Most Recent Posts
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Hung Up on Our Notions of Jesus the Man
Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent: Wisdom 2:1a, 12-22, John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30. I don’t know about you, but I get a clear sense of inertia drawing us towards the Passion and Holy Week in today’s readings. I’ve always found the rejection Jesus experiences in St. John’s gospel to be palpable, and when joined…
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The Purifying Fire We Call God’s Wrath
Thursday in the Fourth Week of Lent: Exodus 32: 7-14, John 5:31-47. Today’s readings give us the iconic scene in Exodus when God sees the Israelites waiting for Moses at the base of Mt. Sinai making “a molten calf and worshiping it.” God utterly rejects this, noting, “they have become depraved.” God notes “how stiff-necked…
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Our Blessed Kecharitōmenē
Solemnity of the Annunciation: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10, Hebrews 10:4-10, Luke 1:26-38. God has poured out his grace on us all, most especially Mary, on this holy day! Today we celebrate one of the greatest miracles, the Annunciation that God will dwell in humanity, and Mary’s resounding yet humble “yes.” Today’s readings display how God shared…
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Water from the Temple
Tuesday in the Fourth Week of Lent: Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, John 5:1-16. Water figures strongly in today’s readings. Water is the great bringer of spiritual purification and cleanliness. God’s law prescribed that Jews must ritually purify themselves in water before partaking in everything from meals to sacrifice before the Lord. Water is also the substance…
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Living in the Promise
Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent: Isaiah 65:17-21, John 4:43-54. Compared to some of the well-structured parables we’ve been hearing this Lent, today’s readings are a bit vague. Perhaps “transitional” is a better way to describe them. But maybe that’s the point. We are waiting for Easter in our liturgical season and perhaps waiting…
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Seeing with the Light of the Lord
Fourth Sunday in Lent: 1 Samuel 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a, Ephesians 5:8-14, John 9:1-41. Today’s readings reveal to us how differently from us that the Lord sees, and how Jesus came to reveal the blindness in us and reverse it through himself. The dialectic of light vs. darkness is another way to understand good and evil,…
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As Certain As the Dawn
Saturday in the Third Week of Lent: Hosea 6:1-6, Luke 18: 9-14. Today’s readings give us a stunning prophecy of the Christ event some 780 years earlier and urge us to remain steadfast to the Lord in our faith and humility. The short Book of Hosea continues to surprise me. We hear the Word of…
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Agape Has Only One Source: God
Friday in the Third Week of Lent: Hosea 14:2-10, Mark 12:28-34. Today’s gospel reading should be very familiar to us. Not only is it one of Jesus’s most straightforward sayings, it’s the answer to what is the “greatest commandment,” which is shorthand for saying, “cut to the chase, what do I need to do to…