Being Filled

The Gospel today is a follow-up from Last Friday’s gospel of the feeding of the five thousand. The beginning of that passage says that the crowds were looking for Jesus “because they saw the signs he was performing “(Jn. 6:1) In today’s Gospel, Jesus seems to scold the crowds for not looking for him because…

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God Will Take Care of Him

Closeup shot of a man praying in the dark

In the first line of today’s reading the “wicked” say, “Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us;…for according to his own words, God will take care of him.” It makes me think of the story in the book of Daniel about Shadrach, Mishach and Abednego who were unburnt when thrown…

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Why Do We Fast, and You Do Not See It?

The first reading today is one of those “slap in the face” readings. The prophets of the Old Testament definitely had it rough, but this is one of those times that it was particularly intense. The sarcasm of Isiah just comes through loud and clear! What the Lord is basically saying to Isiah is, “Tell…

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Behold, I Come to Do Your Will

It’s a month after Christmas. All the lights and decorations are taken down and put away, or perhaps in the process of being put away. Or, if you come from a family like mine, even if everything isn’t put away yet, the intention is there! It’s back to ordinary time, ordinary life. The outside world…

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Zachariah Was Right

Image depicting Mary Mother of God

Being Set Free Zachariah starts his canticle (Lk. 1:67-69) blessing the Lord “who has come to his people to set them free.” He goes on to say that the Lord comes to set them free from their enemies. That they are free to worship him without fear. Zachariah foresees the fulfillment of God’s covenant in…

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A Seeming Contradiction

A Seeming Contradiction By Nicole Buchholz

There is nothing as hard as getting bad news close to the holidays. Today in the United States we are celebrating the holiday of Thanksgiving. The daily readings, however, are all about the end times, yet the psalm is joyful and invites us to joy and thanksgiving. It seems to be a contradiction. When I…

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“…and live in love…”

Love is one of those concepts that is constantly being delved into. It is a natural human desire to love and be loved. What is love? It is more than an emotion since the whole spectrum of emotions can be related to love. You can be happily or sadly in love. You can suffer love…

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“…and they were afraid to ask him…”

Fear Paralyzes Talking about my health can paralyze a conversation. The reality that I have an incurable disease brings the reality of death to the forefront. Death is literally looking you in the face. I’ve experienced moments of awkward silence as well as deep conversations about life, death, heaven, hell, and fear. Based on those…

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He Sees Us

The Call God is constantly calling to our hearts and continually surprising us. There are moments in our lives when we think we are abandoned or alone, perhaps even hidden from God. Even in these moments, however, He is there. He is calling. He tells us, as He told Nathanael (Bartholomew) in today’s Gospel reading,…

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Forgiveness

“Forgive us our sins as we forgive everyone in debt to us.” (Lk. 11:4) Difficulty to Forgive I don’t know about you, but there have been moments in my life when forgiveness has been very difficult to live. I’ve come to accept about myself that I can forgive, but I may not always forget. My…

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