Article for Easter

  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…

  “But that’s impossible!” Surely this must have been the response of people who heard that the well-known Paul of Tarsus had suddenly become a follower of Jesus. How was it possible that this Jewish super zealot who had broken into people’s homes to arrest anyone claiming to follow The Way had been totally changed?…

  Hitchhiking is rare these days. Years ago, in less dangerous times it was common to “hitch” or “thumb” a ride. Many times that brief chance encounter resulted in a powerful memory either for the driver or the passenger. We can delight in the story of the Ethiopian eunuch who just happened to be passing…

  Do you remember as a young kid watching a movie and about halfway through you began to think that the ending was coming soon and you felt sad because you didn’t want it to end? Was that an early experience of the struggle between fantasy and the world of reality? What was more important…

  If you were asked to make a list of contemporary heroes, whom would you choose? I would suggest our own first responders. They know what to do when called upon. They are people with a mission. Rewinding to the early Church, I suggest that St. Mark the Evangelist, today’s feast day, should be called…

  Like a bell that continues to resonate long after it has been struck, our reflections on the Word of God during this Easter season cause us to stop and linger in the silence. We can wonder what it must have been like for the early Church to ponder and digest the most drastic fluctuations…

  Some things are meant to be savored. It takes time and gentle reverence to allow goodness to come to the surface. Maybe that’s the way we come to know the most important things in life. If that’s true then we’re still moving toward an answer in response to that common question, “What just happened?”…

  Today’s extract from the gospel of St. John brings us great consolation and hope: “The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing…they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid”…

  Today’s gospel periscope from St. John recounts the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fishes. There is one part of the passage that deserves special attention, “‘Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.’ So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had…

  On Monday and Tuesday of this week, we heard from the gospel of St. John Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus the Pharisee about the necessity of being “born from above.” Today’s passage continues to explore that message: “The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is of the earth is earthly…

  Jesus’ words in today’s gospel passage seem rather harsh for the Easter season! “the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed.…

  It was only a short time ago, on Tuesday of the fifth week of Lent that we heard the story of the Israelites, worn out by their desert journey, complaining to Moses about the lack of food and water. God had just worked such great wonders among them and had freed them from slavery…

  Today we hear Jesus’ mysterious words to Nicodemus: “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn 3:8). What is this wind that blows…

  Missouri is popularly known as the “Show-Me State.” While the exact origin of that title is somewhat uncertain, most Missourians will admit that it does seem to describe the practical, down-to-earth folk of the rural areas of the state. “I have to see it to believe it.” Today’s gospel brings us face to face…

  The name of Jesus has power. By the name of Jesus, Peter healed the crippled man, and the name of Jesus gives them the courage to stand up in opposition to the leaders who wanted to silence them. In like manner, the name of Jesus can also empower us. The name of our LORD…

  When the beloved disciple declares that the man on the seashore is the LORD, we who have heard the Gospels repeatedly throughout our lives may overlook that he does not identify him as Jesus but as the LORD. In John’s Gospel, however, the disciples never refer to Jesus as LORD until after the Resurrection.…

  Jesus has been raised from the dead, but he still bears the wounds of his crucifixion in his hands, feet, and side. They did not vanish when he was restored to life, but they no longer cause him pain or threaten him in any way. They are the marks that identify him as the…

  Every Christian goes through discouragement at some point in their faith life. When we begin to recognize the love of God and to hope in the promise of Heaven, the experience is exhilarating, but our joy does not remain at these highest levels. Additionally, the further we go in our life of faith, the…

  When the people heard what Peter told them about Jesus and the Resurrection, they were frightened because they had not believed in the Lord. Some of them may even have been among the crowds who shouted for him to be crucified. Peter assures them, though, that the promise of salvation is still available to…

  The chief priests hear the account of what happened at the Resurrection and still cannot accept that Jesus is the Son of God! They have seen Jesus perform many wondrous deeds, and now they are told that an angel descended from Heaven like lightning to open the tomb; their reaction should be to question…

  I have to admit that sometimes I get angry because I want to be angry. In certain cases, it is to control an otherwise chaotic situation, while in others, it is to distract from where my anger ought to be directed: at my own sinfulness. St. Peter tried to show righteous anger by getting…

  Where I went to school in Oregon, there was a perfect view of Mount Hood and the Cascades. I say that, but that was only on days when it was not overcast. In Oregon, you had to believe that there were mountains behind the clouds even when you did not always see them. Knowing…

  The reading from Acts tells how St. Paul knowingly pits different factions of Judaism against the other. He sides with the Pharisees, who believe in the resurrection of the body, against the Sadducees who do not. He plays on this disunity to give himself a shot at bringing the gospel right to the halls…

  Christian morality is other-centered: to be self-forgetful, to sacrifice for ourselves, and to serve rather than be served. So it might surprise us that Paul’s tells the clergy at Miletus they must be firstly vigilant over their own lives. Service is, of course, implied. However, just as on an airplane you are told to…

  The prophet Zephaniah uses a well-known trope: Daughter Zion. It is the holy city personified. Now, when most people personify a concept—like Lady Liberty—it is an idealized portrait. For the Hebrews, it was nothing of the sort! It was warts and all, the kind of woman who goes astray, even gets dismissed by her…

  When I was made pastor of two small, rural parishes, it took me a bit to learn to preach in a way that didn’t fly right over their heads. It’s a challenge to both speak plainly, while not devaluing the mysteries proclaimed. Yet, when you really can connect the dots for people they start…

  Once while I was working at The Printery House, a religious sister wrote in to complain about our greeting cards referring to “heaven above.” She quite rightly noted that Pope John Paul II had pointed out that heaven was not a place but a state of being. In other words, we will not go…

  “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.” (Jn 16:23b) We are to ask the Father in Jesus’ name. We ask for what we need in his holy name. What’s in a name, you ask? Power! To name something is to claim it. Jesus…

  The Lord said to Paul in a vision, at night: Do not be afraid. Go on speaking. Do not be silent. I am with you. (see Acts 18:9) These are the words every preacher, teacher, catechist, and missionary wants to hear: encouragement and affirmation! Paul was out on a limb. He had seen a…

  Ascension Thursday (observed in some US dioceses, traditional day) Today is the fortieth day since Easter Sunday inclusive. After forty days of appearing to and instructing his Apostles, Christ the King ascends his throne in Heaven, as it is written, “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing…

  “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” (Jn 16:12, NAB) The truth can be too much to handle sometimes. I think of the line from Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men: “You can’t handle the truth!” The truth can be a hard pill to swallow. But it’s…

  Torture. Humiliation. Imprisonment. “After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison….” (Acts 16:23) In the innermost cell, their feet were tied to a stake. How are they going to get out of this one? “About midnight…” St. Luke writes a gripping story. What happens? Paul and Silas are up. They’re not…