Anthony de Mello tells the story of a Chinese boy who wanted to become a carver of jade. He was apprenticed to a master craftsman and could hardly sleep the night before his first day with the master. When he arrived for work he greeted the master and sat down...
Today we end the Easter season. The Easter candle which has been burning since Easter to remind us of the light that has come into the world, will be set aside and used only of there is a baptism or funeral. Next week we continue what is called “Ordinary Time’...
During the Easter season we have focused on Jesus’ two-step plan: faith and action. In the Gospel we see how faith guides action. This can be seen in the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Jesus prayed this aloud at his last supper meal with his...
All of us have had to face moments of departure and loss. Was it when we were desperately in love and then the one we loved left us? Was it when we graduated from school and then suffered separation from our dear friends? Was it when a spouse or a...
It’s good to observe people in church before Mass as you come in. You drive your car, you walk in. You smile and greet one another. Many of you are known. Some are visitors – from interesting places, even overseas, and from other states of the United States. You come in...
The Holy Father is the shepherd of the universal Church. Every bishop is the shepherd of his diocese. Every parish priest is the shepherd of his parish. Parents are the shepherds of their children. Being a shepherd is not easy; being a good shepherd is even more difficult. There are...
Some people refer to the gospel story we just heard, Jesus’ conversation with Peter by the Sea of Tiberias, as Peter’s Conversion. Others call it Peter’s Confession. Peter’s Confession is appropriate whether we understand confession to mean a declaration of faith or an admission of guilt. It is easy to...
The prayer Jesus I trust in you is the heart of the Divine Mercy devotion. The mercy of God is our only hope – and every day, as we walk the various paths of life, we learn to whisper over and over again, deep down in our hearts: Jesus, I...
When Adam and Eve turned from God they turned also from their own inner self as well as from each other. We could say they found themselves in dis-grace. Their destiny to return to God could now no longer be accomplished. They, and we, were doomed to live in a...
The truths of our faith are as startling as they are simple. What, for example, is there not to understand about the foundational truth: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth or: God fashioned man of dust from the soil? Theologians may debate the finer details and...