Saturday in the Octave of Easter
A few weeks ago, we hosted my sister’s family for a long weekend. Her three-year-old twins have changed so much since the last time we saw them, and I quickly remembered one of the most annoying (and hilarious) parts of this phase with my own children.
“Leo, where are your shoes?” I asked looking around the foyer before our walk.
“Oh, I don’t know. I have no idea, Aunt Meggie!” he replied after a quick glance around, obviously (and intentionally) looking past his shoes by the door.
“Issa, did you bring a coat?” I asked.
“Oh no, we forgot it at home,” she replied, only to be corrected quickly by her dad who grabbed the coat from the car.
So quickly, they stated what they wanted to be true, even if it was at odds with our shared reality. In that stage of development, what they want to be true is often perceived as what’s true and believed, rather than the reality of what’s in front of them.
Friday in the Octave of Easter
Help me, Jesus, to recognize you wherever you are present in my world. I want to be like John, the disciple whom you loved, who easily identified you from afar as the Risen Lord, standing on the shore, promising more than a full day’s catch.
Thursday of the Octave of Easter
The author we call “Luke” dominates today’s Liturgy of the Word. Both readings come from Luke’s two part work – the Gospel according to Luke and Acts of the Apostles.
Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
Today’s Gospel reading, the Road to Emmaus, is a familiar story to many of us. This is a popular reading used on retreats to provide a framework for sharing with another person. The hope is for two strangers to connect and learn about one another. While I have often heard this Gospel used to describe the building of a relationship between two strangers, when I read it today, I found it provides for us a framework for how to pray – how to build a spiritual connection with Jesus.
Tuesday in the Octave of Easter
The Easter season is in full bloom after the octave of celebrating the Good News of New Life in Jesus’ Resurrection. Easter season flowers including lilies, tulips and pastel shades, and springtime signs of new life—eggs, chicks, bunnies, greening, woodland native wildflowers and warmer weather are all part of what we appreciate in our Eastertide. As the psalmist (psalm 33) proclaims: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. In today’s gospel reading, the Risen Jesus appears as a gardener to grieving Mary Magdalene who finds the empty tomb and is in search of Jesus. It is also time for us to search for Jesus in new ways, to recognize his ongoing call to us and feel his comforting care with us.
Monday in the Octave of Easter
I’m passionate about the original ending of Mark’s Gospel, the conclusion that he had intended. It’s very early on Easter Sunday morning, while it is still dark. The myrrh bearing women come to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus.
Holy Saturday at the Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter
Tonight will be Easter Vigil. If you have the chance to go, I recommend attending. This Mass is a beautiful service filled with scripture, tradition, and new life of those receiving Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Communion for the first time. There are nine readings. Together, they tell the beautiful story of salvation history from creation to Jesus’ resurrection:
Good Friday of the Lord's Passion
I have somewhat of a “love-hate” relationship with Good Friday. The fasting is challenging (at least for me it is). We’re very close to Easter but aren’t there yet. We have to face the cross first, the suffering. It’s not easy. Yet there’s also the beauty of the cross, the beauty of this mid-point of the Triduum – the liturgy and rituals that the Church, in her wisdom, provides us with in its fullness. We know there truly is no Easter without the Cross, there is no resurrection without death. Yet, I’d prefer to avoid the “death” part, the suffering, not just mine (as minor as it is), but Jesus’ suffering – which, as we read in today’s passion narrative from John, Peter tried to prevent with the sword, and then (very humanly) out of fear and weakness later denied even knowing Jesus.
Thursday of Holy Week
Today we begin the sacred Paschal Triduum with the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. It is here that Jesus washes the disciples’ feet and tells them that He has given a “model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.” How are we called to follow Jesus today in this world and this time?
