You Either Have Oil (The Holy Spirit) Or You Don’t!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, As we approach the end of the liturgical year many of the gospels focus on the Kingdom of heaven, one of Matthew’s favorite themes. Also during this month of November we are reminded to pray for loved ones who have gone home before us, and to visit their graves. Perhaps some…
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Venerating The Saints Helps Us
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We have the great fortune this week to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints on a Sunday and so it gave us time to reflect on where we are going in life. The tomb of St. Peter can be seen today in Rome five stories beneath the altar of St. Peter’s…
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It Takes Three To Get Married
Dear Friends, This week Jesus is again being set up by the Pharisees to see how they can get rid of him and he is asked about which law is the greatest? The Jews at this time, and even today, endlessly debate and discuss 613 specific commandments of the Law so to ask which one…
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Give What You Have Back To The World, And Give Who You Are To God
Dear Brothers and Sisters, At Father Flanagan’s Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska there was a kid who was carrying another one and was asked by a visitor, “Isn’t he heavy?” His response was. “No, he is not heavy, he is my brother.” This became the impetus of a song that you and I have heard…
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Put On Christ, And Make No Provisions For The Flesh
Dear Brothers and Sisters, This gospel ought to make us think: what is the Lord preparing for us in heaven, at this wedding, in this banquet? What could it be that St. Paul says eye has not seen, nor ear has heard what God has prepared for us? How doo I live my vocation as…
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He Never Tires Of Sending Us Prophets
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In many and various ways God spoke to us through the prophets but in these last days he speaks to us by his Son, said the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. What we heard today is an allegory, not a parable. It is a story that has a deeper…
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Our Moral Decisions Define Us
Dear Brothers and Sisters, There is a Jewish story that says teshuva was created before man was created. Teshuva means the possibility of going back. God knew that we would make mistakes and teshuva means that we can fix our mistakes and are able to change, and go back. We get another chance. In Ezekiel’s…
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Is Your Eye Evil?
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote back in 1968 that the name God revealed to Moses at the sight of the burning bush was completely unique. The second part of the name was: I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At that time in history the gods were always associated with places…
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Mercy Gives Us Life!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, A few years before I entered the seminary, I was in my early forties and a friend said sit down for fifteen minutes and write what God had done for me during my lifetime. I wrote and wrote and wrote, stopped for a break, and then wrote again. I was blown…
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Let Us Gather In His Name
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Life sometimes presents to us situations that say: where are you going in life, in your faith, in your marriage or your family. And a good way to know if you are on the right track is if you reconcile often with the people close to you. When you feel that…
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