Spiritual Reflections

At least two times since living here I have seen crooked roads made straight: Bardstown Road into Louisville and more recently Highway 49 from Loretto to Lebanon. Those projects took months, even years to complete. Perhaps we can learn from…

Jeremiah 33:14-16      1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2      Luke 21:25-36 Last Sunday, the final Sunday of the liturgical year, Mary Swain pointed out to us that the Feast of Christ the King is as much a beginning as an…

Here we are, on the last Sunday of the liturgical year, celebrating Christ as king.  For some of us, “king” may carry negative connotations — kings and their subjects, power and prestige, wealth and castles.  For others, “king” may bring…

“Seeing with the Heart” Let me share with you my own personal Good Samaritan story. Some of you are very aware that for the past 20 years or so, my ministry has included being of service to persons experiencing homelessness…

1 Kings 17:10-16     Hebrews 9:24-28     Mark 12:41-44 Widows are the heroines of today’s readings.  That’s an odd reversal of scriptural stereotypes.  Widows are poor and rarely noticed except during days of jubilee, when the righteous are…

The Jewish people had just completed their 40 years of wandering in the desert. Moses has brought them to the promised land. They had time and many opportunities to learn valuable lessons along the way. God has promised them an…

It is helpful to understand today’s Gospel if we remember that Mark was writing his Gospel for the early Christians before their separation from Judaism, which happened after the destruction of the temple. They were struggling to put it all…

Isaiah 53:10-11          Hebrews 4: 14-16          Mark 10-35-45 For the last couple of months of Sunday readings, we have heard Jesus teaching his disciples about his true calling and theirs.  What he teaches…

Mark 10:17-30 or Mark 10:17-27 Hebrews 4:12-13 Wisdom 7:7-11 Today’s Gospel reminds me of one of my favorite stories from John Dominic Crossan, who many of you will remember from some years ago when he and his wife Sarah came…

When I first read the readings for today I wished that I had chosen a different Sunday. As I sat with these readings in these weeks leading up to the launch of the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and went back…

Numbers 11:25-29 James 5:1-6 Mark 9:38 … 48 “Whoever is not against us is for us.”  With these cryptic words, Jesus breaks through the partisan clannishness of his disciples and puts us all on notice that the team of God’s…

When I was still in the classroom many years ago, the children would often ask me as to why Jesus would tell his disciples not to tell anyone after He gave sight to the blind, made the deaf hear or…