General

When I was looking for a way to connect our readings for today to events in today’s world, I thought about the movie, “The Poseidon Adventure,”  which came out in 1972.  It was the story of a ship which capsized in a tidal wave.  The people trapped in the hull of the ship had a…

“I will be your God and you will be my people.” We are a people with a history of covenants entered into with our God. In the first reading, God promised Noah that the people would never again be destroyed. In the covenant with Abraham, God promises, “I will make you a great people and…

When preparing a homily I always look up some general information about the origins of the Gospel for this day.  The Gospel according to St. Mark was written about 70 A.D. when the newly forming Christian community is moving away from Jewish religious traditions and opening out to the Gentile community. This is a busy Sunday. …

Job 7:1-71         Corinthians 9:16-23         Mark 1:29-39 The first reading for this Sunday made me cringe: What in the world can I do with Job! We’re just not comfortable with complaining; not such free-flowing, extended complaining. We don’t generally approve of complaining, not when it is on purpose and at…

Mark 1:21-28 Jesus is in Capernaum.  It’s early in his public life.  Things go well.  In last Sunday’s Gospel, he met Simon and Andrew, then James and John.  He asked them to come with him. They dropped everything and followed him. Today, an unclean spirit in someone shouts out in the middle of Jesus’ teaching.  Jesus is…

Jonah 3, 1 Cor. 7, Mark 1:14-20 Today’s readings can remind us of how deep — and mysteriously various — are the religious bonds that connect us across the years and through diverse cultures. The readings are connected at the roots: They cover time from eight centuries before Christ up to the era of Christian…

Our Sunday readings are following the timeline of Jesus’ life. Last week he was baptized, and this week he is choosing his followers as he begins his public life. Our readings are from John’s Gospel and are arranged differently than the synoptic Gospels. John is  following a literary plan that matches the first book of…

With the Baptism of Jesus, we end our celebration of the Christmas season. Soon the lights and the trees will be gone from our grounds and courtyard, from the hallways and common spaces. The Christmas sweaters and sweatshirts will be folded away. The star on the academy building will once again be dark. We walk…

Isaiah 60:1-6                            Ephesians 3:2-6                       Matt 2:1-12 The key to this feast is in the epistle of Paul, in which he writes to the Ephesians of a mystery made known to him by revelation, the totally unexpected word that the Gentiles are also heirs, like Israel, of God’s promises — the promises realized in the Good…

The Gospel we just heard sounds like Christmas all over again. The shepherds have made their way to Bethlehem. Mary, Joseph and the child are there, just as the angel had told them earlier. At the end of today’s Gospel, the child is named Jesus, the Hebrew name that means “God saves.” Imagine walking around with the name God…

Today is the feast of the Holy Family. The whole world seems to love a good family story and the entertainment industry knows it. “The Godfather,” which introduced us to the Corleone family, ran through two sequels by popular demand. “Downton Abbey” went on and on and on and spun off into all sorts of…

“Who are you, God?” she asked. And God replied: “I Am. I am who I am.” “I am the origin of all life. I am the energy that drives everything in the universe. I am love. “Tonight, we celebrate two incarnations. The first took place somewhere around 13.7 billion years ago when God shared God’s…