19 Dec 2022
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“Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly.” Matthew 1:18-24
St. Joseph is rightly revered for his contribution to our eternal salvation. He must have been devastated by the news that Mary, his betrothed wife, was pregnant, but not with his child. He knew Mary would not only be shamed, but in a...
13 Dec 2022
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“What did you go out into the desert to see? To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
John the Baptist challenged people to identify and acknowledge the error and evil in their lives. He baptized them with water as a sign of their decision to repent - to turn away from sin and live a new way. While in prison he sent his...
5 Dec 2022
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“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand.”
To properly prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus in a cave in the hills of Bethlehem more than two thousand years ago it is helpful to recall our Baptism. We received the Holy Spirit and were presented with a candle that represented...
29 Nov 2022
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“So too, you also must be prepared, for at the hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
Women do not carry large purses with at least one every item they or their children may possibly need because they like carrying heavy objects or exercising their biceps. They learn from experience that it is better to have something...
21 Nov 2022
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“Amen, I say to you. This day you will be with me in paradise.”
We should all long to hear Jesus speak those words to us. And, if we are good stewards and caretakers of all of the gifts God has given to us (all that we are and have and ever will be), we will one day hear those words. With...
14 Nov 2022
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“All that you see here – the days will come when there will not be left one stone up another. ”
Jesus grew up in the small village of Nazareth on top of a craggy mountain in the northern part of Israel. Like the vast majority of the people of his day he lived in a small house with a lower space where animals were brought in at...
8 Nov 2022
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“He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”
The best teachers provide information and teach us to ask the right questions. Facts should lead to the questions, “Who, what, why, when, how and why not?” In today’s gospel Jesus is confronted by a group of Sadducees who did not...
1 Nov 2022
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“He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.”
Are there any like Zacchaeus among us? Can any of us say “I shall give HALF of my possessions to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone I will repay them four times over.” There are some. But we live in a world in which...
25 Oct 2022
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“O God, be merciful to me, a sinner”
Jesus tells of a Pharisee and a tax collector in the temple to pray. Actually, the Pharisee went to the temple to brag: “O God, I thank you I am not like the rest of humanity . . .” The Pharisee is probably a good man. But he seems...
18 Oct 2022
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“There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being.”
Sadly that describes many people in power in the time of Jesus and in our own time. But Jesus describes a woman whose persistence moves the self centered judge to render a just judgment. Notice that Jesus does not say that the judge ruled...