FatherLiam

[Editor’s Note: Father Liam is away for his annual pilgrimage and to lead retreats in Assisi, Italy! In order to give us a taste (no pun intended!) of his Italian journey, he is sending blog posts for the next few Sundays! Each entry will lead us on a tour on the life of St. Francis … Read more

Hello from Assisi! The first stop on our pilgrimage to the sites of Saint Francis and Clare is the birthplace of Saint Francis.  Francis, born in in 1181, lived a rather charmed life due to his father Pietro’s successful business as a silk merchant. In fact, Francis’ mother Pica, had her son baptized when Pietro … Read more

That’s the question I ask myself every time I confront scripture passages like those for this Sunday, August 2: “All you who are thirsty, come to the water! Come without paying and without cost” shouts out an exuberant Isaiah. “You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing,” the psalmist sings. “Nothing will be able … Read more

“And he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” O how we love these words!  Words that immediate remind us Catholics of the Eucharist, where week after week we know without doubt the Risen Lord in our midst in the breaking of the bread. Be it a good day or a bad … Read more

Dear Friends, Be salty! Stay lit! For whatever reason, an advertisement for a sweatshirt with that phrase keeps appearing on my Facebook page. I’ve been tempted to buy it because, in these days more than ever, in the midst of so many challenges in the Church and in our country, it is so important for … Read more

Dear Friends, Last Sunday at Mass I quoted those lyrics from Sarah Kroger’s song, Belovedness. Here are few more of those lyrics: You’ve owned your fear and all your self loathing. You’ve owned the voices inside of your head. You’ve owned the shame and reproach of your failure. It’s time to own your belovedness. You’ve owned … Read more

So, how’s the ADVENT CHALLENGE going with you?  If you remember (and how could you possibly forget anything I say?!), I offered my traditional Advent Challenge once again this year: During all the noisiness of daily life—which often gets even more frenetic during the Christmas Season), dedicate yourself to 15-20 minutes of silence every day. … Read more

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

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

Dear Friends,  When we see the grateful leper return to Jesus to thank him, we, of course, think of gratitude. Which, in turn, makes me think of the oft quoted Meister Eckhart: “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it we be enough.” Well, that got me thinking: … Read more

Dear Friends, Greetings from Assisi! With all the violence and chaos going on back home in the US right now and with all the war and violence in many parts of the world, I wanted to share with you a quote from Rowan Williams. This is the quote with which I end each weekly retreat, … Read more

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