaphorically, I began to think of all the restraints that are put on us, many of which we put on ourselves through the choices we make. Restraints are things that hold us back or confine us. In my own life, restraints may take the form of lacking the ability to trust that the Lord is completely in charge.
Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
What if we read today’s readings in the opposite order: the gospel of John first, then the Acts of the Apostles?
In the gospel, we are listening to Jesus’s conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, the kind of guy who really likes the rules, and really likes to understand how God works, so he can do his religious duties exactly right. Along comes Jesus, telling him something baffling: he needs to be “born from above,” or “born again,” as we heard in yesterday’s reading. Nicodemus doesn’t get it. An important question for you and I is, do we get it?
Monday of the Second Week of Easter
In these weeks after Easter, the readings from the Acts of the Apostles seem suitable material for the big screen. It is hard to believe these characters are the same lowly, at times bumbling, disciples who first began following Jesus three years earlier. Knowing this is quite a comfort to most of us as we can so closely identify with the gradual process of coming to know and believe in Jesus with all the fits and starts we personally experience along the rugged road of discipleship. And looking back on where we have come from it becomes clear the, just like the disciples, our journey is one of shedding the darkness in which we live. And Jesus meets us right there—we encounter Jesus in the depths of our darkness.
Second Sunday of Easter/Sunday of Divine Mercy
I am wandering off my trodden path for my homily today. This homily is more of an exposé than a scriptural reflection with my typical three practical implications. I am doing this because today is Divine Mercy Sunday. The celebration of the second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday is a very recent development. It was on this Sunday in 2000 that Pope John Paul II canonized Sr. Faustina Kowalska. It is to her that we owe the origin of this celebration. On that day, JP II announced that “from now on throughout the Church this Sunday will be called Divine Mercy Sunday.” Sr. Faustina was born in Poland and she became a nun in the Congregation of the Sister of Mercy. Her life was characterized by deep spiritual interiority. On Feb 22, 1931, Sr. Faustina experienced a life-changing vision of Christ standing in a white robe with two rays of light emerging from his heart. It is the signature image of the Divine mercy devotion. Faustina died at the very young age of 33. In his life-time, John Paul actively promoted the message of Sr. Faustina and this was probably the rationale behind his 1980 encyclical, “Rich in Mercy.”
Saturday in the Octave of Easter
Today, in Acts, we see Peter and John before the Sanhedrin. Though the leaders, elders, and scribes want to quiet them, they rely more on threats than severe punishment because the Apostles currently have popular favor. This scene brought a few thoughts to mind.
Friday in the Octave of Easter
Sometimes I think it is very difficult to comprehend, let alone believe, that Jesus rose from the dead. Death for us is something final. It is something that we have to deal with and confront because we cannot undo time and make someone come back. That finality makes it quite hard to see that perhaps death does not always win – that God’s Son rose from the dead.
Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Happy Easter! As Christ exclaims in today’s Gospel – peace be with you. In these 50 days of unbridled joy, I pray that God may grant you joy, gratitude and peace –peace in the knowledge that our God is a God who keeps his promises.
Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
How often do we converse or debate with a friend and fail to bring our Christianity into the discussion. By allowing Jesus' to illuminate the discussion then we might recognize his presence in all arenas of our life. Yet often even though we know the good news, we fail to fully accept it. In fact sometimes the good news has little power over our conversations especially with ourselves. Recently I was walking home and really believed that I was alone.
Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
As I sat down to write on today’s readings, I couldn’t help but think, What else is there to say right now? After this weekend, it seems like Easter speaks for itself for awhile. Maybe this is why the Church gives us 50 full days to celebrate: the Resurrection has so much to say to us and we need some time to process it. But today’s gospel reading has something to say to this, I think.
Monday in the Octave of Easter
When a detective interviews various people at a scene of a crime, there are often many different descriptions of what happened. Because each individual has a unique life experience, their perception of an event will be influenced by who they are and how they see the world. When reading the scripture readings today, this seems very evident. The tomb is found empty, but there are many different understandings of what this means. If we are like the apostles and the women, then hopefully when we see the empty tomb we can believe that Jesus is risen from the dead just as they proclaim. Jesus through His life, death and resurrection shows the immense love of God for us and His plan for our salvation. So when you look at the empty tomb and you think about all Jesus has done for you what do you see- What do you believe?
The Resurrection of the Lord
I have asked myself a question often. After his resurrection, why did Jesus only appear to his apostles and a few close disciples? There is a villainous side to me which makes me imagine that if I were Jesus, I would have shown up at Pilate’s bed side when he was fast asleep and tickled him. I would have loved to see his face when I said, “Dude, want to wash your hands?” Or, as the chief priest, Pharisees, scribes, elders and those who had falsely accused gathered for worship, I would slowly slip among the worshippers and land in the front row. Can you imagine their faces? And I would have said, “Now do you believe?” Then I would just vanish from among them.
Holy Saturday
Something strange is happening - there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
A memory I have from my childhood Methodist years is singing Charles Wesley's hymn on Good Friday:Holy Thursday - Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper
I read an article today by the Catholic News Service about Pope Francis recently making a surprise visit to a group of homeless people in the Sistine Chapel while they were enjoying a private visit there. According to the article, the Vatican Museums had closed early to allow these special guests of the papal almoner to have the Sistine Chapel to themselves, accompanied by professional guides. The pope greeted each of these guests who live on the streets around the Vatican, asking them to pray for him and giving them a blessing before they were served dinner in the museum’s cafeteria.
Wednesday of Holy Week
Life is difficult. We all know this truth. Some of the most difficult points in my own life came from suffering inflicted upon me by people who were supposed to be on my team. Betrayals came from people who I thought were my friends. In the same breath I must ask for forgiveness from those for whom I caused suffering or those who I betrayed. Suffering and betrayal are not just parts of the scriptures from a long time ago. They are the scriptures of our own lives.
Tuesday of Holy Week
The difference between what we are called to be and what we actually are can be pretty stark sometimes. In the first reading, we heard what might sound like a coach’s pep talk before a big game. “It’s not enough for you to be my servant. I will make you a light to the nations!” Then in the second reading, Jesus predicts Peter will deny that he even knows our lord, not once, but three times. Peter, the first Pope, leader of the Church, which is a light to the nations! Whose idea was it to put him in charge?
Monday of Holy Week
Today, being Monday of Holy Week, we are anticipating the special liturgies, praying and reflecting on what we have done through these weeks of Lent, and begin preparing for Easter Sunday celebrations with family and friends. While I was reading and reflecting upon today’s Scriptures, I felt like I was looking through the wide angle lens of a camera—they present a much bigger picture than what we may tend to focus on during Holy Week. There are times when we encounter Christ in Scripture and we can experience what may be an amazing glimpse of the ‘big picture’ and it brings everything together in a way only God is capable of doing.
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
We are entering Holy Week. On the one hand, Holy Week commemorates the story of Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection. However, if we look deeper, it is also our story. Holy week and the story of Jesus as we heard it in the reading of the passion, dramatizes the stark realities of the human condition. Within the Jesus story we find intense suffering, intrigue, malice, prejudice, hatred, betrayal, bribery, corruption, and bloody murder. Intertwined in this sad story is the life of a man who took the consequences of human sin upon himself and transformed it into love, forgiveness, peace and eternal life. He did so by becoming the “suffering servant” of God – a concept introduced to us both in the first and second readings. By becoming the “suffering servant,” Jesus changed the very meaning of human life. Human quest for permanent happiness and eternal life can only be fulfilled in Jesus.