Someone’s job title denotes their function and defines their identity. A teacher teaches, a doctor doctors. A prophet prophesies, that is, he or she tells the truth from God. A teacher or a doctor may well see their job as a vocation, a calling from above, or they may see...
A seventy-year-old widow had a serious heart attack. During her ordeal, she encountered the Lord who said to her: “You are not yet going to die.” She asked, “Lord, how many years more will I live?” The Lord answered, “Thirty years more.” Delighted by the news, she recovered rapidly. Thinking...
In today’s Gospel Jesus has returned to the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, he is on home ground and as usual, large crowds have gathered around him, yet one person, an important one, comes forward. Jairus is a Jewish official, the supervisor of activities in the Temple. Yet...
Today first reading is from the thirty-eighth chapter of the Book of Job. Through 37 chapters Job has been complaining about how God is treating him, and his so-called friends have been trying to convince him that he has done something wrong to incur the punishments he has experienced. Job...
There is the famous story about the Lord’s Store. A man had a dream. He saw himself walking on the streets of the city. He was moved to tears and disgust when he saw so many people living in poverty and destitution. He longed to help them but he did...
One of the seminarians who gives tours of St. Peter’s told me once of an interesting incident. He was leading a group of Japanese tourists who knew absolutely nothing of our Faith. With particular care he explained the great masterpieces of art, sculpture and architecture. He finally concluded at the Blessed Sacrament...
We’re told that the great Saint Augustine was once walking along the seashore trying to figure out the mystery of the Trinity. He came upon a child filling a hole with bucket after bucket of water from the ocean. “You can’t empty the whole ocean into that hole,” the saint...
Soon after we were born, we emptied our lungs of fluid and breathed for the first time. During an average lifespan, a human being breathes 650 million times before we take our last breath. Life is one breath after another. Our sharing in eternal life is also a drama of...
Final moments with Jesus, Ascension, departure, a new presence, at the Father’s right hand, glorified. This Sunday we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord into heaven. In the Creed we confess our faith in Christ who “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father”. But...
“I no longer call you slaves, I call you friends.” We just heard during the Gospel reading. Jesus is saying something very beautiful in those words, something really wonderful about the humility of God in calling us to be, and making us, His friends. He comes to us not regarding...