Not everything can be fixed or cured, but it should be named properly. Richard Rohr said that. James Hillman suggests something similar when he wrote that a symptom suffers most when it doesn’t know where it belongs. Some of these seemingly contradict each other, but all of them merit some thought. I leave them for…
The Sunday Gospel The celebration of the Ascension of Jesus to heaven marks the definitive closure of his mission on earth. According to St Luke, over a period of 40 days the Risen Lord appeared to certain disciples in varied ways to prepare them for his final departure. The apostles were told that they would continue the…
The excusable doesn’t need to be excused and the inexcusable cannot be excused. Michael Buckley wrote those words commenting on St Peter’s triple betrayal of Jesus. Here’s the context. Peter had betrayed Jesus in his most needy hour, not out of malice, simply out of weakness. Now, facing Jesus for the first time since that…
The Sunday Gospel In the opening prayer of today’s Mass we ask God to help us celebrate our joy in the resurrection of the Lord. The Gospel reading today (John 14: 23-29) sparkles with reasons for Christian joy. It is set in the uplifting conversation of Jesus with his disciples after the last supper. The disciples were confused…
Where can all of us believers come together beyond the divisions created by history, dogma, denomination, and religion? Where is there a place all people of sincere heart can find common ground and worship together? That place is found in the ecumenical and interreligious pursuit of spirituality, and our theology schools and seminaries need to…
The Sunday Gospel Where is the risen Lord to be met? The liturgy each Sunday in this Easter season directs our thoughts to the various situations where the Lord is present and active in our midst. Over the weeks we have reflected on his presence in the mission of forgiveness, in the faith of those who do…
A friend of mine, somewhat cynical about the Church, recently remarked: “What the institutional Church today is trying to do is to put its best face on the fact that it’s dying. Basically, it’s trying to manage a death.” What he’s suggesting is that the Church today, like a person struggling to accept a terminal…
The Sunday Gospel The Fourth Sunday of Easter is called Vocations Sunday, and each year the Gospel is about Christ the Good Shepherd and the flock of his followers. Today’s reading is short enough to quote it in full. “Jesus said: ‘The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice; I know them and they follow…
At the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, St Luke bridges the gap between the mission of Jesus and the mission of the Church founded on the apostles. “He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for 40 days he had continued to appear to them and tell them…
It’s hard for a child to have to go to bed in the middle of an evening when the rest of the family is still celebrating. Nobody wants to go to bed while everyone else is still up. No one wants to miss out on life. Remember how as a child, tired and unable to…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser