Dear brothers and sisters, God’s forgiveness is today’s theme. Our first reading (Exodus 32: 7-11, 13-14) takes us back to Moses, about 1300 years before Christ. The people of Israel had just escaped from Egypt and were going through the desert of Sinai on their way to the Promised Land. God had already made a [...]
Dear sisters and brothers, There are people who have great goals in life, but they will never achieve those goals. Why not? Because they are not willing to pay the price. There is a story about a girl called Antoinette, who was very pretty but very poor. She had only one goal [...]
Dear sisters and brothers, A few years ago, I was watching a video by now-Bishop Robert Barron, when he said something that has struck with me ever since. He was talking about love of neighbor, or agape in Greek. He said that this love has been classically defined as “actively” willing the good of [...]
Dear Sisters and Brothers, Jesus often does not give straight answers to questions posed to him. Today's gospel story, for instance, starts with someone asking him, "Will only a few people be saved?" It seems like a straightforward question about numbers. But Jesus perceives that the questioner and the others whom he was teaching [...]
Dear Sisters and Brothers, The gospel is a great comfort to us, especially in times of sorrow and trouble. But it’s a great challenge. It challenges us to shun darkness and to opt for the light, to be with Christ rather than against him. Let us ask the Lord to help us to be [...]
Dear Sisters and Brothers, The Second Mountain: In the last ten years or so, I have become a fan of the New York Times columnist and NPR/PBS radio and television personality David Brooks. In some significant ways, my becoming a fan has been quite unlikely. I am a pretty liberal Catholic, and pretty liberal as [...]
Dear Sisters and Brothers, A few years ago, my friend Tom died of brain cancer. Tom had been a Navy pilot for thirty years and was always in great physical and mental shape. So when he began to show signs of physical weakness and mental confusion, everyone became concerned. He was eventually diagnosed with [...]
Dear Sisters and Brothers, The first reading and the Gospel are hospitality stories. Hospitality was an esteemed virtue in the ancient world. It is still a highly regarded and very necessary virtue. In the first reading we see how, when three strangers (Yahweh and two heavenly companions) suddenly appeared to Abraham, he reacted with [...]
Dear Sisters and Brothers, Larry Skutnik, 28, was a shy man who worked in a government office in Washington. On the afternoon of January 13, 1982, a severe snowstorm hit the city. He was on his way home when he ran into a traffic jam on one of the bridges over the Potomac River. [...]
Dear Sisters and Brothers, A preacher was speaking at an open-air crusade in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Billy Graham was to speak the following night. But he arrived a day early. He came unannounced and sat on the grass with the crowd. In front of him sat an elderly gentleman who seemed to be listening attentively to the [...]
