Scripture: Acts 19:1-8John 16:29-33 Reflection: Lord, Sometimes I feel so fatigued by our increasingly divisive world of war, dissension, senseless cruelty, dismissively abrasive language and blocked minds. A bewildering world where a teen can run up behind an old man, slap…
The Ascension of the Lord Scripture: Acts 1:1-11Ephesians 1:17-23Matthew 28:16-20 Reflection: When I was in Catholic elementary school, I was fascinated by paintings of the Ascension showing the apostles standing there looking up at the sky as Jesus ascended into…
Scripture: Acts 18: 23-28John 16: 23b-28 Reflection: In our first reading this morning we meet an interesting married couple, Priscilla and Aquila. In today’s reading they clearly had a well-established reputation for being experts on the early Christian beliefs about…
Scripture: Acts 18:9-18John 16:20-23 Reflection: As I read the gospel of John today, I think of my own life experiences. When we suffer grief, maybe the loss of a loved one or some other devastating change in our life, we may…
Scripture: Acts 18:1-8John 16:16-20 Reflection: As we get close to the end of the Easter Season, our readings take a turn towards the Ascension of Jesus and then to Pentecost. On this day in many places around the world, the…
Scripture: Acts 16:22-34John 16:5-11 Reflection: The Holy Spirit Empowers “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the aHelper (parak’laetos) will not come to you; but…
Scripture: Acts 16:11-15John 15:26-16:4a Reflection: You’ve probably heard the sad commentary about people who faithfully attend Mass on Sundays. Yet in the parking lot immediately after Mass, it’s as if none of what they heard, did, or sang at the…
Scripture: Acts 8:5-8, 14-171 Peter 3:15-18John 14:15-21 Reflection: In our first Scripture reading for this Sunday (Acts 8:5-8, 14-17), St. Luke writes: “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ to them. With one accord, the…
Scripture: Acts 16:1-10John 15:18-21 Reflection: The Easter liturgical season reminds us of our church and its radical Spirit-led beginnings. Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles offers us the missionary focus and challenges of Paul and Silas. It…
Scripture: Acts 15:22-31John 15:12-17 Reflection: Jesus said to his disciples: This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.No one has greater love than this,to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. -John 15: 12-14 I often struggle…