Today’s readings contrast the selfishness of rich shepherds with evil bent, who grow sleek at the expense of their flock, with the Good Shepherd who seeks the strays and heals the sick, tending them with compassion and care. As His sheep, we must bear careful attention to every word uttered…
I love to write late at night when the house is quiet. Often, I pushed deadlines to the wee hours. It drives my husband crazy when I have a big writing assignment due. My best thoughts come at the 11th hour as the saying goes. Here I am tonight, collecting…
Today’s Gospel from Matthew is probably a familiar one. A rich young man encounters Jesus and asks him what he must do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a great teaching moment for not only the young man, but for us 2,000 years later. It really comes down…
How many times in our lives have we felt exactly like the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel? We carry a heavy burden—a sick family member, a broken relationship, a deep personal sorrow—and we cry out to God. But instead of an immediate miracle, we are met with silence. God’s “silence”…
The Ark of the Old Covenant was the holiest object on earth for the Israelites, crafted from the finest wood and overlaid with pure gold. It was protected with absolute reverence because it held the stone tablets of the law. Mary is the New Ark. She was not built of…
In the Gospel of John 15:13, Jesus gives us the ultimate definition of love: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Today, we honour Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who lived this truth to the absolute limit. In 1941, inside the horror of the…
Forgiveness is one of those teachings of the Gospel that we easily admire but find quite challenging when it touches a real wound in our lives. It is not difficult to speak about mercy in general. The challenge begins when the same person hurts us repeatedly or when we feel…
The Prospectively Serious Situation: Visualize a parishioner who reports knowledge of grave misconduct within the parish that, if true, could lead to a significant scandal. How should the Pastor proceed? Jesus anticipated problems within His Church Matthew 18 is properly described as part of the Ecclesial Discourse, for it institutes…
Today, we are invited to reflect on the freedom of total surrender through the luminous example of Saint Clare of Assisi. In today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus calls us to a radical conversion of heart and reminds us that greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to…
Recently, during a bedtime conversation about faith, my 11-year-old son mentioned a theory he had found online that the Christian story was something “made up” by ancient Romans to govern their state. When I heard this, I nearly laughed out loud. “Who on earth,” I asked, “would ever come up…