Prayer & Reflection - March 24, 2023 - “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted” (Psalm 34) Those of us who have the privilege of serving in the field of immigration legal services know all too well what it means to be “close to the brokenhearted.” Families needlessly separated for decades by outdated immigration laws. Mothers deported away from their children. Asylum seekers…

Prayer & Reflection - March 23, 2023 - How many times have you asked for a sign from God? I know I have on occasion. “God, if you just give me a sign, I will know what to do.” People ask for signs from God because they want to use it as a tangible example of how the divine is working in their…

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 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 5, 2023 - The theme of the cross bookends the Transfiguration. Just prior to the Transfiguration Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me…” (Mt 16:24) and the narrative ends with, “Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of Man has been raised from the…

Prayer & Reflection - March 3, 2023 - Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. I always felt like forgiveness depended on trust. In order to forgive someone, you…

Prayer & Reflection - March 1, 2023 - The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: “Set out for the great city of Nineveh and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh, according to the LORD’s bidding. The story of Jonah is often read as if it were a…

Prayer & Reflection - December 27, 2022 - The womb is a dark place. So is the tomb. And between these two mysterious spaces is the Incarnation, God made human, God-with-us Emmanuel, “the life made visible.” God’s love and redemption are part of the same story, from the crib to the cross, one holy narrative of life-giving love always blazing within and out…

Prayer & Reflection - December 19, 2022 - How might you have walked with them in their time of barrenness? I wrote a whole reflection before this one. I even threw in a few jokes and was pretty proud of it. However, every time I went back to edit it, I kept coming back to this one question I threw in near the…

Prayer & Reflection - December 15, 2022 - Today’s first reading ends with a promise from God: “Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love shall never leave you.” (Isaiah 54:10) Who among us has not felt abandoned in times of distress? We all carry wounds from what we have done and what others have done to us. …

Prayer & Reflection - April 13, 2022 - Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion Readings of the Day“All is gift.” St. Ignatius of Loyola is known for saying this, and Ignatian spirituality carries this message forward, inviting us to find God in all things. Everything around us, both beauty and suffering, can speak of God. At first this seems untrue. How can suffering…

Prayer & Reflection - March 21, 2016 - Opening Prayer Almighty and merciful God, look with compassion on our affliction, and so lighten your children’s burden and confirm their faith, that they may always trust without hesitation in your gracious providence. Amen. Read Luke 10:25-37 Responsorial Psalm Psalm 25:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7, 10-11 R. But you, Lord, my strength, come quickly to help…