Wis. 12:13,16-19; Rom. 8:26-27; Matt. 13:24-43 Pay attention to mustard seed incidents. Notice them and cultivate them carefully. The readings speak of patience and a trust in God’s power to bring about growth in us. It is God’s power of which we stand in awe. Growth and transformation is the secret of the Christian life. […]
Is 55:10-11; Rom 8:18-23; Matt 13:1-23 In the Gospel today we see that God is a prodigal sower; he scatters seed widely, hoping for a fruitful result. The question for us is: do we cooperate with God’s wide and abundant sowing? You and I want to be good soil. We don’t want to be rocky […]
Zech 9:9-10; Rom 8:9, 11-13; Matt 11:25-30 “Come to me” – you burdened. Who doesn’t feel burdened from time to time? Listen to this description of life and see if it applies to you: “unremitting toil and effort…subject to constant interruptions, unexpected demands… beset with disappointments and usually misunderstood; yet peace all the same, undeviating, […]
Yesterday was the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist. The Church Christianized the summer solstice as it did the winter solstice. Six months from today is Christmas. The feast of John the Baptist is the forerunner of that of Christ’s birth. John was the great light who now begins to diminish as […]
The Trinity. The famous image? The shamrock! The shamrock is the image we associate with the Trinity, the three persons in one God. But there is one limitation to this image. It is flat and static. It doesn’t move. It is not dynamic. Even the image above us, the famous icon of the Trinity by […]
Acts 1:1-11; Eph 1:17-23; Mt 28:16-20 “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Think of Boeing 747, for example or the current Dreamliner. Countless people have flown on them. The dream of flight began with Susan Wright. Her death was a great blow to them, the Wright brothers. Susan Wright, their mother, had […]
So, what’s new? I’ll tell you: Plenty! Today is the Fifth Sunday of Easter. It is also First Communion Sunday. It is also Mother’s Day. Yesterday, two new saints! And next week, graduation. All in May, Mary’s month. What do these have in common? Well, they all deal with new things. The prophet Isaiah says: […]
Gen 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Rom 5: 12-19; Mt 4:1-11 Jesus is led out into the desert. He is in the wilderness. No company. No distractions. He is alone with: with the competing voices of God and Satan. What’s fascinating in these temptations is that Jesus was, in fact, tempted. There was a part of Jesus that […]
Carolina Kostner ganó la medalla de bronce en patinaje artístico femenino en Sochi para Italia en 2014. Fue un triunfo personal. Cuatro años antes en los Juegos Olímpicos de Vancouver, se cayó tres veces durante su actuación. Un comentarista, hablando de su actuación, la calificó un desastre. El video la mostró avergonzada, cubriéndose la cara […]
Carolina Kostner won the bronze medal in women’s figure skating at Sochi for Italy in 2014. It was a personal triumph. Four years prior at the Vancouver Olympics, she fell three times during her performance. One commentator called it disastrous. The video showed her covering her face with her hands in shame. She almost gave […]