Author name: Jessica Franks

Malaria is a disease not often considered by most Americans. However, much of the world remains at high risk for contracting malaria throughout the year. We cannot deny that this disease is inequitable: with 247 million new cases of malaria in 2021, according to data from the World Health Organization, 95% of all malaria cases […]

Every Mass we pray “Lord have mercy” – but what are we asking for?  This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday and we can take a moment to reflect on what we are asking for when we make this prayer. Are we asking for forgiveness? Or something much greater?   Where can we look for a greater

Celebrating the resurrection of Jesus is something we may hold in our hearts every day. We know that His resurrection makes possible our own eternal life. Therefore, Easter is celebrated well beyond Easter Sunday – for a season of 50 days, from Easter to Pentecost, this year from Sunday, April 9 – to Pentecost Sunday,

April 7th, 2023 is both Good Friday and World Health Day. This year’s World Health Day represents the 75th Anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO). 75 years ago, countries across the world came together to “promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable” (WHO). As these two significant events share

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