Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9,11-13; Matthew 11:25-30 This weekend we celebrate the 235th anniversary of our independence as a nation.  As nations go, we are relatively young historically.  Even so in the short 200+ years of our existence we have grown to be the most powerful nation on earth.  We have access to (and also...
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Deuteronomy 8:2-3,14-16; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; John 6:51-58 The Roman Catholic Church is the largest multi-cultural institution in the entire world.  We are virtually on every continent, in nearly every country.  On any given day the mass is celebrated in English, Latin, Italian, German, and Spanish, in Hindi, Swahili, Kirundi, the many different dialects of...
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Exodus 24:2-6,8-9;  2 Corinthians 13:11-13;  John 3:16-18 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; a gesture we Catholics do so frequently that we do not often even pay attention to its meaning.  Making the sign of the cross is an affirmation of our belief in a...
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Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians12:3-7,12-13;  John 20:19-23 When Luke named the countries which we just heard in the account from the Acts of the Apostles it was kind of like reading a travelogue of the ancient world.  The countries named surrounded the Mediterranean Sea.  These were many of the very countries to which the apostles...
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Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians; Matthew 28:16-20 After 33 years the circle is complete.  The Son of God, who came down from heaven taking on our humble human form, returns in triumph to be reunited with his Father. Father and Son are once again perfectly united in heaven, as they had been for all eternity, but...
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Acts 8:14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21 Have you ever been given a gift too complicated for you to use?  Unless we read the instructions or someone takes time with us to explain how to use the gift, it may just stay in our closet for years in an unopened box. Unfortunately that is...
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Acts 6:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12 “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1).  These words, spoken by our Lord at the Last Supper, were intended to bring courage, strength, and hope to the disciples.  They would have needed courage before the night was over and throughout the next day as they...
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Acts 2:14,36-41; 1 Peter 2:20-25; John 10:1-10 One of the most enduring images of Christ through all the centuries has been that of the Good Shepherd.  Centuries before images of the cross were used to mark the graves of believers the image of the Good Shepherd was what was commonly found on tombs.  The...
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Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47; I Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31             “Blest are they who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29) Sometimes I think Thomas got a bum wrap in John’s Gospel.  In the other gospels Thomas is only mentioned in the list of the twelve apostles.  In John’s gospel however it...
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Isaiah 50:4-7; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14—27:66 Anyone who was alive at the time can usually tell you exactly where they were, and what they were doing when they heard the news of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  On September 11, 2001 time stood still as the entire world looked on in horror as...
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