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Tonight we participate in the beginning of the one liturgy that comprises the ritualization of the dying and rising of Jesus Christ. The three liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil are three but one, distinct but the same. All three make tangibly present the death and resurrection of Jesus. In each we…

“Ah, Gethsemani, my favorite garden, my place of prayer. A garden that my disciples have also grown to love as a place to rest, to pray, to decide. This will be the last time I come. I will soon know the crush of the olive press. I will miss your fragrance, your gnarled trunks, your…

“Go quickly, Judas. I have dipped the food and offered it to you—just a morsel. You didn’t understand that I was about to give you a meal, a banquet of my Body. Perhaps my Father will bring you to the heavenly banquet. If that is my Father’s will, know that I want you to be…

Perhaps we’ve all experienced huge misunderstandings. Maybe we’ve been accused of acts we never performed. Or our life has taken a sharp turn in a direction we would never have chosen to go. We in our darkness, fettered by forces beyond our control, have lost the gift of choice. Incapable of following our own will,…

Compassion might be called the fullness of divine and human perfection. Whatever God does, God does with compassion founded upon humility. That’s the way God works.  How do we know? We see compassion in Jesus. As you read the Passion Narrative of Mark on Palm Sunday or that of John on Good Friday, pay attention…

“Who is that guy riding on a donkey?” The town gossips said they knew: he was the fanatical preacher who talked about eating his body and drinking his blood. “Come on. Let’s join the crowd. Just yell ‘Hosanna!’” And so, they walked the streets behind a donkey. They heard shouts of “God save the Son…

It’s too early to get serious about spring cleaning, unless the cleaning is for your heart. We all have spots in our personalities that could use some scouring. We might also attend to the good we do to make sure it’s from the best motives. A little dusting, a little polishing of our character is…

The prophet Isaiah claims that our light will break forth like the dawn when we perform the fasting God requires: “setting free the oppressed…sharing your bread with the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless, clothing the naked.” The dawn will break forth in new possibilities when the “just man justices” (Gerard Manley Hopkins). Lent…

You’ve been obeying Church laws since Ash Wednesday; that is, no meat on Fridays, no eating between meals on Ash Wednesday, attending Mass every weekend. But there’s a lot more to obedience than following the rules. The word “obedience” comes from a Latin word meaning “to listen.” Halfway through Lent, it’s a good time to…

Peter, James, and John fell on their faces in terror before the dazzling sight of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. After hearing a voice, the three cautiously looked up. “They no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone.” “Jesus alone.” What a beautiful phrase to keep in our hearts this week! May our journey through Lent bring…