Do you know how to pray? More and more over the last couple of years I have focused more on this notion of providing concrete ways to help with knowing how to pray. Today’s gospel provides a good outline for prayer. Ask. Seek. Knock.
Lent is a time where the focus is on prayer, fasting and almsgiving. But in another way, it is about recognizing our faith life and the completion of the sacraments of initiation. Bringing baptism to mind is a key focus for all three readings for Mass today.
For most of my life, I have not had to care much about what I eat. My metabolism was pretty fast, and so I did not gain any weight. Moreover, my life was active, and so I tended by burn calories. I know that when some people watched me eat, they resented that I could eat so much and gain so little. All of that changed when I turned 50. Suddenly I had to pay attention to my diet. My metabolism slowed and my gut grew. It was a moment when I had to make a decision.
Holy Saturday reflections from my good friend Msgr. Richard Lavalley. He reflects on Jesus as the firstborn of the dead.
Reflections on the final three words of Jesus from the Cross by my good friend Msgr. Richard Lavalley.
My good friend, Msgr. Richard Lavalley, offers a very moving meditation on the Stations of the Cross.
I find today the strangest day of all. We have celebrated Good Friday, and so the Church is silent, since we have not yet begun the Easter Vigil. But this year the period of time between the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion and the Easter Vigil has united the world.
The Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue. Do you have a disciple’s tongue? And what is a disciple’s tongue anyway?
Judas Iscariot remains forever one of the great villains of history. But more than a villain, he is a tragedy. In turning his back on Christ, in refusing to seek mercy and forgiveness for his betrayal, Judas betrayed not only Jesus and the disciples. He betrayed himself. That’s what sin does. It takes what is great within us and it twists it beyond all recognition.
What difference does it make? Have you ever felt this way? Wondering if what you are doing is making any difference at all? We are currently in such a time right now. We are “social distancing” against a virus we cannot see. Does it make any difference?
