Have you noticed them?  The crocuses and daffodils that are beginning to break through the soil and some are even blooming, the rhododendron buds that are starting to bulge, the hint of green in the weeping willows – all of nature is getting ready to delight us, once again, with a glorious spring.  As I mentioned at the beginning of our celebration this morning, on this, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, we are invited to rejoice.  This Sunday has been traditionally known as Laetare Sunday, taken from the entrance antiphon […]

Over the past three weeks, the Sunday readings have reminded us of God’s covenant relationship with us.  Remember, a covenant is an agreement between two parties, based on love and calling for a faithful relationship. God has established covenants with us because of his infinite love.  He promises to care for us and calls us to be faithful to him. On the first Sunday of Lent, we heard of God making a covenant with Noah, promising him that “there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth.”  This is […]

“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love … [and] offer him up as a holocaust.”  These are shocking words to us; we can’t imagine anything so barbaric.  But, they would not necessarily have been so for Abraham.  Child sacrifice was an accepted practice in Abraham’s time among the pagan religions; even some of the Jewish kings practiced it.  But our God does not desire human sacrifice.  So, as we hear with great relief in today’s first reading, God stops him!  God was putting Abraham to the test, […]

As if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t enough of a worldwide crisis, now we’re struggling with extreme temperature swings and ongoing storms not only here but in unusual spots around the world.  Did you see the photograph of the Pantheon in Athens covered with snow?  It’s such an unusual event that the place has been packed not with tourists but locals coming to take a look.  And, on the other hand, there was recently a tragedy in India where dozens of people lost their lives due to flooding caused by heavy […]

“I just can’t wait until we get back to normal, whatever that is!”  That’s one of the refrains we have all heard so often over this past year as we continue to struggle through this coronavirus pandemic.  We also hear comments about a new normal, where things will be different but we’ll get used to it. Wearing masks, bumping elbows rather than shaking hands, keeping a safe distance may all become the new normal and we’ll just have to adjust.  It makes me think of the new normal that we […]

Fortunately, Hansen’s Disease – the medical name for leprosy – is almost a thing of the past.  There are currently only about half a million known cases of the disease worldwide.  But, we are still struggling to control other infectious diseases, such as the common cold, the flu, HIV and now, COVID-19; it’s caught all of us in its grip, hasn’t it!?!  And so, we can identify with today’s readings.  Just as the people in ancient Israel didn’t understand leprosy, what caused it and how it was spread, so we […]

We don’t often hear from the Book of Job at Sunday Mass.  In fact, we only hear from it twice in the three-year reading cycle, and only in Year B, as we are in this year.  Today’s reading is a good reason why we don’t – it’s really rather depressing, isn’t it?  We hear Job complain: “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? …So I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted me.”  Not very good news, is it?  I don’t know about you, […]

Recently, a man stood inside one of the entrances to a Metro Station in Washington, D.C., playing some Bach pieces on a violin.  He played for about 45 minutes in the middle of rush hour as thousands of people bustled past.  A few slowed down for a moment to listen before scurrying on.  Several children stopped to listen but were hurried along by their parents.  After he finished, the man just walked away; no one stopped to applaud or thank him.  This man was Joshua Bell, one of the best […]

As we grow older and prepare for our transition from this life into the next, we often find ourselves wondering about the legacy we will leave our family and the world.  Will it be a list of successful accomplishments?  Will it be various donations made to charitable organizations or a trust fund or foundation that has been set up to help others in need?  Perhaps our legacy will be a monetary inheritance left to family members or friends.  Whatever the legacy may be, it is meant to benefit future generations […]