Spiritual Reflections

Our themes in the readings today focus on thirst and the importance of water in our lives. In the first reading from the book of Exodus, the people grumbled against Moses as they were forced to leave Egypt. As they…

Matthew 17:1-9 Last Sunday we followed Jesus into the desert.  Jesus was at the beginning of this work he sensed himself called to do.  We were reading from the fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, toward the beginning of Jesus’ public…

Disruption.  That’s the word that came to me as I reflected on our readings.  A disruption is a break or interruption in the normal course of events. On a personal level, we know the disruption caused by illness … or…

Bishop John Shelby Spong, an Episcopalian bishop, tells of an incident he  encountered one Sunday morning. He had gone to visit one of the parishes in his jurisdiction. There were about 100 people there. When it was time for the…

In today’s readings, words of our Scriptures allow us to focus on two images, one from the prophet Isaiah, and, centuries later, the other from Jesus. Light and salt. It’s striking that the images appear together in the readings today,…

As I look back at the last two years of my life, I’m acutely aware that sometimes our lives are radically turned upside down.  Sometimes I’m amazed at the ways that dealing with cancer has changed — and sometimes opened…

In the first reading from Isaiah we have a precursor to the Gospel. The reading quotes God as saying, “Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, upon whom I have put my…

Just a week and one-half ago, we celebrated Christmas — the birth of Christ, our Savior. Now the news of Christ’s birth was beginning to spread from the tiny town of Bethlehem. It reached the Magi who saw his star…

This morning we continue our Christmas celebrations with a feast focused on the family. That makes a lot of sense, because the Christmas child has been given to us in the bosom of a family, given to us as the…

Who are you, God? The people of the Old Testament asked. God replied: “I AM.”  “I AM WHO I AM.”  “Yahweh” I am the source of all life from electrons and atoms to tadpoles and dolphins, to turtles and alligators,…

As we come to the end of the liturgical season of Advent, the prophet Isaiah introduces us to Ahaz, the King of Judah.  Ahaz had become king at the young age of 20 and had found himself in the worst…

For a long time it has seemed to me that we here at the Motherhouse think of today’s feast as December 8, a feast of Mary, a jubilee day, long ago a reception day and a vow day.  We know it is…