This is the weekend of Pentecost Sunday. We associate this day with the Holy Spirit’s possession of Jesus’ disciples, enabling them to speak many foreign languages. But we can also look at Pentecost as the day when people of many…
Christianity wouldn’t exist if Christ hadn’t been a smart businessman. Every successful business requires a succession plan, and this Sunday’s readings let us in on the culmination of that plan. Our gospel passage from John (jn 17:1-11a) puts us right…
I just returned from a business trip in Hannover, Germany, but it turned out to be a spiritual journey, as well. I arrived in Hannover late last Sunday morning and, having not yet attended Mass, asked the hotel attendant where…
We’re entering the fifth Sunday of Easter and before you know it, we’ll be in “Ordinary Time.” This is the timespan outside of the Easter and Christmas seasons in which we live our lives neither feasting nor repenting but simply…
Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal recommended a new source of inspiration to its readers: their own inner voice. In an article titled “Self Talk, or a Heart-to-Heart with Your Closest Friend,” author Elizabeth Bernstein describes self-talk as what…
After all the pain and sorrow Jesus went through before his earthly death, it’s delightful to see him having a bit of fun with his disciples in this Sunday’s gospel reading. That’s how I read it anyway. He’s toying with…
Jesus wasn’t just a carpenter by trade, but a master planner. We can see the brilliance of how he designed the foundation of his kingdom with the luxury of hindsight, but at the time his plan was unfolding, the people…
In this Easter’s gospel reading the tomb is empty, leading us to believe that Jesus did what he said he would do on the third day after his crucifixion. Rise. But there was another miracle we mustn’t forget. Rising with…
It has become a tradition that on Palm Sunday every Catholic Church becomes a theater where all the inhabitants play a role in the reading of Christ’s Passion. The only trouble is, I don’t like my part. Why do I…
Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans. All of humanity can relate to that little bon mot from Woody Allen. No matter how carefully or how long we plan something, the intended result is always subject to how…