At first blush, the readings today center around water—water as a source of life; water as a source of destruction; water we thirst for. And, while the water imagery is important, the readings also speak to one’s relationship with God—Moses seeking God’s help as he deals with his people; Paul speaking to the Romans about being in a right relationship with God, being justified by faith and, then in the gospel, Jesus entering into a relationship with the Samaritan woman.

And, the Church calls us, as a community of faith, into special relationship beginning this weekend with those who are preparing to receive the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil. On this third week of Lent, we deviate from the normal readings in Cycle B and return to the readings found in Cycle A. A quick orientation to the Sunday Scripture Readings. There is a three-year cycle for the Sunday Scripture readings- A, B, C. By creating a three-year cycle much of the New Testament and a good portion of the Old Testament is read in this three-year period.

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3rd Sunday of LentRead More »

Revered as the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Abraham looms almost like a god over every figure of the ancient world. In our oldest Eucharistic prayer, we even mention him as “our father in faith” yet in the beginning he was as ordinary as anyone could be. God called him from the paganism of his homeland of Ur, in present-day southern Iraq, to take a blind step into the realm of faith in the land of Canaan. In doing so, Abraham manifested a living faith in God that the world had never seen.

His journey was never an easy one. Abraham responded imperfectly but with persistence. There were times when he wavered yet under God’s guidance, Abraham learned to pray, to trust, to persevere and to obey. He prayed that his wife, Sarah, would have the son that God promised even if the time for having a child was long past. The ultimate test of faith comes when God told him to sacrifice his son.

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2nd Sunday of LentRead More »

If God the Father Almighty, the creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? Imagine how different the world would be if there was no evil. Our nation would not be on the brink of another war in the Middle East, this time with the Islamic State. Nine-eleven would have been like any other day in Manhattan. Closer to home, we wouldn’t read headlines that speak of lives shattered or destroyed by the selfishness of others.

The Catechism tells us that like angels we are free to move toward our ultimate eternal destination: heaven or hell. God hopes that all peoples will choose to be in heaven with Him but that is a choice we have to make freely. Along the way we will have ample opportunities as Jesus and Satan did to love or not, to do good or not, and to do evil or not.

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1st Sunday of LentRead More »

Over the past few weeks, Mark’s Gospel has revealed to us Jesus’ healing powers on one hand and the power of faith on the other. Today we are confronted with the leper. The first reading paints a very dismal picture of a leper’s life. 

For us to fully appreciate and understand today’s readings, we need to first reflect on and name the lepers in our society today. Would they be those with HIV/AIDS? Would they be unwed mothers or women who have had abortions? Would they be the homeless, the mentally ill, people on death row? Would they be priests and others who have molested children? Would they be gays and lesbians? Would they be the divorced, the one %, a gang member, a family member, the neighbor, a co-worker?  Who are those we might call “unclean” or have ostracized? 

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6th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »

Job, a wise man, blameless and upright, having many blessings from God; children, wealth, a large stock of animals, is suddenly put to the test by Satan. Will Job remain strong in his faith when all is lost and suffering ensues? This question is also the question we need to ask ourselves as well. Will we remain faithful when our lives are turned upside down? We know Job’s answer but do we know ours?

Our world is full of suffering. There are sufferings that you and I, to one degree or another, can relate, to that of Job’s suffering, his cries for help. Job says; “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? 

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5th Sunday of Ordinary TimeRead More »