Week One: The enemy in the Wilderness When was the last time you had a really memorable Lent? Or even a life-changing Lent? So often we just give up something like chocolate like we always have, without giving it much thought. And we don’t really stick to it. Or if we do manage to get  Read more …

Why 40 days of Lent, fasting and abstinence? The reason Lent lasts 40 days is that 40 is the traditional number of judgment and spiritual testing in the Bible (Gn 7:4, Ex 24:18, 34:28, Nm 13:25, 14:33, Jon 3:4). Lent bears particular relationship to the 40 days Christ spent fasting in the desert before entering  Read more …

40 days in the desert of our lives Lent reminds us of the 40 years of wandering the Israeli people spent in the desert. It is also a commemoration of the 40 days our Lord Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting and praying, and being tempted by the devil. The desert, as we know, is  Read more …

The Many Meanings of the Cross Do you have a cross on you, at home, in your office or your car? Why? The cross is one of the earliest and most widely used Christian symbols. In the broadest sense, a cross symbolizes the religion of Christianity. More specifically, it represents and memorializes Christ’s death. The  Read more …

Lord, I want to see! Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me, said the blind man. Look at my misery, abandon me not, and reject me not. You are my only hope in this hopeless place. This is the meaning of the plea a blind man made as Jesus entered into Jericho. This cry  Read more …

The SIGN OF THE CROSS Why do we make the sign of the cross when entering the church, at the beginning of the mass or any other prayer? The answer is both simple and profound. In the Sign of the Cross, we profess the deepest mysteries of the Christian Faith, the Trinity: Father, Son, and  Read more …

The Sower Today’s gospel describes the struggles of sowing, living, growing. All of us struggle, and we struggle in three ways: we struggle to maintain ourselves, (be on the good ground), struggle to grow (get out of the thorns), and struggle to keep depression and death at bay (fall upon the rock). Because we struggle  Read more …

Reflecting on the Pre-Lent Season People often don’t look forward to Lent. Childhood memories of giving up candy or sitting through weekly Stations of the Cross come immediately to mind. Words like “sacrifice”, “discipline” and “self-denial” are often used in ways that suggest that Lent is something to be endured rather than a time of  Read more …

What shall I do, Lord? On the road to Damascus something amazing, something, but on the journey there his plans, his goals, and his priorities were radically re-directed. It was on this road that Saul, as he was known at that time, first met the Risen Savior, Jesus Christ. And his entire life was dramatically  Read more …

Why are you worrying? It’s normal to worry from time to time. Given life’s many unknowns and challenges, worry could be considered a natural response to many situations. But chronic and all-consuming worry can be troublesome and interfere with our ability to function freely and calmly in our daily lives. More importantly, problem worry can  Read more …