Articles for Ordinary Time

  Jesus has been preaching a great deal in parables of late. There are various reasons for him to use parables, even for the purpose of remaining mysterious or confounding those who have no faith. In the case of preaching about the Kingdom, however, you could say that Jesus is limited to using parables because…

  In the accumulated reflection of the Church, we come upon what is called the “Three-Headed Mary.” The identifiable facts of St. Mary Magdalene’s life are that she had suffered under demonic possession that Christ wrested from her. She, along with several other women, subsidized and accompanied Jesus and the Twelve in the public ministry.…

  I was a pastor when the COVID-19 lockdown occurred. Every church in the U.S. was reduced to a congregation amounting to a handful and livestreamed Mass. After we were told that two weeks would continue on for some time, I started to hear strange things about my parishioners’ experience of livestreamed Mass. Some said…

  The energy drink Red Bull has an ongoing ad campaign with the tagline: “Red Bull gives you wings!” It was memorable for its cartoon commercials. In ads, an individual would get out of a tight spot by popping open a Red Bull, sprouting wings, and flying aloft. These Red Bull ads remind me of…

  Most are familiar with the holy name of God revealed to Moses on Mount Horeb. We will get this in tomorrow’s reading from Exodus: I am who am. This could be the revelation of God’s nature, as the One who is being itself, existing for all eternity without beginning or end. It could also…

  When I was a young monk, I would sometimes judge harshly some of the monks who were my senior. They seemed not to try as hard with prayer and discipline as I expected. Why did they come to the monastery? Such thoughts could not only make me disrespectful to certain individuals, but they also…

Maybe I’m cynical. I started to notice a throughline in global secularist bugaboos (something that causes worry). From the 1970s onward, you can take whatever the current major problem is – economic advancement, women’s rights, climate change – and the cause of it was always the same: overpopulation. The thing we should all be afraid…

Perhaps you have had the experience of putting a dollar bill into a vending machine, only to have it spew it back out. The sale is void. The bill is creased and crumpled and must be smoothed in order to purchase the soda or chips. So, what do you do? You take the bill and…

  In the school for the Lord’s service, a disciple (student) can become like his teacher, but he is not above his teacher. And it is required of both teacher and disciple (after the necessary training) to be not afraid to proclaim what has been learned. In the school for the Lord’s service, the student…

  The readings at Mass this week have recounted how persons have left their families and homes and ended up dwelling in a foreign land. Jacob left his parents (Isaac and Rebekah) to live in Haran. Joseph (unwillingly) left Jacob, his father, and was taken to Egypt. St. Kateri Tekakwitha, whose memory is honored by…

  I can’t help but think that Joseph enjoyed (a little too much, perhaps) “torturing” his brothers, but I may be projecting. When he realized how much they loved their father and their youngest brother, however, the genuineness of his love for his entire family was undeniable. With wise eyes, he saw the hand of…

  If someone asked you to design a program which would save a nation and advance the knowledge of God, what would it look like? Would it include jealous brothers conspiring to kill one of their own? Or how about sending twelve persons out with the command to teach and heal, but who had never…

  Today the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of our Holy Father St. Benedict. St. Benedict lived his entire life in Italy, at a time when the Roman Empire was collapsing and outside tribal forces were frequently sacking Rome. Public confidence in many of the social structures of the day (military, government, economy) was very…

  Have you ever had one of those days? You follow the instructions of someone you trust, and you seem to be rewarded by another for doing so, but then you end up being sent to a foreign land by these very people, AND your brother hates you, too. Frankly, the last thing on my…

  The prophet Zechariah depicts the triumphant entrance of a King into the Promised Land of Israel, specifically into the Holy City of Jerusalem. It seems odd that such a powerful person is entering Jerusalem on a donkey (who would do such a thing??). Even more odd is the description of the King as humble,…

  In commenting on the story of Rebecca and Jacob’s deception, St. Augustine wrote: Non est mendacium sed mysterium – “It is not a lie but a mystery.” St. Augustine, of course, knew very well that Jacob’s lie was just that! But he was pointing to the mystery of God’s dealings with us humans. It…

  Jesus passed by, saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post (and) said to him, “Follow me.” Matthew got up and followed him. The Sacred Scriptures tell us that no one can come to Jesus except that he or she is drawn by the Father. Today’s incident, the calling of St. Matthew,…

  “God put Abraham to the test….” Every now and then I hear an expression that usually sets my mind on alert: “Trust me!” I heard it when I was boy from my father who knew what he was doing, and I was to trust him! This is what we have today in our first…

    The Oxford Annotated Bible makes a comment on the term, “unclean spirits” which might be helpful in hearing today’s Gospel: “The spirit or demon, was called unclean because the effect of the condition was to separate [people] from the worship of God.” St. Catherine of Siena makes a helpful remark: “Understand that if…

