Rom 4:18-25 Brothers and sisters: Abraham believed, hoping against hope, that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “Thus shal...
Dt 11:18, 26-28, 32 …Moses told the people, “Take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them at your wrist as a sign, and let them be a pendant on your for...
Dt 8:2-3, 14b-16a Moses said to the people: “Remember how for forty years now the LORD, your God, has directed all your journeying in the desert, so as to test you by afflict...
Ex 34:4b-6, 8-9 Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, “If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necke...
Acts 2:1-11 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 Jn 20:19-23. The Bicycle I heard a young girl crying the other night when I was walking the dogs. I couldn’t see where she was or what she wa...
Mt 28:16-20 The Call of the Spirit On the readings for Sunday, May 4th, we read from the very last chapter of Matthew. It is the swan song of Jesus, the Christ, before He ascends i...
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17 1 Pt 3:15-18 Jn 14:15-21 The Face in the Mirror As I thought about the readings for the Sunday of April 27th, the gospel stirred up in me a surprising smile. How ...
Acts 6:1-7 1 Pt 2:4-9 Jn 14:1-12 God’s Prism A few years ago I was asked to do a funeral/celebration of life worship service for a patient. She was an amazing woman who other...
Acts 2:14, 22-33 1 Pt 1:17-21 Lk 24:13-35 Roadside Conversations As I read the gospel of April 6th I wondered, “What were the niceties that the people shared at the time that...
Acts 2:42-47 1 Pt 1:3-9 Jn 20:19-31 Inner Room I love the readings from the Sunday of March 30th. It touches on values that I hold most dear and in the gospel it states that Christ...
Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Col 3:1-4 or I Cor 5:6b-8 Jn 20:1-9 Who was that Man? The day before Easter a friend and I were taking our dogs to be groomed. In many ways it had been a wonderf...
Is 50:4-7 Phil 2:6-11 Mt 26:14-27:66 or 27:11-54. Which Crowd? There it was the Palm Sunday celebration. My friend Alice and I head off to Sunday’s celebration. I got let off...
Ez 37:12-14 Rom 8:8-11 Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45 Let Your Ears be Attentive In church a few weeks ago the priest presider was sending the younger children off for the...
1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a Eph 5:8-14; Jn 9:1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38 Life Turned Upside Down Again after another bout of being sick in bed I re-enter my world of work and being ...
Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7 Rom 5:12-19 or 5:12, 17-19 Mt 4:1-11 Garage Temptations I spent the weekend putting together two shelving unites for the garage. A friend and I put the first shelf ...
Is 8:23-9:3 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17 Mt 4:12-23 or 4:12-17 The Right Stuff Right now in the United States there seems to be very few places that you can go where you are not inundated wit...
Is 49:3, 5-6 1 Cor 1:1-3 Jn 1:29-34. The Glory of God The readings from Sunday January 20th stir up in me questions and reactions. The first question is from the Isaiah, have I eve...
Is 42:1-4, 6-7 Acts 10:34-38 Mt 3:13-17 A Simple Handshake In one of my chaplain internships I worked at Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston. I was so nervous to enter the...
Readings: Is 60:1-6, 10 Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6 Mt 2:1-12. The Guiding Light I often wonder how many special stars I have missed which were in plain sight which would have led me to the Ch...
Is 9:1-6, 10 Ti 2:11-14 Lk 2:1-14 An Unlikely Manager Scene I have to admit that if I take into consideration who I am with my sensitive nose, my dislike for the cold, my standoffi...
Is 35:1-6a, 10 Jas 5:7-10 Mt 11:2-11 Miracles Great and Small The other day I sat with a man who was dying. I was told that he was dying and that he was afraid. You could tell by l...
Is 11:1-10 Rom 15:4-9 Mt 3:1-12 My Favorite Flashlights This week I have been thinking about the concept of light and how this season of Advent invites us to open to the Christ lig...
Is 2:1-5 Rom 13:11-14 Mt 24:37-44 “Come, let us climb the LORD’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his...
2 Sm 5:1-3 Col 1:12-20 Lk 23:35-43 Christ the King I have struggled with the readings from November 25th I got stuck on the title “The Feast of Christ the King.” It see...
Mal 3:19-20a 2 Thes 3:7-12 Lk 21:5-19 Grabbing hold of the Kingdom At a recent Sunday liturgy I watched a Eucharistic minister make the sign of the cross on the forehead of his fou...
2 Mc 7:1-2, 9-14 2 Thes 2:16-3:5 Lk 20:27-38 Sunflower Seeds Recently I heard this phrase: “Even if we cannot find God within, God recognizes Himself within us.” I find...
Wis 11:22-12:2 2 Thes 1:11-2:2 Lk 19:1-10 To be Tall of Heart I have been short a great deal of my life. I am fifty and I can honestly say that I haven’t been tall since the ...
Sir 35:12-14, 16-18 2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18 Lk 18:9-14 Rubber Stamp, I think Not! Recently I had the occasion to pray with a patient, her granddaughter and her sister. When it came time ...
Ex 17:8-13 2 Tm 3:14-4:2 Lk 18:1-8 Who is at the Door? In the gospel reading on October 21st, Jesus talks to us about the widow who pesters the judge until he renders a just decisi...
2 Kgs 5:14-17 2 Tm. 2:8-13 Lk. 17:11-19 The Exit Ramp This morning I was coming off an exit ramp from the freeway and a man held a sign which said, “I am dying.” Usuall...
Hab. 1:2-3; 2:2-4 2 Tm. 1:6-8, 13-14 Lk. 17:5-10 In Search of the Mustard Seed This past month I have had the opportunity to learn about God’s faithfulness and about the R...
