How many holy people do you know? Apart from me that is. What constitutes holiness for you? How would you define it, what are the earmarks of holiness? Both in Old Testament with the Hebrew word and the New Testament written in Greek, the word for holiness implies separation. Holiness reflects a separation of the pure from the impure. It has nothing to do with sex, but rather it has to do with God’s call. Israel was referred to as holy, because she was literally set apart by God.

This then is the backdrop to the beautiful first reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Israel is pure because she has been chosen by God. This distinction between pure and impure is a running theme in the Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles. What is happening in the first Reading is that Peter, the head of the Church must redefine what holiness really is. Cornelius is a Roman centurion, a Greek and an outsider. Peter is a Jew and the head of the newly established Christian community. Both men have a vision, but initially at least, they do not understand its meaning. When Cornelius came to the house ...

On this Sunday, the Church celebrates the great mercy and love of God for our world. When Thomas is invited by Jesus to actually put his hands into Jesus’ wounds and see for himself, Jesus was inviting Thomas to actually touch the very well springs and source of salvation. I think that Christian history has actually treated Thomas pretty well. Doubt is a rather strong word. Faith and doubt have a long history as opposites. We learn to think in contrasts, right and wrong, good and evil, faith and doubt. Do you think that doubt is the opposite of faith or is it a important function of a growing faith? We wonder if something essential to Christian faith was missing in Thomas. I’m not so sure about that. I think that Thomas is very honest. A couple of things need to be said in Thomas’ defense. The first is that Thomas was not being unreasonable or asking for preferential treatment. He was just asking for what the other disciples already had. Second and perhaps more important Thomas was simply asking for the kind of evidence that we would have all demanded. In reality he is more like us that unlike ...

My next door neighbor has his grandchildren over to the house for an East egg hunt. Nothing wrong with that, perhaps you were involved in the same thing, but coming into this beautifully decorated church this morning we have left behind the world of East eggs, fluffy chicks and Easter bunnies for a time at least to seek the source of it all. What are we celebrating at Easter and what does it mean? Easter is God’s invitation to us to come out of the shadows and darkness of our lives and experience once again the joy of the risen Christ. It began early in the morning on the Sabbath day as we just hear in the Gospel reading. A few disciples, mostly women I might add, left the security of their homes, in defiance of the Roman law, to visit the place where the body of Jesus had been laid. It was a bold and defiant act. Mary Magdalene is the first to see the empty tomb and she is distressed wondering where they took the body of Jesus. The fact that no one was actually present for the resurrection has always been a problem. We cannot help but ...

For four weeks now we have been embarked upon the sacred journey of Lent; a journey that in just three weeks will take us to the holy feast of Easter and the summit of the mountain when we join with the entire church and renew the promises of our baptism. Today we encounter that glorious symbol of the cross of Jesus Christ through the pen of the Evangelist Saint John. If you have been to a sporting event or two you have seen it. Someone is always holding up a sign that reads John 3, 16. Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos even etches this text into the anti-glare black grease under his eyes. The text simply states a most profound truth. 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.

On this fourth Sunday of Lent we are confronted with our most powerful symbol in the Catholic church, that of the cross of Jesus Christ, the instrument of our salvation. I cannot look at that cross without being reminded of the words of the hymn that we sing, were you there when ...

We are not accustomed to seeing an angry Jesus and yet that is the image of the Lord reflected in today’s Gospel. Anger is a complex emotion. Of itself, it is really morally neutral. It always seems to be justified to the one who is angry. Listen, I have a right to be angry. We have all heard that. In Jesus, we see anger at the service of God. The difference in the anger of Jesus and that of an abusive parent is that the anger of Jesus was not centered in self-concern. Jesus’ primary concern was for God and for the children of God.

There is also something even more profound going on here in the Gospel. Perhaps you noticed that we made a sudden shift today away from the Gospel of Saint Mark to that of Saint John. The gospel of John is highly symbolic. By overturning the tables of the moneychangers, Jesus is declaring that we will never again have to go to God like that, by bartering, deal making with God. Let me explain. In the time of Jesus during Passover if you were a male Jew over nineteen years of age, it was expected that ...

