Topic archive
Spiritual Reflections
These are reflections given by Loretto members at Sunday services.
Reflection on the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Wisdom 2:12-20 James 3:16-4:3 Mark 9:30-37 Have you ever been jealous of someone else’s success? I have. Have you ever grumbled about or teased someone for doing the right thing? I have. It’s embarrassing to acknowledge that sometimes I’m struck…
Reflection on the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
God really likes surprises. In 1951 when 15 of my 36 novitiate classmates and I gathered for the first time at lunch in the guest house, which is now Knobs Haven, some of us decided that Sister Antoinette would one…
Reflection on the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
As many of you know my niece, Dominica, and her husband, Fernando, were in a catastrophic car accident in mid-July. Both were injured. Fernando suffered massive head trauma and serious brain damage, was resuscitated at the scene, and has been…
Reflection on the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today Deuteronomy, Psalm 15, James and Jesus according to Luke tell us to act from our hearts. Not to murder or lie or cheat but to do good. I think those of us gathered here today in this Church are…
Reflection on the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I first sat with these readings I connected immediately with the first reading where God is inviting people back to fidelity and a closer relationship. And I think this might be what happened to the tribes of Israel when…
Reflection on the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
John 6:51-58 The words from John that we have just heard speak strongly to those of us who stand within the Christian tradition. The words resonate with anyone who walks with followers of Jesus. Jesus says, “I am the living…
Reflection on the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sometimes I think the “Jews,” who in John’s Gospel passage for today refers to the religious leaders, get a bad rap. Let’s pretend for a few minutes. Suppose Aiden Miles, a new employee in the dining room, were to ask…
Reflection on the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Exodus 16:2-15. Ephesians 4:17-24. John 6:24-35 Bread is the central image of today’s readings, as it was last Sunday. It illustrates a single theme in…
Reflection on the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
When I read the first reading the first thing that came to my mind was the number of people from the U.S. who came to Haiti and asked why we didn’t have a soup kitchen or a brown-bag lunch give-away…
Reflection on the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 6:30-34 Earlier in this chapter of Mark’s Gospel Jesus sends out the twelve, two-by-two as we heard from Mary Ann McGivern last Sunday, giving them authority over unclean spirits. They were to wear the clothes they had on and…
Reflection on the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Prophecy in Scripture means telling the truth, not telling the future. And the kind of truth-telling none of us like comes from people we think are not as good as we are. Amos says matter-of-factly that he’s a shepherd, sent…
Reflection on the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s focus is on faith and courage. We need both. There are two miracles in Mark’s Gospel for today, two of four that explore the power of Jesus during this visit to the Sea of Galilee. Last week we heard…