Holy Thursday

What is good about Good Friday?

COURAGE – Passion Sunday, Year A             Life calls us to be courageous at times. Courage is a special gift and grace needed in human life in many different ways. It’s needed as often as we face challenges, dangers from within and from without our person. Life at times puts people in situations demanding great courage. In that first Holy Week, Jesus needed tremendous courage. The descriptions of that week are unbearable. It takes courage for us to stay with them, just as

Palm Sunday

The Fifth Sunday of Lent

RISE UP – 5 th  Sunday of Lent, Year A             We continually experience the need to be raised up in some way, emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, on every level of our being, body, mind and soul. We eat to be raised up physically, communicate with others to be raised up emotionally, read to be raised up mentally and pray to be raised up spiritually. There are built-in drives in us to move us to live.             No matter how many “resurrections” or “lifts” w

LIGHT OR DARKNESS – 4 th  Sunday of Lent, Year A             Sooner or later we have to make a choice in our life, which has to be backed up with a whole series of other choices and decisions. The basic choice we have to make is living a life of faith and illumination or a life of spiritual blindness and darkness.             The decision for a life of illumination and faith is reflected in living by the gospel vision and teachings which become reflected in one’s moral, spiri

The Fourth Sunday of Lent

The Third Sunday of Lent

PASSAGES -3 rd  Sunday of Lent, Year A             The Book of Exodus gives us the account of the Israelites being delivered by God under Moses from the bondage of slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea, across the desert to the Promised Land. The New Testament gives us an account of our deliverance through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. In the waters of Baptism, sin is destroyed, and we pass through the desert of this life toward the New Testament Promised Land of the ki

TRANSFIGURATION – 2 nd Sunday of Lent, Year A             Last week we were in the desert with Jesus struggling with the devil’s temptations. This week we are on the mountain of transfiguration with the transfigured Lord, Moses, Elijah, and God the Father, along with Peter, James, and John. The struggle with temptation and life in the spiritual deserts and valleys is a hardship. But if we keep before us the crucified, glorified Lord Jesus, and understand what the Lord does fo

The Second Sunday of Lent

TEMPTATION – 1 st  Sunday of Lent, Year A             Avoiding confronting the challenges of our personal lives with ourselves, others, and the Lord, in good ways, lead to more problems. Solutions, which overlook greater truths and realities, lead to worse problems. A common problem is that of temptation. Many human problems flow from the failure to deal with temptation rightly or to even acknowledge that something is a temptation to sin and evil. Our age, having lost much of

The First Sunday of Lent

The Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

SALT AND LIGHT – 5 th  Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A             Frequently the news media informs us of some of the laws and principles of health and economics, which can increase the quality of life if followed. The Scriptures give us many laws and principles of the spiritual life, which affect all areas of our life. The more we know about the Word of God, and the laws and principles of the spiritual life and world, the more we are able to live our lives in relationship to t

The Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time

BLESSED ATTITUDES – 4 th  Sunday Ordinary Time, Year A             Not everyone’s major goal in life is seeking the Lord, or justice, humility or keeping the counsels, commandments and ways of the Lord. Not everyone really wants to be poor in spirit. Not everyone is sorrowing over sin, hungering and thirsting for holiness. Not everyone wants to show mercy, be single hearted or a peace maker. Not many want to be persecuted for holiness sake, and be glad and rejoice over being

The Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Third Sunday of Ordinary Time