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The Solemnity of All Saints (Mass at Noon)
Today, the Church militant – which is all of us – rejoice with the Church triumphant – which is all the Saints in heaven – because of the great glory of God. This glory they can already see; we hope to see it one day. And we will see it if, please God, we perfect…
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Thursday of the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time
The question that Saint Paul asks at the beginning of today’s first reading is one that we’ve all heard countless times: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” We might even be tempted to pass by that question and move on to something else in today’s Liturgy of the Word, but I…
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Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week of Ordinary Time
Fall is one of those times when we really notice creation. Leaves are changing, the air is getting cooler, the hours of sunlight are rapidly diminishing. It makes us grateful for the bits of life that we still see, because we know that the winter is coming and we will be groaning in eager anticipation…
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Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Today, we celebrate two apostles who, as often is the case, are relatively unknown except that they were followers of Jesus. Jude is called Judas in Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles. Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus. We have in the New Testament the letter of Jude, which scholars say is not…
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Saturday of the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Sin is exhausting. Anyone who has struggled with sin, or a pattern of sin, in his or her life can tell you that. Those who have been dragged down by any kind of addiction or who have tried to work on a character flaw or striven to expel any kind of vice from…
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Thursday of the Twenty-Ninth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Today’s Responsorial Psalm, Psalm 1, has always been one of my very favorite psalms. One interpretation of this Psalm is to look at it as a blueprint for blessedness. In Biblical terms, of course, blessedness equals happiness. So the person who doesn’t follow the counsel of the wicked or walk with sinners but…
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Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings There are two things: the promise, and the response. The promise has echoed down through the ages. God called Abraham and promised descendants as numerous as the sands on the sea shore or the stars in the sky. Through Moses, God made known his intent to bring his people out of slavery and…
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Ss. Isaac Jogues, John de Brébeuf and Companions, Martyrs
St. Isaac and St. John were among eight missionaries who worked among the Huron and Iroquois Indians in the New World in the seventeenth century. They were devoted to their work and were accomplishing many conversions. The conversions, though, were not welcomed by the tribes, and eventually St. Isaac was captured and imprisoned by the…
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Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
St. Ignatius was a convert to Christianity who eventually became the bishop of Antioch. During his time in Antioch, the Emperor Trajan began persecuting the Church there and forced people to choose between death and denying the faith. Ignatius would have none of that, so he was placed in chains and brought to Rome for…
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Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week of Ordinary Time
During the summer before my final year of seminary, I worked as a hospital chaplain. It ended up being a pretty rough summer for me and the other men and women in the student chaplain group: we had a record number of deaths and tragic accidents to deal with, and it was, as you might…
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