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Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings We’ve all heard this gospel parable about the sower and the seeds dozens of times. We know, then, that the seeds are the Word of God: not just some words, but Word with a capital “W,” which is Jesus himself, God’s eternal Word, spoken to bring life to a world dead in sin. …
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Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Today’s readings are a kind of blueprint for the life of the disciple. We see that those who surrounded Jesus as his core group were but a few selected people. We have the Twelve, of course, but also some women. Common to all of them is that nowadays we would probably not see…
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Saint Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs
Many of us probably can remember building sand castles in our youth. We learned pretty quickly that there was always a price to pay for laying the foundation of it too near the water. It might go well for a while, but one good wave, and all our hard work would be washed away. Well,…
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The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Today’s readings In a lot of ways, this is a strange feast we are celebrating today. Think about it. This is the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which in Jesus’ day would have been as big an oxymoron as one could possibly imagine. No cross would ever have been thought exalted in that day. That’s…
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The Twenty-fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings I think, as a pastor, the issue I wrestle with most is the suffering that is out there. People come to me in their suffering, and that is a great privilege, a holy space. The father in me wants to be able to say a quick prayer and take all the suffering away,…
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Saint Peter Claver, Missionary Priest
Today’s readings Saint Peter Claver was ordained in 1615 in what is now Colombia. During that time, the slave trade was vigorous, and the port of Cartagena was a central entry point for African slaves. Ten thousand slaves would pour into Colombia through Cartagena every year under extremely foul conditions. Around a third of them…
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Labor Day
Today’s readings: Genesis 1:26-2:3 | Psalm 90 | 1 Thessalonians 4:1b-2, 9-12 | Matthew 6:31-34 One of the things that I remember vividly about my childhood is how hard my parents worked. My Dad worked more than one job at a time for several years. And in his main job, he was with the company…
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The Twenty-third Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings Jesus’ ministry on earth was all about healing. Indeed, that’s what he came to do: to heal us, set things right, from the inside out, so that we would be able to enter the Kingdom. In today’s gospel, he heals a man who has been deaf and mute with the word of command: “Ephphatha!” –…
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Pope Saint Gregory the Great
Saint Gregory showed a great deal of promise at a young age. He had a stellar political career, becoming prefect of Rome before the age of thirty. After a short time, he resigned his office and dedicated his life to the priesthood. He joined a Benedictine monastery and became abbot, founding several other monasteries during his time there. Eventually…
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The Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Today’s readings So often, when someone thanks us for something, we might say, “It’s the least I could do.” As if it were some kind of badge of achievement to do the least thing possible. I think it’s human nature to try to do as little as possible, without being perceived as lazy or something. …
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