“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  What a curious statement for Paul to make – we hear it at the end of today’s second reading.  Sometimes, St. Paul can sound like an insufferable know-it-all or a proud braggart.  In today’s reading, however, we encounter a real sense of humility as we hear him speak of a thorn in the flesh that had been given to him.  He doesn’t elaborate, doesn’t tell us what that “thorn in the flesh” is, and theologians have been speculating ever since what […]

My father was a captain of the Dutch Merchant Marines.  Unlike the Marines we’re familiar with in this country as a branch of our military forces, the Dutch Merchant Marines is a private, commercial enterprise that trains officers for the Dutch merchant ships.  When we moved here to America, his expertise in seafaring led him to be employed by the Insurance Company of North America where he worked in its marine department.  His job was to travel around the world and inspect ships and their cargo after they had been […]

As I work in my rectory office which has a large window facing Aberdeen Avenue, I’m sometimes distracted by bright red, yellow, black and blue flashes as cardinals, finches, starlings and blue jays fly from the tops of the trees across the street 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 […]

Jesus was having a really bad day.  The crowd was so big that he and his disciples couldn’t even eat.  His relatives were out to seize him, saying, “He is out of his mind.”  The scribes claimed that “he is possessed by Beelzebul.”  And then, his mother and his brothers arrived.  Who knows what they were up to. 

But Jesus was unfazed.  He knew what he was up to.  If you were to read the Gospel of Mark just before the passage we heard today, you would see that Jesus […]

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.  In both incidents, there is 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 […]

Over the past few weeks, we have celebrated some very important feasts: Easter, Ascension and Pentecost.  In these three feasts, we have celebrated some of the wonderful mysteries of our faith: Christ’s triumph over death, his return to heaven and the sending of the Holy Spirit.  In these celebrations, we are given the hope of new life with God forever in heaven and, in the meantime, God’s accompaniment with us here on earth through his Holy Spirit.  All of these great mysteries of our faith, however, are built upon the […]

As Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, we all learn about Jesus and are encouraged to develop an intimate relationship with him.  We also learn about Jesus’ heavenly Father who sent Jesus into our midst to lead us back to God, our Father, who longs for us to join him forever in heaven.  And today, we celebrate his giving of the Holy Spirit.  As we hear in today’s readings, the Bible presents the introduction of the Holy Spirit on two occasions: on Easter day and on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost.

As […]

I hope you had an opportunity to view the solar eclipse last Monday.  Despite the partial cloud cover, it was quite interesting as the moon slid over the sun, leaving just a banana-shaped illumination.  The temperature dropped as the sky darkened in an unusual way.  As I enjoyed this rare event, I was reminded, once again, of the wonder of God’s creation. 

Another wondrous sign of God’s creation is nature springing back to its glory after lying dormant over the winter.  I hope you’re paying attention to the beauty unfolding […]

“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 […]

Again, allow me to wish all of you a joyous Easter with a hopeful message for all of us believers.  Christ is risen! Alleluia!  These are the victorious words we shout with gusto on this greatest of all feast days.  This is a celebration of moving from doubt to belief, from fear to faith, from death to life.  Our readings present the strong faith that the earliest followers of Jesus expressed as they spread the Good News of our salvation in the risen Lord.  In today’s first reading, we hear […]