The story of Zacchaeus climbing the tree to see Jesus reminds me of the story of the men who went around the crowd and opened the roof of a house so their friend could be healed (Mk 2:1-12). Or remember the woman who only touched Jesus’s clothes and was cured of her hemorrhage (Mk 5: 25-35)? What lengths people went to so Jesus might heal them! We might suppose that Zacchaeus subconsciously wanted to see…
The very first Beatitude is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). In the Gospel passage of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14), the tax collector who “would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner’” (Luke 18:13) demonstrated that he was poor in spirit. In his humility, he was repentant and…
The meaning of the parable in this Sunday’s Gospel reading is set out directly for us: “Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18:1). How often do we become weary? Weary of prayer, weary of our jobs and responsibilities, weary of our problems and illnesses? The answer for me is too often. How many times have I found myself with heavy eyelids while sitting…
Experiencing the Holy Spirit is kind of like a visit from a butterfly. You can’t force a visit from a butterfly. You can’t send an invite and expect one to show up for tea next Tuesday afternoon. No, butterflies come and go with the breeze. Jesus describes the Holy Spirit in a similar way: “the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it…
How fitting that the first week after Easter Sunday is the Sunday of Divine Mercy. First we celebrate Christ’s powerful victory over sin and death, and then we celebrate His powerful mercy. Our call today is to accept and trust in God’s ocean of mercy and then pour it out for others. Divine Mercy means that God helps us when we are in distress: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit…