We are told several times in Luke’s Gospel that Mary “pondered in her heart” God’s mysterious ways. These days we too have much to ponder as COVID-19 has changes our lives and the lives of so many around the world. Of course, the Lenten challenge is to allow God to change our hearts. On Sunday, [...]
This Wednesday we will mark the feast of the Annunciation. Scheduled nine months before Christmas, this memory of God’s promise of the Incarnation and Mary’s assent provides sharp contrast to our Lenten anticipation of the passion and death of Christ. And yet, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this feast reminds us that [...]
As we move through Lent, we are reminded that the fragility and vulnerability of Jesus demonstrates his power. Christ's openness and uncompromising self-sacrifice models for us as individuals and as nations a way to dialogue into peace and reconciliation.On February 29, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani [...]
On the first Sunday of Lent we celebrate the Rite of Election in which we express our affirmation of and prayerful support for those who have been preparing to enter the Catholic Church. Dating back to at least the fifth century, this election seems far removed from our divisive national electoral process, but as Christians [...]
The title of Christ, Word of God made flesh, reminds us that by God's loving word we were created and then in Christ we each became a new creation. Our words are also significant, shaping attitudes and actions, so we might reflect on our private and public discourse, holding our leaders and ourselves accountable for [...]
Last week in anticipation of the feast of the Epiphany, we added the three magi to our nativity sets. However, Thursday's news aired no message of peace and joy; instead, we learned a targeted airstrike in Baghdad had killed General Qasem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s military who, according to intelligence reports had been actively [...]
In these days just after the new year, we are aware of the power and fragility of human will. We make our resolutions, determined with God's grace to be better and to do better, For many people living within our borders who lack permanent legal status or a path to citizenship , planning seems an [...]
As political divisions seem to deepen and the news reports national and international outbreaks of violence and unrest, we pray the O Antiphons during the liturgy. Prayed on the 17th, the first antiphon celebrates Christ as Wisdom and challenges us to exercise wisdom by living in right relationship with our families and friends, with the [...]
Last Friday Rodney Reed was issued an indefinite stay of execution by Texas Governor Greg Abbott, following the recommendation of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Board stated that new evidence had been found that might exonerate Rodney Reed and implicate a previous suspect, the victim’s fiancée, who had been the original suspect. [...]
Last Saturday marked the thirtieth anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall that had separated communist rules East Germany from West Germany. The crowd remembered the joy of freedom and the suffering and death of the many victims who had suffered violence over the decades when the Soviet-backed Stasi controlled East Germany. During the [...]
