I want to point out something that’s a little unsettling in our Gospel today. At first, it might seem like this is just a story about some poor woman caught in a moment of deep sin – and that is certainly true. But if we look a little bit deeper, we realize: she wasn’t the…
Today, we hear the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It is one of the most well-known and, honestly, more powerful stories in all of Scripture. And at this point, most of us have heard it many times, and yet, there is always something really beautiful about it and we always take something fresh from it.…
Some of you might remember this, but just a couple of years ago, I had the privilege of traveling to Portugal for World Youth Day with some of our young adults. Now, for context, at every major World Youth Day event, the closing Mass is the highlight of the week. But, that closing Mass is…
There’s something powerful about knowing where you belong. I remember the very first time that I went to Rome. I was in seminary and was traveling with a group of my closest friends. The second we walked into the arms of the portico that surrounds St. Peter’s Square, I instantly knew that I was home.…
Have you ever had a smudge on your face that really leaves a mark, like a smear of lipstick or marker from one of your children’s masterpieces? No matter how many times you wipe it away, it seems to just stay there. Even if you think it's gone, it leaves a trace – a reminder…
One of the things that we are constantly being invited to consider throughout the Lenten season is to turn our hearts back to God – to recognize the areas of sinfulness in our lives, to repent, and to receive God’s mercy. That’s the message that we have in our readings for this morning. In our…
Every time I hear the Our Father given to us in Scripture and every time I pray it, I always find myself focusing on the part where we are asking the Lord to forgive us our trespasses…as we forgive those who trespass against us. That statement always makes me pause because I know, in my…
Our first reading this morning from the Book of Leviticus is from a section of that particular book of the Bible that has a title of “Various Rules of Conduct.” It’s inviting us to reflect on how we are following the Lord in our daily lives. Are we doing the things that we are called…
In our Gospel Acclamation for this morning, we hear a verse from the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord speaking through him: “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live.” The season of Lent is a time for us to reflect on…
Fr. Tom Pringle 