Topic archive
Spiritual Reflections
These are reflections given by Loretto members at Sunday services.
Reflection on the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Mark 1:21-28 Jesus is in Capernaum. It is early in his public life. Things go well. In Mark’s Gospel before the section we just heard, Jesus had met Simon and Andrew, then James and John. He had asked…
Reflection on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our readings today continue the theme of call and response. As a child, I grew up in a small town in close proximity to a Baptist church, and I had an opportunity to watch what they did and how they…
Reflection on the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Samuel 3 1 Corinthians 6 John 1 One sentence in the reading from Samuel caught my attention: “At that time Samuel was not familiar with God because God had not revealed anything to him as yet.” The sentence made me…
A Fallow Time Reflection
By Susan Classen CoL and JoAnn Gates CoL Fallow time. Wintering. Call it what you will, only one out of every 10 living in the U.S. call the winter months their favorite. Certainly there are many who truly suffer —…
Reflection on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord
For today’s homily, I was going to use three poems: one by T.S. Eliot and two responses to that poem, Medical Mission Sister Margaret Moran’s and mine. As I reread them, I discovered they were our thinking in 1990, which…
Reflection on the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God
Numbers 6:22-27, Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:16-21 We just heard in the first reading about God telling Moses to instruct Aaron and his children just how to bless the people. A wonderful blessing God speaks to Moses: May God bless you, and keep you;May…
Reflection on the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
In my own life this feast of the Holy Family has always been a challenge. As a child it was the feast of the perfect family. It was the measure of a family – the perfect child with the perfect…
Reflection on Christmas Eve
Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. What was God thinking? I walked around the dining room several times preparing for this homily, looking at all the stables or creches, French for crib – a prettier…
Reflection on the Fourth Sunday of Advent
These readings for the fourth Sunday of Advent provide a timeless road map for our lives of faith and hope. They are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago. The first reading, from the Book of Samuel,…
Reflection on the Third Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 61:1-11. Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:6-28 This is a light machine – a device that produces bright light for these winter days. Today’s readings remind us that we, too, are sources of light for one another,…
Reflection on the Second Sunday of Advent
If I saw John the Baptist walking up the driveway today, I would very likely alert the campus to go on full lockdown. As I thought about him, I wondered if he would have drawn crowds of people in his…
Reflection on the First Sunday of Advent
“Be watchful and alert: you do not know when the time will come.” The readings at the end of the liturgical year are dark and almost frightening. These reminded me very much like walking into a mine, where the only light…