Can you imagine how the prisoners of the Concentration Camps felt when the allied forces liberated them, and their freedom and dignity were given back to them? Our first reading today is a description of refugees who had been deported to Babylon (present-day Iraq), returning to Jerusalem 500 years beforeRead More →
Today’s Feast brings us to the conclusion of the Christmas cycle. We move from the crib in Bethlehem to the beginning of Jesus Public Ministry. Jesus was walking along the shores of the Jordan River. He was looking for His cousin John the Baptizer. John was the one crying outRead More →
Today we celebrate a journey – the journey of three Persian astrologers – three kings – who set out on a long journey to an unknown land in search of a Child. As we remember these mysterious men paying their homage to the Infant of Bethlehem, our thoughts go backRead More →
Another Christmas has come and gone, and a New Year has arrived. There’s something about new beginnings that can fill us with enthusiasm and hope. And an end to the virus. A New Year is a time of opportunity to build on past mistakes and make a new start –Read More →
It’s Christmas once again; and the song of the angels resound as fresh and bright as if it were yesterday: “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace to men of goodwill!” These words, chanted by the angels on the first Christmas night, never cease to offer us Hope,Read More →
As the world tries to catch the “CHRISTMAS SPIRIT”, malls are decorated and filled with Christmas shoppers. Christmas cards are in the process of being prepared, sent, and received. Christmas packages are being wrapped to be placed under the tree; children are getting more excited. We are hearing Christmas carolsRead More →
400 years ago in 1621, a small number of grateful pilgrims assembled in prayer to thank God for an abundant harvest. Their thanks was a testimony of their belief that God looked with favor on their quest for a land where the blessings of freedom flow. In that humble setting,Read More →
In the ancient near East, widows didn’t have insurance, a pension or social security to help them. For survival, they depended on the charity of their relatives or friends. Yet in the first reading today, it was the widow who cared for the prophet Elijah. Because the widow was soRead More →
Certain moments and words burn themselves into our consciousness: the exchange of marriage vows, the laying-on of the bishop’s hands at ordination, the birth of a child, the death of a parent. These events and words become part of us forever; we don’t forget them – they make us whoRead More →
Where we sit is important to us. In church, we usually want to sit in the same place; we feel comfortable there. At a concert, or a play, or some game, we like tickets in the “best seats in the house”. At Papal audiences in Rome, pilgrims always try toRead More →