FatherLiam

Ah, good ol’ Ruby Turpin.  Today’s gospel parable always brings to mind for me the character from Flannery O’Connor’s short story Revelation. In fact, Flannery wrote this story these words of Jesus in mind: “For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” In the story, Ruby considers herself … Read more

Dear Friends, Jesus uses not just one, but three parables, to make his point in today’s gospel from Luke! Now far from wanting to frighten us into not “getting caught” misbehaving and suffering the consequences of eternal punishment, Jesus is encouraging us to live fully awake, aware, and alive. As Sr Ephrem Hollermann puts it, … Read more

Dear Friends, So here we are—finally! — back in Ordinary Time. I love the sacred seasons of Lent and Easter with the big finale of Pentecost. Yet by the end of the Easter Season, I am always ready for a return to Ordinary Time. Yes, there are a few feast days like Holy Trinity and … Read more

“It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.” When is the last time you said something like that? “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of me.” We don’t usually talk like that but it’s a really important point for us who are disciples of Jesus: Do we let his Spirit … Read more

“It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of us.” When is the last time you said something like that? “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and of me.” We don’t usually talk like that but it’s a really important point for us who are disciples of Jesus: Do we let his Spirit … Read more

Dear Friends, So here we are, entering the Third Week of Easter.  I so appreciate the gospel of John during this season, because he gives us insight into how to live “post-Easter.”  I mean, we had an amazing Easter Vigil and Easter Day at Saint Miriam filled with beautiful music and décor (to say nothing of … Read more

“If you had known the things that make for peace.”  So weeps Jesus as looks out over Jerusalem, right before he enters the city for Passover—that is, right before what we now call “the Triumphal Entry.”  Two thousand years later, we weep as we seek to know “the things that make for peace.” And yet the truth is that Jesus, as he uttered … Read more

What is your image of God? How do you picture God, think of God, “see” God?  The clearest, most complete and perfect image of God is given to us by Jesus is his Parable of the Prodigal Son. We have heard this story so many times and we all love it, but after hearing it so … Read more

Dear Friends, So, what is going on with Abraham and God in today’s first reading? Heifers and she-goats and rams slaughtered, split in two and placed “each half opposite the other” on the ground? What gives? While this scene seems strange to us, in Abraham’s day it was the formal ritual used when two parties were … Read more

So, are you like Jesus? Am I? How much? How little? Jesus says it clearly: “No disciple is superior to the teacher; but when fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”  So, if we are, in fact, disciples of Jesus, we become imitators of Jesus; we become just like our teacher. It really is … Read more

Are you on the mark? Is your life headed in the right direction? Or are you missing the point? Is your life headed nowhere, or worse yet, in the wrong direction? In other words, are you among the “blessed,” or are you among the “woe to yous”? In today’s gospel we hear Luke’s version of … Read more

Dear Friends, How do we find the wisdom to envision a new world and the courage to fight for it? How do we survive seemingly apocalyptic times? In a world on fire, how do we embrace love and joy? Great questions! Questions that people of every age have asked and tried to answer to make … Read more

After visiting Jesus, the magi “departed for their country by another way.” It is no coincidence that at the time Matthew wrote these words in his gospel story, those who chose to be disciples of Jesus were called “followers of the way.”  They weren’t yet called Christians; they had no list of dogmas and doctrines to … Read more

That, the name of today’s Solemnity as we come to the final week of the Liturgical Year, certainly sounds as triumphant as it can get. We are proclaiming that Jesus was, is and always will be the Ultimate Ruler of All—all people, all creation, all planets, all galaxies—the entire Cosmos. Jesus Christ, we profess, is … Read more

‘Well, of course I am’, many of us would respond. I’m baptized. I go to church. I give in the collection. I try not to sin.   That’s all good. (And thank you for your contribution!)   But the question remains: Am I a disciple of Jesus? A student, a learner, a follower? You see, at the end of the gospel passage … Read more

Every time the Sunday Scriptures deal with the topic of marriage, I automatically recall one of my favorite passages from Greg Boyle’s book Tattoos on the Heart. Greg writes about a trip he took with his mother to the hospital to visit his dad. Greg’s mom has brought along a pillow in a flowery case for … Read more

I’m sitting here in my apartment in Assisi reading the Scriptures for this coming Sunday. As I read James explaining that all our jealousies and selfish ambitions and conflicts and wars come from our out-of-order passions. We all know that’s true. And election season makes it abundantly clear. Crazed unruly passions seem to dominate. It’s … Read more

Uh oh. In today’s gospel, Jesus says his followers must “Take up their cross.” These words always make me nervous—not because they are challenging but because of how often they have been misused to guide people into ways of thinking and acting that have nothing to do with the message of Jesus. Telling someone their cancer is … Read more