Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (Jn 21-26-29) We call him “Doubting Thomas,” but the words spoken by Thomas after he touched the hands and side of Jesus are the most important of John’s Gospel because they form a literary “inclusion” with the very first words of the Gospel. In John 1:1 we read: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And then that Word … [Read more...]

We are witnesses of all that He did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging him on a tree. This man God raised on the third day and granted that He be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. (Acts 10-39-41) I told this story before, but one year when I was living in Rome, my parents came to visit me in the weeks before Easter. Since my Dad was a permanent deacon, he sat next to me on the altar when we went to celebrate Mass at the beautiful church of St. Alphonsus near St. Mary Major where the original image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is enshrined. As it came time to read the Gospel, my Dad asked for the blessing, and then began to solemnly … [Read more...]

It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon because of an eclipse of the sun. Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”; and when he had said this he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:44-46) “Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion” begins Holy Week. If you have never really experienced all of the services of Holy Week, consider doing so this year. Commemorating the events of the Lord’s Suffering and Death help us to have a greater understanding of the importance of the Easter Resurrection. Jesus had to suffer and die before he rose. On Holy Thursday we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00pm, which commemorates the night when Jesus instituted the … [Read more...]

I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know Him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Phil. 3:8-11) St. Paul constantly used the words “in Christ” to speak about his goal. He wanted to “gain Christ” and gain righteousness from faith “in Christ.” The great spiritual classic “Imitation of Christ” and even wrist bands asking “What Would Jesus Do?” remind us that we are called to configure our life to Christ. We don’t just follow His example; … [Read more...]

While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. (Lk 15:20) When we hear the Gospel for this Sunday, our mind immediately identifies it as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son.” It’s so familiar that we could probably recite it from memory and likely explain it to others. We call the son “prodigal” because what he did was “prodigious” meaning “extraordinary in size and degree.” Calling someone a “prodigious” spender means they are a person who spends a lot of money. And the son is call “prodigal” because he spent his money with a wasteful extravagance. Our eyes tend to be fixed on the prodigal son rather than on the father or the other son. He’s the protagonist. He’s the one who carries … [Read more...]

There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not, you can cut it down.’ (Lk 13:6-9) I love the agricultural parables of Jesus. Anyone who has ever planted and nurtured a garden can understand them. We have such rich soil here in Southern Louisiana that just about anything can grow. So if something in our garden isn’t growing, we’re pretty quick to remove it. In this parable, it’s pretty … [Read more...]

While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” (Lk 9:34-36a) What a difference a week has made. Last weekend we heard of Christ going into the desert to be tempted by the devil. And this weekend, Christ has gone from the desolation of the desert to the glory of the Transfiguration on the mountaintop where God announces Jesus as being His beloved Son. But why do we go from one dramatic place to another during this first week of Lent? Most of the Church Fathers saw the Transfiguration as a glimpse of the glory of Christ given to his disciples so that they might be strengthened to witness the scandal of the Cross. And this is … [Read more...]

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. (Lk 4:1-2a) That little verse above is the reason behind the holy Season of Lent. And all I can say is thank God for Lent! I always look forward to Lent. And this year is no exception. Christmas ran into New Year’ and Epiphany, then the Super Bowl, the 100 year blizzard, the longest king cake season ever, and then right on its heels Mardi Gras season with eight days of parades in front of the church! Now that Lent is here, I’m happy to create my own little desert of calm by the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It’s the perfect remedy to the last two weeks of noise, feasting and excess. Let’s all take a deep … [Read more...]

Jesus told his disciples a parable, “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” (Luke 6:39) In New Orleans we give directions differently than some other cities. We don’t use “east, west, north and south” because it doesn’t make sense to tell people that the way to the West Bank is actually due east because of the northern curve the Mississippi makes at New Orleans. We might describe somewhere as “across the lake,” or “downtown,” or in Lakeview.” Those of us who live uptown might describe the exact location of our church as being on the riverside, downtown corner of Camp and Napoleon. It’s a little different in Rome. When my friends and I were walking in Rome and asked someone for directions, most Italians would just point in the direction we should go, … [Read more...]

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you... Do to others as you would have them do to you. For if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.” (Luke 6:27-28, 30-33) The Gospel passage today is a continuation of the Sermon on the Plain we heard in last week’s Gospel. And just as He did last week, Jesus is basically turning the law of the Old Covenant on its head in terms of understanding. When someone did wrong to a Jewish person, the wronged person was told in the law: “if injury ensues, you shall give life for … [Read more...]