“To whom else shall we go? You have the message of eternal life.”

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 23 (Year A) Wisdom 12:13, 16-19; Psalm 86; Romans 8:26-27; Matthew 13:24-43

The righteous must be kind. This short, blunt but profound principle is often overlooked or pushed aside by overly zealous religious people or moral crusaders.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 16 (Year A) Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 65; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23

The Word of God is a dynamic and creative expression of the divine will, at work at every moment and in every place. It is not confined to the borders of the Church, nor can it be controlled by human beings. Its work is healing, guiding, inspiring and drawing all humanity back to its divine source.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 9 (Year A) Zechariah 9:9-10; Psalm 145; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30

Prophetic texts express the deepest longings of the human heart. Most often, these are desires for peace, justice and happiness. Poetry, literature, music and art also bear witness to these hopes, and these diverse forms of expression find their way into the lyrical chants and proclamations of the prophets.

Charity is about being good-hearted, but justice is about something more.

Brian and Adin married and lived in Canada. She was originally from the Middle East, he from the British Isles. Over the years, they had to sort out where their differences came from: from different family backgrounds, personal differences or the different nations they’d belonged to.

There’s a popular notion which suggests that it can be helpful to compare every century of Christianity’s existence to one year of life. That would make Christianity 21 years old, a young 21, grown-up enough to exhibit a basic maturity but still far from a finished product. How insightful is this notion?

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, July 2 (Year A) 2 Kings 4:8-12a, 14-16; Psalm 89; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-42

The Bible is a book of familiar themes that find their way into many different stories.

The priests of the Diocese of Hamilton gathered recently for the Mass of Christian Burial for one of our priests, Fr. Philip Sherlock.

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 25 (Year A) Jeremiah 20:10-13; Psalm 69; Romans 5:12-15; Matthew 10:26-33

Jeremiah felt absolutely overwhelmed and besieged. His entire prophetic ministry was marked by persecution, ridicule, rejection and attempts on his life. It seemed to him that a host of enemies was arrayed against him, all intent on his destruction.