Did you know that Pope St. John Paul II consistently made a connection between Our Lady of Guadalupe and another theme that he loved... the launching a new evangelization in the 21st century? The background to understand this connection is not hard to trace. A) this great, sainted pope drew closer and closer to the …
Continue reading "JPII’s “New Evangelization” and our Lady of Guadalupe."
Every Lent we priests read a passage from the ancient Catholic author Tertullian. The reading speaks about the power of prayer. This is a natural enough theme in Lent, to read such things about prayer. But I am ashamed to say I do not ever remember taking in the full comprehension about the central point …
Our Theme this Holy Thursday is “the Eucharist and the Works of Mercy.” One name for the Eucharist in our beautiful Catholic Tradition is to call it “the Sacrament of Charity.” It is almost the same thing to say that the Eucharist unites us to our Lord Jesus Christ more deeply, and to say that …
Let us recall the grand themes of these Sundays in Lent. Passages of John's Gospel John 4 – the Samaritan woman meets Jesus at the well, and comes to believe his word that he is the Messiah. She then starts to speak openly about this incredible new thing that has happened in this meeting. John …
Continue reading "A Homily for the Second Scrutiny of the Elect"
This third Sunday of Lent we read the Gospel of John Chapter 4. It is the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. It is the first of three accounts chosen from John's Gospel which are selected in Lent for the themes of conversion, baptism, and new life. Let me give this …
Continue reading "A Homily for the First Scrutiny of the Elect"
In the Gospels many meals are recounted. We might think of Jesus eating with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. We might think of Jesus making Himself known "in the breaking of the bread" as He and the two disciples were eating dinner together in Emmaus. Or we might think of those scandalous accounts where "he has …
The content below is reposted from years ago. I post this in honor of St. John the Apostle, celebrated today. His writings give us the events of the Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2), the explicit doctrine of the Eucharist (John 6), and the depiction of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb (Rev. 21). The …
Continue reading "My Top Ten Reasons for Getting a Marriage “Blessed” in the Church [Repeat Post]"
December 26, 2025. It is the feast of Saint Stephen the first of the martyrs. In Acts Chapter 6 and 7 we hear of Saint Stephen and the role he played in the Church. We also see how it came to be that he was killed as he witnessed to Christ, our Messiah and Lord. …
The focus on John the Baptist this Advent has renewed some reflections in me on prophets. Most especially, let’s talk about the prophet Jonah. What is "the sign of Jonah" to which our Lord refers in the Gospels? On the one hand it appears that Jesus himself explains this "sign." He says that "just as …
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