Lenten Resources

  Since Pope St. John Paul II composed and instituted the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary (Virginis Mariae 2002), these particular Christ events are contemplated on Thursdays. The Fourth Luminous Mystery is the Transfiguration of the Lord. It is therefore appropriate that we consider Mary and her Son’s glorification in the flesh at Mount Tabor…

  When the Israelites set out on the Exodus from slavery in Egypt, they left behind more than oppression. The land of enslavement did not just have meat, it had overflowing fleshpots (cf. Ex. 16:3); it had tasty vegetables (Numbers 11:5). The hardscrabble nomadic life in the Sinai desert was another story. So even when…

  Being offended is not a moral virtue. Yes, being sensitive and empathetic to the plight of God’s little ones who suffer injustice and marginalization is right, but only if it rouses us to work for concrete solutions to help them. If we are merely offended and pay lip service to justice and conversion, then…

  The prophets Hannaniah and Jeremiah represent two types: the prophet of hope and the prophet of doom. The content of Jeremiah’s book is bad news. This is not by choice; in fact, he laments he would rather not speak these words but feels compelled by God (cf. Jer. 20:7-9). The Lord chose Jeremiah to…

We are so grateful you choose to take this Online Spiritual Journey each day with us. Because we work to reopen our guest and seminary ministries this month, we are discontinuing the weekly video portion of the Online Spiritual Journey. We will, however, continue to provide daily written reflections in your inbox and at lent.conceptionabbey.org.…

  Prophets can be annoying. Perhaps better put, prophets know how to get to the heart of the matter. They speak out when others are silent. They rock the boat. They push people to think in new ways even though those new ways are very unpopular, sometimes even unheard of. Prophets have a message for…

  “Jesus did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” It distressed Jesus to see the lack of faith in the people there, though he knew and even said that prophets are rarely accepted in their own place or country. It is clear that people were impressed with Jesus. They had…

  The question comes to us today: what are the scriptures trying to tell us today? Perhaps this: there is, of course, a wisdom that comes from God — a wisdom that we are meant to receive, to share in, to participate in, and to possess. This is the Wisdom of God, the creator of…

  This Gospel passage has been used at many funeral masses, and masses for the faithful departed. We hear a key declaration of Jesus himself: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” And, yet,…

  A plea for mercy. A cry for pity. For strength. In powerfully emotional words, the passage from Jeremiah tells the story of a people deeply wounded, even overwhelmed. It is clearly enough for the people to wonder if God has indeed abandoned them. They are pleading with God to remember the covenant of old.…

  Things take time. Growth. Change. Progress. Insight. Understanding. All of these are not “fast food” type items. It is easy to see this in nature. Seeds planted in spring grow over a span of weeks and produce a harvest, provided they are nourished with sun and water in good balance. Small saplings planted 15…

    The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed a pearl of great price, a net thrown into the sea that catches many fish, a treasure hidden in a field. So what is the Kingdom of Heaven like? Really. Jesus in the Gospel selections for recent days – Sundays and weekdays – has…

  St. James is one of my favorite saints and is my favorite apostle. The parish I grew up in was St. James Church in Washington, Iowa. It also has a parochial school, St. James Elementary. I went to school there for all my elementary education. Needless to say, I’ve been friends with St. James…

  “Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance.” Luke 8:15 It is worth asking how one is supposed to keep a generous heart to then yield an abundant harvest. Conventional wisdom holds that you only get ahead by keeping the best things for yourself.…

  “You have revealed to little ones the mystery of the Kingdom” (MT 11:25) Jesus praises God for revealing His secrets to children, to those who are little. Children start life without preconceived notions and prejudices so they often are more open to receiving God’s graces. We can’t stay young forever, so we need to…

  Mary Magdalene shared a strong bond with Jesus. He inspired her through His preaching and example. Her history is often misconstrued. She has often been referred to as being a prostitute, although this is never stated specifically in the Gospels. It seems to be a grave injustice that Mary Magdalene has been branded in…

  In the Prologue of his Rule, St. Benedict wrote that God gives His children time to turn away from their sins. St. Benedict quotes the Gospel of John, saying, “run while you have the light of life.” He adds the word “run” when the Gospel of John used the word walk. Why? St. Benedict…

  “What have I done to you, or in what have I offended you?” (Micah 6.6) Whether you are young or old, you will come to find that, sometimes, life just doesn’t make sense. Events or circumstances happen that seem unfair and unjust. We wonder why God is allowing these things to happen at all.…

