Yes and No: The Gospel for this weekend presents us with the father who had two sons. When the father asks his first son to work in the vineyard he says “no,” but later changes his mind and goes. The second son says “yes” but decides not to go. Pope Francis remarked that all of […]
The Last one in: In this weekend’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable of the landowner who pays the same amount of wages to a person who worked only one hour as he did with the ones who worked eight hours. He asked the question, “Are you envious because I am generous?” The basic message of […]
Mercy: This weekend’s Gospel presents a tremendous challenge to us. We are forgiven by God in the measure that we forgive others. I highly recommend a book titled “Everybody Needs to Forgive Somebody” by Allen Hunt. Deacon Jack: We lost our beloved Deacon Jack Daunt on September 9. He was a pillar of our community […]
The Christian Way: In today’s reading Jesus tells us, “If your brother sins again you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.” This is in direct contrast to what many of us do: go and tell everyone else someone’s sin. This gossip can be really harmful. Pope Francis said that if […]
Get behind me: In this weekend’s Gospel on the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Jesus tells Peter to “get behind me Satan.” That’s quite a slap in the face. In fact, Jesus told that to Satan himself during the temptation in the desert. Last weekend we heard how Peter got the answer right, that Jesus […]
“Who do you say that I am?:” That important question, the most important question of our life, is Jesus asking each of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Surely, we can answer that question with our minds—Jesus is God, but Pope Francis reminds us that we can really answer that question by traveling […]
Great is your faith: This weekend in our Gospel we hear of the astounding faith of a non-believing woman. She is in desperate need—her daughter is sick, possessed by a demon. Pope Francis states that, in turning to Jesus, the woman is “brave,” like any “desperate mother” who would do anything “for the health of […]
Do not be Afraid: This weekend’s Gospel is one of my favorites. Jesus “made” the disciples get into a boat to precede him to the other side. During their journey, a violent storm appears and their boat was being tossed about by the waves. What a scary sight! But Jesus appears to calm the storm. […]
A glimpse: This weekend we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord, a feast of the Church celebrated on August 6. This is one of my favorite feast days. In the Gospels, Jesus mentions his future death to his disciples. Their reaction is what ours is like. Oh no! But then a week after stating this […]
Eleven high school aged youth were accompanied by 3 adult chaperones on a mission of service to the area in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. The group traveled in two vans, leaving Sunday, July 16 and returning Saturday, July 22. The worksites were coordinated by the Franciscans for the Poor and the group was housed in […]