Readings for the 2nd Sunday of Lent: Gen 22:1-2,9A,10-13,15-18; Psa 116: 10,15,16-17,18-19; Rom 8:31B-34; Mk 9:2-10. Our third child was being baptized, and the priest did something at the end I’ve never seen before or since. “Lay the child on the altar,” he said. We walked forward, and Mark laid Clay down on his back […]
SACRED MUSIC: A WINDOW TO HEAVEN
Have you ever heard angels singing? I think I have for real, once at a charismatic prayer meeting. But earlier this week, I swear the angels came down and joined the choir at Mass. Or maybe it was we who were lifted up into heaven, “joining our voices with angels and archangels” as the liturgy […]
1st Sunday of Lent: COVENANT WITH NOAH
Readings for the 1st Sunday of Lent: Gen 9:8-15; Psa 25:4-9; 1 Pe 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15 Adam was not aware. He lived in blissful beauty, he did not know the primal chaos. He couldn’t know the bleak facts of life without God: darkness; void; formless waste. He did not witness the glory of land rising […]
Lent, Year B: GOD HAS A PLAN!
As we plunge into Lent, settling into patterns of prayer and fasting and giving to others, the lectionary points us to the reason for it all. Each week until Easter, I’ll be musing on the Sunday readings: specifically, through the lens of the first (Old Testament) readings. Read in turn, these take us on a […]
ASH WEDNESDAY: It’s time to get clean
(Traducción en español al final) My son was the youngest and newest member of the local Peewee football league, and as such he sat warming the bench in his spanking-white uniform while his teammates slogged through the mud. It was a cold and rainy day but the game was exciting, and we all cheered as […]
WHOSE WORD DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Maybe Eve was deceived by the Serpent; Adam knew better. Eve had to grapple with the devil himself. All that it took Adam to fall was another offer. Standing with God in the Garden, with nothing to distract from the morning-new glories around him, Adam heard the word of the Lord: It’s all yours, Adam. […]
RECEIVING THE WORD: A Lesson from Football
COVID has put a damper on our usual Super Bowl festivities. Three years ago, when I first posted this, we crowded with family and friends into the den, feasting and celebrating an amazing Eagles win! This year, it’s just two of us. But I’ll be watching Tyreek Hill as closely as I watched Alshon Jeffery […]
3 STEPS TO A BIBLE READING HABIT
Have you ever started reading the Bible, only to give up? It’s got to rank up there with daily exercise and dieting as the most-started, most-abandoned New Year’s resolution. It’s also as important. Because what diet and exercise are to your body, God’s word is to your spirit: food and strength! Let me help you […]
JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU (EVEN WHEN I DOUBT)
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a crowd, due to COVID. I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like. Maybe that’s why it stands out to me as I read through the early chapters of Mark’s gospel: people are everywhere. Jostling, asking, listening, questioning, pleading for help. They crowd into Jesus’ house so he […]
HOW TO HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD: The Example of Samuel
“The word of the Lord was rare in those days” (1 Samuel 3:1). I feel like that sometimes. Lord, where are you? Why don’t you speak? I have so many needs… I need to hear from you! “The word of the Lord was rare” — that was in the early days of the […]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 27
- Next Page »