Wis 9:13-18b Phmn 9-10, 12-17 Lk 14:25-33 The Great Adventure I am at the beginning of an adventure. It began last week with an email offering two temporary contract jobs. I am on ...
Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Heb 12:18-19, 22-24 Lk 14:1, 7-14 Table Places I have been thinking a lot about seating places the last couple of weeks. In the gospel reading from Sunday Se...
Is 66:18-21 Heb 12:5-7, 11-13 Lk 13:22-30 Where will I Sit? I grew up in a large family. I was the sixth of seven children. There was an expectation in our family that when dinner ...
Jer 38:4-6, 8-10 Heb 12:1-4 Lk 12:49-53 Where are we in the Crowd In both the first reading and the gospel of August 19th, I find myself feeling a little shook up and not quite sur...
Wis 18:6-9 Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 or 11:1-2, 8-12 Lk. 12:32-48 or 12:35-40 Choices The readings for August 12th walk us into the sacred space of waiting. I think that most of us are R...
Ecc 1:2; 2:21-23 Col 3:1-5, 9-11 Lk. 12:13-21 Fishing for the Right Barn I listened to the readings from Sunday, August 5th differently, especially the gospel from the 12th chapter...
Gn 18:20-32 Col 2:12-14 Lk. 11:1-13 Who will be Spared? In the first reading from Genesis 18:20-32, for the Sunday of July 29th, we find Abraham negotiating for the good and innoce...
Gn 18:1-10a Col 1:24-28 Lk. 10:38-42 Where are we called to be Mary? I was waiting for my plane in Denver, after being forty-five minutes late in boarding, a voice came over the mi...
Dt 30:10-14 Col 1:15-20 Lk. 10:25-37 The Burly Stranger I find myself wondering in certain situations, what is the right thing for me to do regarding this or that. In the readings ...
Is 66:10-14c Gal 6:14-18 Lk. 10:1-12, 17-20 or 10:1-9 Sent Out Recently a friend asked me a very good question. She asked whether hospice patients prayed more for physical healing ...
1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21 Gal 5:1, 13-18 Lk 9:51-62 The Call to Trust I felt called to go to Japan when I graduated from college. I can still hear my Mom saying, “You need to think...
Is 49:1-6 Acts 13:22-26 Lk 1:57-66, 80 Scheduling Conflicts The last couple of days have been very full with work. Loving summer as I do, I have crammed a lot of projects into the ...
Gn 14:18-20 1 Cor 11:23-26 Lk 9:11b-17 Feast of the Holy Body and Blood of Jesus I watch the children each Sunday as they approach the distributor of communion, their hands folded ...
Prv 8:22-31 Rom 5:1-5 Jn 16:12-15 Mapquest Holy Trinity Style I am a hospice chaplain, most of our patients live in their homes, while some live in group homes of nursing homes. Tw...
Acts 2:1-11 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Rom 8:8-17 Jn 20:19-23 WOW! It seems not so long ago that I was sitting at the bedside of my mother as she was dying. It was just me, as my six ...
Acts 7:55-60 Rev 22:12-14, 16-17, 20 Jn 17:20-26 The Door Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who w...
Acts 15:1-2, 22-29 Rev 21:10-14, 22-23 Jn 14, 23-29 Making Room for the Spirit On this Mother’s Day Sunday, May 13th, the gospel reading seemed pregnant with promises. Althou...
Acts 14:21-27 Rev 21:1-5a Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35 Let us Dare to Love During the past week, I officiated at four funerals of patients with whom I have walked. Each person had a unique ...
Acts 13:14, 43-52 Rev 7:9, 14b-17 Jn 10:27-30 In All Ways In the mid 1970’s a new liturgical hymn came out from the St. Louis Jesuits called “Be Not Afraid.” I li...
Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Rev 5:11-14 Jn 21:1-19 Innie Outtie My housemate and I have two wonderful dogs, they have all kinds of good habits and a few irritating habits. They are not so...
Acts 5:12-16 Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 Jn 20:19-31 Between a Rock and A Hard Place I enter the post Easter readings today a little sheepishly, as my reflections have been missing t...
1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a Eph 5:8-14 Jn 9:1-41 Uncomfortable Blindness I recently found out some information about various wages being offered to my colleagues at work. The informati...
Ex 17:3-7 Rm. 5:1-2, 5-8 Jn. 4:5-42 Bearing Life Giving Water I always feel somewhat sorry for the woman at the well when the story starts to unfold. The first part of the gospel s...
Gn 15:5-12, 17-18 Phil 3:17-4:1 Lk 9:28b-36 A Mountain Top View This past week I have been thinking about the gospel of Luke from the Sunday reading of March 4th. I have always fel...
Dt 26:4-10 Rm 10:8-13 Lk 4:1-13 Leaning on the Lord A week ago I went snow shoeing with a friend on one of the nearby mountains. This was the first time I had really done any snow ...
1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 1 Cor 15:45-49 Lk 6:27-38 Turning the other Cheek The other day I was talking to a dear friend of mine. She was full of good news about work opportunit...
Jer 17:5-8 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20 Lk 6:17, 20-26 That place of Unknowing This week as I have reflected on the gospel reading from February 11th, I have found myself looking for beatitu...
Is 6:1-2a, 3-8 1 Cor 15:1-11 Lk 5:1-11 Burning Coals The other day at work a co-worker took a short cut through our hospice team room. We have a team room which has two doors and i...
Being Seen from Inside Out We have a nurse who recently had a baby. It was cool to watch how her appearance changed over the months. The other day I saw her in the hallway at work ...
