The Gospel is full of questions about the Kingdom of God. What will it be like? How can we recognize it? Who will get in? Who will be excluded? Today a group of pharisees ask Jesus when the Kingdom...
The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word “to give thanks.” As we hear in today’s Gospel only one of the ten lepers returned “fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him (eucharistōn).” This man,...
When I was a kid, my brother and I worked all through junior high, high school and my first year in college doing all sorts of odd jobs in the neighborhood: raking leaves, shoveling snow, hanging...
Today we begin reading from Paul’s letter to Titus. Paul begins this letter as he begins all his letters by “introducing” himself: “Paul, a servant of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake...
This story about the “dishonest steward” follows immediately after St. Luke’s telling of the Prodigal Son in which the young man wastes wealth and opportunity, but comes to his senses, returns home...
The opening of today’s Gospel says that tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus. In a natural religiosity based on rigid rules and external purity, Jesus’ practices were...
Today’s Gospel is shocking indeed. Jesus seems to preach hate: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot...
There is a sharp contrast in today’s Gospel reading between the opening expression of joy and thanksgiving expressed at the table with Jesus and the overshadowing sadness of the parable. Throughout...
From time to time, my dad would remind me that “every person you meet is your better in that you can learn something from them.” Good and sage advice. I wonder if he knew he was echoing Ralph Waldo...
Today we celebrate a basic point in our mission and vocation as Christians: we are all called to live as saints. One of the wonderful things about being Catholic is that there is a patron saint for...
