The Mystery of a Place Called Nazareth
One of the handful of facts that Sunday school students seem to retain about the life of Christ is that he was born in Bethlehem and grew up in the city of Nazareth. Anyone who has observed a nativity set...
Tagged: Jesus
“Sweet Singing in the Choir”
This December I have been struck by the ways that celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace can sow such discord among His followers. I challenge you to Google “Is it permissible for Catholics to decorate for Christmas and...
The Servant King: Living a Life of Agape in the Digital Age
Every generation must decide whom it will follow. In our time, the kings we serve are often unseen—algorithms, trends, and screens that subtly shape what we value. In a world where social media defines so much of our identity, it...
True Masculinity: The Second Adam
Note: This is the second article in a three-part series on masculinity. It is perhaps strange that a woman authored these articles, although there is certainly no dearth of men writing and speaking about femininity, so perhaps it is not so strange after all. Sometimes someone with an outside perspective can...
Advent Reflection: O Happy Fault!
We sat down as a family and reflected on Advent Stations found in the current copy of Magnificat Advent Companion. I’d love to paint a picture of a scene out of a Hallmark movie, but that’s not how things go...
The Paradoxical Jesus
In one scene from the iconic Pixar movie Cars, protagonist Lightning McQueen is being schooled by seasoned race car Doc Hudson. In this scene Doc tells him he needs to “turn right to go left.” Doc tells McQueen to drive...
Our Only Certainty is in Jesus
A reflection on the readings for May 7, 2023, the Fifth Sunday of Easter. An experience that Fr. John Kavanaugh, S.J., had with Saint Teresa of Calcutta can help us to reflect on our desire for clarity, and God’s invitation...
Forgetting God and the Consequences
Friends, I don’t know if you noticed, but we all walked into a bare Church. Silence greeted us. The altar is stripped of all its decorations. It is a skeletal altar that confronts us with the reality of death. God...
The God Who Abandons Us
“The God who is with us, is the God who abandons us.” These words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are so ironic. The God who is with us, who stands in solidarity with our human realities of pain and suffering, is the...
The Sufferings of Jesus Were Many
On Saturday, April 1, Pope Francis was discharged from Gemelli University Hospital after recovering from bronchitis. Then, on Sunday, he gave a beautiful homily on Palm Sunday and the suffering of Jesus. Pope Francis said there were three types of...
Seeing the Perfect Christ in His Marred Body
When I was in high school, I spent a horrible week consumed by doubt that God is a good God. A trusted community member abused a child of a family that I cared about and this abuse caused deep and...
The Pharisees’ Woes, Humanity’s Woes
A reflection on the readings for February 13, 2022 — The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Today’s Gospel gives us Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, an analogue of the more famous equivalent or parallel passage in Matthew. Luke’s “take” on...
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