Distance runners and songwriters will appreciate the readings from this Sunday’s mass celebrating the feast of the Lord’s presentation. They’re about the process of purification. Done right, it can result in a pain that “hurts so good.” Runners get this…
The greatest speechwriters will tell you that the secret to their craft is this: Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then … tell them what you told them. There’s nothing new in that lesson. In…
When Adam and Eve evicted themselves from paradise, they also destroyed a beautiful edifice. God was just establishing his Kingdom within them and they turned their rich colony of life into a sterile husk—unfit for life. Since then our Father…
This Sunday’s first reading from Isaiah gives us a surprising assessment of the coming Savior’s power. “He shall bring forth justice to the nations, not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street. A bruised reed…
Our church uses simple symbols to communicate complex themes. The crucifix is the most important, signifying that God so loved the world that he sent his son to die for our sins. Then there’s the fish, which has become a…
Much has been written about Mary’s “yes” to God. She delivered to an angelic messenger her acceptance of the role God chose for her. But there was another “yes” that was needed to make Mary’s “yes” count. Today’s readings are…
Any good parent will relate to how God is portrayed in this Sunday’s first reading from Isaiah. He’s the ultimate Dad, telling his child to ask for guidance when he gets into trouble. But does the kid listen? NO! He…
There aren’t many things scarier than seeing fear in the eyes of our leaders. Franklin Roosevelt knew this, which is why history remembers him best for what he said in his first inaugural address in 1933—at the depth of the…
There must be something wrong with me. Why, after reading this Sunday’s gospel passage from Matthew about John the Baptist chastising the Pharisees and Sadducees, did I think of Groucho Marx? I can explain it, but it doesn’t make me…
With “Brown Thursday” seemingly replacing Thanksgiving as a holiday, one can only surmise that people have given up on giving thanks on the fourth Thursday of every November. Instead, they head straight to Walmart at 6 a.m., waiting in line…