If You’re God, You Give. It’s Just What You Do.
Reflections on the Readings for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. The fundamental truth about God that we’ve been getting wrong since the beginning of time is this: God is a giver, not a taker. Adam and Eve thought he was a taker – that he wanted to take happiness and control away […]
Beginning Seminary
First year seminarian Michael Olsta reflects on his time so far in seminary. This article originally appeared in Into the Depths, the newsletter for the Office of Priestly Vocations. To subscribe to our newsletter, contact us. With the first month coming to an end, I can already tell that my decision to join the seminary […]
Tracing Our Lives in the Shape of the Cross
Reflection on the readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. Perfection Imagine that God asks you to hold your arms out vertically for an entire day, sunrise to sunset. Then imagine that doing this will guarantee victory for one person in your life against their worst enemy: Victory against cancer, or depression, […]
Trading Up
Reflections on the Readings for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. Jesus’ parable is about a man who knows his time is short, and so he uses the resources he has to ensure a better life for himself before they run out. This is the story of every saint who has walked the […]
The Lowest Place
Reflections on the readings for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. Another form of this reflection originally appeared in the Catholic Post. “Blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.” Jesus’ saying in the Gospel goes against the grain of common sense. Why would I be blessed because someone […]
What is it Worth?
Reflections on the readings for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. This reflection originally appeared in The Catholic Post. Throughout human history, we have decided how much something should cost by comparing it to other things and deciding which to give up. In a bartering system, one person might give a few tomatoes […]
What Matters to God
Vocational reflections on the readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. “…Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves but are not rich in what matters to God.” I recently met a woman who was the opposite of the rich man in Jesus’ parable. The man has worked […]
Mercy Cures Our Numbness
Reflections on the readings for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. David was numb to sins. He was numb to God, and to the dignity of Bathsheba and her husband Uriah, the Hittite. David began with a small sin, that of sloth or laziness: “At the turn of the year, the time […]
Life-Giving Encounter
Reflections on the Readings for the Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. The tiny Galilean village of Nain is only remembered because of the miracle that Jesus works there in today’s Gospel. Jesus has just left the better-known town of Capernaum, where he worked a miracle for a very important Roman soldier – a […]
Hand it All Over
Vocational Reflections on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi Give me all of eternity to try to grasp it, and I will never understand one simple fact: As a priest, Jesus chooses to literally place himself in my hands every single day when I celebrate Mass. Why me? Why any human, other than Mary? In the […]