Articles for Ordinary Time

  How wonderful it is to know that the Lord desires each one of us. Not only does He desire us in our brokenness and pain, but He does not leave us there. Sirach describes life away from God as already being dead. He says in today’s first reading, “To the penitent God provides a…

  “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This last Sunday of Ordinary time is a fitting time to reflect on our sinfulness, especially as we prepare to enter the season of Lent.…

  I was on a retreat recently, and a piece of text stuck out to me. “Do not be afraid of your weakness.” All too often, I let my pride get in the way of prayer. My worries about how I am doing or how others view me can lead to me not being able…

  Love is the greatest commandment our Lord Jesus Christ gave us! St. Francis de Sales called friendship the most dangerous of all loves. Why? Because while other forms of love can exist without communication or closeness, friendship is entirely built upon them. True friendship means sharing in both the virtues and faults of the…

  As we begin today’s reflection, let us pause and let the words of today’s Alleluia verse, often sung or said right before the Gospel proclamation, take root in our hearts: “Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God.” In the Gospel today,…

  What a beautiful selection of readings the Church has chosen for today. In the first reading from the book of Wisdom, one of the main themes is that wisdom is lifegiving; we find fulfillment in gaining wisdom. However, the journey of gaining wisdom has many challenges. As the first reading lays out, wisdom tries…

  Two important themes from today’s readings are perseverance and collaboration. It is important that we are patient with the Lord and with ourselves. With this patience, embrace any trials and tribulations that may come our way. If things become difficult, it is crucial to remain steadfast in the Lord because He is the Good…

  “The Lord is king: he is robed in majesty” (Psalm 93). The Lord speaks to us in various ways. Today, the Lord wants to speak to you with words of healing and mercy if you let Him. The Lord changes lives and brings new meaning, healing, and mercy. Have you asked the Divine Physician…

  “Love your enemies and do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back; then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High.” The world declares that we love those who love us, but no more than that. God, however, calls us to a higher form of love. A…

  Today’s feast day commemorates the Chair of St. Peter. This points to his authority as Pope and shows the authority of all of his successors, as well as the authority shared by all priests, an authority given by Christ Himself. This is why all of the readings today point to the Priesthood. These readings…

  In today’s Gospel, we hear the call to take up our cross and follow Christ. He calls us not only to carry the weight of the cross patiently but also to carry it boldly in our day. Every day, we bear a cross that the Lord wants to use not only to teach us…

  As humans, we value security. We like to know what is ahead of us, and how to deal with whatever is coming. But God is not calling us to security: instead, he asks that we put our trust in him. God does things that we do not understand. We see this in the Gospel…

We read in Genesis that when Noah was waiting for the earth to become dry, he first sent out a raven which never returned, and then he sent out a dove three times. We also read that when he sent out the dove, he decided to wait seven days after each time it returned, before…

  God is a good and generous Father. He makes known this generosity to us through His Son many times in the scriptures, and the Gospel today reminds us of this. The Apostles continuously remind us of ourselves throughout the scriptures by their inability to remain completely trustworthy in the Father’s care and generosity. The…

  Sometimes it can be difficult to understand why the Church puts certain readings together for the same Mass. Today’s readings are certainly an example of this. In the first reading, Cain kills his brother Abel; in the gospel, the Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign, which he denies them. There seems to be no…

  As we move towards Lent, the Church gives us a different Sermon than we are used to. Typically, people know the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, its teachings on fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, and its warnings of Pharisaic rigidity. In Luke, we get the Sermon on the Plain with its similar-but-different exhortations.…

  A Few Loaves and Fish I love Mark’s Gospel for its matter-of-fact style. We hear it in today’s gospel passage about the feeding of a large crowd. Read it slowly or else you’ll miss it. Did you notice? It doesn’t add up. They had seven loaves and a few fish, but there were about…

  In a Strange Land In 1980, the first Slav pope, Pope John Paul II declared Sts. Cyril and Methodius co-patron saints of Europe, together with St. Benedict of Nursia. Born in Thessalonica, Greece, in the 9th century AD, Cyril and Methodius were two brothers who were very influential in evangelizing among the Slavic peoples…

  Suitable Partner Imagine you are the first (and only) living being. You live in a beautiful garden with various trees that are “…delightful to look at and good for food….” (Gn 2:9) You have something to do, you have a role to play, and you are close to God who created you. What more…

  One Exception Today’s reading from the Book of Genesis is the second story of creation. Did you know there was a second version? It is different from the six days of creation and a seventh day of rest. This version begins with the creation of the first man—out of the clay of the ground.…

