I reflect on the need to rediscover the power of intercession in our spiritual and everyday lives. I am always fascinated by the sacrifices soldiers make for each other at the battlefront. They put their lives on the line to bring wounded comrades to safety, often carrying them on their…
In the eighth chapter of Matthew, Jesus performs a series of miracles that definitively attest to his ultimate Lordship. Jesus shows his power over illness by curing a leper, the centurion’s slave and a multitude at Peter’s house. Then, when the boat Jesus and the apostles are traveling in is…
Simon speaks He brings us to a pagan place, Caesarea Philippi, and we are tested. It is a place of wild and chilling beauty, haunted by the strange gods and elementals who had inhabited the land forever, horrors who knew the battle was lost, was always lost, but lingered on…
Sodom and Gomorrah Today’s first reading gives the familiar story of Abraham’s negotiation with God on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. God’s representatives have just visited Abraham and given him the unexpected news that he and his wife Sarah will have a son within the year. Now…
Today’s first reading clearly tells us, “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living.” (Wis 1:13). Why did death enter the world? Because of sin—the disobedience of our first parents. We are all affected by death—whether it be spiritual or physical, but God…
Two Amazing Scenes Scene 1 – Abraham and Sarah are in their tent in the desert living their normal, monotonous lives. Abraham looks up and sees three strangers. In the Bedouin tradition of hospitality, he is quick to greet them and offer them rest and sustenance. He provides them with…
Wholeness is a state of completeness which one needs to be fully human. Many things destroy our state of completeness and leave us in a broken condition. It is a reality that many today live with broken hearts, broken spirits, broken families, and broken societies. But living constantly in the…
On this day when we remember the Birth of John the Baptist, a few thoughts come to mind. First, he was a child of a promise from God, and second, his role in salvation history as the “forerunner “ – the one who was to “go before the Lord to…
My dear friends, there is always divine assurance and reassurance in our relationship with God. He promised that he would not leave us orphans but would come to us in a little while (John 14:18). He speaks to us in various ways and means especially in our quiet moments. The…
There were two rules I clearly remember my parents and grandparents ingraining into my head as a little kid: 1. Look both ways before you cross the street 2. Do unto others whatever you would have them do unto you (Matthew 7:12) I heard my grandmother’s voice instantly as I…