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Holy Saturday Lauds (Morning Prayer)
Today, the Church asks us to do something that is almost impossible for we modern people to do, and that is to be silent. Today, we continue to keep the Paschal Fast until the end of the Easter Vigil. That means we eat less, speak less, do less – all to keep the silence of…
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Good Friday of the Passion of Our Lord
Today’s readings These holy days, this Sacred Paschal Triduum, are all about the Cross. In these moments, the cross takes center stage: it is, in fact the focal point of the Gospel. At his birth into our world, he was laid in a wooden manger, that wood that is the precursor of the wood of…
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Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord
Today’s readings Sometimes, when I take a step back in preparing for our Palm Sunday Mass, my head spins a little bit. That’s because this is no ordinary celebration of Mass. We have two Gospel readings: one at the beginning of Mass for the blessing of the palms, and one very long one in the…
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Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today’s readings Caiaphas had no idea how prophetic his words were. Actually, as far as the intent of his words went, they were nothing but selfish. The Jews didn’t want to lose their standing with the Romans. As it was, they had an uneasy peace. The Romans pretty much let them practice their religion as…
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Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Today’s readingsMass for the school children. Have you ever thought that everyone in the whole world was against you? Sometimes it seems that way, for sure. We all go through times like that. Of course, it’s not true; there are always people who believe in you. But if you’ve ever felt like it was true,…
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Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Today’s readings “Do you want to be well?” That had to be a jarring question to the man at the waters of Bethesda. I wonder if he was thinking, “Of course I want to be well! Why do you think I’ve been lying here so long?” But it’s an important question for him to answer:…
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The Second Sunday of Lent
Today’s readings What would you give up for love? That’s the question I want us to focus on today because I think it is, perhaps, the question of the spiritual life. What is it that we are willing to give up for love? And I’ll be honest: this set of readings gets me every time. When I…
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The First Sunday of Lent
Today’s readings “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” I think, in general, as a people, we are allergic to repentance. The year was 2012, and it was the first year that we used the revised translation of the Roman Missal. On Ash Wednesday, as I do every year, I used both of the prescribed verses…
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Thursday after Ash Wednesday
Today’s readings “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himselfand take up his cross daily and follow me.” You know, in my life, I’ve found that that quote is very easy to accept until a cross actually presents itself. Then, when the cross shows up, there’s an overwhelming sense of despair. But…
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Ash Wednesday and Saint Valentine
Today’s readings Saint Valentine was a clergyman who lived in the third century. A martyr, he was beheaded on February 14 in the year 369. Before this, he had been condemned to death for evangelizing. But the pagan judge gave him the opportunity to prove the authenticity of Jesus by inviting him to cure his…
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