Readings: Isa. 52: 13-53; Hebrews 10: 16-25; John 18: 1-19:42. Good Friday once again. Why do we celebrate or remember a death so long ago? Why do we immerse ourselves in liturgies so somber and quiet? After all this is very much an interruption from our daily life; the hectic pace, the quest for productivity, …
Readings: Exodus 12: 1-4; 11-14; I Cor. 11: 23-26; John 13: 1-17; 31b-35 “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you,” said Jesus in today’s Gospel reading but what does it mean? Love is a much-used word in our world and its popularity can lead to …
A glorious entry into Jerusalem which a few days later ends with the Passion and death of Jesus. What a downer! How can we adjust to this within a week- especially a week labeled ‘Holy’. This week tells us how life can change and how fickle people can be. Jesus was welcomed as a future …
With this old adage in mind, we started planning our first Retreat/Seminar since 2019 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, March 17 – 19, 2023! We invited Catholic doctors, dentists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants-and their spouses to join us for a weekend of discernment and training. We began planning, and as we’ve learned …
“Untie him and let him go!” says Jesus in today’s Gospel’s reading after he brought life back to a dead Lazarus. Poor Lazarus wrapped up in burial shroud with new life bursting within, found himself all tied up. “Untie her and let her go!” How many ways do we get ourselves all bound up! Perhaps …
You might remember the movie The Matrix, which still remains a cult classic with many people. In the film, a person is given a choice of seeing reality as it is or how we normally view it. While for the film reality was, in fact, a computer simulation; the plot is a modern version of Plato’s Allegory …
This time of year in California it is common to check the newspaper not only for Spring Training baseball scores but also for reports on the accumulated snow pack on the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Interest in snow accumulation so far north of us is understandable as it is the Spring run-off from these mountains that …
Second Sunday of Lent and today we hear in the Gospel reading from Matthew about the story of the Transfiguration. Jesus went to a remote mountain with three disciples (James, John, and Peter) to prayer and there was a vision of the exalted Christ alongside Elijah and Moses. On the mountaintop, the three disciples got …
Today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew is the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. It begins by stating: “Jesus fasted forty days and forty nights and afterward he was famished.” Sounds like an understatement to me! After forty days without food! So what is the point and why did Matthew have Jesus begin …
So again, why Lent? Doesn’t it seem phony trying to pray more, give more to the poor and abstain from excesses of food or drink or entertainment? Doesn’t it sound like those long-forgotten New Year’s resolutions? Lent is not about feigning concern either for God, the poor, or our prayer life but a season that …