Twelfth Sunday Ordinary Time (Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: Everybody Must Get Stoned

Psalm 69:8-17;33-35, Jeremiah 20:10-13, Romans 5:12-15, Matthew 10:26-33

Our reading in Romans 5:12-15 takes us back to Eden where our deceived parents eat the forbidden fruit in their pursuit to be like God. Their original sin has been infused into each of us to this very day. I used to think that God was being quite unfair by saddling me with their transgression. After all, what did I have to do with it? But now, I believe that if anyone of us was placed in the Garden, then we would have done the same thing. If not, then the all-knowing infinite God made a terrible mistake by not putting any of the morally superior among us in their place and so avoid this whole sin thing altogether. To sum up, we…

My mother-in-law, Marianne Finnegan, passed away July of 2017. She was a fun loving-person, who enjoyed a good joke, but could never tell one. While we were going through her belongings, we came upon this: 

A ‘WC’ is an English or German bathroom or Water Closet.

Some time ago, an English Lady was looking for rooms in Switzerland and asked a schoolmaster if he would recommend any. He took her to several places and, everything being arranged, she decided to take one of the rooms.

On her way home, however, it occurred to her that she had not noticed a WATER CLOSET. She immediately wrote the schoolmaster to ask if there was a W.C. in or near the house. The Schoolmaster, upon receiving the letter, was baffled, for he did not understand the abbreviation W.C.

Finally he asked the parish priest to help him. Together they tried to find out…

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: When Something is More Than It Seems

Psalm 147:12-20, Deuteronomy 8:2-3;14-16, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, John 6:51-58

Of the many things that we may ask from God security and prosperity rank high on the list. That’s what the Lord provides in verses 12-19 of our reading today in Psalm 147. There’s wheat in the fields, kids at home, peace on the borders along with His guidance to make it all work together. What more can you want? Well, as we see in verse 20, there is one more thing…a relationship with Him. While food, clothing, and shelter are necessary for life, they won’t make it worth living. Merely having your needs met makes for a mundane existence. You need discovery! You need surprises! You need a connection to the infinite…

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: A God Thing

Daniel 3:52-56, Exodus 34:4-9, 2 Corinthians 13:11-13, John 3:16-18

Let’s start with Daniel 3:52-56. On the surface, this prayer looks like another redundant rundown of “blessed art thou”, “praise you”, “glory be”, with a “forever and ever”, thrown in for good measure. We’ve seen this before in the Bible and, for some, it can be borderline boring. Now, we know that God should be exalted for who He is, but not blindly. The believer must have a deep desire to offer praise and worship or it’s just empty lip service. Looking at the entire Chapter of Daniel 3, we find that it is the famous story about God’s miraculous rescue of Meshack, Shadrack, and Abednego from the fiery furnace. If they don’t have motivations to pray, I don’t know who…

Pentecost Sunday (Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: Good and Very Good

Psalm 104:1;24;29-34, Acts 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:3-7;12-13, John 20:19-23

In the beginning, the Holy Spirit moved over the waters of a formless and void world. In six days, the Lord established His creation and it was good. Our reading in Psalm 104:1;24;29-32, praises and marvels at His handiwork in making and sustaining our earth. Just as a painting reflects the talents of the artist, our physical creation reflects the attributes of the invisible God. But the Lord was not satisfied with that. He wanted more than just the joy of creating. He looked beyond the angel’s astonished applause over His ability to fabricate a universe. He, like Geppetto in the story of Pinocchio, wished to have a relationship with His creation. He wanted to commune with His work, not just be the Master…

The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: Infinite Intimacy

Psalm 27:1-8, Acts 1:12-14, 1 Peter 4:13-16, John 17:1-11

Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, Christian, you have an enemy. Actually, you have three: the world, the flesh, and the Devil (Ephesians 2:1-3). Through Christ, you escaped the Kingdom of Darkness and have gone over to the LIGHT. You are hated for it. Your adversaries will do everything in their power to make you as ineffective as possible for the Savior. The world will force you into compromise and silence so that you cannot “infect” others with the gospel’s message. The flesh will tempt you into sin to make your testimony for the Kingdom of God hypocritically laughable. Satan wants to get at you, to sift you like wheat, perhaps even bring you to martyrdom. What’s a believer to do?…

The Sixth Sunday of Easter (Cycle A)

Psalm 66:1-7;16-20, Acts 8:5-8;14-17, 1 Peter 3:15-18, John 14:15-21

The tie in between today’s readings: A Sacramental Life

Let’s take a different angle on Psalm 66 today. Imagine that God is your favorite movie star. You belong to His fan club, read every Tweet, and can even mouth the dialogue of your favorite scenes. Verses 1-4 will sound a lot like your conversations about Him. He is nothing short of awesome! Now, let’s say that you score two tickets to the Hollywood premier of His next movie (verses 5-7). You call tour friend, “OMG! This guy is the greatest! I’ve seen the trailers! This movie is awesome! It has to win an Oscar! We can’t miss it!” Your friend agrees. We finish our scenario with verses 16-20. The movie is epic; it blows everyone away. Someone who knows the actor…

Fifth Sunday of Easter (Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Psalm 33:1-5;18-19, Acts 6:1-7, 1 Peter 2:4-9, John 14:1-12

One of the chief objections that I find people have to Christianity is its insistence on Jesus being the sole access to God the Father. In a world of clichés like: “There are many paths to God.”, “All religions are the same.”, and “You have your truth, I have mine.” Jesus’ declaration in John 12:6 that He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life, grates on them like fingernails on a blackboard. After all, who does He think He is? Out of respect for the historical Christ, they usually will not refute Him head on, but soften His statements with slanting interpretations and work arounds, so that in the end, the Master seems to have agreed with their…

The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Cycle A)

The tie in between today’s readings: The Way of the Shepherd

Psalm 23:1-6, Acts 2:36-41, 1 Peter 2:20-25, John 10:1-10

I asked a pastor acquaintance of mine one day tell me what his job was like. “Basically,” he joked, “I hatch (baptize), match (wedding), and dispatch (funerals), and throw in a little golf on the side.” Of course, the job of the clergy is much more difficult than my friend lets on. There are meetings to run, bills to pay, tears to dry, wrongs to right, sick to see…and all before lunch. The job is so tough, so special, so unique, that when a person enters the ministry, we say that they have a calling. When you answer that call, it is life’s most important and rewarding pursuit. Not everyone in religious work has that calling, though. Today’s gospel, John…