Jesus said nothing about endowments, pension funds, canon law, stewardship campaigns, diocesan structures, music programs, or even potluck lunches. He didn’t mention who would own church real estate. He said nothing about altar guilds, and we aren’t even sure where he...
Seeing our ordinary lives from God’s point of view changes how life looks and feels. Following Jesus radically shifts the priorities that govern us. We are called upon to measure our lives, not by what we have gained but by what we have given. A radical change. The...
Saint Luke says that Jesus was born in the year "when Quirinius was governor of Syria" (Luke 2:2), although it is indicated elsewhere that at the same time Herod the Great was king. Since Quirinius wasn't governor until ten years or so after Herod was dead, the two...
When you remember me, it means that you have carried something of who I am with you, that I have left some mark of who I am on who you are. It means that you can summon me back to your mind even though countless years and miles may stand between us. It means that if...
Serenity Prayer God grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot change;courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference.Living one day at a time;Enjoying one moment at a time;Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;Taking, as Jesus did,...
When you feel miserable inside, look at the cross and you’ll know what is happening. Suffering, pain, humiliation and feelings of loneliness are nothing but the kiss of Jesus; a sign that you have come so close that he can kiss you. Never put on a long face. Suffering...
The most significant affirmation of women in the New Testament may well be found in the tradition made prominent in all four Gospels that women were the ones to find the tomb of Jesus empty; that according to Mark and Luke the announcement of Jesus’ resurrection was...
The signs of his presence are blind people who can see, the lame who walk again, those whose skin diseases are cleared, the deaf who can hear, the dead who are brought back to life, and the poor who have reason for delighting in the good news they hear. If these are...
With the words “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” the community recognized the bond that had been established between them and God as revealed in Jesus. God did not stay distant from them, remote and isolated; rather, in Jesus, God chose to live with humanity...
Could the real pageant not be a play at all, but my lifeAs I take my gifts, my insecurities, my worriesTo the Christ Child, like the Magi took their gifts to the manger,And allow God to recreate within me a new life,A living pageant that does not end on Christmas Day,...