A Brief Meditation on Today’s Mass Readings Today’s Gospel passage is nested in a literary configuring which itself tells a story: the first two chapters, alone among the pages of Luke, recall a genre specific to early Judaism, known as a...
The liturgical cycle has brought us once again to the season of Advent. The Advent season is unique in the sense that it anticipates something we have already experienced. The Christ-child whose birth we celebrate at Christmas is the same...
But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. — Matthew 24:36 A week or two ago, I received an email with a question from someone I deeply...
[Editor’s Note: This is an unofficial English translation of Fr. Roberto Pasolini’s homily for Sunday, June 9, 2024. Fr. Pasolini was recently named Preacher of the Papal Household, replacing his fellow Capuchin Friar, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, who has retired at...
Pope Francis appointed Father Roberto Pasolini as the new Preacher of the Papal Household on November 9, 2024, succeeding the 90-year-old Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, who is finally retiring after having served in the role for 44 years. Like his predecessor...
Today’s Gospel begins shortly after Jesus left the Temple where, as we heard last week, he had condemned the Scribes’ desire for honors and flattery and wealth and had praised the widow’s embrace of poverty and her absolute trust in...
The readings today for this thirty second Sunday in ordinary time are basically about “true and false religion,” both of which have their origin in our relationship to divine providence — trust in providence leads to true religion, while a...
Reflection on the gospel for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time To be alive to God, one has to be dead to the world. This is a basic principle of the spiritual life. The more dead we are to the...
In Sunday’s second reading, St. Paul speaks of Jesus breaking down the dividing wall of enmity in order to create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace. The commentaries on this reading explain that...
There is a popular story that I’ve seen on the internet, shared by email and posted on blogs and social media. It’s a story that speaks about practicing what one preaches. I am not sure whether it is factual or...
Reflection for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time I’d like to focus on one point from this gospel reading, specifically the incident involving the woman who for twelve years was afflicted with hemorrhages: “If I but touch his clothes, I...
Even though I have used Rembrandt van Rijn’s Storm on the Sea of Galilee for many years as a visio divina prayer prompt at high school retreats, I only recently learned the bizarre recent history of the Dutch master’s first great...
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