What would the objective observer say about our lives? Are we loving or are we angry? The only way we will avoid a destruction that is similar to the one that awaited the people at the time of Jeremiah and the time of Jesus is to take advantage of the opportunities that await us in Advent. We must reassess our lives and redirect ourselves if we see that we are headed down the wrong road.

It is a vision imagined by the master builders of our medieval cathedrals, who carved in the tympanum above the front doors a triumphant Christ King surrounded by his angels, waiting to greet the faithful on their arrival. Augustine’s unquenched desire was to find rest in their company.

A visit to the hospital, a meal provided for the poor, an hour with those who grieve, some comfort for the brokenhearted, some support for those whose faith wavers, whose lives are cracked by addiction, whose hearts have been marred by violence – these are the way a Christian prepares for the final day.

Those who come from Abundance will always have enough, and those who come from Scarcity, no matter how much they have, will never have enough. It has nothing to do with money, rather it is an attitude of life: Do we see the glass half-full or half-empty?

Today Jesus challenges a one-dimensional understanding of love that allows religious people to express devotion to God, while ignoring the problems of the real people around them every day. Our world needs this neighborly reminder more today than ever.

The theological virtue of Hope, which is not simply a wish, is a confident expectation of God’s help in attaining eternal salvation based on God’s promises and love for us.

Jesus is fully human and fully divine! This is one of the great mysteries of our faith! Many times, we seem to focus only on the fact that he is fully divine; on his miracles, his power over nature, and his healings. And while these are important, it is equally important that Jesus was fully human; that he had thoughts and feelings and temptations like us!

Imagine, if you will, two people about to begin a journey. One begins to plan by arranging how to arrive at the destination and what path to choose to get there. The other begins to plan by accumulating a list of favorite possessions to carry along the way.

We note that the first reading comes from chapter two of Genesis, which is believed to be the original creation story. By the way, chapter one of Genesis tends to emphasize God’s transcendence (the otherness), while chapter two tends to emphasize the immanence (or “withiness”) of God. But let’s begin with a short reflection on creation itself.

September 11th – Horror, agony, destruction, death: the attack on the World Trade Centers in New York City twenty years ago!

And at the same time – as though the one gave birth to the other – an unbelievable, indomitable desire by so many to reach out to help others in the midst of catastrophe.

Consider today, as in times past, just how we are similar to the person in today’s Gospel who could not hear and had a speech impediment. Like that person, are we too not blind and deaf? Many people are frightened about the current state of things, of what faces them, their children and grandchildren. Paralyzed and beleaguered, they grumble and complain.

There is a story about a young man named Jim who entered religious life. He lived in a monastery with six other classmates.

One of his classmates named John made a lot of noise to draw attention to himself. Everything that he opened, he slammed shut. If he opened a door, he slammed it shut. If he opened a window, he slammed it shut. If he opened a drawer, he slammed it shut. Hence, throughout the monastery, all that people heard daily was slam, slam, slam, slam, slam.

I begin with a personal confession: The Gospel of John is the most difficult of the four Gospels for me to comprehend. As with many other Scripture readers, I more easily and quickly take to the swirling, colorful and noisy action scenes that characterize the Gospel of Mark.

I believe that most of us – if not all of us – are familiar with the expressions “back in the day” or “the good old days.” Both phrases direct our attention to the distant past.

For the next several weeks [with the exception of the Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary], we will hear from John’s gospel. The passages are called Jesus’ discourse on the Bread of Life

It can be frustrating in our lives to begin a project and watch it die because no one continues what we started.

It can be frustrating in our lives to begin a project and watch it die because no one continues what we started.

A few years ago, I was on vacation with some friends of mine. These friends, they have several small kids.