Just Sssshhhh…

Dear Friends,  Sssshhhh! Be quiet! Do you hear?  Do you see? Can you sense it: the coming of the Son of Man? The Presence?  We begin the Advent Season. And often the readings for the first few Sundays of Adent seem ominous. Like today: Jesus talks about the mysterious “coming of the Son of Man” … Read more

We live in God and God lives in us.

Dear Friends, Today we see Jesus and the Sadducees discussing resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection and eternal life (So, they were sad, you see?). It seemed impossible for them. It made no sense. There was no verifiable proof. Yet, Jesus counters that it is only because of the limits of their imagination … Read more

Love Loves And Loves All…

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

The Holy Spirit is Within Us!

“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

Feed, Feed, Feed!

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

The Things of Peace.

“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

God’s Promise Bathed in Light!

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

Can We Love Like Jesus?

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

Woe to Us?

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

We ARE to Enjoy God!

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

Where Do I Find God?

We’re so used to our image of John the Baptist hanging out in the desert, that something that would have been obvious and shocking to his contemporaries slips right past us: John isn’t supposed to be in the desert! He is the son of Zechariah the priest. And so, as a member of the priestly … Read more

Are You a Disciple of Jesus Christ?  

‘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