Posts by Paul Verderber
Hope
I tend to root for the underdog. Everyone expects winners to win all the time, and that upsets will not happen. However, there are groundswells of support when underdogs start to have their day. The public rallies around the underdogs and support grows. In the USA, we have the annual Men’s College Basketball tournament, called…
Read MoreWaiting Is the Hardest Part
The title of this reflection is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and sums up for me what the Saturday before Easter is about. Just yesterday, our rabbi, Messiah, miracle working, Son of God and friend has been scourged and publicly put to death in a humiliating and agonizing way. We have scattered…
Read MoreThree Ways
The Gospel today has Jesus crossing the sea, and a crowd was already gathered at his expected landing spot. News can travel fast. As Jesus disembarks and walks along the shore, the stage is set for three types of interactions with Jesus during this very eventful visit. See and Hear Him Crowds wanted the see…
Read MoreChristmas Eve
Dear Gratia Vobis Readers, On this Eve of Christmas, on this Eve of our Savior’s birth, on this Eve of Light, we want to wish you all the best for the Christmas Season. Enjoy the time with your friends and family. Remain Blessed, Paul [Readings: 2 Sm 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Rom 16:25-27; Lk 1:26-38]
Read MoreCandle of Joy
Hello, Welcome to the 3rd week of Advent, and the week of the “pink candle”. The pink represents Joy, so please have a joyful Sunday. Remain Blessed, Paul [Readings: Is 61:1-2A, 10-11; 1 Thes 5:16-24; Jn 1:6-8, 19-28]
Read MoreGood Centurion
Happy New Year to you! Happy New liturgical year, that is. We move on to Cycle B in the readings, and we will notice that our priests will have a change in color of their vestments. We’re not in ordinary time anymore. The advent candles will be brought into service. This is all part of…
Read MoreHumbled or Exalted?
Today we remember Saint Bishop Charles Borromeo. His major work was enhancing education of laity and the priesthood on the ways of the faith, as the church was experiencing challenging times during his life in the mid-1500s. He believed that by properly knowing our faith, we could properly practice our faith. It is rumored that…
Read MoreSiempre Adelante
“No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.” -Jesus My wife and I joined 25 fellow pilgrims for a 100-mile hike in California last Summer. This took 8 days of walking, carrying our things, and sleeping in churches and parish…
Read MoreA Place for Saint Jerome and Us
Today is the feast day of Saint Jerome. He has many claims to fame, with the biggest accomplishment being his translation of the Bible into Latin. Such a good job was done, that he became not only a Saint, but a Doctor of the Catholic Church. Not to be outdone, he is also a Saint…
Read MoreBe With the Lord
Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words. 1Thes 4:13-18 This past weekend I spoke at a memorial service for a cycling friend of mine. He suffered greatly with cancer, and finally succumbed to the disease. He was very smart…the top of his class in college, and also…
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