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In: Barren, bear, charity, christ, Eucharist, feet, fig, fruit, ground, holy, love, mercy, sacrament, sandals, vineyard

In tomorrow’s reading we see the parable of the fig tree.  This sort of tree is a source of fruit, a source of nourishment for the world.  In the desert lands in which Jesus taught and journeyed it would have been seen as sustenance, life. The owner of the vineyard,Continue Reading

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In: bear, fruit, good, householder, Jesus, orphan, Parable, Pharisee, poor, prophets, refugee, servants, tenants, vineyard, widow

In tomorrow’s Gospel we see this amazingly detailed parable that speaks of a vineyard that has been leased to tenants.  It’s easy for us to digest it just as the Pharisees did by placing each of the people mentioned in context of who Jesus was and who he was speakingContinue Reading

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In: Abraham, almsgiving, Bosom, disciple, fasting, food, Jesus, Lazarus, Lent, love, man, Pharisee, poor, prayer, Rich, water

Illustration of Lazarus at the rich man’s gate by Fyodor Bronnikov, 1886. In tomorrow’s Gospel we see the familiar passage in which Jesus speaks a parable about Lazarus and the rich man.  He tells the Pharisees in his presence about these two men and how they lived their earthly life.Continue Reading

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In: Apostles, authority, battle, beatitudes, by, cardinal, honor, Jesus, leadership, lord, power, servant, side, spiritual, trenches, truth, virtues

Many years ago, before my spinal fusion, I worked as an electrical foreman.  I helped supervise crews that did the electrical, fire alarms, security systems, etc for moderate size commercial installations.  Everything from Hospitals to Wal-Mart super centers.  One of the things I noticed about some foremen was the tendencyContinue Reading

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In: authentic, chastity, ego, hope, Jesus, Lent, love, Moses, Pharisee, self, throne, vocation, you

“For me to be a saint means to be myself. Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and discovering my true self.” – Thomas Merton A reflection on thereadings for Daily Mass 2016-2-23 This quote from Thomas Merton continuesContinue Reading

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In: authority, Bind, chair, earth, Eliakim, Francis, heaven, Jesus, Keys, Loosen, mercy, Peter, Pope, Saint, throne, year

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of the chair of Saint Peter.  The authority of the Pope seems to be a stumbling block for many.  They question why we believe that there is one man with the ability to lead us, to guide us, and to have the authoritative ability toContinue Reading