I don’t know about you but I find it hard to believe that we’re already in the last days of September; where has the year gone!?!  The ongoing pandemic has caused a real time warp and now the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer – real signs that the year is coming to a close.  And, our liturgical year is coming to an end, as well; Advent begins in just eight weeks.  Once again, our Scripture readings begin to point us toward the end times, and the […]

Where were you on that awful day?  Looking around here in church, I see some of you were not even born yet or too young to realize what was happening but most of us will always remember exactly where we were.  It was a beautiful fall day 20 years ago yesterday, just like this morning.  I was about to go to church to celebrate the 9:00am Mass at the parish where I was stationed at that time when a friend called me to let me know that a plane had […]

We’ve all learned about the importance of washing our hands over this past year, haven’t we?  But, it’s not a matter of religious belief but one of several important measures we all practice to combat the coronavirus.   I’m sure Jesus would encourage us to wash our hands regularly, but it won’t necessarily get us closer to God; religion does that.  You have probably all read or heard about one of the latest statistics regarding religion: the growing group is the “nones.”  And, that’s not the women taking religious vows but […]

Have you have watched any of the television series entitled “Chosen”?  I’m sure you’ve heard of it; it’s a powerful depiction of the life of Jesus – now in its second season – and, if you haven’t watched it yet, I strongly recommend that you do.  It presents Jesus, his disciples and friends and the milieu in which he lived in a very compelling manner.  One of the most remarkable aspects of this series is that it presents Jesus as just an ordinary man of his day, poor, sometimes even […]

“Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.”  In last Sunday’s Gospel, we heard about Jesus feed a crowd of more than five thousand, and how the people, in their amazement, exclaimed, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”  The prophet they were speaking about may have been Elisha who, as we heard in last week’s first reading, fed a crowd of 100 people with just 20 barley loaves and some fresh grain in the […]

“There was a famine in the land.”  That’s how the section just before the passage we hear in today’s first reading begins and it’s important for us to know this as we listen to today’s first reading.  At a time when travel was difficult and transcontinental transport was extremely expensive – you couldn’t go to your local ACME to pick up lamb chops from New Zealand or blueberries from Chile, or anything else you wanted for your next meal – everyone was dependent on the local rains to survive.  So, […]

“In him we were chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.”  I’m sure you’re all familiar with a form of prayer called “lectio divina.”  It’s a very simple and effective way to deep prayer and it involves selecting a passage in the Bible for reflection, meditation, prayer, resting in God and finally, action according to God’s plan.  I use […]

God, our creator, is at work every moment of our lives.  Today’s Scriptures offer us the opportunity to reflect on the many ways in which God has worked in the lives of people as his plan for our salvation unfolds throughout history even until today, right here, with each of us.  In the second reading and the Gospel in particular, we see how the healing ministry of Jesus affected the lives of the people of his time and affects our lives as well, if only we have faith.

Our first […]

As I work in my rectory office which has a large window facing Aberdeen Avenue, I’m sometimes distracted by bright red, yellow and blue flashes as cardinals, finches and blue jays fly from the tops of nearby trees and swoop down to feed on the grass and shrubs in front of the rectory.  It reminds me of today’s first reading from the prophet Ezekiel, where we hear God foretell the growth of a great nation using the image of a shoot that he will take from the top of a […]

Although they are separated by more than a thousand years, the incidents in today’s first reading and the Gospel have many striking similarities: they both recount a gathering of the faithful during a time of struggle hearing the assurance of God’s continuing presence and care for his people, a sacrifice, and the expression of a covenant.  And, although these two incidents are separated from us by thousands of years, what we are doing here at this sacred moment shares these same characteristics: a gathering of the faithful during a time […]