Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Isaiah 35:4-7a, James 2:1-5, Mark 7:31-37 Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Samuel was one of the most remarkable gospel preachers in my village. You see, Samuel was blind and never went to school. Later in life he joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses and had to memorize large portions [...]
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8, James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Dear sisters and brothers, Is there anyone who can teach us as Jesus does? Is there any faith tradition that is as strong and true as our own? There is no God other than ours, Father, Son [...]
21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-17, Eph 5: 21-32, John 6: 60-69 Dear sisters and brothers, In today’s Gospel we are being asked to make a choice, as we are, to choose to follow Jesus or not. Will we choose to follow him for a while and see how [...]
Feast of Assumption of the Virgin Mary Rev 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab, 1 Cor 15:20-27, Luke 1:39-56 Dear sisters and brothers, For us Catholics, Mary’s role in salvation is apparent. She is not our savior, but the mother of our Savior and for this we praise her cooperation with the action of the Holy Spirit. [...]
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 1 Kings: 19: 4-8, Eph 34: 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, John 6: 41-51 Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Bread that Came Down from Heaven A community of nuns in Paris usually has a priest come in every evening at 4:00 pm to celebrate the Eucharist with [...]
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ex 16: 2-4.12-15, Eph 4: 20-24, Jn 6: 24-35 Dear sisters and brothers, In 1885 Vincent Van Gogh visited a museum in Amsterdam in order to see Rembrandt’s famous painting. ‘The Jewish Bride’. Having seen it he said, ‘I would give ten years of my life if [...]
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. 2 Kings 4:42-44, Eph 4:1-4, Jn 6:1-15 Dear sisters and brothers, Today is the seventeenth Sunday of ordinary time, we celebrate Christ, the new Elisha who feeds and unites us in him. Our first reading and the gospel are similar. Both narrate the miracles of the multiplication [...]
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jer 23:1-6, Eph 2:13-18, Mk 6:30-34 Dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Today we have leaders who lead astray and leaders who don’t help the people. Always we have had the same. The Scriptures are filled with stories of these types of leaders in the Old Testament but also [...]
15th Sunday in Ordinary Time Amos 7:12-15, Eph 1:3-14, Mk 6:7-13 My sisters and brothers in Christ, Today we hear about how God chooses people for particular missions within the Church and about how God chooses all of us who believe to give witness to Him. Far too often we have no sense [...]
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ez 2: 2-5, 2 Cor 12: 7-10, Mark 6: 1-6a Dear Sisters and Brothers, An old man is wondering if his wife had a hearing problem. So, one night, while his wife is sitting in her lounge chair, he goes behind her and says softly to her, “Honey, [...]