Article for Easter

  Prison cannot contain the Apostles. It can restrain the strongest, but it cannot restrain their conviction to proclaim Jesus Christ. Even when locked up behind bars, the Apostles still experienced a deep interior freedom, which did not fade. In contrast, the hearts of the high priest and the Sadducees were filled with jealousy, and…

  The Acts of the Apostles recounted: “With great power the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus…” With great power… Bishop Barron is fond of quoting a twentieth century Anglican bishop who memorably expressed the insight: “When Paul preached, there were riots; when I preach, they serve me tea.” It makes me wonder…

  Mary beautifully shows us what it looks like to be open to God’s plan and to participate God’s plan of salvation. But, let’s take a step back and consider the ways we resist following God’s plan. First, we have to ask ourselves honestly: Am I open to following God’s will or am I still…

  Jesus brings peace, but on this Divine Mercy Sunday, the Church celebrates another powerful gift the Lord bestows—He comes with mercy. I want to highlight three instances where the Resurrected Christ offers the gift of mercy. During Jesus’ Passion, Peter denied Jesus and the Apostles had almost all scattered. In His greatest time of…

  If loving the Lord is wrong, I don’t want to be right! I remembered this line from a movie as I read today’s first reading from Acts. The movie line basically reflects Peter and John’s stance before the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin have sternly instructed them to stop preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ.…

  Yesterday, Jesus received the food. Today, he gives and serves the food to his sons. Two things I want to highlight here. When the disciples are being served breakfast by Jesus, it says that they dare not ask who he was. I believe they knew who he was, and that the reason they didn’t…

  Even Jesus gets hungry. Hungry for what, though? In our gospel today, Jesus, out of nowhere, appears before the disciples. They can’t believe that it is him; they think he’s a ghost. Jesus shows them his hands and feet to show he wasn’t. Jesus also asked if they had any food to give him,…

  One of the things I usually say to a penitent after confession is when they sin again, not to wait a long time before they go to confession again. I say this on purpose because I think when we let these wrongs, these sins stay in us, they can erode our souls, they can…

  Angels guard the body of our Lord. If you have recently visited our Abbey Church at Conception, you probably noticed the addition of two angels painted directly behind the tabernacle in our Blessed Sacrament Chapel. The two angels flank the body of Christ. What we’ve added in our Blessed Sacrament Chapel is nothing new.…

  Can you let go and announce the Good News? Mary Magdalene and Mary have just discovered the empty tomb and running from it they encounter Christ. I’ve put myself in their spot. I’ve just seen the resurrected Christ! He is Risen! He is alive! Friends, I don’t know if I could have left him…

  Today we celebrate the Church’s birthday and the mission that the Holy Spirit gave to Our Lady and those gathered in the upper room—to go out and spread the gospel. As our responsorial psalm says today, “Lord send out your spirit and renew the face of the earth.” We are called to do the…

  “Master, who is the one who will betray you?” This is asked of Jesus in today’s gospel. The sad truth is that it wasn’t just one person who would betray Jesus, it would be the whole world. Mankind—all of us are responsible for Christ’s death. We betrayed Jesus by our sins. Tomorrow, we close…

  Today’s gospel is the famous story of Jesus asking Simon Peter, “Do you love me.” Not just once, but three times! You can look up in theology books to see what the scholars say about this. Me, I have my own idea of why Jesus did this. A reminder that right before this Jesus…

  A couple of weeks ago, England crowned a new King. It was an event covered by lots and lots of media. Most of the media said that this ceremony was rich in history and tradition. The English are quite proud of their traditions, like this coronation event. The King’s coronation ceremony has many traditions…

  We are in graduation season. Lots of parishes are having special Masses for graduates and giving them special blessings. The parish I was assigned to in Oklahoma City did this. We had a special graduation Mass for our eighth graders heading on to high school. I thought it was important to not just bless…

  In our first reading, Paul is addressing the presbyters of Ephesus; it’s basically a farewell address. Paul says something striking that we need to note. He tells all he has done for the community, and then says, “Compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem.” Compelled, for me, is a strong word—sounds more…

  Jesus tells the disciples that the hour is coming when they will all be scattered to their own homes. The team is breaking up, and all will be on their own. Are the disciples ready for this? Are they worried that they won’t have the support of each other when they are on their…

  Last month my family remembered the anniversary of my mother’s passing. I can still remember that day, saying goodbye to Mom. My Dad and all my siblings were with her as she took her final breath. Mom was the boss that all of us kids took direction from. And after her death, we felt…

  We conclude the Victory tour this week with Paul’s journey. He goes from place to place and gives strength to the Disciples. This is a far cry from when he persecuted Christians just a short time before. He has been given a new beginning, a new lease on life, and now he goes around…