  Back to Basics This week at Mass, we hear from the first chapters of the Book of Genesis. In a simple and poetic way, the creation story tells of God creating the fundamental things of our visible world in an orderly sequence. For all the scientific discoveries and research done to understand creation, we…

  Sister and Brother The Benedictine Monks of Conception Abbey have the tradition of visiting the nearby Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration on this day, the Feast of St. Scholastica. Our monasteries are just a couple of miles apart, and both our motherhouses are in Switzerland. We join them for Vespers (Evening Prayer) and a…

  Christ is the Expert “Do it yourself” (DIY) is quite popular these days. In the areas of home improvement, hobby projects, and even education (self-help, online classes), many people seek to do it themselves. It’s a good approach. You save money. You learn for the next time. You feel a sense of accomplishment. DIY…

  On this Marian Saturday, St. Maximilian Kolbe says about the rosary: “The Rosary is… a very sublime prayer… because by reciting it we reflect upon the mysteries of faith. Moreover, the more one is keen and competent in matters of faith, the deeper one can reflect on these mysteries and be led to discover…

  Today’s gospel account is the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. I remember one time, our very own Fr. Aquinas said at Mass that if you look at the passage of where it says, “When he [Herod] heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him.” Even Herod’s…

   “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” This passage from today’s gospel goes well with our martyrs for today. St. Paul Miki and his companions didn’t…

  In our alleluia verse today, we hear, “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” Today is the great feast of St. Agatha, she once said, “Lord, my creator, you have protected me since I was in the cradle. You have taken me from the love of…

  “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.” “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” The power of touch is something that is very important, I remember a priest telling me, “I have an elderly parishioner…

  Today’s gospel reading is a very interesting one. Fr. Vincent Lampert gives great commentary in his book, Exorcism, The Battle Against Satan and his Demons. I remember him saying after the demon had been exorcised, the man who was possessed by Legion wanted to go with Jesus. But Jesus tells him, “No!” Rather, Jesus…

  Today is Candlemas and at mass today at the blessing of the candles you will hear the following: Dear brothers and sisters, forty days have passed since we celebrated the joyful feast of the Nativity of the Lord. Today is the blessed day when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple. Outwardly he…

  It is hope that guides us in this Jubilee Year of 2025. As we have journeyed with different saints who gave witness to faith and hope in their personal writings, what I want to do today is introduce you to the person who will impact and inspire your own life of faith the most.…

  As we have walked with these great writers on faith in the last few days I want to introduce one of the best monastic writers of the last century, Thomas Merton. Merton lived as one who lived faith wandering and wondering. He could put to writing words that others longed to express and yet…

  A dark night of the soul is a time of dryness in the spiritual life where we do not feel God’s presence. Colloquially it is known as any time of doubt or despair in our lives where we question the important things we value. St. John of the Cross is our guide for today.…

  Blessed be the little child, who trusts in God wholeheartedly. We make things too complicated. We are the ones who fall away from grace. We are the ones who have shown God the way out. We bar him from our souls. God wants us to come closer to him in grace. He won’t force…

  Thomas Aquinas is a Doctor of the Church and is considered one of the greatest Christian theologians who ever put pen to paper. You would not have known that from his early story though. He came from a noble family who wanted him to be an Abbot in a royal monastery. He chose to…

  Augustine of Hippo is a consummate example of a restless heart. His writing of the Confessions literally set a course for Christianity for ages to come. I thought I would get tired of hearing about Augustine’s Confessions one day after I started reading it. I have come back to the Confessions again and again,…

Prologue: In this week’s presentations, I want to focus on the mystagogy of faith in the spiritual life. In this sense of the Christian spiritual life, the focus is on the mystical elements of God’s presence and how people receive the divine presence in their lives on a personal level. Mysticism is complimentary to knowledge…

  Yesterday we were talking about the conversion process consisting of three movements: invitation, listening, and response. Today we can zoom in on a very powerful conversion story. One could hardly find a more compelling story of conversion than the story of St. Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles. His was a story of extremes. The…

  The thought of Jesus calling a diverse group of a dozen men together to follow him, learn from him, and then take his challenging teaching to the ends of the known world raises a huge question. How could such a small, motley crew be expected to do so much? Surely this had to be…

  “Success is within your reach if you want it!” This is often the message of the self-assured 18-year-old high school valedictorian as he or she exhorts their graduating class. What is success? Is it the talented athlete or the business executive signing the multi-million dollar contract? Some would say you’ve found success when it’s…