Wednesday of Holy Week
In today’s Gospel, we find Matthew’s account of Judas’ decision to willfully betray Jesus. Such a tragic account; such a heartbreaking glimpse into Judas’ life. As the story unfolds, I’m reminded of my own human tendency to sin and of the overwhelming love of Christ our Lord who desires to redeem and restore us. Praying today’s Gospel, I sense within myself an even greater desire for the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation. I invite you into this spiritual hunger with me, confident that our Lord wants to flood us with more of his grace and mercy.
Tuesday of Holy Week
In today’s Gospel, Jesus anticipates that he will be abandoned—Judas betrays him, Peter will deny him, his disciples will leave him when he is crucified. At his condemnation and death, only a few people stay with him including his mother, the Beloved Disciple, and one or two women disciples. Almost all the people who have been with him for years in his ministry desert him. In telling the stories of those who abandoned, betrayed, and/or denied Jesus, the Gospel writer poses this question back to the reader: Will you leave and betray Jesus too?
Monday of Holy Week
He will not cry out, nor make his voice heard in the street.
—First Oracle of the Servant of the LORD.
Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
As we recently talked through the Sunday readings with our young family, one of our children remarked how foolish the featured disciples were. How could they not understand what Jesus was saying? It makes so much sense! Didn’t they trust Him that what He said would come true? How could they not have reconciled His words with the teachings they surely had learned?
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Standing up for what we believe in, for who we believe in, can bolster our faith.
This passage in the Gospel of John takes place on a winter day in Jerusalem during Hannukah (the festival of the Dedication).
Jesus strolls along the eastern portico of the Temple when a group of Jews (most likely synagogue leaders) “gathered around him” (John 10:24).
The scene escalates quickly. A few verses later, Jesus asserts his unity with God to his skeptical crowd: “The Father and I are one” (v. 30).
Today’s reading begins just after Jesus speaks these words. The Jews then pick up stones to render the appropriate punishment for blasphemy.
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
“They took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area.” John 8:59
Back in the 1950s, on his popular television show, Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen had this to say in response to todays’ Gospel and the attempted stoning of Jesus:
To quote him here….
If I were not a Catholic, and were looking for the true Church in the world today, I would look for the one Church which did not get along well with the world. In other words, I would look for the Church which the world hated. My reason for doing this would be that if Christ is in any one of the churches, he must still be scorned as he was when he was on earth in the flesh. If you would find Christ today, then find the Church that does not get along with the world!
Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
I find the juxtaposition of these two bible stories very interesting. In our Old Testament reading we hear Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to worship the god of Nebuchadnezzar. When they are bound and thrown into the flames, we see they are rewarded for their faithfulness, as a fourth man walks them through the flames, protecting them. This faithfulness and subsequent miracle lead to a conversion in Nebuchadnezzar himself. Because they believe in the Lord and not in their own power, we hear him say, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants who trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God."
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Are you finding yourself a bit worn and tired at this stage of the Lenten journey? Is your patience with yourself and others near running out? If so, you’re in good company with the Israelites journeying with Moses through the harsh desert lands - missing their choice beverages and foods and drinking water.
Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
In today’s liturgy, young prophet Daniel interrupts the court railroading of Susanna by demanding that her corrupt judges be questioned — so as to prevent the death of an innocent woman. Daniel is one of the first figures in salvation history to promote rights for women. “As she was being led to her death, the LORD raised up the Holy Spirit in a young boy, whose name was Daniel (Dn 13:44).” In a way, Daniel prefigures Jesus as an advocate for women.
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
In today’s Gospel, people seem to be confused about Jesus. Some thought he was a prophet, others thought he was Christ (Koine Greek for “Anointed One”), and others thought he was lying. There was also confusion about what to do with him. Arrest him? Hear him out? How can we apply this Scripture passage to our lives today?
Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
Psalm 34:19a
My Dad is brokenhearted. My mother – his wife of 61 years – passed away a year ago, and he’s been grieving ever since. My sisters and I and the rest of our family have been grieving as well, of course, but my dad lost his beloved spouse, life partner, mother of his three children, grandmother of their ten grandchildren and great-grandmother of their two great-grandchildren. He has been practically lost without her. And that is breaking my heart.