  When we suffer, it brings us to our own depths. When we endure certain pains, we feel them deeply. We cannot put up a front. Jesus tells His Disciples that they will suffer. He points to the example of a woman in labor who bears much pain so that her child will live. He…

  If you are in a Diocese that celebrates Ascension today or in a local Church where it will be celebrated next Sunday, you will hear the theme of separation in the Gospel. Jesus is preparing to make His exit. He will leave His Disciples. The Holy Spirit will come. Separation is a trial. Parents…

  There was an old anime cartoon show I watched as a kid—or it is old to me. Two rivals were competing in a tournament and the winner would go on to be the greatest in the game. They bantered back and forth, and the first one said to the second that he couldn’t wait…

  Jesus speaks in today’s Gospel about the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, again. We have been hearing much about this Divine Friend as we march on toward Ascension and Pentecost in the Liturgy. The Advocate will come to “convict the World.” The Advocate will speak for righteousness. Paul and Silas faced abhorrent treatment for their…

  Easter celebrates Christ’s victory over death and our calling to receive His gift of Eternal Life. The whole Easter season is like a “victory tour.” We know that Christ has risen and that we carry that message forward. Yet this victory comes with the Cross. We are never without the weight of the Cross…

  Theatre is one of the best performing arts. So much work goes into preparing a play and performing it that it is something that builds good character and creativity. It is so great to get a show “on the road” and ready to perform. In theatre, every role is vital to the performance. The…

  In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us a very important truth: that in every age, the Gospel encounters opposition. We see this in Jesus’ own life, since the opposition to him and his ministry conspires to have him crucified. They actually succeed in this, but as we have seen with Easter, their triumph over Jesus…

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus gives us his own commandment for how we are to live: “love one another as I have loved you.” So Christ’s command to us is to love the way that he loves. In order to fully grasp this, we must understand that love is the very heart of God’s commandments…

  In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus says to us “if you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love.” When I read that sentence, I find it a little off-putting, and I suspect most everyone else does also. I think this is because we tend to feel that God’s commandments are somewhat arbitrary and…

  If you happen to be at Conception Abbey on this day and attend Mass or one of the major hours of prayer, Vigils, Lauds, or Vespers, you will notice that the monks are wearing more than our usual monastic habits. Over the top of the habit, we will be wearing an extra-long, black flowing…

  In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells us “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” He also tells us “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” If we want to know what it looks like to live by these two sayings of Jesus, we see a perfect example in the…

  In today’s first reading, Paul and Barnabas enter the town of Lystra and begin preaching the Gospel to the inhabitants of that town. In the midst of their preaching, Paul spots a man who has been crippled from birth. Paul recognizes that the man has the faith to be healed and so tells him…

  Possibly the most intimidating thing that Jesus says to us is found in the Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 5:48). In this verse, Jesus says to us, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” That is the RSVCE version. The New America version, that we more commonly use in our…

  One should take a deep breath and consider carefully the possible ramifications before one prays, “Thy Will be done.” For control freaks, this will be very difficult. St. Paul and Barnabas experienced great success in Antioch, where the community embraced the Good News and were called Christians. Now in a different Antioch (in Pisidia)…

  Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, presented something he called the 10,000-hour rule. Basically, in order to master a particular skill, it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice. Anders Ericsson modified that rule in a 1993 research paper to include “deliberate practice,” by which he meant that a teacher’s guidance was also necessary to…

  In the first reading for Mass today, St. Paul is speaking in a synagogue to others of Jewish heritage. All would have known what was written about the long-awaited Messiah. Nonetheless, St. Paul leads them through a history lesson from the lawgiver Moses, through the prophet Samuel, and to King David. What is new…

  By the time that St. Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthians around 56 AD, the young Church was exhorting its followers that salvation depended on knowing the Good News and holding fast to it. Such Good News included these things about Christ: Christ died for our sins He was buried He was…

  Those sheep who do not belong to Christ do not recognize the Shepherd’s voice. There was no shortage of persons who were intrigued by Jesus. They knew him as the son of Joseph and Mary. They were curious when he performed extraordinary acts. But, ironically, on the Feast of the Dedication (Hanukkah, or Festival…

  Today is the Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker. Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, have the dignity of being sons and daughters of God. This dignity is not to be taken lightly. As we progress from children to adults, we, in a sense, go from being sheep to being…

  What is a sheep? What is a shepherd? What does it mean to follow Christ? Being called a sheep might mean that I am a follower, I stay with the herd, and I do not go out on my own. It might mean that I need others in my life, I must trust someone…

  Anyone who knows about earthquakes also knows about aftershocks. They follow the big one. Perhaps the earthquake image can describe the effect of some of the statements and challenges Jesus lays out for the early Christian community. Today’s Gospel is easily seen as a continuation of yesterday’s Gospel in which Jesus clearly calls himself…