If Jesus were to ask me, as he asked his disciples, “Who do people say I am? Who do you say that I am?” I know one thing for sure: Whatever I say will miss the Reality. I’m conditioned by pictures, early education, Scripture studies, life experience, cosmology and its

Today is my youngest sister’s birthday. She and her husband have great plans to celebrate together without other family members, but she is very much in my thought and prayer. Sometimes people think that Sisters have given up their families. In some ways that’s true. We do place our religious

We wait with Mary as she reflects…. Gone is the sorrow of realizing that the Scriptures would be fulfilled in him. Gone is the sorrow of anticipating the agony of the Suffering Servant. Gone is the sorrow that tore my heart yesterday as I stood beneath the cross. Gone is

Is there any pain more wounding than that of one whose selfless, unconditional love is rejected? A son or daughter leaves home in anger. A spouse cuts himself off from years of marriage. A teacher tries desperately to reach an unreachable student, only to be lied about and thus losing

On the night of the Last Supper after Jesus and the apostles sang, they went to the Garden of Gethsemani. I imagine that Jesus went to this garden for the comfort it would give him when humans slept in indifference. Perhaps Gethsemani was Jesus’ favorite garden, its olive trees supporting

We read with indignation that Judas stole from the common purse. How could he betray the trust of Jesus and the other apostles? We would never do such a thing–or would we? The common purse of Earth’s resources is entrusted to us. How do we use the contents? Do we

“He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there.” John 10:40 NRSV Jesus was a marked man. He would have been arrested had he not “escaped from their hands.” Jesus went across the Jordan to the place where John

“How can you believe what I say?” John 5:47 Leo Buscaglia claims that “you can’t learn anything without having to readjust everything that you are around the new things that you’ve learned.” The Jews to whom Jesus speaks in today’s gospel are unwilling to readjust. They accepted the testimony of

Did you ever notice that when you’re fully engaged in an activity, you rarely lose energy; and if you do, it’s a good kind of tiredness? In your home, in your church, in your everyday activities, are you fully engaged? If so, you’ll find yourself becoming stronger, more energized—actually even

Rejection is the deepest thorn, the longest nail, the heaviest cross. It pushes me toward self-doubt, uncertainty, and fear. I stand on the outside and look in. I can empathize with Jesus who was rejected repeatedly. He invited a rich young man to follow him, but the call was rejected.