Not being a green thumb, my knowledge of weeds is limited. I recognize dandelions, chickweed, and crabgrass. They stand out on any lawn like eyesores but some weeds are deceptively attractive. They don’t even look like weeds to me, so I presume them to be some uncommon plant until someone tells me that I have been duped.

The weeds Jesus mentions are not just any ordinary weeds. He is talking about darnel; a noxious, poisonous weed that closely resembles wheat until both have ripened. At harvest time, the difference becomes obvious. Wheat stands tall and golden while darnel is shorter and its grains are gray.Likewise, certain sins can seem attractive at first, but sooner or later, their ugliness becomes apparent.

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16th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

In his after dinner speech, a sales manager praised the efficiency of his staff. “We are now making a sale every three minutes,” he boasted. “That’s not enough,” yelled a voice from the audience. The speaker was momentarily thrown off stride but not deterred by this heckler. Ignoring the rude interruption, he went on to talk about the new promotion that involved radio and TV ads, along with direct marketing. He told the audience this would ensure a sale every minute and a half. “That’s still not enough,” said the voice again.

Visibly annoyed, the speaker singled out the person who had spoken up and responded sharply, “You have interrupted me twice. Could you kindly explain yourself?” “Certainly,” came the reply. “There’s a sucker born every minute!”

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15th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

We have just celebrated our nation’s independence with the usual fanfare, which reminds us of our freedom, our human rights and dignity, our prosperity, our American dream, power and worldly influence. This annual holiday makes us feel good about our country and ourselves, doesn’t it?

Then Jesus pulls the rug out from underneath us, reminding us that life is difficult. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.”

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14th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

Fr. Frans van der Lugt was a Dutch Jesuit priest who had been living and working in Syria since 1966. He was known as “Abouna Frans,” our Father Frans. He was beloved by both Christians and Muslims in the old city of Homs. Two weeks before Easter, just days before his 76th birthday, an unknown assailant shot him twice after beating him.

Fr. Frans was the last Westerner in Homs, a city bitterly contested by both sides in Syria’s ongoing bloody civil war.Last January, a truce among the warring factions allowed for1500 people to be evacuated, but Fr. Frans refused to leave since he was operating a clinic, which provided health care and education for disabled children. His clinic also assisted many Syrian families displaced by the war.

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Saints Peter and PaulRead More »

Psychologists say that if we paid attention to every sound we hear or everything we see, we would literally go nuts. To protect ourselves from doing that, we block some things out of our consciousness. Psychologists call this process “habituation.” Parents and teenagers call it “tuning out.”

The drawback to this is that after awhile we begin to take certain things for granted like sunsets, flowers, and friends. One evening, a couple was sitting on their back porch. Both had worked long and hard that day. As many of us might do on a deliciously cool evening, the man fell asleep in his rocker. As his wife continued to relax, a spectacular sunset began to appear. Thoroughly enjoying its beauty, she woke up her husband so that he could appreciate the sight too. He yawned, “It’s just another sunset,” and went back to sleep.

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Corpus ChristiRead More »