  For our reflection on this Independence Day, I’ve decided to retain, for my comments here, the readings given in the lectionary. I think they provide an appropriate source of meditation for us as disciples of our Lord Christ in our times. The first reading tells the story of Abraham and his wife and two…

  Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” We are blessed because we have been gifted with the blessing of our faith! It is a gift. We did not merit it or make it happen. Whether it was given to us as an infant through the faith of…

  “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” When we hear these words and the similar ones in our Gospel today, our first mental inclination looks to our poor ability to comply: how could I possibly do this? Yes, “poor ability” is correct. The place of our…

  Words that build up and speak to the heart can be very powerful. We have all experienced how another person’s word of encouragement or comfort can change the course of our day and lift us up. Similarly, the words of Sacred Scripture sometimes resonate in the depths of our souls, as if the word…

  It is worth reading the Gospel and replacing the word “leper” with our own name. All of us suffer from some sort of spiritual or moral leprosy. It isn’t a very palatable image, but I think it will help us bring about the ideal disposition of our hearts to encounter God. “And then a…

A few years ago, I had the experience of hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Since this was a new adventure for me, I took particular interest in reading all of the warning signs that we came upon. Some were directives in case you encountered a sudden lightning storm, or if you came across a…

  We often tend to judge ourselves and our worth by the results of our work and our accomplishments. I admit, I’m guilty. While I may fall into this mindset often, I don’t think it’s very helpful to us. Jesus says, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good…

  St. Benedict writes at the beginning of his Rule: “Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of…

  There is a beautiful simplicity to the response of the 75-year-old Abram. God called him, and what did Abram do? “Abram went as the LORD directed him.” We would save ourselves a lot of hardship if we just “went as the Lord directed us.” But, instead, we usually proceed stubbornly with an attitude of…

  When my niece was two years old, she was afraid to step onto the elevator in the Abbey’s guesthouse. I reacted with confusion, but my sister-in-law rolled her eyes as she explained to me that my niece was afraid of falling through the one-inch gap between the floor and the elevator. So, to get…

  In preparing for this reflection, I came across an excerpt from the renowned liturgist of the first half of the 20th century: Fr. Pius Parsch. “Today’s feast anticipates the feast of Christmas.” Why? Parsch explains: “Taking an overall view, we keep during the course of the year only two mysteries, that of Christ’s Incarnation…

  This will be the final reading from 2 Corinthians for this week. It comes from the 11th (second to the last) chapter. In it, St. Paul continues to boast of who he is and what he has suffered for the community. He is contrasting himself with his opponents. First of all: who he is.…

  There were many times when St. Paul was frustrated by his fellow Christians in Corinth. Today’s selection from 2 Corinthians exemplifies this. He had just written that one should not boast about oneself. And then he does it himself! But he is doing it for effect. He wants to show how much he cares…

  In today’s reading, taken from chapter 9 of 2 Corinthians, St. Paul discusses why Christians should be generous, especially to the poor. He has in mind the poor in Jerusalem, but the lesson is very universal. Generosity to others and almsgiving were a part of the Jewish religion. St. Paul accepted this and alludes…

  Today’s first reading comes from the eighth chapter of 2 Corinthians. It shows us something about the life of the early Christian communities, how they related to one another, even to the extent of giving financial support. Early in his career, St. Paul traveled to Jerusalem to discuss with the apostles why he was…

  Last week, the tenth week in Ordinary Time, the first weekday readings were from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. The gospel readings were from the Sermon on the Mount, found in chapters 5-7 of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. The readings this week continue from the same New Testament documents. St.…

  In the first reading, from the Book of Exodus, we hear about the Chosen People. They have escaped from Egypt. They have made their way to Mount Sinai. Here the Lord God will enter into a covenant with them. Moses, their leader goes, up to the top of the mountain. There he receives the…

  Yesterday we celebrated the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We reflected on the powerful realization that Jesus loves us no matter what. Today we reflect on the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The heart has long been the symbol and center of a person’s most profound thoughts and desires. What the heart reflects on, there rests…

  I was once asked, “Why does Jesus love us?” The question seemed to be coming from a place of deep longing. This person knew too well that he was a sinner and had painfully rejected God in various moments of life. It seemed unfathomable to him that God still loved him because of his…

  On Monday, we heard Jesus teach the Beatitudes as a new law and way of living. The Beatitudes challenge us to live differently. Today we hear Jesus challenging us, once again, to live differently than how the world expects us to do so. He tells us that even those who are angry with his…

  We have heard Jesus say many times, “I have not come to abolish the law or the prophets…but to fulfill.” Specific laws have changed. We are not bound by many of the Jewish laws in the Old Testament. So, what does Jesus mean then? It means that the Law and the Prophets—the Old Testament,…