Scripture Reflections

Light for Those in Darkness

One of the most beloved songs of Advent is the famous “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Yet, few people are aware of the origin of this classic.

Balaam and His Advent Donkey The time of Advent and Christmas is filled with traditional stories. The greatest story ever told is that of the birth of Jesus. We’ve got …

Like Israel, our borders are often attacked. God says, “Fear not!” He comes to be our vindicator and wants to bring peace to our borders.

Prepared for a Mission In today’s celebration we recognize the great gift that God gave to Mary in protecting her from all stain of original sin from the first moment …

In today’s first reading the prophet Isaiah gives us an even greater symbol than a Christmas tree for this time of year…the Christmas stump.

Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Mary all give us key insights to living Advent well.

Now but Not Yet As we celebrate this last Sunday in Ordinary Time we honor Jesus Christ our King. We celebrate and look forward to his return in glory. Yet …

Expecting Fire Today’s Gospel paints what seems to be a pretty bleak picture of discipleship. If you follow Jesus, he promises that everyone will hate you and you’ll be killed. …

A Marriage Proposal from God In today’s Gospel, some of the Jewish leaders try to trap Jesus in what appears to be a debate about marriage laws. However, the supposed …

Priesthood Sunday This Sunday the Church gives us a day to celebrate priesthood. It also happens that All Saints Day is tomorrow. As we look at the history of the …

The Fight, The Race, and the Faith In today’s second reading, St. Paul writes to his beloved disciple Timothy and offers a sort of farewell address. In summing up his …

A God of Opportunities Sometimes it seems as though God does not hear our prayers. We pray and pray about things that are really important but there seems to be …

Who Do You Have to Thank? Today we read in our gospel about 10 lepers who are all healed by Jesus. However, only one returns to thank Jesus. We might …

Life is Messy This weekend all of the Boy Scouts in the Kansas City area got together to have a campout celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts. It …

That All May be Saved The 2nd reading today gives us two very important statements. On the one hand, St. Paul tells us that God wishes “that all men be …

How Bad Is It? There is a classic scene in the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” in which King Arthur encounters “The Black Knight.” King Arthur duels with …

The Cost of Discipleship Jesus gives us several hard sayings in today’s gospel that make it sound pretty tough to be a disciple. “Hate your father and mother…take up your …

Discipline is the Key to the Narrow Gate We tend not to like discipline. It brings up unhappy memories of being punished for breaking the rules. Yet, our 2nd reading …

The Goodness of the Body The dogma of the Assumption teaches that, at the end or her earthly life, the Blessed Virgin Mary was taken body and soul to heaven. …

Trusting the Person of Jesus The 2nd reading this weekend holds up our father Abraham as the great model of faith. Yet what is faith really? We tend to equate …

The One Thing Necessary As a Boy Scout, I like to go camping and particularly I like backpacking. Backpacking provides an interesting challenge in that you simply can’t take all …

Mary and the Problem of Evil The first reading today describes several cases of injustice that would seem to cry out for God to “do something about it.” Yet, God’s …

Knowing is Only Half the Battle We are all familiar with the story of the Good Samaritan in today’s gospel. Yet, what do we do with the knowledge gleaned from …

A Warning from Fatima We often tend to ignore the reality of hell. We talk and act as if it didn’t exist. Yet, today’s gospel clearly says that it does, …

Independence Day Today we rightfully give thanks for the blessings of freedom we enjoy in this country. Our scripture readings today also call us to give thanks for an even …

Freedom, Commitment, Fidelity 50th Wedding Anniversary of Joe and Pat McGreevy St. Paul speaks today in the second reading about freedom. Perhaps no other value expresses better the core element …

Why We Believe in the Eucharist The following homily was given at the monastery of Santa Maria Real in Spain while on pilgrimage. A Eucharistic miracle took place here in …