God’s reign is wild
The 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time – B Around the corner from where I live is a farm right in the middle of the city. I know spring has come when everything from cars to sidewalks is coated in yellow … Read More
The mystery of a meal
Body and Blood of Christ – B We spend a lot of time explaining the Eucharist so that those who come to Communion understand what they are receiving. Sacramental law requires that one must have “sufficient knowledge and careful preparation … Read More
Christ our compass
Most Holy Trinity – B In five short verses, the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel outlines the spectrum of the disciples’ experience so far. Amid the extremes of fidelity and betrayal, worship and doubt, Jesus stands like a center mark fixed … Read More
The Spirit of Truth will not be silenced
Pentecost Sunday – B Last year on Pentecost, protests broke out in Minneapolis and around the world in response to the torturous eight minute and 46 second recorded murder of George Floyd by a police officer. We all heard the … Read More
The Spirit’s Driving Wind
Ascension Sunday – B Today’s Gospel passage was not Mark’s original ending. That may have been lost, or the evangelist may have indeed intended to end at verse 8 with the disciples fleeing the empty tomb in fear and remaining … Read More
We are made holy
Seventh Sunday of Easter – B It’s not unusual to hear some version of “I come to Mass to get away from the world for one hour.” It comes sometimes as homiletic critique: “We shouldn’t be hearing about politics or … Read More
Love, plain and simple
Sixth Sunday of Easter – B Anne Lamott’s priest friend Tom told her, “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do” (Bird by Bird, … Read More
Let us cling to the Vine
Fifth Sunday of Easter – B Today we hear Jesus’s last I AM statement in John’s Gospel: “I am the true vine.” As with last week’s Christological statement, we can fall into the trap of mishearing today’s Gospel as a … Read More
Shepherd to whom?
Fourth Sunday of Easter – B When we hear Jesus say, “I am the good shepherd,” it’s tempting to wander off into bucolic bliss. If we do that, we’re missing the radical point of this I AM statement. The startling … Read More
You are witnesses
Third Sunday of Easter – B Today’s Gospel passage ends with Jesus saying to his disciples (and to us), “You are witnesses of these things.” This is not a hope or desire. It’s not a premonition or an invitation. It … Read More