Prayer & Reflection - March 22, 2023 - For the past 5+ years, I have served in the Office of Living Justice with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay. During this time, I have often marveled at the people I have encountered who are living the mission of peace and justice in their own lives and challenging me to do the…

Prayer & Reflection - March 21, 2023 - And it will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live…and will grow all kinds of trees for food… whose fruit will be for food and whose leaves for healing.Ez 47: 9 In today’s Gospel Jesus is persecuted for healing on the Sabbath. He encounters a…

Prayer & Reflection - March 19, 2023 - Not as man sees does God see…but the Lord looks into the heart. 1 Sam 16:7 The readings this weekend all have the theme of darkness and light, blindness and sight. The Gospel today is one of the miracles of Jesus. He heals a blind man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees get mad at Jesus…

Prayer & Reflection - March 18, 2023 - “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah?” And we might as well add our own names: What can I do with you, David? “Your piety is like a morning cloud, like the dew that early passes away.” Ouch! That stings. The prophet Hosea means to sting us with…

Prayer & Reflection - March 17, 2023 - When the scribe asks Jesus, “which is the first of all the commandments?” he poses a real challenge: there are 613 commandments in the Torah, and he asks Jesus to pick just one. But Jesus knows that the commandment to love God is primary, so his response satisfies the scribe. Then he adds that they…

Prayer & Reflection - March 16, 2023 - “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” Today’s readings and response are centered around turning towards God and opening up our hearts to Him and His will. We hear that of all the people, ever since their “fathers left the land of Egypt,” no one has obeyed God. They have toiled over…

Prayer & Reflection - March 14, 2023 - Jesus talks about forgiveness a lot for someone who, being a perfect person, presumably never needed to be forgiven himself. He only did the hard part – freely forgiving others for their wrongdoings while never experiencing the consolation of being forgiven by someone else. Why is it that the same sinful nature which requires me…

Prayer & Reflection - March 13, 2023 - Two thoughts jump quickly to my mind from today’s gospel. The first is how hard it is to tell someone news they don’t want to hear. Even Jesus knew what it was like to be blamed for a message no one wanted to hear. While “Don’t shoot the messenger” was an expression unfamiliar to Jesus’…

Prayer & Reflection - March 11, 2023 - Today’s readings remind us of God’s infinite mercy, His incredible forgiveness, and His desire to welcome us back into relationship with Him regardless of what we’ve done to offend Him. The parable of the prodigal son, easily one of the most-recognized parables that Jesus offered, can be viewed through many lenses. Consider the younger son,…

Prayer & Reflection - March 10, 2023 - Joseph, Jesus, and Jealousy Jealousy is an interesting emotion to sit with during Lent’s middle dredges. Jealousy hopefully sits on the outside of the skin to be dealt with honestly and quickly. When it sits inside and festers it can lead to egregious errors or even sin. The mystery of taking forty days in our…

Prayer & Reflection - March 9, 2023 - Today’s readings illustrate our need to put all our trust in God’s gifts and not of things of this world. The first and second readings speak of how blessed we are when we view the things we receive as gifts from God. We all know that we need money and lots of resources at our…

Prayer & Reflection - March 7, 2023 - Today’s Gospel is the source for the very familiar saying, “Practice what you preach.” We hear Jesus admonish the Scribes and Pharisees, as their words and actions are not aligned, and their works are done only “to be seen.” The real issue Jesus addresses is that of integrity. Honesty in living and relating to others…