Month: April 2017

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Characters of the Passion

Palm Sunday (A)

On this day, we read two Gospel passages. At the start of the Mass, we read the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem – the original Palm Sunday. Then, in the Liturgy of the Word, the Gospel reading is the story of the last 24 hours or so before Jesus’ death, beginning with the Last Supper. This Gospel reading is longer, and as such it presents to us a wealth of material for our prayer and reflection. What I will do here is offer a few thoughts on some of the people who appear in the Passion narrative, in the hope that it will help us place ourselves in the story and therefore be more open to whatever word the Lord wants us to hear in it today. Continue reading “Characters of the Passion”

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Children of Abraham

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent: Genesis 17:3-9; John 8:51-59

In both readings from today’s liturgy, the figure of Abraham plays a prominent role. In the first reading, God makes a covenant with Abraham, repeating a promise that God had already made to him: that Abraham would be the father of many nations. Kings and nations would spring from him. Abraham placed his faith in God’s call and God’s promises, even when that faith was sorely tested.  Continue reading “Children of Abraham”

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A New Look!

I’ve decided to change the theme I have been using for my blog. My “old” theme looked nice and simple. But it had one limitation: it offered no easy way to search and find older posts. This new theme remedies that problem.

You will find some menus on the right. You can simply search the blog – say, if you remember the title of a post you liked and wanted to read again. You can search by category. Click on a category and you will find every post that I have tagged with that category. You can also search by month.

I looked at several themes, and this one seemed to offer the best combination of ease of searching, readable text, and simple, pleasing appearance. I hope you find it attractive and welcoming. The theme can always be changed again!

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Spiritual Chemotherapy

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent: Numbers 21:4-9; John 8:21-30

So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me.”  –  John 8:28

By the time we reach the age of fifty, most of us have either had some form of cancer or at least a couple of people we know well have had it. Even in an age of steadily-advancing medical knowledge and techniques, the word “cancer” can still elicit fear in the hearts of those who receive that diagnosis. It is usually seen as the most dangerous and frightening of all diseases.  Continue reading “Spiritual Chemotherapy”

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The Resurrection and the Life

Fifth Sunday of Lent: John 11:1-45

Following the old maxim “Better late than never”, here is a reflection for today’s readings. It was delayed because of an ‘episode’ I had over the last couple of days. I agreed to do two funerals this week, which I knew was a dangerous thing for me, with Holy Week approaching and my “people energy” already low. Yesterday, after the second funeral, I had what people on the autism spectrum know as a meltdown.

For some, a meltdown is a very obvious experience. They will lose all control, rant, throw things, even hurt themselves or others (unintentionally). For me, a meltdown is all internal. Very little of it reaches the surface. In fact, only a small portion of my emotional world reaches the surface, especially when I am with other people. Here is a reliable rule: if you detect the slightest hint of an emotional reaction in me, or if I ever say something like “I’m tired” or “I feel stressed”, you can always safely move the decimal point at least two places to the right in order to obtain the strength of the emotions I am actually experiencing at the moment.  Continue reading “The Resurrection and the Life”