Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to help the lawyer think through the question. The story reveals how Jesus thinks. Is that my way of thinking?
Month: March 2021
Oprah Winfrey and the Popes
It might be a surprising juxtaposition. Some might think it is a lead into whether Oprah agrees or disagrees with the Popes on one of the hot button issues of the day. I juxtapose them in light of something I read about the “Oprah Winfrey Rule.”
Falling In Love With “Real Families”
It is a shame that most people only hear polarized pundits cherry-picking from a select few paragraphs, or even just footnotes. It is in reality an inspiring document describing and addressed to the real family of today.
What’s Your Favorite Sin?
Not recognizing our predominant fault is like walking along focusing on the latest text message on our phone. We are surprised when we step off the curb, walk into an obstacle., etc. We didn’t see it, so it didn’t exist… unless and until something makes us recognize it.
St. Joseph’s Dreams – What Vincentians Can Learn
Pope Francis describes God as a dreamer. Think about it! Isn’t God’s dream another name for God’s plan for us and all creation? Do we ever get beyond our own dreams to think of God’s Dream?
Changing the clocks… of our lives?
Changing our clocks.We can think about this annual ritual as a metaphor for our lives.
What if we could “replay” an hour that we lost in our lives. Of course, we don’t get to replay the hour we lost. Nor do we get to skip ahead and see our futures by changing.
The Contagion of Christianity
“They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” Do others know we are Christians by our practical love. Love for rich and the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, saints and sinners, those who think differently or have different color skin?
How Could That Happen?
How could it happen? How could the Christian movement spread so rapidly especially in such adverse conditions?
What Did You Learn In School Today?
In Lent, we think about what am I going to give up. The question really ought to be “what did I learn about God, myself and my relationship with my sisters and brothers?”
Great Idea! … But!
VIrtually no one thought it was a good idea for Pope Francis to go to Iraq. A great idea… BUT!
Lost Your Identity?
When we lose proof of who we are or memories of the joys and sorrows of our lives, something very precious is gone.
A Mother Watches Her Child Suffer
There is a special pain that cuts through the hearts of mothers especially, but fathers also, as they see their child suffer. There is so much more to Mary’s grief than the final stage so masterfully captured in Michelangelo’s Pieta.
Women, Sigmund Freud, Prof. Higgins, and… St Vincent DePaul?
Elizabeth Simcoe is called the “Parish Life Director”. She stands in a tradition going back 2000 years. The notion of the priesthood as we know it today had not yet developed.
Rom 16, 13 reads: "Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; and greet his mother—a mother to me also." If this…
Have a blessed Holy Week!
I have never thought about the people that were named in the Gospels. I would agree that they may be…
Generally, I love the laconic nature of Mark's Gospel. The Passion narrative is very compelling in its starkness, with one…
Father John, Blessings to you as you step cautiously down that new path. Grace and Peace be with you!