Jem Sullivan The discovery of the empty tomb is the biblical record of the historical event: Jesus’ bodily resurrection. No witnesses saw Jesus as he arose from the dead. But what they did see was Jesus’ passion, crucifixion, and the empty tomb. So, how did the disciples come to believe that God raised Jesus…
“We only live, only suspire, consumed by either fire or fire.” T.S. Eliot wrote those words and, with them, suggests that our choice in this life is not between calm and storm, but between two kinds of storms. He is right, of course, but sometimes it is good to vary the metaphor: We live in…
“Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” These words of Jesus apply not just to those who are ordained to ministry and administer the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but to everyone inside the body of Christ. All of us have the power…
The Sunday Gospel Blessed is the parish which has a catechumen on the final stages of the journey to Baptism at Easter. This Sunday’s Gospel, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, is the third story from John’s Gospel, chosen to throw light on the meaning of Baptism. First, at the well in Samaria, Jesus…
New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote an article about a lifelong friend who died by suicide. In describing his friend and his descent into a suicidal illness, Brooks sheds some needed light on how we still have a long ways to go in our understanding of suicide. (New York Times, February 9, 2023)…
Last Sunday we had the story of Jesus sitting with the woman at the well, offering her the living water of friendship and mercy. It is a story about the grace of Baptism. Today we have a second baptismal story from John’s Gospel, the miracle of sight for the blind. In the early centuries of…
The night before he died, Jesus struggled mightily to accept his Father’s will. The Gospels describe him in the Garden of Gethsemane, prostrate on the ground, “sweating blood”, and begging his Father to save him from the brutal death that awaited him. Then, after he finally surrenders his will to his Father, an angel comes…
The highlight of the liturgical year is the renewal of our baptismal commitment to Christ at the celebration of Easter. Today’s Gospel (John 4: 5-42), the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well, is the first of three stories in John’s Gospel which throw light on the graces of Baptism. This is…
Several weeks ago my older brother George died. His death was somewhat of a shock since he had been in relatively good health until a week before he died. His story is worth telling. No community, Mircea Eliade once said, should botch its deaths. Although highly intelligent and motivated, George never got the chance for…
Last Sunday we were with Jesus on the Mount of Temptation. Today we see him on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-9). It’s such a contrast of experiences, from temptation to the vision of divine glory. He took with him Peter, John and James and went up a high mountain where they could be alone.…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser