As the church year begins to wind down over the next two weeks, many of the the Scripture readings are about the end of time, when Jesus will come again. So today’s first reading may seem out of place. In the cycle of readings for Sunday, the first reading is paired with the gospel. But today’s reading from Proverbs about the worthy wife seems a bit disconnected from the gospel. Why are these two readings paired together today? Since the gospel seems to fit this time of year...

This weekend is catechetical Sunday, the weekend in which the Church asks us to call forth those who have been chosen to be catechists in our parish, to bless them and commission them for the upcoming year. These are the teachers at our parish school, All Saints; these are the parish staff and volunteers who work with the children and teens in the many youth faith formation ministries of the parish. They are more than teachers, they are catechists. What does that...

After Mass this Sunday I’m going to drive south to the Camas Prairie in Idaho, where my wife Brenda is already visiting her mother. As any conscientious husband will tell you, you don’t need a reason to visit your mother-in-law, but this weekend we do in fact have a particular reason for visiting: we’re going to watch the eclipse. We want to go see the eclipse not only because it’s such an unusual natural phenomenon, but also because natural events like this can help us...

There’s a long but important sentence in the First Letter of Peter that we heard earlier: “Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” Of all the words in that long sentence, it’s the last one, hope, that’s the most important. Hope is something the world could surely use more of. But before the First Letter of Peter gets to that long sentence, there’s a lot that comes before to help us understand what it means. First of all, it’s...

The first few gospel readings of the Easter season focused on showing us that Jesus was raised from the dead. He eats with his disciples, he shows them his wounds, he assures them that it really is him, he is risen from the dead. Now as we enter the third week of Easter the scripture readings change their focus from the resurrection itself to show us the effect of the resurrection on the disciples. We see this first in the figure of Peter. The last time we saw Peter was on...

We walk through the Doorway of Love, following the Thread of Love, imitating the Model of Love, sitting in the Garden of Love.

Today’s gospel is a story of baptism, and what baptism does for each of us. It’s a story of thirst and water, of longing and desire. It’s part one of a baptismal trilogy that continues next week and the week after. Three lessons about baptism, with three images: this week water, next week light, and the following week rising from the dead. But it all begins with being thirsty. Within each one of us is a deep yearning, what St. Augustine calls a restlessness, what some...

A few weeks ago we read how Jesus went up the mountain to teach his disciples. Just as Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law, Jesus, the new Moses, speaks his Sermon on the Mount to deepen our understanding of the Law. This week he is still on the mountain and his words are clear: “Offer no resistance to one who is evil.” “Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you.” The message is simple, the challenge is difficult: Jesus is telling us to resist the cycle...

There were many newsworthy events this past week and there are many more going on this weekend; but there’s one event that happened this past Wednesday that you probably didn’t hear about: one of the world’s best-selling authors passed away at the age of 92. They say that if a book sells more than 20,000 copies in a year, then it’s in the top one percent of all book sales. This author sold over 10 million copies of his books. And yet, despite being so successful, you probably...

Back in November, Brenda and I got to see our daughter Teresa perform in Gonzaga Prep’s production of The Sound of Music. I know some of you here are theater moms or dads, and your kids have been in shows too, shows like Ferris’ The Addams Family, Fiddler on the Roof, or Shrek. Or maybe some of you are theater kids and have seen your parents perform in Ham on Regal. So you know how it is that you end up seeing the same show multiple times. You end up noticing things that...

A while back a friend shared a website with me that was a collection of the last words of famous people, and it was very interesting. Some of their final words were humble. For example, Leonard DaVinci said, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” Some tried to be prophetic. Nostradamus, for instance said, “Tomorrow I will not be here.” He was right. And there were some who didn’t realize they were speaking their final...

The dramatic scene from the first reading, with Moses raising the staff of God during battle, and Joshua mowing down Amalek, almost feels like a scene from The Lord of the Rings. But it’s not Tolkien that I find most helpful in breaking open today’s scripture, but rather one of his best friends, C.S. Lewis. Lewis, as many of you know, was the author of the Narnia series, that wonderful set of books about Aslan, Prince Caspian, and the magical world on the other side of the...

Today’s gospel account of the dishonest steward reminds me of those con artist movies like Ocean’s Eleven or The Sting, you know, those movies featuring criminals who are trying to con people out of their money. They come up with these elaborate plans, like robbing three casinos at once, or tricking the rich man into betting all his money on a fake horse race. And despite the fact that they’re criminals, we find ourselves rooting for them, hoping that their plans...

