JOHN 15:9-17 Dear Friends, Some eleven and half weeks ago, we received the ashes with the command: “Repent and believe in the Good News.” During our common journey through Lent, hopefully, we have indeed repented and have also prepared ourselves to celebrate the great event of our faith, the Pascal Mystery of Christ’s Death and Resurrection. We are now entering the sixth week of Easter. During these days after Easter, we have been invited to embrace the great mystery of the final victory over death and our call to life eternal. For the first three Sundays after Easter, we have been encourag ..read more

John 15:1-8 Dear Friends, An important part of the Gospel of St. John is the “I am…” statements. They are pronouncements that Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Living Water, The Light of the World, the Door, the Good Shepard, the Way, the Life and the Truth and finally today’s Gospel message, the Vine. All of these statements have two common characteristics. They are rooted in the Old Testament teachings. Secondly, they show how important institutions of Judaism are being replaced in Jesus. He is now the final source of God’s revelation. Jesus is the privileged point of encounter with God for ..read more

The Merchants in the Temple And Deep Personal 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.  Jn 2:13-22No 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 st ..read more

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