“A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel”(Lk. 2:32). A number of years ago, I took a very long journey to South Africa: a direct flight with no stops, a total of […]
Learn more“Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee” (Lk. 4:14). Most Christians have no trouble believing that Jesus was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit; after all, we’re Christians! We’re people who, by […]
Learn more“Master, we have worked all night long, but have caught nothing” (Lk. 5:5). Our Gospel today tells the story of Peter’s call to discipleship, but in truth, it’s a story about the nature of ministry. In other words, […]
Learn more“Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him”(Jo. 2:11). John’s Gospel tells us that the first miracle of Jesus’ ministry took place at a […]
Learn more“And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased’”(Lk. 3:22). Epiphany means “manifestation” or “appearance,” and the season traditionally commemorates three events: the appearance of the star and the […]
Learn more“With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back” (Jer. 31:9). Christmas is a time of coming and going: families and friends gathering here and there, sometimes requiring heroic efforts to collapse time and […]
Learn more“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors’” (Lk. 2:13-14). When we moved […]
Learn more“Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth” (Mic. 5:3). The image of pregnancy is a favorite prophetic trope: that is, the prophets’ propensity for likening the People […]
Learn more“The Lord is near” (Phil. 4:5). In our second reading this morning, St. Paul tells the Church in Phillipi that the Lord is near; in earlier translations, that the Lord is “at hand.” The English word “near” in […]
Learn more“In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land”(Jer. 33:15). Judgment is a traditional Advent theme, and our reading […]
Learn more“Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (Jo. 18:37). What is the truth, anyway? The ancient Greeks believed that truth was reality, things that were plainly evident. Truth is what actually took place in contrast […]
Learn more“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline” (2 Tim. 1:7). Today we celebrate the feast of St. Clement of Rome, traditionally accounted the […]
Learn more“But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book” (Dan. 12:1). We begin with the keeping of records: whether on tablets of clay or stone, or scrolls of papyrus or […]
Learn more“Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? * and who can stand in his holy place?” (Ps. 24:3). There are two movements in our psalm today, for All Saints’ Day; two processions from one place to another. The […]
Learn more“Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way” (Mk. 10:52). The Gospel writer Mark loves the word “immediately.” Over and over again, he describes things happening “immediately.” The Spirit drives Jesus out into the desert […]
Learn more“The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized”(Mk. 10:39). The disciples in Mark’s Gospel just don’t get it. They’re like those hapless comic figures in […]
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