Podcast

Memorial of Saint Polycarp, Bishop and MartyrMk 9:38-40"There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my namewho can at the same time speak ill of me.For whoever is not against us is for us.”...

Today’s Gospel is a tall order.  Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, and if someone takes your cloak, give them your tunic as well.Reminds me of John Lennon’s utopian—and boundaries-free—“Imagine”…   “imagine all the people living’ life in peace… nothing to kill or die for…. And no religion, too.”No religion.  Really...

Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary TimeMk 8:34–9:1Jesus summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them,“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,take up his cross, and follow me.For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,but whoever loses his life for my sakeand that of the Gospel will save it.”...

Easy to find solace in today’s Gospel, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus addresses a great crowd with words we call the eight Beatitudes, virtues sure to transform and bless us on our journey home to God. Harder to understand is the cost of virtue that the Beatitudes imply.The fourth and climactic pair of blessings provides a clue. Jesus says, “Bl...

Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary TimeMk 6:53-56Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered,they laid the sick in the marketplacesand begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak;and as many as touched it were healed....

I think of today’s readings as a gift. Rarely do all three scriptures have a unifying theme, but this Sunday they do, perhaps a gift for the preacher—meaning me. But I think a gift for all of us seeking direction in life. And that is what I call the Gift of Purpose.Each reading tells us about someone finding purpose through some action of God�...

“How do we really know that God cares when Black people are still getting killed? How long do we have to wait for the justice of God? I get it, that Christ is Black, but that doesn’t seem to be helping us right now.” These questions from her son prompted theologian Kelly Brown Douglas to undertake this soul-searching reflection. The killing o...

“If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1Charity begins at home. At least that’s what the Nazarenes thought about the doings of their favorite son. They wanted Jesus to work a few miracles in their own backyard—and maybe send a message to their enemies to...

Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing. (tb confirmed)Luke 4:21Jesus, as we know, was a very great teacher and preacher. During his public years, he attracted crowds throughout Galilee as he taught in synagogues throughout the land. The crowds, St. Luke tells us, celebrated his message, not just his preaching skills.In today’s ...

“They have no wine.” John 2:3In Africa, weddings re crucial, fateful, far-reaching, revelatory social events. They are not merely joyful private, personal celebrations, but momentous cosmic communal actions. A marriage binds together the visible and invisible worlds: the extended families or clans of the bride and groom, all their clan ancestor...

The Feast of the EpiphanyLord Jesus Christ,may Your Word rise like a guiding starin our hearts and mindsto lead us through the darkest nightsand show us the waywhen we seem lost or far from You.May we always follow Your stareven to foreign lands and unfamiliar peoplesto seek and find You in unlikely places rejoicing in Your truth no matterin what l...

“I, the Lord, have called you for the victory of justice; I have grasped you by the hand.”Isaiah 42:6Sometimes, when I read Scripture, the meaning is crystal clear. Other times, I find myself asking questions. This week’s Gospel has prompted me to do that once again.We know from our readings that Jesus is the Lord’s chosen one, the one on w...