Awe and Wonder Ever since I was a little kid I have always enjoyed magic shows. I remember going to some shows with my dad and getting hooked on the idea of something happening right before your eyes that you can't really see. My obsession turned into a hobby of learning magic tricks and performing shows for area Catholic schools. [...]
Surprised by the Kingdom of Heaven Every few years or so the discovery of lost treasure troves makes the news. As technology has improved it has become more common that gold coins, gemstones and priceless jewels worth millions of dollars are found in sunken ships that sailed the seas hundreds of years ago. Finding lost treasure requires a lot of [...]
The Vineyard of Faith Today’s Gospel message is one that I struggle with quite often. I find myself saying, “I got here first” or “I’ve been waiting longer”. Sometimes I ask myself, “I’ve worked harder and longer. Why am I not reaping the same benefits or rewards and someone else who has not worked as hard or as long as [...]
More Than Just Storytelling On the surface level, it may seem like Jesus teaches in parables only to make complex ideas accessible to all people. While there may be an element of that, Jesus explains clearly in today’s Gospel that reaching every audience isn’t His primary goal. In fact, He explains that the parables fulfill the words of the prophet [...]
Taking the Time to Rest I’d like you to take a moment and trace the past week of your life. Other than sleeping, did you take any intentional rest? We just finished the Independence Day holiday here in the United States. If you live in the US, did you squeeze in every last bit of work in the office before [...]
Why So Much Talk About Death? Death is a scary thing. Even with all the medical advances and prescriptions that we are blessed with in the 21st century, we still fear death. Stories of people dying much too soon seem to take up news feeds and Facebook pages. Death is not something that most of us are comfortable with, and [...]
The Great Gift “It’s not fair!” said my son, holding up his sixth-grade homework. “What’s not fair?” I answered, knowing his homework-stalling tactics. “Adam and Eve really messed us up!” he shot back. “Please, just do your homework,” I said, adamantly. That day at school, they had talked about the Garden of Eden and Adam's fall from grace, which affects [...]
The Kingdom Needs You Jesus’ Heart, ever overflowing with love, is moved with pity for the people before Him. He sees their struggles, their anguish, their abandonment, their desires. He sees that they are “like sheep without a shepherd,” and it is clear that there must be more “laborers for the harvest.” Jesus is fulfilling the ancient promises to erect [...]
The Eucharist: Flesh and Blood Is your parish celebrating this Solemnity with a Corpus Christi Procession? This traditional way of honoring the Eucharist goes back to the 1300’s, and is a beautiful public proclamation of our faith in Christ’s real presence in the Sacrament. What exactly does our Faith teach about the Eucharist (which comes from the Greek word for [...]
That All May be Saved In today's Gospel we read perhaps the most quoted verse of Scripture, that "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." It's printed on t-shirts, coffee mugs, those fancy picture frames that everyone has hanging in their [...]