Weekly Reflections (Page 3)

Years ago, a friend told me of a trying time in her life. After being diagnosed with skin cancer, her physicians recommended that she receive treatment at a renowned skin cancer center. Upon arriving there, her condition continued to worsen. The following day, she recalled laying on a hospital stretcher and feeling as though her body was on fire. At that moment, this faithful woman of prayer needed Jesus more than ever. With a desire to enter into lengthy prayer…

In days gone by, many thought of holiness as something only for priests and nuns. While it is certainly true that our clergy and religious are called to be holy and should make it a central pursuit of their lives, it is the same for every Catholic, whether bishop, priest, deacon, religious, or lay person! The Catechism of the Catholic Church says of holiness: “The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn from…

The older we are the more evidence we accumulate to agree with Job and his assessment of life: So, I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me. (Job 7:3) In painful situations stretched out over the years, one might feel pushed inexorably towards bitterness, cynicism, even near the brink of despair. Job, this iconic Old Testament figure of composure and dignified reaction to misfortunes and tragedies, proposes unconditional trust in God as the correct remedy to…

Some years ago, there was a woman in Mexico who supposedly possessed great spiritual powers, including the gift of healing; people from throughout the country were going to her for help, and afterwards singing her praises. This was brought to the attention of the local archbishop, a very holy man. Something didn’t quite feel right about the situation, so he sent a priest to investigate. This priest, after spending time with the woman and observing her so-called healings, reported back to the archbishop,…

A prophet like me (Moses) will the Lord, your God, raise up for you from among your own kin; to him you shall listen. (Deuteronomy 18:18) God has kept this promise by sending us THE Prophet, his only begotten Son Jesus Christ in human flesh. This event must become a mighty reason for rejoicing and celebrating. If God were to speak to us without the “screen” of his human flesh, we would die of fright. ‘Let us not again hear the voice of…

In my family, annual vacations have always been a priority. Looking back, all have brought grace-filled moments and, given that there are six of us, always a tussle or two. But, despite the latter, I can’t think of one that I’ve wished we’d never taken. Today, however, with all but one of our four daughters in their twenties, my wife and I are nearing the so-called “empty nest.” For me, this has resulted in a new tradition of spending one-on-one…

What is the message we should glean from the very familiar tale of the prophet Jonah? God loves and cares for everyone in the world and he wants everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth because all are meant to be his children forever.  Instead, Jonah was convinced that only the Israelites, the chosen people of God, were to be saved because only they were the objects of God’s care and love. So, as the story…

One summer the New Yorker magazine used for its front cover a painting of a scene from the beach. There were five people in the painting: four adults and a little girl. Three of the adults were pacing back and forth with anxious expressions while talking on their cell phones, and the other adult was seated on a beach chair, staring intently at his laptop computer. In the meantime, the girl was holding a seashell up to her ear, listening to the sound of the sea…

A speaker once opened the Holy Bible and pointed to the intersection of the Old and New Testaments. There, he noted, is John the Baptist’s role and mission within salvation history! Having followed generations of prophets who proclaimed that the Messiah was coming, the Baptist had been given the unique role of pointing Jesus out and introducing Him to a world in desperate need: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29 After doing so,…

So, they went and saw where Jesus was staying, and they stayed with him that day. (John 1:39) That must have been the best time of their whole life, the time spent “hanging out” with Jesus. This is the ideal picture of discipleship which the Gospel of John (1:35-42) has to offer, and it pairs up with the other fascinating picture offered by young Samuel (1 Samuel 3-10, 19) opening to the Lord and to the Lord’s voice. Speak, LORD, for…

The solemnity of the Epiphany was one of the first feasts celebrated by the Church, much sooner than Christmas. The reason for its importance lies in the fact that this feast is about the contemplation of the mystery kept hidden for generations and millennia and finally revealed fully in Jesus, the Son of God made flesh. It is the mystery of the Father’s wish to save everyone. It is the mystery of the Father’s wish to have everyone become a child…

The sheriff’s department in a large city once distributed a list of rules titled “How to Raise a Juvenile Delinquent in Your Own Family.” The rules were: (1) Begin at infancy to give the child everything he wants; this will teach him that the world owes him a living; (2) Pick up everything he leaves lying around; this will teach him that he can always shift responsibility to others; (3) Always take his side against neighbors, teachers, and police officers. These people…