Fourth Sunday of Lent • Year A
In our lives we are called to be disciples, to be followers of Jesus, people who continue the ministry of the Lord, a ministry of forgiveness and reconciliation and healing. We are the ones who beg for light again and again, but we are also the ones who are called to see the Lord in those who are rejected, and oppressed. We are the ones who have been sent.
Third Sunday of Lent • Year A
Jesus has invited this Samaritan woman to partake of the water which will always quench her thirst, to quench her needs in life. The waters he speaks of symbolize the waters of Baptism, and the invitation from Christ to all of us to seek that which gives us life, our faith through Baptism.
Second Sunday of Lent • Year A
When the difficulties come and trials beset us and temptation is all around, these are the things we go back to – and we do as the voice from the cloud instructs: we listen. For there is our Truth!
First Sunday of Lent • Year A
As we begin our sacred retreat, the same words of the Father echo in our hearts: you are my beloved. My prayer is that we take that “if” and turn it on its head…as we discover together who we are and whose we are – and this, without a doubt.
Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
Since the day of our baptisms, every one of us has been on a journey that includes our vocation to grow daily in holiness. This journey will culminate in our arrival at the Heavenly Banquet in the Kingdom.
Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
The Christ in today’s gospel seems to be somewhat out of character with the picture we have of the loving Lord who is the good shepherd and divine physician. The words we heard in today’s gospel are rather tough and threatening. Yet, Christ uses such strong words because he wants to emphasize our goal – eternal life.
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
Yet, the more I reflect on the Church’s way of naming time, the more I sense the wisdom of our Tradition. The Church’s calendar consists of the great seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter, and Ordinary Time. Ordinary, as the Church uses the word, can mean, “when everything is normal” or “in the usual way.” Isn’t that much like our own lives? Our lives have exceptional moments and seasons.
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
God does not give us full-blown virtues, only the seeds of virtue. Love, kindness, patience, forgiveness must be planted in the earth, in the humus, in humility, or they will never grow. Humility is the soil in which all the other good things grow, especially gratitude and hope. That’s why poverty of spirit is mentioned first.
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
The darkness of war fades when we actively work toward peace in all of our relationships. The darkness of long winters, of routine, and of overwhelming busyness fades when we stand in solidarity with those around us experiencing similar struggles, with the poor and homeless who really have to endure the cold, when we are compassionate to others whom we might not normally acknowledge.
Second Sunday in Ordinary Time • Year A
At every Eucharist in the dialogue just before the breaking of the bread, we proclaim Jesus as the Lamb of God who, by his life of love and sacrifice, has come and continues to come into a broken world to heal us of our sinfulness. It is through our “communion,” our encounter with the Lamb of God, that we are empowered to enrich the world with an expression of God’s justice and peace.
