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In: car, collector, confession, contrition, faith, God, hope, Jesus, lord, love, mercy, peace, Pharisee, repentance, tax, trust, wreck

This morning began as any other morning.  The kids and I got ready to journey out into the world of the hustle and bustle of life.  The sun was shining and while it was cold outside it was truly a beautiful moment.  We talked those inconsequential, non substantial words thatContinue Reading

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In: Assyria, astonish, Babylonian, Captivity, christ, commandment, Gomer, greatest, Hosea, Jesus, life, love, neighbor, Scribe, witness

I’ve just been reading Evangelii Nuntiandi for an upcoming class on the subject of evangelization.  There is such beauty, such depth to the words that Pope Paul the VI promulgated for the Church in this encyclical.  The overarching theme seems to be though that evangelization is not just something we preach,Continue Reading

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In: blame, Christian, forgive, Jesus, LGBT, love, Mass, Nation, Norman, orphan, other, refugee, seven, seventy, them, widow, Wirzba

This morning at daily Mass, Father Don Ahles mentioned an article by Norman Wirzba in which he mused on the thought that we might be able to now “declare the end of ‘Christian America.’”  The article speaks of the fact that we in America often portray ourselves as Christians throughContinue Reading

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In: almsgiving, church, faith, fasting, forgiveness, hope, Jesus, Lent, living, love, prayer, river, throne, water

Isn’t it interesting how difficult we make our relationship with God to be?  For 2000 years we’ve constantly tried to change the teachings of the Apostles.  The Catholic church has held consistently to those teachings, so much so that if you read Justin Martyr and his apology on the MassContinue Reading

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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: 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: 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