You have made us for yourself, Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. No single line, outside of Scripture, has ever spoken to me as powerfully, as persistently, and as hauntingly, as that line from St Augustine. In essence, it’s Augustine’s life story – and the story of each of our…
Jem Sullivan Is 55:6-9 Ps 145:2-3, 8-9, 17-18 Phil 1:20c-24, 27a Mt 20:1-16a The paradox we encounter in Gospel parables is meant to open us up to a deeper understanding of who God is and who we are in relationship to God. To unpack the deeper meaning of the parable takes time, reflection and silence.…
The subtlety of hypocrisy! How easy it is not to see our own inconsistencies, even as we so clearly see the faults of others. Are we wilfully blind, or is it that we just don’t see? Is this a moral problem or a visual one? Consider these examples: In his travels, the 18th Century explorer,…
Deacon Greg Kandra 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 27:30—28:7 Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12 Rom 14:7-9 Mt 18:21-35 It happened in late December of 1983, just days after Christmas. Pope John Paul II, the world’s most-travelled Pope, journeyed just a short distance from where he lived, into a section of Rome he probably didn’t know very…
Someone once asked Thérèse of Lisieux if it was wrong to fall asleep while in prayer. Her answer: “Absolutely not. A little child is equally pleasing to her parents, awake or asleep – probably more when asleep!” That’s more than a warm, cute answer. There’s a wisdom in her reply that’s generally lost to us,…
Jem Sullivan September 10 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Ez 33:7-9 Ps 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 Rom 13:8-10 Mt 18:15-20 The bold witness to Christian faith expressed in the lives of many prophets and saints often resulted in their rejection, false accusations, and condemnation to death. Take Ss Peter and Paul, who were both martyred for their fearless…
A friend of mine shares this story. He was an only child. When he was in his late twenties, still single, building a successful career and living in the same city as his mother and father, his father died, leaving his mother widowed. His mother, who had centred her life on her family and on…
Deacon Greg Kandra September 3 Jer 20:7-9 Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Rom 12:1-2 Mt 16:21-27 It’s probably the last thing Peter ever expected to hear. There, in that moment, Jesus Christ was speaking of suffering and death, how he would be killed and yet be raised. What Jesus was describing was shocking. Peter, hearing…
A colleague of mine, a clinical therapist, shares this story: A woman came to him in considerable distress. Her husband had recently died of a heart attack. His death had been sudden and at a most inept time. They’d been happily married for 30 years and, during all those years, had never had a major…
Jem Sullivan August 27 Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 22:19-23 Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8 Rom 11:33-36 Mt 16:13-20 Artificial intelligence and language processing tools like ChatGPT are changing the face of education today. Teachers are finding new ways to evaluate what their students truly know. Instead of superficial questions that can be answered easily by…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser