Behold, the Lord comes to save His people!|The readings for the middle of the first week of Advent are full of joyous anticipation for the coming of the Lord. To symbolize the great times to come, we are led to imagine ...

Jeremiah's oracle rebukes the failed leadership of Israel's and Judah's kings in the image of shepherds who have failed in their role as caretakers of their flocks, a role entailing leading, feeding and protection. The ...

In Mexican tradition there is a saying that people die three deaths.  We experience the first death when our physical bodies die, the second death occurs when our bodies are lowered into the earth out of sight.  The third ...

Everyone has their favorite, and least favorite, scripture passages. Some passages affirm us in the way we feel about our relationship with God, about the way we live out our beliefs. Others make us uncomfortable, challenging ...

Gracious God help us to see with the eyes of Jesus so that we can always find God in others.|Today's exceptionally long Gospel is trying to open our eyes. Where are our blind spots?   Do we have certain situations, like ...

Ezekiel found himself in a time of dire circumstances.  Under the cruel monarch Nebuchadnezzar,  he and his fellow countrymen had been forcefully taken from their homes in Israel to captivity in Babylon.  Ezekiel's world ...

In today's readings, the theme of invitation draws us into the freedom that Jesus offers us.|The first reading from Isaiah promises the beleaguered people of Israel that not only will their lives be filled with food and ...

We have all heard the age-old expressions, "if we all just chip in a little," or "many hands make for light work," and we know the intended results thereof. In today's digital world there is even a name for this – "crowd ...

In today's first reading, two elders, who double as judges, attempt to seduce the innocent Susanna. Being Joachim's wife, she refuses their advances and cries out for help. When her protectors arrive, the lecherous old men ...

PRE-PRAYERING || Young men who are making formal application for entrance into the Jesuits are interviewed by four different members of the Society. One such Jesuit interviewing me so many years ago asked if I thought I ...