At the end of each episode of the television series “Blue Bloods,” the family gathers around the table for Sunday dinner. No matter the difficulties or discouragements of the week, the ritual of the Sunday meal is honored. At the end of one particularly difficult week the grandfather encouraged the family by saying, “I see […]
Question of the Week – February 18
With Catholics throughout the world, we have begun a forty day retreat. We will spend our forty days praying, fasting, and giving alms – disciplining ourselves so that we might grow in holiness. No doubt we too will be faced with temptation, but angels will minister to us and God will speak to us through […]
Question of the Week – February 11
It takes discipline to keep our excitement to ourselves. We tell a close friend and make him or her promise not to tell, but somehow word gets out, and before we know it everyone knows what’s going on! In today’s Gospel, Jesus asks the leper not to share the news of his healing. This invites […]
Question of the Week – February 4
A day goes by and before we know it we are falling into bed exhausted. We intended to take time to pray, but time got away from us. In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches us by example that it is important to take time to be alone to pray. From prayer we can draw strength to […]
Question of the Week – January 28
In today’s gospel Jesus is demonstrating to his newly formed group of followers that the gospel they are to proclaim is grounded in the ordinary struggles of ordinary people. This gospel carries the power to lift the burdens and restore the troubled to wholeness and health. We may wish to identify the “unclean spirits” that […]
Question of the Week – January 21
If you want to be a fisherman for Christ, you first have to know your “fish.” You have to know that many of them have a hard time seeing the beauty of the gospel because they are distracted by so many other things. You have to know that sin may have hardened the hearts of […]
Question of the Week – January 14
We can sense the excitement of those first disciples when they saw Jesus and received Jesus’ invitation to follow him. They literally stopped what they were doing and followed him, inviting others to join them along the way. Today is a good day to think about our own level of excitement when we hear the […]
Question of the Week – January 7
As we look upon the crib, we cannot stay there. Like the shepherds and the magi, we too are called to move away and take the light of Jesus with us. We are asked not only to admire the light, but to be people of light. As Jesus himself tells us, ‘you are the light […]
Question of the Week – December 31
The importance of the Holy Family’s example of faith and love is essential for all families. Many laws and cultural pressures are attacking the family. Families must model themselves on the Holy Family, living as domestic churches, to counter these anti-family forces. The Holy Family was centered around Jesus; every family is called to center […]
Christmas Message 2017
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.” (Philippians 4:4-5) Christmas is a time to rejoice and look at the world with fresh eyes. We see signs all around that remind us how Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Nativity scenes are seen […]
