The Good Samaritan What would you do? The story in today’s Gospel stirs up a mixture of emotions:  Compassion and admiration for what the Samaritan did on the one hand, shock, indignation and disappointment on the other hand over the ways the “religious-pious” peoples reacted to this tragedy. The Samaritan arrives on the scene.  What  Read more …

Last week, we reflected on why we build a church.  This week we look at why a church needs a bridge to the community: go out of the walls in to the world to get back in the walls.  Bridges are amazing structures that fascinate us and provide so much connection.  Imagine a world without  Read more …

Ephphatha!  Be Opened At the heart of today’s Gospel (Mk 7:31-37) there is a small but very important word.  A word that, in its deepest meaning, sums up the whole message and the whole mission of Christ.  Saint Mark writes it in the same language that Jesus pronounced it, so that it is even more  Read more …

“Let it be done unto me accordingly to thy Will” “Let it be done unto me accordingly to thy Will”  Today, with the universal Church, we affirm our belief that Mary, the Mother of God is the perfect model of Christian life; who was preserved from the corruption of the grave and who is the  Read more …

A History Lesson The image of Mary as Queen Mother is directly related to the first official Marian dogma defined by the Church: Mary’s status as Mother of God.  The Greek word for the title is Theotokos, which literally means “God-bearer.”  That title is one of the oldest and most commonly used titles for Mary,  Read more …

Knowest thou the things that belong to thy peace? Today’s reading says that  “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (St. Luke 19:41).  Our Lord uses  Read more …

We (Christians) build to see God.  In 1 Chronicles 22:19 God says “Seek me, build me a temple”.  Building a space for a community to encounter God is one of the most basic acts of drawing heaven into your world.  It has been this way for centuries. The Shunamite woman built a room on her  Read more …

Spiritual but not religious A growing number of people today describe themselves as being spiritual but not religious.  They acknowledge the need to find purpose, meaning, hope and love in life (spiritual needs) but refuse to join a community of faith (religious institution) commanded by a Higher Power (God).  Are spirituality and religion opposed to  Read more …

“Rise and Come forward”.  Jesus spoke these words to a man He had singled out in a synagogue almost 2021 years ago.  For us, these words also express our mission and our faith.  Our passion is for people.  For many, life-changing treasures in the Church have remained “buried”.  The Scriptures, the sacraments, the lives of  Read more …

I’m sure you’ve heard and read about how we are supposed to be giving people. While we may accept and agree with that, many of us have an inner dialogue that occurs when God asks us to give something. We wonder why God is asking us to give, especially if we don’t have much to  Read more …