The Feast Christ the King LK 23:35-43 November 20, 2016 A friend gave me a gift. It is intended to hang on a wall as a decoration. It is a miniature deer mount. It is shiny chrome....
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 21:5-19 November 13, 2016 Last Sunday, through Luke’s Gospel, Jesus gave us a glimpse of what awaits those who are redeemed in the Blood of ...
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 20:27-38 November 6, 2016 A new sit-com aired on network television this fall. It’s called “The Good Place.” I’ve only seen the first epi...
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 19:1-10 November 30, 2016 I was invited to some friends’ for dinner. Shortly after I arrived, their young son asked if I wanted to see some ...
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 18:9-14 October 23, 2016 One of the lingering images from this past summer’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is not about a victory, but what s...
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 18:1-8 October 16, 2016 A small, rural parish decided to undertake a much needed restoration of their historic church. So, in addition to hi...
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 17:11-19 October 9, 2016 The 2016 Noble Prize in medicine was announced on Monday morning. It was awarded to Japanese researcher, Yoshnori ...
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 17:5-10 October 2, 2016 A key issue in the presidential debate conducted this past week was how to deal with international, as well as dom...
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 16:19-31 September 25, 2016 I worked in downtown Detroit, Michigan, for over 20 years. Twice a day, year after year, I drove past a little g...
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 16:1-13 September 18, 2016 Timing couldn’t have been better. Last week, I heard the news that Wells Fargo Bank fired 5,300 employees w...
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 15:1-32 September 11, 2016 Last Sunday, September 4, on the 19th anniversary of her death, Pope Francis canonized Mother Teresa a saint of ...
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 14:25-33 September 4, 2016 Last Sunday afternoon, within the span of about 90 minutes, I was contacted by four different friends. Two were d...
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 14:1, 7-14 August 28, 2016 I have, and treasure greatly, many Filipino friends, in spite of my persistent disregard for one of their custom...
Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 13:22-30 August 21, 2016 There is a new, state-of-the-art, extremely hi-tech “doorbell” on the market. I’ve seen it advertised on television...
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 12:49-53 August 14, 2016 As the rest of the world looks on as nervous “observers,” we Americans are living between two battle cries: LET’...
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 12:32-48 August 7, 2016 The martyrdom of an elderly French priest in Normandy, France, during morning Mass on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, was al...
Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 12:13-21 July 31, 2016 I remember a conversation I once had with a friend whose spending habits were beyond extravagant. He put an entirely ...
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 11:1-13 July 24, 2016 When we Catholics pray, we begin with the Sign of the Cross. I wonder if many of us really stop to consider what we a...
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 10:38-42 July 16, 2016 In the 1960s and ‘70s, there was a large influx of immigrants to the United States from India. When they arrived here, t...
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 10:25-37 July 10, 2016 Before our own stock market responded with a significant downward slide to the outcome of the vote, I don’t recall...
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 10:1-12, 17-20 July 3, 2016 Last week, I encountered a big traffic jam…just a few blocks from my home. When traffic started to slow, my ...
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 9:51-62 June 26, 2016 One of my favorite points of reflection is attributed to Vatican II Jesuit theologian Fr. Karl Rahner, who once wrote ...
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 9:18-24 June 19, 2016 It is graduation season and the party invitations are flooding the post office. These days, most announcements are a sing...
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 7:36—8:3 June 12, 2016 For months now, we Americans have been evaluating, discussing, criticizing, and judging the people who want to be the lea...
Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 7:11-17 June 5, 2016 Someone recently asked me what brought me the greatest joy as a parish priest. I did not hesitate in responding, explaining th...
Corpus Christi Sunday LK 9:11B-17 May 29, 2016 I have resisted total knee replacement (both knees) for a number of years now and for a number of different reasons (excuses)…some ra...
Trinity Sunday JN 16:12-15 May 22, 2016 Every fireworks display ends with a grand finale. In one way, it’s disappointing to know that the sky will soon go dark. No more beaut...
Pentecost Sunday JN 20:19-23 May 15, 2016 One of my early memories…or possibly best learned and most used lessons from my early elementary years in Catholic school, was how v...
