Welcome!

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Welcome to my new blog!

One of the most enjoyable things in my life has been writing.  I often find I best express myself in written word, rather than talking.  Unfortunately, I do not find the opportunity to write very often.

I have made the decision to start this blog to give myself the opportunity to write more.  I will primarily focus on today's society, my views on Church politics, and a weekly reflection on each Sunday's readings.  Posts on the first two topics will be intermittent, while I will post the weekly reflections each Sunday morning.

Please do not hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments on my posts, and I hope you enjoy this blog!

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Humility in Christ

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Humility is hard.  Jesus Christ frequently calls us to be humble, and it is hard.  In Sunday’s readings , Jesus is once again calling us all to be humble, especially in prayer before God.  Very often, we can find ourselves extolling our greatness before God and lamenting others’ faults.  The scriptures very clearly tell us that this is not the way to eternal life. In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us with the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee.  Both are praying in the temple, but each is praying in a radically different manner.  In this parable, the Pharisee is praying in the temple with eyes raised to heaven.  In reality, he is not so much praying as informing God of his own wonderful qualities and accomplishments while putting down someone he thinks unworthy, the tax collector.  In juxtaposition, the tax collector is truly praying by acknowledging his sinfulness and asking God for mercy.  Jesus tells his disciples that the tax collector, who humbled himself before Go
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Gaudete et Exsultate! Rejoice and Be Glad!

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                “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,” is the easiest way to summarize the first half of Sunday’s readings (Jer 17:7).   However, it leaves us wondering, “why?”   Why should we trust in the Lord?   Why should all of our hope rest in Him?   Thankfully, the Gospel Acclamation tells us why!   “Rejoice and be glad; your reward will be great in heaven!” (Lk 6:23).   If we trust fully in the Lord, we will be rewarded immensely in heaven.                 In the reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, the differences between the one who trusts in himself and the one who trusts in God is clearly laid out.   We hear that the man who trust in himself, in the world, is closed off from God.   His “… heart turns away from the Lord,” and he is focused not on God but on himself (Jer 17:5).   In drawing the image of a “barren bush in the desert,” we are shown that our true strength, our life, comes from God and not human desires (Jer 17:6).   For if we could sustain ourselves
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Speak, Lord, Your Servant is Listening

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It has been quite some time since I made my last blog post.   I could list all kinds of excuses as to why I have not been writing, but they would not make a difference.   I simply just did not want to write, even though I felt a call to do so.   Then, I read the readings for this Sunday, and I knew that it was time to begin again. Sunday’s readings will be familiar to most people.   The Gospel is a passage that is often quoted, discussed, and read throughout the year.   We hear Jesus clearly exhorting the importance of following Him and placing His will ahead of our own desires.   It is a passage we all know but rarely live up to (or at least I don’t).   We know that God has a plan for each of us and continually calls us to follow the path he has charted for us.   However, actually following that path is not always easy or something we want to do in the moment. In the first reading, we hear the Lord telling Elijah who to call as his successor.   The Lord tells Elijah to “ano
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