Aug
14
St. Max
August 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today is the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe. He is my parish’s patron saint and there is a big stain glass window of him in our church. So I’ve done quite a bit of studying his life and praying to him and, through the years, I’ve grown in devotion to this rather remarkable man.
Most people only know him [...]
Aug
11
The Most Meaningful Eucharist
August 11, 2008 | 2 Comments
Fr. Dan is the pastor at St. Susanna’s in Mason, Ohio. I don’t belong to this parish but I go there occasionally for weekday Mass. Last night, my family went there for Sunday night Mass. And I was part of one of the most meaningful liturgies of my life.
Fr. Dan has ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. I [...]
Jun
14
The Price of Charity
June 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment
I gave blood on Thursday night. I ran a 5K this morning. Oh my!
I hadn’t given a thought to any connection between giving blood and its effect on me running 3.1 miles in race conditions just 36 hours later. I hadn’t given a thought until I was in the chair with the tube in my [...]
Jun
9
The Beatitudes
June 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today’s gospel from Matthew 5 teaches us about the Beatitudes.
Quick, who can name four of them?
There are actually nine “blessed are they”’s in the Beatitudes and I bet there was a time when most school kids could name them all and know what they meant.
For my generation, we probably know “blessed are they who mourn” [...]
Jun
3
Psalm 90
June 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Usually, when I’m reading the liturgical readings for the day, I’m gloss over the Responsorial Psalm in trying to get from the first reading to the gospel. But sometimes, the Psalm catches me and makes me pause. Today’s did just that.
This passage is from Psalm 90 -
Seventy is the sum of our years,
or eighty, if [...]
May
28
To Serve - Not to Be Served
May 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Today’s gospel has one of the most meaningful passages for me in it.
In Mark 10, Jesus is instructing the apostles after James and John started asking him about sitting at his left and right when he came into his kingdom. While rather bold and brazen of the two of them, Jesus uses the moment to [...]
May
26
Memorial Day
May 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment
There are men and women who have walked among us, and sacrficed everything they have and everything they are to keep us and others throughout the world free. They have gone to liberate, save and comfort - to make the world a better place. And they have paid with their lives for what we too often take for [...]
May
20
Receiving in His Name
May 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Having lived through a relatively disadvantaged childhood (i.e. orphaned, lived in foster homes and orphanages, adopted as older child, several major surgeries to repair birth defects), I remember being struck by today’s gospel reading (Mark 9:30-37) the first time I heard it twenty-five years ago.
After predicting his Passion for the second time, Christ tells his disciples [...]
Apr
2
More Lessons from the Biggest Loser
April 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Sometime ago, I wrote about the Biggest Loser and certain relationship lessons we could learn from this show.
Last night, the show got down to the final four - and throughout the night’s show, they showed before and after footage - before they were on the show and what they look like now. The literal transformation of [...]
Mar
21
Intimate Union with Christ
March 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
This day is one to spend in intimate union with the Lord. Good Friday - the day to truly be there with Christ in body, mind and spirit as he sacrifices himself to save us and bring us to the fullness of redemption.
Let us all be in church at some point today. Let us gaze upon [...]
