I READ AN OBITUARY a woman had written for herself before she died of cystic fibrosis at 44 years old. Her words were ones of gratitude for a full and meaningful life, satisfying work, long, loving friendships. I’m sure she had suffered great pain during her lifetime, and she, like all of us, had had some very bad days. But in the end, bitterness had no place in her final act of self-expression. She declared that relationships were ultimately the most important thing, and she encouraged those reading her last message to “go out and create moments to take your breath away.”  More...

CERTAIN IMAGES inspire wonder. They’re powerful beyond the simple contents of the scene. Think of the photo of the New York firefighters planting a tattered flag in the rubble of the World Trade Center towers. That image is likely to touch every heart. Certain images are powerful because they speak to a deeper place in us than words alone can do.  More...

THIS WEEK I almost fell into the clutches of the devil, and let me tell you, it was scary. I was driving down by the freeway where they’re doing road construction, and they had this long, open trench dug by the side of the roadway with about 15 workers standing around, leaning on their shovels, looking into it. The only place they gave you for your car was this skinny little strip of bumpy pavement with nothing between you and that ditch but a line of flimsy orange plastic cones.  More...

A FEW YEARS AGO a woman was standing outside a church in New York City, hesitating about whether to go inside. Her name was Elaine Pagels, and she was a brilliant historian at Princeton University. Though her specialty was the history of ancient Christianity, it had been years since she herself had gone to church.  More...

AS I HAVE DONE, so you must do.” . . . “Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes!” . . . . “This day shall be a memorial feast for you . . . as a perpetual institution.”  More...

THE PORTRAITS OF THE ASCENSION I like most are the ones that begin and end with Jesus’ feet. Of course the heads of the disciples gather at the bottom of the frame, staring upward with open mouths. But all we see of Jesus are his feet disappearing at the top edge of the picture. His great exit is in process, and all that will be left behind is the advice of a couple of angels.  More...

TALK ABOUT an exclusive job description! Only two people in the history of salvation are called “blessed”: Abraham, the father of nations, and Mary, the mother of the church. They are two such different figures that the comparison seems amazing, almost suspect. What does the famous founder of the Jewish and Islamic nations, one of the greatest figures in the Old Testament, have to do with the humble young woman of Nazareth? The stature of Abraham as forefather could hardly be rivaled by a Jewish girl from a remote town that was a bit of a joke to the surrounding villages. Remember the line: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Answer: Yes! Something very good in fact, something that would lead to mercy for endless generations.  More...

“A people who have walked in darkness have seen a great light.”  More...

ON THIS NIGHT, some 2,000 years ago, the world held its breath and waited. Down the centuries and through countless messengers, God had uttered promises to the chosen people of Israel. We heard many of these promises proclaimed in the readings tonight: the promise of goodness and holiness, the promise of rescue from the waters, the promise of redemption from slavery, the promise of deliverance from oppression, the promise of ransom, the promise of justice flowing like a river, the promise of mercy, the promise of peace, the promise of salvation from sin, and the promise of life abundant and eternal.  More...

“MATTTER IS ANYTHING that has mass and takes up space.” We learn that fundamental definition of the physical universe in grade school. For those of us who like to keep up on the latest scientific discoveries, we also know that matter has yet to be completely defined. First we thought all matter was made up of molecules; then atoms; then particles; then protons, neutrons, and electrons; and now it’s down to quarks, leptons, and neutrinos. Scientists keep hoping they’ve reached the smallest, elementary particle, but somehow they’re able to divide matter just once more.  More...

I KISS YOUR MOTHER!” (ljubi maiku!) is a delightful expression Bosnian fathers use to praise their children. It means “I kiss your mother because you are such a wonderful child!” or, in other words, “My compliments to your mother!” It’s similar to the praise Jesus received by those awed by his ministry: “Blessed is the womb that carried you!”  More...

Welcome to Lent! On this Ash Wednesday, some of us have the custom of wishing one another a "good Lent." Why good? Shouldn't we be wishing one another a solemn or serious or remorseful Lent? Maybe we should, but it is entirely appropriate to extend this good wish to others. Lent is good. It's good because it focuses us on what is most important.  More...

With all the baptized this night let us with these sacraments of word, water, bread, and wine return God’s word to him full of faith and love.  More...

An eager young man came to Socrates and said, "Teacher, I want very much to be one of your students." He replied, "Come," took the lad over to a barrel full of water, and said, "Look into the water—tell me what you see." The young man looked and said, "I see nothing but water." "Look again!" said Socrates. When he did, the old man thrust the student's face into the water and held him there. Unable to breathe, he struggled hard, but Socrates would not let him up until the last moment. Gasping and angry, the soaked young man demanded, "Why did you do this to me?" Socrates replied, "When you were underneath the water, not sure if you would live to see another day, what did you want more than anything in the world?"  More...

