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Showing posts from May, 2024
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  Friday – 7 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 21:15-19 Following a NEW path Hand in Hand!! Today is May 17 , a memorable day for my family, a mixture of joy and sadness.   If he were still with us, it would have been Bob’s, my father-in-law, 96 th birthday.   But sadly he passed away on April 22, just 6 days after Ginger’s Mom, Shirley, on April 16.   A day full of memories and love, a time of sorrow! And 9 years ago today, I was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Archdiocese of Chicago.   A celebration of joy and faith with our friends and family!   And a new path to follow in service and in hope! And exactly 50 months ago today (and every day since), I shared with you my first daily Gospel reflection.   A time of pandemic and death, a time of loss and separation! One single day packed with so many memories!   And isn’t that exactly what life is all about – moments of tears and moments of smiles, times of elation and times ...
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  Thursday – 7 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 17:20-26 Can’t We All Just Get Along? Chapel of Tears, Jerusalem Today Jesus continues His prayer to the Father and He prays for one thing – Unity!   That we all may be one just as He is One with the Father! We have heard it before: one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one church, Pardon me for saying this but I’m not seeing much unity these past few months (or even years).   We are so at odds with each other, politically, socially, spiritually.   Everyone seems on edge, ready to pick a fight or argue about anything.   We take sides and then dig in, to the point of demeaning the character of others.   We look for differences instead of appreciating what we have in common.   We lump people into groups instead of appreciating their uniqueness.   In short, we seem to be doing the exact opposite of what Jesus is praying for.   Boy, do we all need a good infusion of the Spirit! How ca...
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  Wednesday – 7 th Week of Easter Gospel – John 17:11-19 The Big Picture! On Shores of Sea of Galilee You can’t see the forest for the trees!   You’re missing the BIG picture!   We have all heard it before, probably from our parents!   Sometimes we get so caught up in the minutiae and the details that we miss the overall point!   Don’t get me wrong; the details are important!   But we also need to reach some understanding with a wider view. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel are directed toward truth, joy, our role in the world and the reality that the disciples will face rejection from the world.   But there is a bigger picture here! Jesus is praying to His Father for His disciples!   Let me repeat that.   Jesus is praying to His Father on behalf of His disciples!   He knows they are going to feel abandoned and lost, alone and fearful.   And He prays for them!   To His Father!   Does that sink in?   ...
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  Tuesday – St. Matthias, Apostle Gospel – John 15:9-17 The Luck of the Draw Magdala Chapel There was a time when I was teaching World Religions where, instead of the students picking their partners for their major group project, I made the selections.   So I just threw all their names into a basket and randomly pulled them out.   I thought it would eliminate the pain of the kids having to choose which friends to pair up with and which friends not!   It was a horrible idea and I never tried it again.   Choosing by lots, by sheer chance, is not always the best option! 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 chan...