On the evening of the first day of the week, the day on which our blessed Lord Jesus rose from the dead, He appears to His closest friends and comforts them saying, “Peace be with you.” On that occasion, Thomas was not with the other apostles. Distancing Thomas?
When love of God and desire for Him take possession of a soul, there no longer is room for other preoccupations. All its movements are directed to God and the soul moves others similarly to elevate.
Just as physical hunger is an indication of a living, healthy organism, so spiritual hunger is a sign of a robust spirit, one that is active and continually developing.
God has made us for Himself and we cannot live apart from Him. We need God We hunger and thirst for Him. It may be experienced firstly as an ache for something more or a longing to find a different way that brings meaning, joy and fulfillment. The more we permit the glorious light of...
Two disciples took charge of the burial – Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Our blessed Lord’s sacred Body was taken down from the Cross, wrapped in clean linen with spices and laid in a new tomb which Joseph had hewed out of a rock for himself (cf. Matthew 27:60). Assuredly Mary was present and received...
GOOD FRIDAY ushers us into the thicket of the trials and pains of the Son of God. We are to accept suffering voluntarily in order to unite ourselves more intimately with the Crucified Jesus. By suffering with Him, we better grasp His love for us and grow in empathy for others in their struggles.
During the Last Supper Jesus bequeaths to the disciples the new commandment. By washing their feet, Jesus makes real and concrete the defining feature of intentional disciples and true followers – humility and charity. To not miss the most salient point, Jesus emphasizes the enduring meaning of His loving action: “I have given you a...
Loneliness is one of the hardest trials to bear. In this time of pandemic we are so alone, and some quite intensely. We all want to receive a comforting word and it is especially disheartening when there is no one to whom we immediately can turn. Saint Thérèse, the Little Flower, had a special devotion...
Born in Pennsylvania in 1904, Walter Ciszek wanted to be missionary in Russia, though he never imagined the path God had designed for him. As a newly ordained Jesuit priest his missionary dream seemed to be unfolding nicely. Serving in Poland when World War II erupted, Ciszek was taken prisioner by the Russian Army, convicted...
In the Gospel episode heard today of Jesus’ bringing back to life the 4-day dead Lazarus, it is an intriguing detail as well as the shortest verse in the entire Bible: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Why did the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Messiah of God, weep? Maybe Jesus wants to show the...
