“He breathed on them…” Well, that certainly wouldn’t make Jesus very popular today, especially if he wasn’t wearing a mask!  But, the breath of Jesus wasn’t deadly; in fact, it was just the opposite.  Just as God had breathed life into the man that he had formed out of the clay of the earth – as we hear in the creation account in the Book of Genesis – so Jesus breathes life into the Church; we celebrate that today with great joy on Pentecost Sunday.  In today’s first reading, we […]

I imagine you have all heard the good news!  Governor Wolf has announced that he expects to move the five counties around Philadelphia to the yellow phase in two weeks; this will allow churches to reopen; our long wait may soon be over!  I don’t know about you, but I hate to wait.  I’m a doer; I like to get things done.  Whether it’s waiting in a traffic jam or waiting for a package to arrive, it’s hard to wait.  Sometimes, waiting is particularly difficult, like when you’re stuck in […]

Can you believe this weekend will already be Memorial Day Weekend?  If it hasn’t already ended for you and your family, the school year is almost over and the summer looms large.  Ordinarily, we would all be looking forward with great excitement and eager anticipation to getting away for some rest and relaxation.  But, this isn’t an ordinary time, is it?  Rather than excitement and eager anticipation, we’re feeling anxious and concerned.  We want to get away but we’re worried.  Is it safe?  Do we have to make alternate plans?  […]

We all know that God gave Moses 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai.  These commandments were given to help the ancient Israelites know how to show their respect and love for God and his people.  Unfortunately, they reduced their relationship with God to just following rules.  And, since they thought God liked rules, they made even more rules.  If you go through the Old Testament, you will find 613 of them.  And, the people thought that, if they followed these rules, God owed them a good life.  God then sent his […]

I was riding my bike a few days ago and passed one of our neighbors as he was leading his three kids on their bikes.  Keeping my safe six foot distance, I called out to him and asked him how he was feeling.  “Somewhere between stir and crazy,” he responded, “but hey, I get to spend more time with my kids.”  Every cloud has a silver lining and I was glad he could see the silver lining in the cloud that’s been hanging over all of us these days.  One […]

We’re all familiar with the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd.  It’s a wonderful image for us, especially these days as we feel lost and uncertain as to where we – or, in fact, the entire world – is headed.  As we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus calls each of his sheep by name – just as he did at our baptism – and leads them out to find green pasture and plentiful water for the day.  We are also familiar with the story of Jesus going after the […]

Happy Easter! Yes, I realize that Easter Sunday was last week and I hope you had a wonderful Easter, even under these unusual and stressful circumstances.  But, since the Resurrection of our Lord is such an important event, the Church calls us to celebrate it for an entire octave and today we come to the end of those eight days.  Just as cinematographers slow down the action of a particularly important moment of a movie or television show to give the viewer time to catch every detail of the event, […]

Christ is risen! Halleluiah!  These are the victorious words we shout and sing with gusto on this greatest of all feast days.  Halleluiah is the “h” word I mentioned in my homily last Sunday, when we were focused on another “h” word – Hosanna.  As you will recall from last week, “Hosanna” means “God save us.”  It is a cry for help.  That’s how we started off Holy Week – praying to God to save us, knowing that he, alone, can save us.  But this morning we can shout out […]

“Hallelujah!”  We’ve already sung it several times and now I can say it: Hallelujah!  It was that “h” word I referred to last Sunday when another “h” word – “Hosanna” – was the word of the day.  “Hosanna”, you will recall, is a cry for help; it means “God save us.”  That’s how we started off Holy Week – praying to God to save us, knowing that he, alone can save us.  But this evening we can shout out “Hallelujah!” which means “Praise God!”  We can, indeed, praise God because […]