Weekly Reflections

Tom Schmidt In Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, he has only four blessings and he adds four woes. Did you notice that all the things that we work forty or more hours a week to give to our family are considered “woes”? So is Jesus saying we should not have savings for the future, food […]

Tom Schmidt For a humble guy, St. Paul really tells it like it is. Paul lists those witnesses who actually saw the risen Jesus, last and least of these being Paul himself. Now we are used to thinking of Paul as one of the greatest apostles, even though we know he once persecuted Christians. So […]

Tami Urcia In the old tradition of the Church, the Christmas season was celebrated up until this day, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. While current calendars have us taking down our trees at the Baptism of the Lord, today s Feast still holds great significance. Jesus ’ parents were faithful to God […]

Tom Schmidt In the first reading, Ezra gets a strange reaction from the people to whom he reads the book of the law. First they lie down, with faces to the ground, and then they all are weeping. Remember the background of this reading. The people of Israel had returned from exile and needed to […]

Tom Schmidt The Gospel reading for this Sunday is not only the first miracle in John’s Gospel—it is also John’s first mention of Jesus’ mother. I used to find it odd that he addressed her as “Woman.” But in that time the word was more respectful; it could even be affectionate. Jesus does help as […]

The practice of a jubilee year has ancient roots. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII instituted the first Christian Jubilee, a year set aside to encourage the faithful to embark on pilgrimages, to repent of their sins and forgive the sins of others, and to renew a focus on the spiritual life. Since then the Church […]

As we begin 2025, we find ourselves in a Jubilee Year. The practice of a Jubilee Year has ancient roots with our Jewish brothers, and the practice is described in the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 25. For Catholics, Pope Boniface VIII instituted the first Christian Jubilee in 1300 as a year set aside to encourage […]

Tom Schmidt Did the first reading from Isaiah sound familiar? We also hear it on the first Sunday of Advent every few years. I suppose it could be a reminder that John the Baptist appears at the beginning of the Advent/Christmas season and at the end. In Advent we were preparing for Jesus’ coming at […]

By Tom Schmidt A rather liberal priest was teasing one of the women of the parish, asking, “How do we know the Wise Men weren’t Wise Women?” She answered, “If they were, they’d have brought bottles, diapers, and a bassinet, instead of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” The gifts, of course, are symbols of who Jesus […]

By Kathryn Mulderink “But they did not understand what he said to them.” Mary and Joseph have just experienced every parent’s worst nightmare: their son was missing for THREE DAYS, as they searched and asked and retraced the steps of their journey. Imagine their relief when they returned to the Temple and saw him at […]

Tom Schmidt There is a Christmas song that says of Bethlehem: “Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light.” Though today it has many modern homes and buildings, you can still see that it is part of “the hill country…of Judah.” (Lk 1:39) It is not too far from En Kerem, where John the […]

Tom Schmidt While Advent is a beautiful time to prepare for the coming of the Lord, we often get so caught up in all the things we do to prepare for Christmas that we forget Advent all together. The readings remind us that in spite of the stress we may feel thinking about how close […]

I am the Handmaid of the Lord By Kathryn Mulderink Adam and Eve were created without any sin. This means that they were not burdened by selfishness or fear or unmet needs. God created the whole universe and placed them in the beautiful Garden and walked with them in the cool of the evening. He […]

I was praying with our first reading from the Book of Daniel, and, “others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace” caught my attention, while a hellish landscape filled with tormented individuals filled my imagination. I certainly do not want any part of that for any length of time, and certainly not forever. Yet it […]

In this weekend’s readings, widows show us a powerful example of living out their faith through personal generosity. Before we focus on what they did, we must focus on who they are. Being a widow is difficult at any time or in any culture. Beyond mourning the loss of their spouses, they often find themselves […]

“As Catholics and Americans, we are blessed to be able to participate in our nation’s political and public life. Our freedoms respect the dignity of individuals and their consciences and allow us to come together for the common good.” [Forming a Conscience for Faithful Citizenship, vii] November 5th is election day, and how blessed we […]

This Thursday is the 31st of October—Halloween. . . Boo! Now that I have thoroughly frightened you, I would like to share with you a Catholic perspective on Halloween. Though apparently disconnected in modern thought, Halloween and All Saints Day are connected. The origin of the word Halloween is taken from an older English term– […]

This Sunday is World Mission Sunday. Mission from the Latin missio means to send–to send the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people, even to the ends of the earth. This effort of spreading the Good News of Jesus may be separated into four fields–the mission to the faithful of the Church, the mission to […]

This weekend we hear the final part of our five-week detour into the sixth chapter of John’s gospel.I have personally enjoyed our detour, largely because of where it places us. Last weekend we heard verses 53 through 56 say, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do […]

Our first reading this weekend, from the 19th chapter of First Kings, speaks to me on many levels. I can feel it in my chest when I read Elijah’s, “This is enough. . . take me.” I imagine the heavy sigh he expels from the depths of his soul once these words leave his mouth. […]

This Sunday we read about the feeding of the 5,000 from John’s Gospel, where the Apostle Philip begins by questioning how one feeds 5,000 and then goes on to question the boy’s offering of five loves and two fish. With all of Philip’s doubts, what happens? The fish and the loaves offered by the boy […]

Sheep without a shepherd, I cannot think of a sadder way to describe a people. Yet, I think that is how many people feel in contemporary society—that nobody cares about them. Perhaps you have said “nobody cares about me,” but our Lord cares. He was sent for lost sheep. And if you feel lost, He […]