General
Reflection on the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
In 1984, when my brother Joe was diagnosed with Gay Men’s Virus, before it was named AIDS and then identified as HIV, before there was any treatment, I prayed. I…
Read MoreReflection on the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I first read this parable I thought “Jesus, this parable is a perfect fit for today’s world!” Let’s take a look at the actors in the parable and at…
Read MoreReflection on the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Always the question: “As I consider the readings in today’s liturgy, what do they say for me now?” As you know the Encyclical Letter from Pope Francis, Laudato Si’, has…
Read MoreReflection on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Exodus 32 1 Timothy 1 Luke 15 This morning’s Gospel tells the story of our confusions about enough. Enough trouble, enough loss, enough yearning, enough resentment. And enough love to…
Read MoreReflection on the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Who can know God’s counsel?” asks the book of Wisdom. We are timid and find it very hard to grasp the world around us – except that sometimes, says Wisdom,…
Read MoreReflection on the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I came up this hill at the ripe old age of 18 to give my life to God as I understood what that meant at the time, we had…
Read MoreReflection on the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 13: 22-30 Today’s readings are hard ones — I found them both uncomfortable and challenging. Jesus sounds distant, harsh even, hardly projecting mercy or compassion. Or projecting a welcoming…
Read MoreReflection on the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I first read this Gospel it was perplexing. When Jesus says “I have come to set the earth on fire” I am reminded of the raging fires in the…
Read MoreReflection on the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 18:6-9 Hebrews 11-12 Luke 12:32-48 In today’s Gospel, Luke’s audience is concerned about how they will provide for themselves for the long haul, about whether or not the claims…
Read MoreReflection on the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-21; Colossians 3:1-5, 9-11; Luke 12:13:21 Vanities of vanities! All things are vanity! I remember Carroll Stuhlmueller saying that line. It was when we were in the novitiate…
Read MoreReflection on the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Genesis 18:20-32 Colossians 2:12-14 Luke 11:1-13 Today’s readings are very familiar, and each is rich in multiple meanings and deep, compassionate reassurance. The most familiar reading, of course, is the…
Read MoreReflection on the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Recently, on CNN, I watched an interview with a man named Aaron Stark, who said that when he was in his late teens he could very easily become a mass…
Read More