Sometimes you need to run

Jos 5:9a, 10-12 Ps 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7 2 Cor 5:17-21 Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 We usually forget about the running. When we consider this Sunday’s scripture and the heart-stopping story of the prodigal son, we tend to overlook or just brush aside this extraordinary detail. We shouldn’t. As Luke describes it in the Gospel: “While he…

Look beyond the world you know

Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 Psalm 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14 Philippians 3:17 – 4:1 or Philippians 3:20 – 4:1 Luke 9:28b-36   This Sunday’s readings seem to be all about wonder – in Genesis, we hear about a sky filled with countless stars, and then in Luke, we learn of Christ’s radiant transfiguration on a mountaintop. There…

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For the last couple weeks, the Sunday scriptures have given us a healthy dose of what is commonly called ‘The Sermon on the Plain’ – Luke’s version of the more famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’ found in Matthew’s Gospel. The lessons have been familiar – but strikingly direct. What we hear is Jesus speaking directly…

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His modern-day disciples

Jer 17:5-8 Ps 1:1-2, 3, 4 & 6 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20 Lk 6:17, 20-26 If anyone was expecting Jesus to deliver this sermon from a mountain, they got a shock. The first thing we notice in this Sunday’s reading from Luke is this detail: “Jesus came down with the Twelve and stood on a…

We are people of light

Think Christmas was over weeks ago? Think again. The Feast of the Presentation officially closes the Christmas season, 40 days after the Nativity, so there’s still one last chance to wish the world “Merry Christmas!” It is also one final opportunity in our liturgy to reflect on a vitally important motif of this season: the…

In Christ’s hands, miracles abound

Who couldn’t use a miracle right about now? After weeks of parties and packages, planning and platters, the world returns to something vaguely normal. Our waistlines are bigger, and our to-do lists are smaller. Christmas is in the rear-view mirror. The trees have been tossed to the curb. The lights have burned out. The toys…

Rejoice! The Lord is near

Mi 5:1-4a Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 Heb 10:5-10 Lk 1:39-45 Ironically, as our Advent journey is drawing to a close, another journey is beginning. It’s right there in the first three words of this Sunday’s Gospel: “Mary set out…” This time of year, I think, a lot of us can appreciate the idea of taking…

Make straight his paths

On an Advent morning 12 years ago, the jazz great Dave Brubeck died, just before his 92nd birthday. Besides being a man of music, he was also a man of faith, who joined the Catholic Church as an adult. In many ways, it was fitting that he entered eternal life during Advent – in part, because (as…