Today’s Gospel is an example of John at his best. He gives us a wonderfully descriptive and charming description of the disciples’ behavior and attitudes, post resurrection and paints a purposeful description of post resurrection Jesus. There are some who criticize Peter’s and the others’ decision to go fishing, claiming...
Since Holy Thursday, we have been talking about the wild ride of emotions that the disciples had endured since the strange proceedings at that last supper, to the violent arrest of Jesus, their fear and loss, the savage execution of the one they loved and followed. At the break of...
Can you imagine the chaos that must have been going on among the disciples when they faced the risen Jesus? After all they had been through! They literally had their hearts ripped out when they watched their friend and their hero be cruelly executed, fearing that they too, would be...
Most unsuspecting Catholics will come to Mass today and react in horror when they realize that we will read the Passion. “Oh, no!” they think, “this will last forever I will have to stand for so long!” Yes, such is the burden of Catholics on Palm Sunday, why does the Church...
We tend to wax eloquently on and on about what we call “the good old days,” that magical, elusive and non-specific time of yore. We look back and imagine a time, usually of our own construction of this time, when everything was right, ordered and just. The problem is, the...
There are many people who like to gather with sinners. They like to indulge themselves into whatever is base, but at the same time may feel that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the group or their shared activities. They find solace in the echo chamber of the affirmations they...
Humans always seem to turn everything into a competition. Whether it is who has the most, who is the best or who is on the Mount Rushmore of…..? We can even compete on things that should not be competitive, like competing with each other in holiness, piety or who has...
Today’s Gospel challenges all the easy assumptions that we make about Jesus: Jesus the inspiring teacher, Jesus the compassionate preacher, Jesus the friend of the poor. He is all these, but he is also the One who comes from the Father, the One who we believe, was prepared for by...
In the Gospel of Luke today, we hear the familiar story of the temptations of Jesus in the desert. What strikes me is that the “Spirit led Jesus” into the desert. In Mark’s Gospel the Spirit “drives” Jesus into the desert to be tempted by Satan. I always wondered, why...
During rush hour in Chicago near the corner of Melbourne Ave and Michigan Ave, a blind man was having trouble crossing the street. Soon he felt the presence of another man standing next to him. The man asked, “are you crossing the street?” The blind answer “yes!” The man grabbed...