Happy Passiontide! We are celebrating the 5th Sunday of Lent today. We had a very moving Gospel reading today to jump start us in our two week lead-up to Easter. Today’s reading comes from JN 11:1-45. In this selection we really get to see the awesomeness of Jesus being both God and man. When he hears of his friend Lazarus’s death he is deeply moved. He travels to Martha and Mary’s house, sisters of Lazarus, in order to be with them in their grief, as well as to work a miracle so that those present would come to believe he was the Christ. We are told that Jesus “wept” and that…

When our ears and heart are open to God, he often times speaks to us in the least likely of situations. Today I experienced such a moment. After finishing a workout session on YouTube, the trainer concluded the session by stating “progression not perfection.” While this isn’t the first time I’ve ever heard this motto, I received it a little differently today. Progression not perfection. It is the perfect anecdote for Christian life. God knows that as humans we are destined to make mistakes. He knows of our frailties and weaknesses as well as our innate desires to want to do the right thing as often as possible. God desires…

We, as humans, are fickle creatures. We are easily swayed by our passions, good or bad, and are so easily led astray. The daily readings of the past few days have shed light on this reality. It is a strange feeling identifying with the peoples of Moses’s time. When they cried out in the desert, hungry for food and longing to end their journey, frustrated in following a god they could not see. How often I have felt these same feelings, searching through the overgrown foot paths of my life for a well-marked trail. Struggling to keep faith when I am experiencing what feels like God’s absence in my life.…

Water. For the past several weeks the daily scriptural readings have mentioned water. It seems pretty basic, hardly profound, and yet it is being mentioned over and over again. Water, as we know, is essential to sustain life. Our own human bodies are made up of over 50% water and our planet is 97% water. If we lose even as little as 10% of the water within our bodies, we begin to experience immediate health problems such as low blood pressure, increased heart rate, fever, unconsciousness, all of which can and will prompt serious medical decline. When our earth becomes parched and various areas experience drought the foliage begins to…

I ran across a quote today that really moved me. It seemed to speak to me on many levels. The quote comes from my child’s catechism book and it goes like this “No greater gift can a person give than his own life for someone else.” Now of course, in the context of this religious text, the author is describing the sacrificial offering of Jesus on the cross. While we are moving into the 5th week of Lent, it made for a very special lesson for myself and my children. While the sacrifice of Jesus was profound, and did more for us than we will ever truly be able to…

The readings for this 4th weekend of Lent are about seeing. In the first reading from Samuel (1 SM 16: 1B, 6-7, 10-13 A) we read the account of the Lord asking Samuel to travel to Jesse in Bethlehem where God’s chosen king will be revealed to him. When he arrives he looks over Jesse’s sons and is surprised that God desires none of those he sees, rather God choose the absent son, David, who was away tending sheep at the time. God tells Samuel “Not as man sees does God see.” The second reading from Ephesians (EPH 5: 8-14) Paul reminds us that as God’s children we are lightbearers,…

Stop. Stop what you are doing and listen. For just a moment, be still and listen. What do you hear? If you’re like most of the country and you and your family have self-quarantined, then your house is probably noisy. Children carrying on, the sound of televisions, maybe radios or tablets playing music. Continue being still. Focus on what you can hear above the noise surrounding you. If you are trained in this practice, you may have heard a call to action, a mission for the day. You might have heard some encouraging words or some challenging ones. In both instances you were able to listen by first using your…

If we could rewind time back to the days of early Christendom it might surprise us to see how these early disciples worshiped the Lord. Not long after the resurrection, the zeal of the faithful was palpable. They were ever eager to share the message of God with everyone and to increase the number of believers. The miracles Jesus worked, coupled with his teachings, his rising from the dead, and the sacred law gave way to a communal practice of honoring and praising God together, with friends and family. A family gathering became the usual way of honoring the law of keeping holy the sabbath. Being in the early advent…

“Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’, and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Mt 17:20. If we but have the smallest amount of faith, Jesus tells us, we will be able to move mountains. What are mountains? They are those overwhelming obstacles we all face that weigh us down and challenge us (addictions, illness, financial struggles, relationship problems, etc.). It is during these experiences of life, that we are invited to take up our cross and follow Jesus. His faith in the Father allowed him to walk…

Today, we celebrate the feast day of St. Patrick, missionary, teacher, Bishop of Ireland. He was filled with zeal for the Lord at a young age. He often spent hours upon hours in prayer while going about his daily duties. Born in Britannia, he was captured by Irish pirates and made to tend sheep as a slave in Ireland. He escaped some six years later and returned home. it was back home that he heard the calling of the Lord and dedicated himself to missionary work as a priest. he felt called to return to Ireland to convert the Druid people to Christianity. Legend tells us it is here in…