ONE OF MY FAVORITE STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS, certainly one of the more memorable, is in the church where I served as a deacon intern a quarter century ago. The window depicts the apostles standing around a large rock that has two very clear footprints improbably imbedded in its surface. Their heads are all turned upward in that unusual tilt peculiar to stained-glass art, and if you follow their gaze up the harlequin medley of color that composes the window, you come to a pair of feet dangling from the top of the frame. Even though you can't see anything above the knees, there's no question to whom the feet belong: The stylized wounds are unmistakable. It is the Lord being "lifted up" into heaven while the apostles look on.  More...

THROUGH MARY TO JESUS. This simple phrase holds the key to the church's honoring of Mary, and to the fact that the ultimate focus of devotion to Mary is Jesus Christ. Mary, in the words of the document with which Pope Pius XII declared the doctrine of Mary's Assumption in 1950, is "intimately joined to her divine Son." In a real way, the world comes to Jesus through Mary. Yet, Mary also points beyond herself to Christ, her Lord and ours.  More...

JAMES AGEE took the title for his Depression-era classic, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, from a passage in the Book of Sirach (44:1). It is an ironic title, since Agee's book describes some of the poorest and least consequential people of his time—white sharecroppers in Alabama. But those who read Agee's book with care can see that it is not simply a sociological exposé but a deeply felt meditation on the "ordinary sanctity" of human life, even under the most hard-pressed circumstances. These poor folk are among those who leave no great mark in history, who have "perished as though they had never existed," and yet whose "righteous deeds" live on, if only in the memory of God (Sirach 44:9, 10).  More...

A CHRISTMAS PRESENT arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. The return address simply says, "Santa Claus, North Pole." The handwriting isn't recognizable, so it could be from anybody. It's a medium-sized box, not too heavy, but not too light either. I can't really tell what's inside of it. It's not in the shape of a CD or a book or a box of socks, usually dead giveaways. It's a complete mystery, and I won't know what it is until I open it.

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EPIPHANY: It means "a manifestation of God." In today's language, we use this word to describe an "aha moment"-a fleeting glimpse of insight in the midst of the everyday thoughts that come and go.  More...

There's a bit of irony in the gospel reading for Ash Wednesday. Jesus warns us, "Do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues . . . so that others may see them." Well, here we are: praying in front of each other in a church, where "others may see us." Soon we'll get ashes on our foreheads, and everybody who sees us for the rest of the day will notice us. But I don't think we risk ignoring Jesus' warning. I doubt that you came here to impress other people with your holiness. You came for other reasons.  More...

Last words come hard. The dying, often weak from infirmity, at times pained by disease, struggle to speak to their loved ones who gather around. Jesus himself, while crucified, uttered what traditionally are known as the "Seven Last Words." Many a Catholic in a bygone age memorized these last sayings of Jesus as part of their religion lessons. And the great composer Franz Josef Haydn wrote The Seven Last Words of Christ, a magnificent chorale and orchestra piece centering on Jesus' last utterances from the cross.  More...

It's hard to imagine two more different portraits of Mary than the ones we read today.  More...

Silent night, holy night . . . ." These words have priority of place, as we celebrate the awesome gift of the word made flesh, under a cloak of darkness. This midnight liturgy sanctifies the night-makes the stillness a holy place into which our God comes, here and now, to speak a new word, to show us a new face of love.  More...

We believe many things about Mary, and we think of her in many ways—the first disciple of Jesus; the greatest of saints. Throughout the year we celebrate her sinlessness and her assumption into heaven. But there's also a mysterious side to Mary, a part of our relationship to her we see in the words we use in prayer to her: Queen of the Universe, Splendor of the Church, Morning Star, Seat of Wisdom, Mystical Rose. Today's celebration of Mary as Mother of God invites us into this mystery, and scripture today helps us to give it words.  More...

Most Catholics are not surprised the church makes feast days such as the Immaculate Conception or the Solemnity of Mary on New Year's Day holy days of obligation. But they might be surprised to learn that Ash Wednesday is not among these days—nor has the church made any day of repentance an "obligation." Interestingly, in most years more Catholics come to church on this day than on any celebratory holy day. What this fact tells us is that our coming here to begin this season of repentance comes of our own free choice. And it is good that we are here together on this day of communal repentance, to receive the mark of ashes.  More...

SO IF I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you."  More...

IN A WAY the story of Christ is one of descents and ascents, of going up to heaven and heaven coming down to earth. But the story is not a solo trip. In descending and ascending, Jesus takes us with him. He came from God to dwell among us and show us his way. He rose from the dead to give us life. He ascended into heaven to go back to God and complete his mission. And he will come again to take his faithful to himself forever.  More...

Memories are mysterious things. Moments of remembering that flash across our minds at the sound of a word or the aroma of perfume or the phrase of a song. Sometimes our memories are welcomed treasures, giving birth to smiles and warm affection. Other times, as when we are grieving the loss of someone we love, memories wash over us as waves of pain and we become immobilized by grief.  More...

