Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family and it invites us to look at the home of Nazareth, to look at the lives of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and to see it not as something distant or idealized, but as a real family. They were real people, living ordinary life but with extraordinary…
The story of the birth of Jesus, of God becoming man, is a story of redemption and salvation. But it is also something more than that. It’s the story of God stepping directly into the brokenness of our world. It’s God choosing vulnerability, entering fully into the human condition, so that He can lead us…
We are now just a few days away from Christmas. At this point, the decorations are mostly up. The gifts have been purchased, wrapped, or at least they’ve been bought. We’re busy running around to all those Christmas events and parties with friends. And yet the Church is stepping in, gently interrupting us, and asking…
In our First Reading today, Isaiah gives us an image that kind of sticks with us. He tells us about a stump. Not a tree grown tall, lifting its branches toward the sky. Not a young sapling full of energy and a symbol of vitality. Nope, he talks about a stump. Something cut down. Something…
On the first Sunday of the new liturgical year, the Church does something that is a little unexpected. She doesn’t ease us into the new year gently. She doesn’t take us to a cozy scene from Bethlehem or give us a comforting word about new beginnings. Instead, the year opens with what feels like a…
There is something really shocking about the feast we celebrate today. We call Jesus the King of the Universe, but the Gospel we have heard takes us to a place that looks nothing like royalty. Instead of a throne, we see a Cross. Instead of crowds shouting praise, we hear abuse. Instead of a king…
What if everything we cling to – our routines, our plans, our friends, our families, even the world as we know it – what if all those things crumbled? That is definitely not a comfortable question, but it’s one that today’s readings make us think about. In the Gospel, the disciples are so impressed by…
There is something that connects every one of us at Mass today. It’s something that is true no matter who we are, how old we are, or how we have lived our lives. Every single one of us has either experienced the loss of a loved one or one day we will. It is one…
It’s possible for us to look like we’re praying while never actually speaking to God at all. That’s the example we see in the parable that Jesus has just shared in the Gospel. The Pharisee begins his prayer by thanking God, but before we know it, he starts listing all of his accomplishments. He shares…
In the Gospel today, we hear a story that is quite familiar to all of us. Jesus encounters ten lepers who cry out to Him: “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” We can imagine how desperate they were, how isolated, how unclean, how unworthy. Because of this condition, they were cut off from their families,…
Fr. Tom Pringle 