Lk 24: 35-48 Dear Friends, The real power and message of today’s story is not in the Alleluia. It is the account of how difficult it was for the disciples to embrace the reality of the Alleluia, the risen Lord, the Suffering Messiah’s who conquest of death. The disciples are gathered in fear and anguish. The Emmaus travelers are enthusiastically sharing their experience. During their wild tale, Jesus appears. Luke describes the immediate reaction. It is not one of joy and wonder. The people in the room are startled and terrified. They think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus calms them down by ..read more

John 20:19-31When you think about it, the disciples had a really devastating seventy-two hours from the washing of the feet on Thursday to the visit of the Risen Christ on Sunday evening. Of course, Peter leads the way in the trauma department. Wash my feet! Never! Then my hands and face also! I will be willing to die rather than deny you! I do not know the man! Peter “went out and wept bitterly.” (Lk.22:62) “The doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.” (Jn 20:19) It was a short trip from total arrogance to total devastation. They were engulfed in shat ..read more

Mark 16:1-7  Dear Friends, Among all the Resurrection stories, today’s passage from Mark is especially challenging and different. All the stories carry the fundamental message of victory over death, the restoration from the consequences of the first sin of Adam and Eve. It is clear that God had spoken and the ultimate word is not death but life, not hatred but love, not injustice and violence, but wholeness, integrity, peace and reconciliation. In today’s passage we are given a powerful insight about discipleship: God never gives up on us! In the three passages in Mark (8:31, 9:31, &am ..read more

Mark 14:1 to 15:47Dear Friends, Over the centuries, we have had many different interpretations of a most basic truth of our faith: Jesus died to save us. We say in the Nicene Creed every Sunday, “for our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, He suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day.” St. Anselm taught us that the Father was not looking for some bloody sacrifice to appease his justice. Christ was sent into the world to live perfectly as a human being. In this way, being free and perfect in His humanity, He saved us. There were many options Jesus could have used ..read more

John 12: 20-33Dear Friends, This passage from John is extraordinary in many ways. First, by itself, it contains a great amount of Jesus’ message. Secondly, for a liturgical selection, it is much more far-reaching than usual. It will help us if we read it from the context of our Lenten journey. We are trying to purify ourselves and to free ourselves to enter into the great mystery of our faith, the death and resurrection of Jesus. In the previous chapters of John, Jesus had denied several times that his “hour” had come. Now he says the “hour” is at hand. The “hour” is his glorification in de ..read more

REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL  (JOHN 3: 14-21) The daily readings from John in weeks four and five of Lent How are you doing in our Lenten intention to give up something? Have you failed a couple of times? The Church has made plans for that failure! This is how it works. The time of Lent is a time of conversion. What you may give up is only secondary to the change of mind and heart that we are called to on Ash Wednesday: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” The daily Gospel readings of the first three weeks of Lent are all about Jesus’ calling us into a new world of love, reconcilia ..read more

Jn 2:13-25No doubt, the merchants in the Temple were shocked by Jesus’ astonishing attack on the commercial situation that had evolved out of the Law’s mandate to offer sacrifice. It is hard to believe that they were not baffled and blind to the corruption and distortion of faith that Jesus was confronting and exposing. Most likely, the vast majority of the merchants started their job with a great deal of good will. Not only did they have an opportunity for a good job to support their family, they were able to express their faith and support the community of believers in professing their rel ..read more

Mk 9:2-10Dear Friends, Our task for Lent is clear. This is a time to free our hearts and to enter more deeply into to the great mystery of our faith, the boundless act of God’s love in or crucified Savior. The somber message of Lent and the glory of the Transfiguration offer us a challenge similar to the challenge of the total message of Jesus. We are trying to grasp how death opens up to life. When Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” (Mk 8:29), Peter answered, “The Messiah.” (Mk 8:29) No doubt, Peter thought he had arrived safely at the conclusion of his search. Then Jesus lays the Je ..read more

Mark 1:40-45It is important to understand the context of lepers in the time of Jesus. They were designated lepers by any major skin disease. Only some had the key contagious disease we call leprosy today. Secondly, they had to live in isolation with no contact with the community. This included total isolation from family, worship and work. Therefore, they were beggars and abandoned at all levels as the awaited a painful and slow death. The first five words of today’s gospel text are very explosive. “A leper came to Jesus…” (Mk 1:40) For a leper to approach a person other than another leper w ..read more

The Canaanite Woman’s Prayer  These various reflection on Gospel characters hopes to show the importance of deep personal prayer. In some examples, the absence of this prayer is also insightful. I The Story’s Background in Matthew’s Gospel All the Evangelists told the story of Jesus out of the context of their own community. Matthew’s community was a group of Jewish Christians struggling for their own identity as both Jews and followers of Christ. They saw themselves as the true Jews. They accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah fulfilling the hope of centuries of Jewish longings for ..read more