"The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

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EACH NEW YEAR means beginning again. We start the new year with the promise of doing better in some area of our lives.  More...

Today's children live in a challenging culture. They are often overwhelmed, not only by harmful messages in the media but also through excessive participation in extracurricular activities, particularly sports. Physical therapists have expressed concern for the increasing number of young children coming for treatment for damage done to muscles and tendons because of overinvolvement in sports. Parents, they fear, don't seem to realize that even young healthy children need a break, with substantial time for physical and mental recovery.  More...

Passovers are for people on the move, people going from one thing to the next. And many of us, certainly, can relate. Our lives have become busier than we ever imagined they would be, and we frequently feel our time is not our own. There's always the next thing to do, the next place to go. And that's not all bad. Our activities, work, and responsibilities help to fill our lives and give them meaning.  More...

IN THE STORY The Fugitive by the famous Indian author Rabindranath Tagore, a father returns from his wife's funeral. His boy of 7 stands at the window with eyes wide open and a golden amulet hanging from his neck. The boy is full of thoughts too difficult for his age. His father takes him in his arms and the boy asks, "Where is Mother?" The father answers, "In heaven," pointing to the sky. The boy raises his eyes to the sky and gazes long in silence. His bewildered mind searches into the night, asking the question, "Where is heaven?" No answer comes, and the stars seem like burning tears in that ignorant darkness.  More...

"Since our departed brothers and sisters believed in the mystery of the Resurrection," one of the prayers in the Mass for this day says, "let them share the joys and blessings of the life to come." These words say much about why we gather to pray today. We remember that those who have gone before us believed, and we remember what they believed in—eternal life.  More...

What is a mystery? Is it something we can't ever know? Not really. Rather it's something we need faith to know. We have to enter into mysteries, and faith is the key that unlocks them. Today we stand before and celebrate a mystery: the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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The monk and author Thomas Merton once wrote of the Blessed Virgin Mary: "In the actual, living person who is the Virgin Mother of God [is] all the wisdom of all the saints." Like all the saints, Mary gave herself completely, mind, body, and spirit, to God, and we honor her today for the great example she gives us.

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The Lord is gracious, kind, and merciful, scripture says, and calls us to make a total response to that grace, kindness, and mercy.  More...

As we enter into the mystery of these days, remember we are not here because Jesus died. We are here because he rose! God is working something new, and Jesus is at the center of it all.
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For centuries Christians have followed Christ to the cross to contemplate the crucified Jesus and express our solidarity with the suffering Lord. We come here today for the same reason. But after we have listened to scripture, we might wonder: Could this person really be the one God has sent to save us, one who, the readings say, was disfigured, beaten, afflicted, condemned, oppressed, rejected, and cursed, not to mention hated and laughed at?

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In God’s dream for Israel the divine spirit knows no boundaries: There is no special people, only God’s people. There is no sacred place, for all creation is alive with the spirit of God. That is the mystery we celebrate in this Pentecost feast, when God’s Holy Spirit is set loose in a new way by the resurrection of Christ.  More...

The presence of God changes people. The scripture we hear proclaimed and the feast we celebrate this evening—the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary body and soul into heaven—testify to the transforming power of God.  More...

Of the many mysteries of being human, time is one of the most intriguing and elusive. Philosophers and theologians have been writing about the subject for centuries, but no one has been able to define it once and for all . . .  More...

The memorial of Christ we celebrate today, and every time we gather around the table of the Lord, does not leave us or our world unchanged. It continuously transforms us and makes us Christ-like so that when we leave this sacred space we do like him and, “tying a towel around our waist,” as it were, we make God’s love visible to others by gently touching their lives where they need it the most.  More...

Today we can listen with wrenched hearts to the proclamation of the gospel and not feel defeated, abandoned, or afraid. We know the larger love story of Jesus that began when God himself became flesh and brought about the Reign of God, precisely because God loves us.  More...

The Resurrection! That is the story to which all others lead. That is the story we are meant to share. That is the story which we are meant to live. And if stories make us who we are, that is the story which truly makes us who we are: the body of the Risen Christ, who shines in and through us and brings us and the world true life.  More...

For more than 1,000 years peasants, saints, scholars, and even royalty have walked hundreds of miles across Spain to Santiago de Compostela, the place where legend holds that Saint James the Apostle is buried. Why?
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Today we remember those whom we have known and loved and have gone before us, those who nourished us, loved us, and in some way have made us who we are today. Even with their faults and failings, we loved them and their passing has left an emptiness in our homes and in our hearts.  More...

I know all of you are very excited today, and so am I. It's Christmas Eve and you're all thinking about the wonderful things that Christmas Day may bring. And I know that is important to you. But even more important is that you get ready for the celebration of the birth of Christ . . .  More...