Growing up, most of us were probably taught that when someone does something nice for us, we should say thank you. As a result, we have come to expect gratitude when we do something kind for another. Yet, sometimes—perhaps even … Continue reading
charity
St. John’s Advice
There are few saints more esteemed than St. John the Evangelist. He was one of Jesus’ closest disciples; he witnessed the transfiguration; he stayed at the foot of the Cross when the other disciples fled; he took care of Mary … Continue reading
Friendship is Rooted in Charity
Who is your best friend? How do you define your relationship? Perhaps you know what brings each other joy and you will that for each other. According to the dictionary definition, a friend is someone who is “one attached to … Continue reading
Self-Enclosures and Jammed Locks
I once spent a frigid night awake at a Florentine McDonald’s after getting stuck at the train station Firenze Santa Maria Novella. That part of the night wasn’t horrible. I conversed with a native Florentine who, among other things, boasted … Continue reading
It’s Time for Figs
I can’t help but feel a bit bad for the poor little fig tree Jesus cursed. It seems unfair! Mark makes it quite clear in his Gospel that “it was not the time for figs.” Nevertheless, when Jesus sees that … Continue reading
All We Need Is Love
No generation passes without affording us some deeper insight into what it is to be human. Professors opine, poets and songwriters construe their craft, and politicians enact laws all to enlarge our experience of life, even if at the end … Continue reading
Where Are the Poor?
There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linenand dined sumptuously each day.And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scrapsthat fell … Continue reading
Measuring My Maturity
Maturity is a difficult word to define. It’s also a difficult state to reach definitively, saying to ourselves, “Finally, I’ve arrived!” How do we know when we’re considered mature? Do we reach it by a certain age? Proverbs says so … Continue reading
The Shepherd’s Voice
Am I a sheep or a goat? This is the question that always plagues me after hearing this past Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 25:31-46). Jesus’ description of the last judgment as a separation of the sheep and the goats never fails … Continue reading
The Look of Divine Love
“It is godlike to love the being of someone” (Gilead, Marilynne Robinson). In this short sentence from her novel Gilead, the author, Marilynne Robinson, expresses the deep, unflinching love of a father for his son. The Gospel of Luke provides … Continue reading
You Too Were Strangers
Having heard a very different speech earlier in the day, my Dominican brothers and I sat down in our chapel a few Fridays ago and heard these words from the Prophet Moses: On your fathers did the Lord set His … Continue reading
Cold Comfort
Ebenezer Scrooge, visited already by several Spirits, “was ready for a good broad field of strange appearances…nothing between a baby and rhinoceros would have astonished him very much.” I’ve had the pleasure of thinking about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol … Continue reading