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  Thursday – St. Matthias, Apostle Gospel – John 15:9-17 A Roll of the Dice Anointing Stone, Church of Holy Sepulchre We celebrate today the Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle.   And here is what we know about Matthias – he was selected by lot to take Judas’ place as one of the Twelve.   That’s it; that’s all we know.   No background!   No info on his missionary work or even his death, nothing!   All we have is a roll of the dice!   So was that all just a matter of chance?   Sheer blind luck?   Today’s Gospel tells us that was not the case. Jesus tells His Apostles “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you”.   Luck had nothing to do with it!   It was divinely inspired.   God was at work as He always is.   We like to think our parents made this conscious decision to have us baptized.   Or we believe that we make this choice to receive the Sacraments.   But in reality, it wasn’t our choice at all. ...
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  Wednesday - 6 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 16:12-15 The Spirit of Truth Sea of Galilee Yesterday I watched one of my all-time favorite movies for probably the 20 th time (conservative guess).   Kingdom of Heaven !!   A medieval Crusade epic directed by Ridley Scott! Of course, the Director’s cut which runs for about 3 ½ hours, but so worth it! Filled with quotable dialog throughout, there is one that resonates with me in light of today’s Gospel. Early in the film, a dying Sir Godfrey is ‘knighting’ his son with this oath: Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong! In today’s Gospel, Jesus promises to send the Spirit of Truth, to guide us in all things.   We all need guidance; we all need to listen and hear the truth.   We all need a helping hand.   A simple but powerful message for all of us; so ...
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  Tuesday - 6 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 16:5-11 Good Grief Altar of Crucifixion, Church of Holy Sepulchre 40 years ago, I was standing by the bedside of my dear friend, Don.   He had been waging a long-term battle with cancer and today was the day I gathered with his wife and 3 little girls to say our last goodbye.   There are no words possible to encompass all the conflicting emotions we felt as we stood there holding hands.   Tears were abundant and words were few!   But the grief, the sadness, the loss and the very real pain of realization that this was his last moments here on earth – that was almost unbearable!   I would not wish that experience on anyone.   And yet most of us have probably had that memory and still carry the sorrow with us even today.   I wonder how much the Apostles felt something similar in today’s Gospel reading.   Jesus has just told them He is leaving; it is clear that they understood He was referrin...
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