Draw Near To God And He Will Draw Near To You!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I hope you gave some thought to the STEPS that we announced last week and that you commit yourself in some way to one of them. Life in the church ought to have a purpose: to deepen my faith, to learn how to share it, to overcome certain bad habits or…
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By Losing Your Life For Christ, You Will Gain It
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We know how frustrated it can be to realize the GPS is taking us in the wrong direction especially if we are already late and the weather is bad. Or in school we are taking courses that make no sense and you wonder: where are we going with Spanish and calculus…
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The Evils Within Defile A Man
Dear Brothers and Sisters, There are two very different trajectories in the gospel today (Mark 7: 1-8, 14-15, 21-23). Matthew’s version explains it more graphically when he says that what goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and goes into the latrine. They’re all hollow places. It is sheer madness to think that certain…
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Do You Also Want To Go Away?
Dear Brothers and Sisters: This week we finish this fantastic chapter from St. John’s gospel (6: 60-69). At the beginning of it we saw this amazing miracle of Jesus feeding some 15,000 people with the lunch of one small boy. It is a good reminder that when we face a difficulty to give it to…
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This Is My Flesh For The Life Of The World
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Last week we heard that Jesus said to the crowds, and to us, “Come to me!” You who are hungry and thirsty, you who do not know the meaning of your life, come to me, come and drink and you will thirst no more. And we saw that this gospel was…
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Come To Me, Come And Eat!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Last week Philip thought the answer to the crisis Jesus faced with feeding thousands of people was money. Andrew saw that the answer was a little boy who had his lunch and was not afraid to give it away. When you’re faced with an unsolvable problem what do you choose, what…
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Jesus Gives Infinitely More Than Enough
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We continue to see the compassion of God for his people this week in the miracle of Elisha in the first reading (2 Kings 4: 42-44) when his servant feeds a hundred men with twenty barley loaves, and with much left over. Earlier in the same book Elisha helps an impoverished…
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Jesus Sees That They Are Sheep Without A Shepherd
Dear Brothers and Sisters: Last week we heard how Jesus sent his apostles two by two with no money, no bag, nothing. He sent them out completely disarmed, and we also go out disarmed when we speak sincerely about our lives and what God is doing for us. People are not looking for perfection, but…
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He Sent Them Out!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Amaziah was the priest of Bethel, which was a national sanctuary. Not only was he the priest but the chief priest and he was from the official family of the sanctuary. In addition he was the public relations guy for the king. And the kingdom was very affluent and their liturgies…
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Little Girl, I Say To You, Arise!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the gospel of Mark (5: 21-43) we hear of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue, who comes with great humility, falling at his feet and pleading for help. This leader goes to the King of leaders and begs for help. Jairus keeps order in the synagogue and Jesus keeps order…
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