On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.” (Jn 20:19-21a) How do we define peace? Politically, it can defined as an “absence of conflict.” If we are busy at work, it might mean “no interruptions.” Some parents might equate peace with their kids being asleep or at their grandparents for the night. Peace happens to some people when their cell phone finally runs out of batteries or when a power outage knocks out the internet and the television. Oftentimes we actually “seek” peace … [Read more...]

Peter proceeded to speak and said: “You know what has happened all over Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power. He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 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. He commissioned us to preach to the people and testify that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness, … [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 it has been a while since you have 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 Resurrection and Easter Sunday. Jesus had to suffer and die before he rose! On Holy Thursday we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord's Supper at 7:00 p.m., which commemorates the … [Read more...]

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,Âand everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” (Jn. 11:21-27) At the school Mass this past Friday, I spoke to the students about fear. I mentioned that I had been afraid of the dark when I was younger, and that I was still scared of snakes now that I am … [Read more...]

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”(Jn. 4:13-14) Most of us don't really know what it means to be “dying of thirst.” We may have used the expression before, but it usually was after a few hours in the humidity of a hot July afternoon. I would venture to say that there are very few of us who have gone entire day without something to drink, let alone a week. But to people living in the desert at the time of Jesus, water was something precious. Since rain storms were few and far in between, water had to be found by digging or collected for storage in cisterns. The idea of a “running … [Read more...]

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as light. (Mt. 17:1-2 ) The Transfiguration of Jesus is one of the mysteries of the life of Christ. In fact, when the Holy Father, (soon to be Blessed) John Paul II decided to propose five new mysteries of the Rosary, he included the Transfiguration in his “Luminous Mysteries,” among which are also the Baptism of Our Lord, the Wedding Feast at Cana, the Proclamation of the Kingdom, and the Institution of the Eucharist. So what does the Transfiguration mean? It's literally a “change in appearance” of Jesus. It's described as a brightness emanating from Him. But what is the mystery behind the event? … [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. (Luke 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. 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 for the last two weeks of noise, feasting and excess. One of the good disciplines of Lent is “giving something up.” When I was in seminary, I remember my rector giving up cigars during Lent. And then one Friday in Lent, I walked by his room and smelled cigar smoke. The next day I asked him about it, … [Read more...]

And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined. (Mt. 7:26-29) On Friday, the Lagniappe section of the Times Picayune had a question on the cover: “What vices are you giving up for Mardi Gras?” And then it listed a long list of “vices,” including among them “meat” and “alcohol.” Now it's certain that excessive drinking and obesity are unhealthy, but can we call meat and alcohol “vices”? Of course not. The word “vice” comes from the Latin word vitium, and it's commonly defined as “an immoral or evil habit or practice.” A vice is the opposite of a virtue. But if alcohol and meat are vices, … [Read more...]

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. (Mt. 6:33-34) One of my favorite books is called the “Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis. I'm sure many of us have read it. The book takes the form of a series of letters from a senior  demon, Screwtape, to his nephew, a junior “tempter” named Wormwood, giving advice on the best way to ensure that a British man, known only as “the Patient,” ends up in hell. In a great irony, God is called “the Enemy.” One of my favorite letters involves the idea of “living in the present.” I'm going to let Clive Staples Lewis speak for the pastor today: “The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I … [Read more...]

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Mt. 5:43-48) “Nobody's perfect.” It's a common excuse when we make a mistake. We might like the perfect date, or the perfect sunset, or the perfect evening, but we don't like applying the word to ourselves because, well, … [Read more...]