Many of us spend a great deal of time and energy being afraid.  Some fear a past they cannot change or a future they cannot control.  Others fear what people are thinking or saying about them.  There is fear of heights, the dark, spiders, rejection, loneliness – all kinds of fears.  Fear can cause confusion, distress and even paralysis.

One of the constant messages of Sacred Scriptures is, “fear not!”  Whether it’s God speaking to Abraham as he calls him to leave his homeland or to Moses when he instructs him […]

In this morning’s Gospel, we hear Jesus tell his disciples to pray that the master of the harvest will send out laborers. Immediately after that, he invests them with authority over the evil spirits and sends them out to preach and to work miracles.

When we pray for more laborers in the vineyard, we might imagine that God will answer this prayer by calling more men into the priesthood or more women into religious life.  While we certainly need more good priests and sisters, this Gospel helps us to see that […]

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; …and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”  Can you imagine the wheels turning in the minds of that first audience who heard the message that we just heard in today’s Gospel.  His disciples, faithful Jews, were probably familiar with the manna and quail that God sent his people in the desert; we heard about that in today’s first reading.  But wait, what? Did he […]

John 3:16 – the first verse of the gospel passage we just heard – is a very popular Bible verse.  You see the numbers on T-shirts and on billboards, especially if you drive through some of the states to our south.  Sometimes you even see the verse:  “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  It is, indeed, a very popular slogan.  And, when we really listen to it with open hearts, […]