Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 4:1–13
For most of my life, Lent meant praying the stations of the cross, giving something up, and throwing loose change in a box for the poor. All good things, yet nothing more than outward gestures that produced little interior transformation. [...]
“Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?” So begins the book The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, a story of a young woman who finds herself in a library between life and death. Each book on the shelf provides a chance to go back and see how different choices would change her life. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 6:17,20–26
I gave up coffee for Lent—not last Lent, but this upcoming Lent. I went from drinking two pots a day to nothing—zero cups. I’m already in week three of my coffee fast and have no plans to return. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 2:22–40
It's easy to be drawn to Simeon in this week’s Sunday gospel reading.
He rightly receives due attention. Simeon’s canticle of praise, as he witnesses the Christ Child presented at the temple, expressed his profound gratitude for having lived long enough to behold his Savior. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 1:1–4,4:14–21
I’m staring at a stack of unwritten Christmas cards. I have yet to write or send a single one. The good news is that I’m one of those Catholics who doesn’t officially close out the Christmas season until Candlemas. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Matthew 2:1–12
Have you ever caught yourself about to genuflect before taking your seat at the movie theatre? I have. Fifty-plus years of genuflecting at Mass has ingrained this action into my brain so much that it happens mindlessly when I see a row of seats. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 3:1–6
There are two kinds of people: prepared and unprepared. I’m definitely on “team prepared” and amazed that not all of my children got this gene. How do I know? Well, when your kid doesn’t practice parking thinking he can “wing it” on his road test, [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Luke 21:25–28,34–36
Thanksgiving, or as I call it, the gateway to Christmas, has passed, and society is diving head-first into Christmas madness. Lights are going up. Black Friday sales are bombarding us. Beloved cultural characters like Santa, Rudolph, and Frosty are coming out in full force. [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Mark 12:41–44
Occasionally, in passing, the Lord sends someone my way who makes a lasting impression. A few weeks ago, it was a young lady with the Sisters of the Resurrection. While waiting for our boxed lunch at a women’s diocesan conference, [...]
Dig Deeper into Sunday’s Gospel: Read Mark 10:17–30
I was doing everything right—okay, not everything, but most things. I prayed every morning, no matter how exhausted I was. I hauled myself to daily Mass, no matter how inconvenient. I thoroughly examined my conscience, noting the number of times I fell short of God's glory. [...]
