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In: Babylon, Captivity, faith, fool, house, Israel, Jesus, King, man, obedience, politics, rock, sand, trust, Wise

A reflection on the daily Mass readings for Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time (June 23, 2016) 2nd Kings 24:8-17Psalm 79The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew 7:21-29 When I was four years old my dad was electrocuted in the coal mines.   His heart stopped for aContinue Reading

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In: Abba, Abraham, bread, Esther, faith, hope, Isaac, King, Knight, Lent, Mary, one, Pillars, prayer, Snake, Stone, trust, With

Every time I read about Queen Esther I am struck by a particular scene from the movie One Night with the King.  It’s the pivotal moment of the movie and of the history of the Jewish people.  Here this young woman is faced with a difficult and terrible dilemma.  SheContinue Reading

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In: Agatha, baptism, cross, David, death, faith, Herod, hope, Jesus, John, King, love, priest, prophet, Resurrection, Saint

Tomorrow is the feast of Saint Agatha.  It’s interesting that when we see her story we find that the Church has chosen two readings about two very different Kings, contrasting them as book ends.  What do Kings have to do with this amazing woman from the mid 3rd century? IContinue Reading

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In: Archbishop, Becket, Canterbury, church, death, Henry, II, King, movie, peace, Saint, second, State, Thomas

The Saint for Today was Saint Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Father Don Ahles recommended that we watch the movie Becket(1964) if we had never seen it.  That seemed like something fun to do, so I spent a few hours this afternoon downstairs laying in a comfortable warm bedContinue Reading

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In: authority, Jesus, King, liberation, political, prophet, ruler, scepter, slave, social, staff

There is a phrase that caught my eye when looking at the readings for tomorrow’s daily Mass.  It’s a strange one to my 21st century American mind.  “The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his legs”  In our culture a mace is either a weaponContinue Reading

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In: Apostles, christ, crisis, freely, give, God, image, King, love, mercy, peace, refugee, syrian

A friend of mine lost a family member just recently.  Her mother had just passed a way a few weeks ago.  Today I attended the funeral.  It is always interesting to listen to a Mass in another language, to see the differences of culture and temperaments.  There is something somberContinue Reading

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In: Catholic, Christian, Jesus, King, love, Mary, master, needy, poor, sacraments, servant, serve, silence, teacher, Universe

Tomorrow is the last Sunday in the liturgical year.  Soon we will begin the season of Advent, leading up to Christmas.  We will begin to think about the ways we can bring Christ into the world, and how we can celebrate his birth from day to day.  This Sunday though,Continue Reading