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 […]

I’m so glad to see more and more of you returning to our Eucharistic celebration in person!  I’ve missed seeing you and I’m sure you’ve missed joining in person as we come together to worship our God.  Today, we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity – our belief that the one God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  And, I think this feast takes on new meaning for us this year, after more than a year of isolation when we have become more aware than ever of the […]

So, how have you received the news that we no longer need to wear face masks, as long as we have been fully vaccinated?  Many of us received it with a great sigh of relief; those masks are a real bother.  I received my second shot on Tuesday of Holy Week.  That’s more than six weeks ago so I’m fully vaccinated and am very happy to shed the mask.  Others among us are still a little hesitant, not sure if this is a good idea right now.  Some are horrified, […]

“Love one another as I love you.” Our Lord’s instruction in today’s gospel sounds so simple and straightforward and it’s a wonderful message for us today as we celebrate Mother’s Day and welcome some of our young parishioners around our Lord’s Table in a special way as they receive Holy Communion for the very first time.  These are certainly both wonderful occasions to experience love from God and our children.  But, as we have probably all experienced, it can be a real challenge to love, especially when we don’t feel […]

I hope you have all been enjoying this lovely weather this weekend.  I imagine some of you have been out in your yards and gardens sprucing everything up.  I invite you to picture the master gardener, whistling, wearing a floppy hat, pruning shears in hand, smiling as he cleans up his garden, snipping away the dead branches on all the vegetation he has so carefully planted in his garden.  God is at work.  From the moment God placed Adam and Eve in his garden, he has been pruning his most […]

It’s hard to believe that our current pope, Francis, has been pope for eight years already.  I thought of that earlier this week when I happened to drive past the Malvern Retreat House because I had been there with some 200 fellow priests for our annual priests workshop eight years ago and we had all crowded around a television that been set up because the consistory was taking place – the election of the next pope – and news had just broken of the white smoke, indicating that the pope […]

“Peace be with you.”  Three times in today’s Gospel, we hear the risen Lord assure his disciples with these comforting words: “Peace be with you.”  And, although this greeting of peace, “Shalom,” was a common expression among the Jewish people of his day – as it still is today – it had taken on a much deeper meaning for the followers of Jesus who had just gone through three days filled with anything but peace.  It made them remember our Lord’s words of encouragement to them just a few days […]

Once again, Happy Easter!  How different today is from Easter last year!  It is so good to see so many of you here in person!  And, I greet, as well, those of you who, for a variety of reasons, are still joining us virtually.  As we come out of the 40-day liturgical Lenten Season, I think we can all agree that it has felt like a yearlong Lent, ever since everything shut down in the face of the coronavirus last March.  We have all had our crosses to bear, struggling […]

“Alleluia!”  We’ve already sung it several times and now I can say it: Alleluia!  We haven’t heard this word for the entire season of Lent but this evening we can shout out “alleluia!” which – as I’m sure you all know – means “Praise God!”  We can, indeed, praise God because he has saved us through his son.  He has saved us from darkness and fear, from sin and death.  And, we can all really embrace this saving work as we continue to struggle in the face of the ongoing […]