We continue our Lenten journey to the mount of Easter on this Sunday of Lent with the retelling of the story of the Transfiguration. Yet first we have to get through that shocking first reading with the story of Abraham and Isaac. It is important once again that we be reminded that typically the first reading and the Gospel contain similarities. In the first reading God does not allow Abraham to lay a hand on his son Isaac. In the Gospel, the Father allows his Son to make the ultimate sacrifice and give his life for the world. It is important to note that we are told up front in the account in the first reading that God was putting Abraham to the test. God never intended to allow Abraham to slay his own son. God says to Abraham, I swear by myself that because you acted as you not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly. It is primarily for this action that Abraham has been referred to throughout the ages as our father in faith.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago following the preaching workshop that the priests attended, that the Gospel of ...

There are certain Sundays in the course of the church year that I would consider to be really major events. I would consider this First Sunday of Lent to be one of those. The story of the Lenten season begins for us with the reading from Genesis which we just heard proclaimed. It is the story of the great flood during the time of Noe. What is of special interest is that the emphasis is not on the desire of God to destroy humanity, rather God’s promise that he would never repeat this form of chastisement again. It is the beginning of the story of how God will forgive our sins and redeem us.

The Gospel is a familiar tale since we hear it every year on the first Sunday of Lent. This year it is the bare bones version from Saint Mark. We must wait until next year to hear the amplified version from Matthew. Luke and Matthew give us many of those treasured details of the combat between Jesus and Satan. In typical Marcan fashion, this account of the temptation story is short on details. The important question for us is what is the purpose of the ascetic ...

When the 1938 film “Boys Town” was released, an entire population became suddenly aware of the wonderful work of Father Edward J Flannagan, the founder of Boys Town. He founded a home in 1917 for boys who had been orphaned. Many of us today have fond memories of that scene of the older boy struggling to carry a young child on his back and saying those great words he ain’t heavy, he declared, he’s my brother. The scene in today’s Gospel of the four men lowering the paralytic in front of Jesus for healing is reminiscent of that story.

Last week the priests of the diocese were away for a few days for a workshop on preaching the Word of God. One of the points that was impressed upon us was the richness of the Gospel text provided by Saint Mark. Every word, each description is carefully planned out by the writer of the Gospel and nothing is wasted. We must in reading and listening to the Gospel pay close attention to the details. One of the details that emerges and which might be overlooked, is the mention that they arrived while Jesus was preaching the word to them. We ...

Be honest now. Did we really believe that we would all still be here in the third millennia of the Christian era, still waiting for Christ’s return? Saint Paul surely didn’t believe that we would still be here or else he never would have uttered those words in the second reading today. I tell you brothers and sisters, the time is running out. How could Paul have gotten it so wrong? The entire New Testament was written in the belief that Christ would come again and soon.

I wonder if part of the misunderstanding might just be due to a misunderstanding of what is meant by time. In the Gospel Jesus announces that this is the time of fulfillment, the kingdom of God is at hand. Clearly Jesus was not speaking about linear time, a chronology of events we would call it, where one day on the calendar follows another. The word used for time in this text is not about chronology, but what is called kairos. Kairos refers to heightened time, a time of opportunity or crisis. Jesus is saying that something important is going on something of earth-shattering importance, and until we get it, linear time is kind ...

I must admit to you that I am always a bit saddened to come to this feast of Epiphany, because I know that it marks the solemn end of the Christmas season. Most of your decorations are probably packed away already for another year. The house is cleaned; the tree is gone. There is something special about Christmas. Even amid the rush that business and buying places upon us, there is gentle joy and lightened spirit that seems to be present in people.

The feast of Epiphany, which we are celebrating today, is often referred to as the solemnity of Christmas. The magi have been added to the Christmas story. While little is actually known about their identity, their place in the Christmas story is meant to emphasize the universal extension of the gift of Jesus Christ to all people and nations. The magi clearly were not Jews and that makes them important for the telling of the story. Their place in the nativity story is that they are seekers, who come from foreign lands and they bring gifts. Their gifts to the Christ child remind us of how important is the gift that we have all received in the ...