Scripture

June 20, 2018

July 8: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cost of discipleshipThe “Cost of Discipleship” is the title of a famous book written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a young Lutheran pastor and theologian who lived during the Nazi era in Germany. A brilliant and winsome man, he had spent some time studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York.

June 20, 2018

July 1: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

As he grappled with an aggressive cancer, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin wrote a beautiful reflection on his experience titled “The Gift of Peace.” So deep was his faith that Cardinal Bernardin, despite being aware his life was ending, spoke of death as a “friend,” something he did not fear but could even embrace.

June 20, 2018

June 24: Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Recently I was in Louisville, Kentucky, for a graduation. My nephew’s wife, Monica, just finished nursing school and it was a joyful occasion for sure. What made it especially poignant were the difficult times Monica and her family suffered this past year — the loss of her brother in automobile accident and overcoming a serious medical condition.

June 7, 2018

June 17: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thomas Berry was a remarkable scholar who in his later years became a leading voice in alerting the world to the threats to our environment. A fellow Passionist priest, he began his ministry as a philosopher and a missionary to China. Later he turned his brilliant mind to environmental studies, underscoring the intimate connection of human life to the earth and to the universe itself.

June 7, 2018

June 10: 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The first reading for this Sunday is taken from the early chapters of the Book of Genesis where the Bible attempts to account for human origins. Certain things are clear: God created the universe in all its beauty and order out of love, and the culmination of that bountiful love was the creation of the human being, male and female.

May 23, 2018

June 3: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

This proverbial expression “my own flesh and blood” affirms in the most vivid terms that someone belongs to me, is part of my own family. To emphasize the depth of human love, we might say, foster parents love their adopted child, “as if she were their own blood.” Or, perversely, how could someone be so cruel to a member of their own family when they are part of “their own flesh and blood.”

May 23, 2018

May 27: The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

A verse from the Psalm response this Sunday acclaims, “See the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness.” It reminds me what some of my Irish relatives would say about any harrowing experience — “that will put the fear of God in you.”

May 9, 2018

May 20: Pentecost Sunday

A few years ago, Catholic Theological Union had the privilege of honoring at our annual “Blessed Are the Peacemakers” dinner Father Ted Hesburgh, the legendary president of the University of Notre Dame.

May 9, 2018

May 13: Ascension of the Lord

Mary Schmich, the highly regarded and thoughtful columnist for the Chicago Tribune, reported recently on a conversation she had with a dear friend who was mortally ill and asked Mary, “Is there a heaven?”

April 25, 2018

May 6: Sixth Sunday of Easter

Early in his papacy, Pope Francis startled an interviewer when he declared, “God is not a Catholic.” Of course, the pope did not mean in any way to disparage the Catholic faith to which he has been faithful all his life and is now its visible head. His point was to remind us that God is transcendent — a being whose beauty and power are simply beyond our imagination and cannot be confined to any of our categories, however sacred they may be.
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