Once upon a time there was a preacher who was worried about his congregation. They were good people, people who loved Jesus, people who had embraced the Christian way of life. But there came a time when they became exhausted. They were tired— tired of serving the world, tired of worship, tired of being seen as peculiar and whispered about in society, tired of the spiritual struggle, tired of trying to keep their prayer life going. Attendance at church was down, the...

Today’s readings offer us a contrast between two people visited by the Lord. The Lord comes to their homes, and we see two different reactions; I’m not speaking here of Martha and Mary, but of Martha and Abraham. Now, there are definitely differences between the way Martha responds to her encounter with Jesus, and the way Mary responds. But if we focus only on Martha and Mary, we may get the mistaken idea that Mary’s contemplation is superior to Martha’s service. But by...

One of the most dreaded phrases in classrooms everywhere is “in your own words.” “Explain the causes of the Civil War in your own words.” “Describe the process of photosynthesis in your own words.” Teachers love the phrase because it requires students to do deep thinking; and students dread the phrase, because it requires them to do deep thinking. It may seem cruel of me to be talking about school so soon after summer vacation has begun, but I only bring it up because of...

Not long ago we celebrated the Ascension, and this was the first year we could celebrate that feast with the beautiful icon of the Ascension greeting us as we walked into the Church. On this Solemnity of the Holy Trinity I am reminded of another icon, perhaps the most famous icon of them all, the icon of the Holy Trinity by Andrei Rublev. Rublev painted, or wrote, this icon in 1425 for the church of St. Sergius near Moscow, Russia, and it’s regarded as one of the highest...

Suppose we had a time machine and we traveled back in time to talk to Simon Peter before he met Jesus. And what if we asked him, “What would a peaceful life look like to you?” I wonder what he might say. Maybe he’d say, “Well, a peaceful life would be one where my fishing business would continue to thrive. I would catch lots of fish each day, sell them all, and support my family comfortably. My wife and I would live in harmony and raise our children to be good...

The world is full of great love stories. We see them in literature and film and in history: stories like Casablanca, Pride and Prejudice, and Titanic. Lovers like Romeo and Juliet, Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester, even Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary. We all relate to a good love story. What makes them so powerful are the obstacles that the lovers try to overcome. Sometimes they’re successful and their story ends in joy; and sometimes they’re not and the story ends in...

One of the greatest speeches in all of literature is the St. Crispin’s Day Speech by William Shakespeare from his play, Henry V. It’s October 25, in the year 1415, and King Henry of England and his men are about to fight the French in what will come to be known as the Battle of Agincourt. Henry’s men are exhausted and sick. They’ve been fighting for months, and they’ve just finished a long and grueling siege of Harfleur castle. As they move across the French...

I’m sure you’ve heard about the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. It’s breaking all box office records, and I’ve seen it myself a couple of times. One of the things I find interesting about this new Star Wars trilogy is that it begins in the same way as the original trilogy with Luke Skywalker. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m not giving much away by saying that the main character starts the story on a desert planet feeling forsaken, feeling abandoned, just like Luke...

I remember when Brenda was pregnant with each of our four kids, how she would often talk with other women who were also pregnant. There’s a bond that forms between mothers. Only they understand what it’s like to carry a living being within themselves. Only they understand the cravings, the anxieties, the joys. They learn from each other, commiserate with each other, reassure each other. And that bond doesn’t end after the babies are born. It continues as the children get...

When I was about eleven or twelve years old, I was fascinated by the life of long-haul truckers. I used to listen to songs by Red Sovine and Merle Haggard, watch movies like Smokey and the Bandit, and dream about living life on the road. One year I asked my mom and dad for a CB radio for my birthday so I could talk to all the truckers on the road from my room at home. Their response was similar to Jesus’ answer to James and John: “You do not know what you are asking.” And...

This weekend is Catechetical Sunday, the day we recognize and commission those who assist parents in the important task of handing on the faith. While the primary duty of handing on the faith belongs to parents, it’s such a monumental task that it’s good to have some assistance. That’s why Catholic schools and religious education programs exist. It takes an entire community working together in Christ to build the Kingdom of God. And in the work of catechesis, there are three teaching...

This past week on Facebook a former student posted a picture of herself with her husband. They’ve been married almost two years, and they were standing with their arms around each other next to the “Sold” sign in front of their very first house. She’s about five months pregnant as they get ready to welcome their first child this coming December. I imagine there are lots of families moving into new homes this summer, getting used to new cities, new neighborhoods, children...