Church ushers get to witness some amazing transformations every Sunday. Some people come in the front door carrying a smartphone and wearing the urgency of world affairs on their face. As you greet them they walk past with their eyes fixed straight ahead, looking for the nearest vacant pew from which they can meet their […]

The history of mankind is rooted in the ordinariness of evil. According to the Book of Genesis, Cain killed his brother Abel for no more serious a reason than jealousy. Ever since, murder has become a common way for humans to deal with their hate. That’s bad enough at an individual level, but when it […]

While jogging through our public square the other morning the weekly message posted by the Methodist church caught my attention: “A truly happy person enjoys the scenery along a detour.” Coincidentally, I was thinking about this Sunday’s mass readings for this blog and that line seemed like a perfect description of Christ’s disciples. Our first […]

Our Lent and Easter liturgies give us access to many sensitive conversations between Jesus and his disciples. Any one of these can stand alone as the basis of a key lesson. This Sunday’s readings are interconnected. Both the first and second have direct ties to one pivotal conversation in Christianity’s history that made the rest […]

Poor Thomas. Thanks to this Sunday’s gospel reading (Jn 20:19-31) he became the poster boy for flagging faith. To this day “Doubting Thomas” is the generic label for anyone demonstrating a negative attitude toward someone else’s good news. For someone like me who share’s Thomas’ name and occasional blindness to miracles, I can’t help but […]