5th Sunday of the Year – Cycle C 2010+ Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 5:1-11 Polls of Catholic churches across the United States give a rather alarming statistic. “The average Catholic parish in North America has fewer than ten percent of its registered members involved in various parish activities.”  What this means is...
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Jeremiah 1:4-5,17-19;  I Corinthians 12:31-13:13;  Luke 4:21-30 “A woman named Nora had worked for many years in a large downtown business office.  No one had ever managed to get close enough to her to know her very well.  Nora had a way of quickly turning off anyone who tried to befriend her.  She was...
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Nehemiah 8:2-10; I Corinthians: 12:12-30; Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21 Did you know that on October 10, 1997 at 3:50 p.m., our former President Bill Clinton released a proclamation designating October 12th as “National Children’s Day?”  Did you know that at 4:30 p.m., less than one hour later President Clinton issued another proclamation?  His veto of the...
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Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; John 2:1-11 Weddings today require a great deal of preparation.  There is the guest list, the ceremony, the clothing, the décor, the menu for the banquet and all of the other social amenities that go with weddings. Any of the least details not going exactly as planned can result in...
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Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11; Titus 2:11-14;  3:4-7; Luke 3:15-16,21-22 There is a movie from 1994 that I have seen at least a half dozen times.   I have never been able to figure out what it was about this movie that has so captured my imagination that I am compelled to watch it anytime I stumble upon it...
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Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:2-3,5-6; Matthew 2:1-12 One hundred years ago, the first step on American soil for immigrants from Europe was not a patch of warm, welcoming earth but rather a wooden ramp at Ellis Island in New York harbor.  The ramp led to the doors of the main building where processing took place. In the...
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Micah 5:1-4;  Hebrews 10:5-10;  Luke 1:39-45 Today we have before us the story of the pivotal moment in human history when God reached down into the world to officially begin His plan of salvation.  At this moment in human history God, in all of his glory and majesty, became one of us, conceived in human...
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Christmas – 2009 The Christmas story, with its vivid cast of characters, is a story so very familiar to us.  Because of this we sometimes can miss sight of the deeper meaning of the reality of the “Word made flesh,” our God who came to dwell among us.  Because of this I invite you to...
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When we dare to go to these places, when we work to level the mountains and valleys, we may be frightened, we may be nervous, we may feel as though life as we have known it has ended. This is why have the assurance that Baruch, and John, and Jesus give to...
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Jeremiah 33:14-16;  I Thessalonians 3:12-4:2;  Luke 21:25-28,34-36 * It is so dark! And the darkness is not all outside. There’s the darkness of recession that has put many American’s out of work, of the senseless acts of violence and suicide bombers inflicting terror around the world, of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, of the...
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