Leprosy was a particularly frightful disease in the first century. Even today the word is a bit scarry. Physically it was a slow degeneration of the body but it also produced an end to all social and family contact. At the time disease and disabilities were seen as a...
St. Peter makes some dramatic and profound statements in today’ first reading. Israel had a special covenant relationship with God. They were God’s chosen people. Their mission as a nation was to be a sign of God’s presence in the world. Their relationship with God...
As Christians we live in communion with God. Our baptism makes us part of God’s life. We are grafted into the life of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, just as a gardener grafts a new branch onto a rose bush. Many people see God as being separate and far away...
Today we see Jesus at the Last Supper with the apostles in Jerusalem imparting his last catechesis, prayer, and blessings on them. Being a farewell message, you would think it would have to be a message filled with a heavy sense of grief and sadness. Yet taken...
In today’s Gospel Jesus calls his disciples to live in the joy of his love and he reminds them that he was the one who chose them. He was the one who broke into their lives interrupting the sadness they had constructed with their lifestyle. The choosing, the...
