Reflections
2025
The Epiphany of the Lord
Just a week ago we were remembering and celebrating how Jesus was a part of a very ordinary human family, the smallest unit of human society. Only a week later we find ourselves having to recognize that Jesus…
2024
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Jesus was God, born as a human being. But that means more than just he was biologically a human, that he had human DNA. He was fully human - he was part of human society, part of a human family. For Matthew…
Christmas Day
Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus - well, duh! The moment in human history when God decisively participates in our life, becomes “one of us”, when God becomes flesh, becomes incarnate. On such…
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Yes Christmas is about a baby - and at last, on our fourth Sunday of Advent we finally get to the baby (Lk 1:39-45). In fact not just one baby but two. And perhaps almost more importantly, for this moment, two…
Third Sunday of Advent
The Book of Zephaniah that gives us our first reading today is very short, three brief chapters. The first two and a half are a dire prophesy of death and destruction, about to happen in the Babylonian…
Second Sunday of Advent
Today’s readings draw heavily on those familiar images of filling valleys and leveling mountains, making straight roads in the wilderness (Bar 5:1-9). If you’ve been on a road trip and seen a major highway,…
First Sunday of Advent
Well, we got through the end of the year (the end of the world), and through Thanksgiving, and even Black Friday. We’re now on the glide path to Christmas, right? So what’s with today’s readings? Our first…
The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
I do find myself feeling a certain amount of sympathy for Pilate in the exchange he has with Jesus in today’s gospel (Jn 18:33b-37). He’s been handed this hot potato by the Jewish leaders, who he trusts about…
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daniel in our first reading (Dn 12:1-3) talks of “a time unsurpassed in distress”. Mark (Mk 13:24-32) recounts Jesus saying: “In those days after that tribulation the sun will be darkened, and the moon will…
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading today’s Gospel (Mk 12:38-44) it would be easy to take away the message that we should be giving more to charity. The poor widow is an example to us. But is that what Jesus was getting at? - give until…
Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time
We make choices all the time. They range from the trivial (what shall I have for breakfast) to the profound (will I marry this person). Some are so easy to make we don’t even notice ourselves doing it, some we…
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s Gospel tells the story of the blind man who was cured because he believed Jesus could and would do that for him (Mk 10:46-52). We can reflect on what got him to that point. He yells out from the back…
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
As we start to move towards the end of our church year, the character of our readings at mass changes. Over previous weeks we have focused very much on the teaching Jesus gave to the crowds, to the disciples,…
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
We are familiar with stories like those of Saint Francis and Saint Ignatius who went through dramatic conversion experiences and literally gave everything they had to the poor. Those sorts of examples likely…
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark juxtaposes two stories in our Gospel reading today that don’t seem to have anything in common (Mk 10:2-16). But they are are connected - there’s an “and” between them! The first is a discussion about…
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark in his Gospel puts a lot of emphasis on “the Twelve”. The idea that there were 12 “apostles” is so deeply embedded in our church culture that we never think about it. There was Jesus, and the twelve, and…
Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
You’ve probably had the feeling - someone has been trying really hard to explain something, but you’re still not getting it. There’s a point at which you get frustrated and start thinking maybe the problem…
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
In this week’s gospel (Mk 8:27-35) Mark again shows Jesus telling his disciples not to talk about him, and again fails to explain why. This time it seems like the disciples are at last getting it - Peter…
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today's gospel reading (Mk 7:31-37) we hear of the curing of a deaf person. It's nicely introduced by a reading from Isaiah about how God will cure the blind and the deaf, the lame and the mute (Is…
Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
One of the messages Jesus emphasizes over and over again is that God isn’t looking for us just to follow the rules (Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23). Jesus is not the first to say this - many of the prophets had said…