Tonight, the holiest night of the year, we recount salvation history beginning with Creation and ending with the resurrection story from Matthew’s Gospel. This is by far my favorite liturgy of the year. I thrill every Holy Saturday as we read the beautiful stories of God’s deep love for us (I always want all seven […]
Holy Saturday/Easter 2023 Read More »
Ever wonder why today is called Good Friday? I have. Why would the day we commemorate the agonizing death and burial of our Lord be called “good”? I have no answers, but in re-reading the beautiful prophecy from Isaiah and St. Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, I have a theory. It may not work for
Tonight, we are called to a great feast and given our walking papers. Before we can begin any undertaking, we need to be nourished. The Israelites ate before leaving Egypt, as recounted in our reading from Exodus, and Jesus, before he began his Passion, ate a meal with his disciples. How grateful I am that
Holy Thursday 2023 Read More »
The Triduum begins today. Triduum means three days: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. These days mark the high point of our Christian calendar and bring us to the biggest feast day of all—Easter. Without Easter, well, without Easter there would be no Christians, no Christmas, no anything we recognize as Christianity. We would
Today we are given another excerpt from one of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant Songs. This un-named servant has been given a well-trained tongue to speak encouragingly to the weary and open ears to hear. I was reminded of the admonition I’ve been given often, “Did you think before you spoke!” How often am I really listening
Wednesday of Holy Week Read More »
Isaiah’s excerpt from one of his four Suffering Servant Songs today says that the servant was called from the womb and formed for a special task. Did you ever think that you were specifically formed for a reason? That God fashioned you in the womb because there was a job here on Earth that you
Tuesday of Holy Week Read More »
God is spendthrift. Today’s reading from Isaiah says that God stretched out the heavens and spreads crops across the earth and gives breath to people. What do I do with all this overflow of blessings? In John’s Gospel, Mary, the sister of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, is also spendthrift. She uses a
Monday of Holy Week Read More »
Jesus is not the person I would want to take a trip with because he doesn’t plan. He assumes that he will find what he needs. Today’s scriptures give us two examples of that—the first Gospel from Matthew recounts Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Before he gets to town, he sends disciples off to find a