Shifting Sand

Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent Sometimes you might see images of a desert during Lent to remind us that just as Jesus went into the desert, so must we. Sand is constantly shifting due to wind or other factors. An image I have used with high school students at the time of a…

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The Center of Our Lives

The Solemnity of Saint Joseph A new baby becomes the center of attention in the parents’ lives. It would have been no different for Mary and Joseph at the birth of Jesus. Together they watched Jesus grow in wisdom, age, and grace. In his role as head of the family, Joseph four times heeded the…

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Penitents and Catechumens –Then and Now

Thursday of the Fourth week of Lent In early centuries those who observed Lent were the catechumens and penitents. Members of these two groups had spent years in prayer, penance, and learning. When it was time for the penitents to return to the community and the catechumens to become part of the community, the last…

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We’re All Connected

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent Quantum physics, pictures from Mars, and a better understanding that we are all stardust have connected everyone and everything. Having emerged from billions of years of evolution, we human beings are becoming more conscious of our connection. We realize we are becoming one Whole. The driving force of…

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How Did Jesus Keep Up?

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent How did Jesus manage to do it all? He fed crowds, cured the multitudes, gave up sleep, delivered long discourses, and more. What was the power within him? It was his ever-present relationship with his Father. Son of the Father was his identity. His experience of his Father,…

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Use Your Gift of Healing

Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent A distraught father begged Jesus, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go; your son will live.” The power of Jesus’ word and the faith of the father combined in an immediate healing discovered the next day when “the father realized that just at…

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Rejoice Sunday

 Fourth Sunday of Lent In today’s Gospel we read that God did not send his Son to condemn the world, “but that the world might be saved through him.” Jesus assures Nicodemus that rather than destroying, God gives life, reconciles, forgives, unites. God comes as light and invites us into the light. God is fullness,…

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Self-gift

Saturday of the Third Week of Lent Pope Francis in his apostolic letter on Saint Joseph writes: “Joseph found happiness not in mere self-sacrifice but in self-gift. In him we never see frustration but only trust. His patient silence was the prelude to concrete expressions of trust.” During Lent we are accustomed to self-sacrifice. We…

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A Biblical Scene Made for the Stage

Friday of the Third Week of Lent When you read the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee in the Temple, can’t you just hear the dialogue? “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity!”  Hear the words drip with false humility and supercilious prayer. Imagine the scene…

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-ing Verbs

Thursday of the Third Week of Lent As a teacher there are certain lessons I loved to teach. With my podium on wheels, I loved to teach progressive tense verbs. I’d tell my students that I drive (present tense) a Ford. They didn’t seem impressed until I said, “I am driving (present progressive tense) my…

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