Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 9:26-31 Ps 22:26-27, 28, 30, 31-32 1 Jn 3:18-24 Jn 15:1-8 The readings for this Fifth Sunday of Easter introduce us to someone we don’t hear about very much. But he has a lot to say to us, especially now. I’m talking about St Barnabas. The reading from Acts describes…
All things considered; I believe that I grew up with a relatively healthy concept of God. The God of my youth, the God that I was catechised into, was not unduly punishing, arbitrary, or judgmental. Granted, he was omnipresent so that all of our sins were noticed and noted; but, at the end of the…
Good Shepherd Sunday Acts 4:8-12 Ps 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29 1 Jn 3:1-2 Jn 10:11-18 Throughout 2,000 years of Christian history, artistic expressions of faith can always be found. From the rustic art of the early Roman catacombs to the monumental Byzantine Romanesque basilicas to the soaring Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages,…
In a poem Serenade, Brazilian poet Adelia Prado speaks of a painful ache we feel inside us as we forever wait for something or someone to come and make us whole. What are we waiting for? Love? A soulmate? God? No matter, the frustration eventually pushes us towards a choice, go crazy or turn…
“You are witnesses of these things.” It almost sounds like an episode of CSI: Jerusalem. But the case unfolding in this Sunday’s Gospel is part of a larger story that gives the overwhelming events of Holy Week and Easter a surprisingly relatable, realistic dimension. Luke gives us a risen Jesus who not only appears,…
Theologians sometimes try to express the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection in one sentence: In the resurrection, God vindicated Jesus, his life, his message, and his fidelity. What does that mean? Jesus entered our world preaching faith, love, and forgiveness, but the world didn’t accept that. Instead, it crucified him and by that seemingly shamed…
Fear is a powerful human emotion that shapes our actions and words. A young man named Karol Wojtyla personally experienced the gripping fear that his country of Poland endured during the Nazi terrors of World War II. Karol belonged to a small theatre group who was forced to go underground as the Nazis occupied their…
We speak of that section in the Gospels which narrates Jesus’ life from the Last Supper until his death and burial, as chronicling his ‘Passion’. On Good Friday, the lector begins the Gospel with the words: “The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John”. Why do we call Jesus’ suffering just before…
‘Did you hear…?’ In our modern information-saturated age, those three little words say a lot. They sum up so much of how we live. Face it: We are bombarded incessantly by news. Our phones buzz, cable news squawks, social media chirps and pings. There’s a lot going on out there. What are we missing? Almost…
I recently finished reading John Mark Comer’s new book Practicing the Way – Be with Jesus; Become like him; Do as he did. By way of a recommendation, I offer a series of sound bytes from the book which I hope will give you a nice taste of both the language and substance of…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser