Sunday Reflections

Follow the Leader – Who Is On First?

               The Greek word from which we derive the word “epiphany” means manifestation or striking appearance.  The feast of the Epiphany of the Lord celebrates the manifestation or appearance of God as a human being in the person of Jesus Christ.  The gospel highlights how the magi from the east were drawn by the manifestation of God’s light, dwelling in He who is the Light of the World. 

On this Feast of Mary, the Mother of God we celebrate the faithfulness of Mary to God.  From the visit of the Angel Gabriel to the foot of the cross, we see Mary fulfilling her role in the history of salvation.  We are told that Mary "treasured… in her heart" all these things.  Mary knew who she was, and what she was called to do.  Her example calls us to recognize who we are as followers of her Son, and what we are called to do as his faithful disciples.  In this, she has become our treasure!

                During the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, Elizabeth cries out, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:45).  Indeed, Mary walked with great courage, trusting that God would bring about God’s plan in an unprecedented and marvelous way.  Although God’s plan seemed unfathomable to Mary, she trusted that if she cooperated with God, God would be able to do great things with her.  One could say the same thing ab

On this Third Sunday of Advent we meet John the Baptist, a figure central to the mission of Jesus.  He was  the "messenger" to "prepare the way" for Jesus.  John knew who he was, and what his role and position was in the history of salvation.  He knew that he was not 'Number One', and that was fine with him.  Jesus would be 'Number One', and John would present him to the world, fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament.  His life, message, and mission fulfilled these prophecies, and led the people to Jesus and his life,

It was at a Garden Party. The three widows were sitting at a table, gabbing away.  An older man came near and asked if he could join them.  Yes, they all said yes at once.  The ladies hadn’t seen this man before and the questions flew, fast and thick.  Finally, one lady asked him where he had been.  He had just come from prison, after 15 years.  This was exciting!  Where was he coming from?  He had been in prison all that time.  What had he done? He had killed his wife.  Two of the ladies gasped. What to do?

“Prepare by Throwing Off the Works of Darkness”

We all have certain images and expectations about royalty, created by our own exposure to them through the media.  The gospel of today, this Feast of Christ the King, does not present us with an image of what we expect associated with royalty.  Jesus is suffering on the cross.  Through his death and resurrection this cross has become his throne.  For this cross he rules and leads us.  First of all, as we come to an end of the 'Year of Mercy', he shows us the power of forgiveness as a sign of his divine and royal nature.  Let us imitate him in our mercy

A man had a nightmare! Ruins of his life were all over! What do to?  The man dreamt that he was to go to a certain bridge and there to dig into the earth. And there he would find a solution to his problems.  All was not in ruins! All was not lost!  His wife said “GO.” She had a vision of what he would find.  All the digging resulted in nothing.  At the same time his wife called him – “Come home.  The treasure is here, under the fireplace”.  His answer was to go home, not away.  And so it was!

In the Resurrectionist Prayer, we pray to the Risen Lord—the Way, the Truth, and the Life—asking him to make us faithful followers of the spirit of his resurrection, helping us to be inwardly renewed, dying to ourselves so that he may live in us.  St.