Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, Sometimes the right thing to say is nothing. Reverent silence is a powerful thing, and our words often get in the way. Saint Peter gives us a great example of this during the Transfiguration in our Gospel passage this Sunday. Peter tries to chime in during the conversation between Jesus and Elijah and Moses. Peter speaks of tents while Moses, Elijah, and Jesus speak of the coming Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus! If the two greatest leaders from your tribe’s history suddenly appeared in conversation with your master amidst a revelation of heavenly glory, why would you interrupt? Shouldn’t we desire more to listen and receive wisdom th
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, I want to focus our attention this Lenten season on the Eucharistic Prayer of the Holy Mass. This Sunday’s reading from Genesis is a perfect place to start. God establishes a covenant with Noah, the first of many such covenants. God sets the rainbow in the sky to remind us of God’s promise to all creation. God will not destroy what He has made. We are good, and we are made for good by God. The terms of this covenant are simple: God made us for union with Himself; we respond to God’s benevolence by living according to God’s will. God destroyed the sin of the world to allow his chosen family to start fresh and rebuild human society in union wit
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, First off, this is your friendly reminder that Ash Wednesday, this Wednesday, is a day of fast and abstinence from meat. Healthy adults are to eat only one meal on Wednesday and refrain from eating any meat other than fish, just as with all Fridays (not just Lent) by request of our American Catholic Bishops. Saint Paul has a wonderful phrase in this week’s second reading that sums up our response to God’s love and authority in our lives: “Whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.” If we keep God in mind in every minute of our lives, we will do all things in light of our relationship to God. And since we are called to love God in our br
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus, He told them, "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come." Jesus came to preach the good news of God’s loving plan for us. His miracles of healing and power were not his primary purpose. The miracles were instead signs of his power and authority intended to make the Gospel message concrete for them. Jesus drives out demons and physical sicknesses, but mostly He drives out despair and sin. He comes to be our hope and our joy. For us who are tasked with spreading the Gospel today—we who are called Christians—the same purpose must drive us. We are called not merely to good works in the relief of
