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St. Blase, Bishop and Martyr
All that we know for sure about St. Blase was that he was the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia during the fourth century. Everything else is legend. Even if the entire story isn’t true, there is Truth in the legend, because it points us to Christ. St. Blase is, as the author of the letter…
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Thursday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings There’s a little line in the Gospel reading that could pass us right by, or at least puzzle us to the extent that we forget it and move on. But I don’t think we should. That line is: “Take care what you hear.” It closely follows Jesus’ other hearing-related line: “Everyone who has…
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Saint Thomas Aquinas, Priest and Doctor of the Church
Today, we celebrate the feast of Saint Thomas Aquinas, one of the pre-eminent theologians of our Church. At the age of five years old, Thomas was promised to the famous Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino. His parents were hoping that one day he would become the abbot of that community, which was a very prestigious…
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Monday of the Third Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings This is a tough text from the Gospel today. Jesus says that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness…” This seems to be an incongruous statement from Jesus, who came to be all about forgiveness. That he would withhold it from any sinner is shocking, I think. But we have…
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Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul
Today’s readings If we think that we are the ones who get to determine the direction of our lives, we are dead wrong. Look at Saul: educated in all the finest Jewish schools, well-versed in the Law and the Prophets, and zealous for the faith to a fault. He was absolutely the model Jewish man…
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Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Saint Francis de Sales was born in the Savoy region of France-Italy in 1567. His priesthood had him work diligently for the restoration of Catholicism in his homeland, reclaiming it from the clutches of the protestant reformation. He became bishop of Geneva, and was known for his writings, work and example. He says that it…
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Thursday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Today we hear about the amazing power of spiritual friendship, through the lens of the relationship of Jonathan and David. If it were not for Jonathan, Saul would have murdered David not just in the story we heard today, but many times. The Lord’s rejection of Saul was driving him to madness, and,…
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Monday of the Second Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings One of the great problems that many people have with living the spiritual life is that they want it on their own terms. So often, we think we know what God wants, or even worse, we want God to want what we want. And so we act according to our own desires instead…
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Saturday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings In today’s Gospel, we have the continued Epiphany of Jesus manifested as one who identifies with sinners. That is not, of course, to say that he was a sinner; quite the contrary, because we know that Jesus was like us in all things but sin. But today we see that he is certainly…
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Thursday of the First Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Today, Jesus manifests himself not just as one who came to do flashy deeds and heal the sick, but as one who does will that we would be made clean. When Jesus performs a miracle, there’s always something deeper he’s getting at, always something more profound that he intends to reveal. The healing…
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