    Today’s Gospel reading is one of my favorites. Jesus tells the parable of the wheat that was infested with weeds. An “enemy” comes and plants weeds in the soil before the wheat could grow. The farmer comes later and finds that weeds have grown in the wheat. This harms the crop, but it…

  In the alleluia verse, we hear this morning, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” Jesus loves us very much and he wants us to come closer to him. Throughout the week in the entrance antiphon for mass we have been hearing, “As for…

  “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me.” People nowadays think that talking about death is a taboo and that if we ignore this subject, then we will live forever, but as St. Benedict says in his Rule, “Keep death daily before your eyes. The life that…

  Today is one of my favorite Marian Feast Days, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Our Lady appeared to St. Simeon Stock and gave him the brown scapular. “According to Pope John XXII, the Blessed Virgin gave him the following message in a vision related to those who wear the Brown Scapular: ‘I, the Mother…

  In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus say, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, you have revealed them to the childlike.” What does Jesus mean here? It is very simple. People who think they know God, or…

  I don’t know about you, but sometimes it can feel like that the walls are closing in around me. There are times when I just want to give up and run. But there is one thing that gives me hope, and that is faith. In the first reading today, God tells Isaiah to tell…

  Today in the Gospel, we hear these troubling words from Jesus, “do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” If you think the world has gone topsy-turvy today, just imagine the disciples’ reaction when they heard this! What does…

    In today’s Gospel, we hear the parable of the sower, and one verse caught my attention, “The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word, and it bears no fruit.” If we look at the pandemic and civil…

  Today we celebrate the life and legacy of St. Benedict, the spiritual father of Benedictines, and the patron saint of Europe. Two documents have come down to us about this holy man from Italy who lived in the late 5th and early 6th century: His Rule for monks and nuns, which lays down the…

  Foreword: Please join me this week on a journey, as we follow the Church’s readings through the Book of Hosea, an ancient prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. I think you and I both will discover that the life and message of Hosea are still relevant and needed today. Reading Hosea can help…

  Foreword: Please join me this week on a journey, as we follow the Church’s readings through the Book of Hosea, an ancient prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. I think you and I both will discover that the life and message of Hosea are still relevant and needed today. Reading Hosea can help…

  Foreword: Please join me this week on a journey, as we follow the Church’s readings through the Book of Hosea, an ancient prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. I think you and I both will discover that the life and message of Hosea are still relevant and needed today. Reading Hosea can help…

  Foreword: Please join me this week on a journey, as we follow the Church’s readings through the Book of Hosea, an ancient prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. I think you and I both will discover that the life and message of Hosea are still relevant and needed today. Reading Hosea can help…

  Foreword: Please join me this week on a journey, as we follow the Church’s readings through the Book of Hosea, an ancient prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. I think you and I both will discover that the life and message of Hosea is still relevant and needed today. Reading Hosea can help…

    Foreword: Please join me this week on a journey, as we follow the Church’s readings through the Book of Hosea, an ancient prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. I think you and I both will discover that the life and message of Hosea are still relevant and needed today. Reading Hosea can…

  Today is Independence Day (for those of you who receive this message in the United States)! What a wonderful day to give thanks for the blessings we have. These are times of great social upheaval and uncertainty. However, we can look to Scripture to gain guidance as to how to respond. We have a…

  I used to watch a lot of episodes of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In one episode an innocent man was accused of murder, and a priest was attempting to show the investigators he was innocent. At one point Gil Grissom, the main character, doubts the direction of the investigation. Another investigator mentions how “doubting…

  Amos faces the wrath of people who are unwilling to listen to the truth, these being Amaziah and King Jeroboam. Amos tells them the truth about what will befall Israel, and they do not listen. Truth is something that people take in small doses, but don’t want to have in full. Amos courageously perseveres…

  I can never figure out, for the life of me, why the demons requested being sent into the swine. They know that Jesus is the Son of God and that He can defeat them. Why do they ask for the swine? Maybe being sent to the pigs was a step above being sent back…

  We read from the prophet Amos how God favored the people of Israel, and they did not return God’s love.           Do two walk together           unless they have agreed?           Does a lion roar in the forest        …

  Now we have the celebration of the two greatest Christian apostles. These two men, despite their weaknesses and shortcomings, helped to lay the foundation that the Church was built upon. It is funny to note that Peter and Paul didn’t seem to get along while they were alive. St. Paul even challenged Peter when…

    After reading today’s selected passages, I thought about the promises God makes and how they are fulfilled. God has promised us His love for all ages. We tend to make promises to God. We also tend to break or not honor those promises. God’s promises toward us are not dependent on our success…