Wake up, sheeple, it’s Good Shepherd Sunday!
A Reflection on the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent (Good Shepherd Sunday), Year C. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says of his sheep, “I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.” And in the reading from […]
The Stillness of Holy Saturday
This article, written by seminarian Ryan Mattingly, appeared in the March-April issue of Into the Depths, the newsletter for the Office of Priestly Vocations of the Diocese of Peoria. “Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror […]
How to Train Your Noble Aspirations
“Lord, I am prepared to go to prison and to die with you.” Each of us has noble aspirations. Each of us has the desire of total self-gift hidden deep within our human nature, beneath the strata of selfishness and pride. “Man cannot find himself,” St. John Paul II continually reminded us, “except in a […]
God is With Us in the Desert
Reflection on the Readings for the Second Sunday in Lent, Year C. In this reflection, I touch on the presence of God with us, the desire for heaven that is stoked by prayer, and the purification necessary to continue on our journey of union with God. The Transfiguration is God’s promise that, not only will […]
Temptations Are Just Bad Solutions
Another reflection on the readings for the First Sunday in Lent, Year C. View Part I here. In the drama of fidelity and temptation, we find ourselves wanting in trust, obedience, and constancy. But we never find ourselves wanting in grace, because Jesus, who is perfectly united to the Father, is also within us through […]
Victory Through Core Weakness
A reflection on the readings for the First Sunday in Lent, Year C. Alone with Christ in the desert, we see the cyclical repetition of the drama of fidelity and temptation. At every crucial moment in the history of the Israelites, God would call them to once again “hear” the story of salvation, not as […]
You Are Special (No, Really)
Reflections on the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. A shorter version of this reflection originally appeared in the Catholic Post. You are special. You were born for something great. Children have been told this for a generation. Growing up I remember “all about me” time in school, participation awards, and […]
The Time I Almost Died (and the Church Saved Me)
This article was originally written for the United in Faith newsletter for the Warren and Henderson County Catholic Community “The Church sometimes has locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules. The most important thing is the first proclamation: Jesus Christ has saved you.” So says Pope Francis in his recent interview (read […]
Solid Walls and a Door of Mercy
Reflections on the readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. The entire Israelite community – the people of God – are gathered around Ezra as he opens up and explains the Book of the Law, which, along with the temple, is the heart of Israel’s relationship with the Lord. Likewise, people anxiously […]
The New Wine
Reflections on the readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time A shorter version of this reflection originally appeared in the Catholic Post. The first great work of Jesus’ public ministry was the act of the Jewish bridegroom, whose job it is to provide wine for the wedding as Grant Pitre explains in his book, […]