“Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”—Matt 10:31 For every person, living in the world means coming to terms with fear. Because our lives are full of uncertainty, we all wrestle with fear, whether we know it or not: fear of death, of poverty, of…
“The salvation of the just comes from the LORD.” (Ps 37:39). The antiphon of today’s Responsorial Psalm summarizes the truths of the readings for today’s Mass. In order to understand the poignant embrace of Israel by his favorite son, Joseph, one must be familiar with Genesis 28-45. Joseph is now…
Three words are striking in my reflection on today’s Gospel; mission, discipleship, and proclamation. Mission Mission could be a complex term. The content of mission as bearing witness to God’s kingdom and the call to repentance is ever-enduring. However, the mode of its interpretation and communication requires more attention. I…
Jesus picked a group of twelve rag-tag folks to be his closest friends, confidants, and leaders of his upcoming ministry. Not generally well educated, rich, famous, or experienced, Jesus selected this team to help bring His ministry to the world. All but one would die as martyrs. One would turn…
Jesus commissioned his twelve disciples and sent them to go find the lost sheep of Israel. He did this to demonstrate that as the good shepherd, no lost sheep should be left behind. But why did he refer to the Israelites as lost sheep? Jesus used these words because, as…
As I read today’s gospel, I came across the statement, “And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.” I remembered a song we used to sing in the seminary. There’s a call comes ringing over the…
Today’s first reading features an image that has captured the imagination of many people ever since—Jew, Christian and modern secular alike: Jacob’s ladder. The situation is this: Jacob, having received his father Isaac’s principal blessing, is now on his way to a distant country. He is going to find a…
Happy Fourth of July to all of our readers in the United States. This is a day, or even a weekend, to celebrate the birth of our great nation. We were founded under many solid principles, including the freedom to practice our own religion, or choose not to. For this…
On the first day of swim camp, a 9-year-old boy stood with his buddies on the edge of the shallow end of the pool. You could cut the excited air with a knife as the boys awaited their first lesson. Two hours later it was generally agreed that the swim…
The Lord God looks at us with love, mercy, compassion, patience, and confidence. When we look at people, we see height, color, how they speak, behaviors, mannerisms, weaknesses, etc. Does God see our sinfulness? Yes. However, that is not the only factor that decides how He interacts with us. God…