March 2023

I am finding it hard to select one phrase from today’s readings. There are several images that leapt out at me. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the care we will be given as we make the journey toward God. We may hunger or thirst, physically, but our spiritual wants will be satisfied. We will be […]

We have a very wet set of readings today. The stream Ezekiel sees flowing from the temple and the pool of Bethesda are both life giving and healing. They gladden the city of God as the psalm says. Am I a stream of life-giving water for others? Do I refresh and gladden those I meet, or

St Joseph, Spouse of Mary Today we celebrate the quintessential strong but silent man—St. Joseph. In all of Sacred Scripture, Joseph never says a word. He is not even mentioned in two of the Gospels. Joseph is a man we really know very little about (Shameless plug here—read my book, Yosef’s Path: Lessons from my Father, to

The Sunday we continue with the three wonderful stories from John’s Gospel. These stories are used every year for RCIA because they are filled with images of baptism, confirmation, and conversion. I am not going to talk about that today exactly. Instead, I want to muse on a phrase that stood out to me in

St Cyril of Jerusalem Today’s readings are about humility. The prophet Hosea begs “Come let us return to the Lord…” and humbly admit our failings. The most famous penitential psalm, Psalm 51, promises that a “humble and contrite heart, the Lord will not spurn.’ And Jesus, in Luke, recounts the parable of the proud man

St Patrick The beautiful Jewish prayer, the Shema is the cornerstone of today’s Gospel from Mark. Jesus says that this prayer, which proclaims that there is only one God, and God should be loved above all things, is the crux of our faith. If I acknowledge God, and repent of my transgressions, then the prophet

What a wonderful invitation we are offered today. Jeremiah speaks the consoling words of God “I will be your God and you shall be my people.” God will walk with us! Jesus in the Gospel excerpt from Luke calls “…whoever does not gather with me scatters.” The psalm calls us to ‘Come and sing joyful

I find the readings for today to be just a bit sad for me. The last line in the excerpt from Deuteronomy commands that we teach the law of the Lord to our children and our children’s children. The Psalm says that God has blessed the children of Jerusalem (all believers) and Jesus in today’s

Today we hear Jesus, in Matthew’s Gospel, say that we must forgive anyone who harms us 77 times! Seven is the number of perfection, so Jesus is saying that we must be perfect—hold no grudges and show mercy. Wow, that is a lot to take in and even harder to do. Just how am I