A Conference on Humility
“ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete...
View ArticlePrayers for the new pope
As the exciting news arrived, the Monks of St. Benedict's Abbey rejoiced over the election of Pope Francis. Throughout the conclave, the monks and I offered a multitude of prayers for the cardinals....
View ArticleLowly and Yet Chosen
I must admit that when the identity of our new pope was announced, I was not all that thrilled at the Cardinals’ choice, for I knew nothing of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio. The fact that he is seventy-six...
View ArticleHe Gave you Thanks and Praise
Servant of God Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said; “If anyone will look closely into the experiences of life, he will discover that God is in some way giving us a more inward sense of things, as if He...
View ArticleHoly Week 2013 - Monday - Costly Love
In today’s Gospel reading, a woman expresses extravagant love for Jesus—at great cost to herself. John the Evangelist tells us that Mary, the sister of Lazarus (whom Jesus raised from the dead),...
View ArticleHoly Week 2013 - Tuesday
Will You Lay Your Life Down for Me? In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus begins to explain to his disciples the path he must take to the cross. In response, Peter declares: “Master, why can I not follow...
View ArticleHoly Week 2013 - Wednesday
The Faith of Jesus Christ Theologians sometimes debate how early in his life Jesus Christ knew that he would be crucified. Did he know, when he was a young boy learning carpentry from his earthly...
View ArticleHoly Week 2013 - Holy Thursday
The Scourging was Not Gratuitious While, for most of my life, I have understood the purpose and necessity of the crucifixion, I confess to struggling with the apparent gratuitousness of the scourging...
View ArticleHoly Week 2013 - Good Friday
A Champion Crowned with Suffering Our country—in spite of all the changes that have occurred in the last fifty years or so—is still very much influenced by Christianity. While that is a great...
View ArticleHoly Week 2013 - Saturday
A Saturday of Second Guessing What were the disciples thinking on this Saturday, nearly 2,000 years ago? Surely, it was a Saturday of second guessing. As the pall of Jesus’ death descended upon their...
View ArticleHoly Week 2013 - Easter Sunday
Easter Hope As we celebrate Easter, we should remember that no matter how dark and tragic life looks, there is always hope. Consider this: on Good Friday, the disciples hope had died. Everything...
View ArticleShare Life, Share Joy
In the opening chapter of Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, he writes: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because...
View ArticleWhat Does Sharing Life Around the Gospel Mean?
Yesterday, we encouraged you to share life together—to share life around the Gospel. Yet what does that look like? There is a difficulty in fully describing it. The temptation is to describe sharing...
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Don't Say This to a Friend
When friends are going through hard times or experiencing a crisis of faith, we are often tempted to encourage them with a certain 4-word phrase. What is it? I believe in you. If you make a habit of...
View ArticleThe Touch of Jesus
Read through the Gospels and you will see that Our Lord is very “touchy feely.” If you think about it, there is really no reason Jesus had to touch anyone. He could have just held up his hands in a...
View ArticleJesus is Our Springtime
In Luke 2:26-39, the annunciation of the birth of Jesus signals something new. Since the rebellion of humankind in the Garden of Eden, the world at large was in bondage to sin and death. Israel in...
View ArticleNot Better Men, But New Creations
Yesterday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. The Angel Gabriel told the Blessed Virgin that she would bear a son; his coming into the world would begin a new era—a...
View ArticleThe Hard Words After John 3:16
While fewer and fewer people in this age know the contents of the Bible, many people—regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof—recognize at least one verse: John 3:16. “God so loved...
View ArticleI Am The Bread from Heaven
This morning’s Mass readings continue through the Bread of Life Discourse. In this section, we read this: The crowd said to Jesus: “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can...
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