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Pastoral Care of the Sick: Anointing of the Sick During Mass
Today’s readings: Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12; Psalm 25; James 5:13-16; Matthew 8:5-17 I first met Tom probably a few weeks after I started my first assignment as a priest at St. Raphael’s back in the summer of 2006. He was a young man, probably around my age, and was suffering the effects of cancer. His…
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Saturday of the First Week of Lent
Today’s readings Well, how far are we supposed to take that? Love our enemies? Pray for those who persecute us? I mean, that’s real easy to hear until we actually think about it, isn’t it? Those people who gossip about us, cut us off in traffic, make a ruckus in our neighborhoods until all hours…
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Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Today’s readings The prophet Isaiah and Jesus speak today about the great power of words. Isaiah speaks specifically of the power of God’s word, a word that will not return empty but will go out and accomplish the purpose for which God sent it. We see the word that the prophet speaks of here, of…
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First Sunday of Lent
Today’s readings Perhaps the greatest sin of modern times, maybe of all time, is that we sometimes forget who we are. Politicians forget that they are elected officials, given the trust of the people they serve, and so they become embroiled in a scandal or sell themselves to special interest groups. Church leaders forget that…
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Friday after Ash Wednesday
Today’s readings A lot of people say they aren’t giving up something for Lent, they’re just going to try to do something nice for people. When it’s that vague, I often think that means they’re doing nothing at all for Lent, which is sad. But, I usually tell people it doesn’t just have to be…
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Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time: Mardi Gras
Today’s readings “Every good giving and every good gift is from above.” This word that we have from St. James today is so encouraging on this Mardi Gras day. As we get ready for the spiritual rigors of Lent, we might be tempted to see our fasting, almsgiving and prayer as onerous and undesirable. But…
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Monday of the Sixth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings St. James today encourages us to consider it all joy when we experience trial. I don’t know about you, but that’s not the emotion I usually find in frustrating or fearful circumstances. And considering that the people to whom James was writing were probably being persecuted, they probably weren’t overjoyed at their trials…
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Saturday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings So Jeroboam set up idols, and led the people into sin. That’s just about the most rotten thing one person can do to another. My seminary professor used to say that leading another person into sin was worse than murdering them in cold blood, because murdering them could only end their life on…
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Friday of the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings “He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” This is good news for us, even if we can hear perfectly and speak without impediment. It is good news because we might just have to admit that we hear selectively and speak impetuously on occasion, right? To those who turn a deaf ear…
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