The Ascension of the Lord LK 24:46-53 May 8, 2016 This past week, Pope Francis tweaked their consciences in a letter directed to the Bishops of South America. The Holy Father chall...
Sixth Sunday of Easter JN 14:23-29 May 1, 2016 While I was living in Israel, it didn’t take long to adjust to greeting and taking leave of people with the same simple, beauti...
Fifth Sunday of Easter JN 13:31-33A, 34-35 April 24, 2016 A British research team has published a convincing study showing that “loneliness and social isolation can increase ...
Fourth Sunday of Easter JN 10:27-30 April 17, 2016 Years ago, I was traveling in Ireland with a few friends, one of whom could not pass a shop without entering and making a purchas...
Third Sunday of Easter JN 21:1-19 April 10, 2016 When he was very young…first or second grade…my sister indulged my nephew’s great fascination with magic. She per...
Second Sunday of Easter JN 20:19-31 April 3, 2016 At some point during my school years, I was reluctantly introduced to the works of the American poet, Emily Dickinson. Each studen...
Easter Sunday JN 20:1-9 March 27, 2016 I am taking a few liberties with an ancient saying by modernizing the currency. It goes like this: “Three words are worth $1.00. Two wo...
PALM SUNDAY LK 22:14—23:56 March 20, 2016 A “triumph” in the Roman Empire was actually a bit like a “ticker tape parade” a city holds for Super Bowl champions or when the hometown ...
THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT JN 8:1-11 or Scrutinies JN 11:1-45 March 13, 2016 A report of Pope Francis’s recent visit to Mexico summarized the points he made to the Bishops of t...
THE FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT LK 15:1-3, 11-32 or Scrutinies: JN 9:1-41 March 6, 2016 The Polly Klaas Foundation is an organization committed to locating and helping runaway and abduct...
THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT LK 13:1-9 February 28, 2016 The Flint water crisis is international news. It is a tragedy on par with the Zika virus in the sense that it poses a serious t...
Second Sunday of Lent LK 9:28B-36 February 21, 2016 Next Sunday is the 88th Academy Awards. I doubt I’ll be watching. One of the motion pictures nominated in several categori...
First Sunday of Lent LK 4:1-13 February 14, 2016 Good parents, I would think, recognize their children’s strengths and weaknesses. Good parents most likely try to encourage t...
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 5:1-11 February 7, 2016 Somehow, I was able to squeak through my high school English literature class by reading the “Cliff Notes” summary of Charl...
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time LUKE 4:21-30 January 31, 2016 I have a very distinct recollection of the first time I heard this Gospel proclaimed. I was old enough to listen and ab...
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time LK 1:1-4; 4:14-21 January 24, 2016 Recently, a BBC journalist, reporting from Madaya, Syria, a besieged city just miles from Damascus (actually a rela...
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time JN 2:1-11 January 17, 2016 Last Sunday, the Gospel took us to the shores of the Jordan River. We were privileged to look on as Jesus submitted to Joh...
Baptism of the Lord LK 3:15-16, 21-22 January 10, 2016 If you are fortunate enough to visit the great cathedrals of Italy, which all tourists typically do, Christian or non-Christi...
Divine Presence MT 2:1-12 Epiphany of the Lord January 3, 2016 If you “click on to” the NASA web site, you can make your way to a very interesting article, put up in October of 201...
Search and Recovery Luke 2:41-52 The Holy Family December 27, 2015 While in high school, I worked in a grocery store, not daily…but almost…and especially on Friday evenings and Sat...
TOWARDS CHRIST…WHO IS ALWAYS MOVING CLOSER TO US LK 1:39-45 Fourth Sunday in Advent December 20, 2015 I began my reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent, relating how duri...
MOVE! LK 3:10-18 Third Sunday of Advent December 13, 2015 Humanity needs to STAND UP AND MOVE towards solutions to the environmental crisis that threaten the well-being of future g...
A WAITING PEOPLE LK 3:1-6 Second Sunday of Advent December 6, 2015 During the last ten minutes of a recent visit, and sensing my concern for her well-being, my 90-something-year-ol...
STAND UP AND MOVE LK 21:25-28, 34-36 First Sunday of Advent November 29, 2015 Have you ever noticed how people entering a boarding area, waiting for a flight, look around for an em...
