As I get ready to leave this community to take up a new assignment, I have been reflecting on all of the events and people of the past fourteen years. In a special way, on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, I remember that day a fire destroyed our offices and seriously damaged the chapel and the old rectory. I remember arriving in the parking lot and seeing the fire trucks. I saw the mangled metal of the office doors. I saw the charred remains of the o

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. This passage is such Good News, that we might say, the whole of our faith is captured in that one solitary verse. It is truly Good News! But sometimes, the concrete reality of that Good News can seem mighty distant. Despite the overwhelming Good News that waits for us in God’s Word, in the Eucharist, in our community, in creation, we of

I really love the windows in this Church. I love the saints and the stories of the saints. I remember the details and the stories of the miraculous process that we went through to get the windows. I remember sitting in Church and watching the transformation the day that the windows were installed. And today, one detail on one saint in one window keeps my attention. It’s a flame, a tongue of fire. It is a reminder of the Upper Room and the tongues of fire that landed on the he

People of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” Imagine the scene… the disciples are agonized-- overcome by the brutality of the crucifixion; haunted by their own betrayals, convicted by their weakness and fear, mourning the loss of their friend and teacher-- mourning the loss of their dreams. And then, suddenly, overwhelming joy and relief as Jesus walked through walls and held out his wounded hands to clasp. Everything shifted into clearer focus. Old ways

Where I live now, there really isn’t much of a market for “personal testimony” or Wednesday night altar calls. In fact, where I live now, religious testimony is about as welcome as an update on your cousin’s surgery or an invitation to a harmonica recital. But back home, when I was growing up, just about everyone I knew had a Christian testimony— a witness story to tell, and they told it, whether you really wanted to hear it, or not. And for me, It was “mostly not.” Where I g

There are some songs and hymns that were made for certain occasions. In fact, it would be an odd Midnight Mass in which we did not sing “Joy to the World” at Christmas. Then, too, on Easter morning, we do expect to sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” But now we are well into the Great Fifty Days of Easter, and we turn to St. Peter’s letter to the new churches up in Asia Minor. It would be equally odd, given the focus of this epistle, not to sing: Christ is made the sure fo

After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, St. Matthew tells us, Mary “Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. What had been planned as a quick trip down to Jesus’ resting place, perhaps with some time there at the tomb for the kind of sadness and sharing of memories that happen at a funeral. But what they had not anticipated, in the least, was that their itinerary had already been permanently disrupted. Instead of some quiet time of tears and mem

Video homily youtube.com/watch?v=H-pZGDBT2ic&t=3s/

During Lent, one of my favorite practices of discipline is to give up my snooze button. I usually try to give up those extra 20 minutes of sleep, those precious 20 minutes broken up into five-minute naps. I love those five-minute naps, that opportunity to keep my eyes closed just a little longer. It’s the opportunity to stay in the dark just a little longer and not have to turn on those blinding lights that force me to get up and get on with the day. With or without the snooz

St. Matthew begins his account of the Transfiguration with a calendar note. “Six days later,” he starts off. (1) This means that we need to hold onto what took place six days earlier. Remember when Jesus led his disciples up to Caesarea Philippi and asked them “Who do you say that I am?” It is there that we hear Peter’s confession “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus speaks of those images that will accrue to Peter because of this blessed knowledge: “

Homily in English and Spanish A friend of mine is a dietician. She is an expert in the treatment of eating disorders and other health issues often related to a person’s relationship with food. A few years ago, she mentioned to me some of the problems that many people experience when they hear about fasting from food during Lent. She cautioned me that while the practice of the Church, as expressed in official documents, are quite reasonable and healthy practices, many people w

The Word of God we hear today confronts us with a profound and awful truth: We are free, and our freedom matters. God says something that feels both terrifying and liberating: "I have placed before you fire and water; good and evil; life and death and you must stretch out your hand and choose." This choice is real. It is not manipulated, pre-ordained, or “given.” God does not place a thumb on the scale, load the dice, or throw a penalty flag before the play. Holiness is not f