Pillars of Creation (1995) taken by Hubble Space Telescope
NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team, STSCI/AURA
Pillars of Creation
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Monthly Archives: June 2023
You can call me Al
During the week before Pentecost Sunday, early one morning on my way to prepare a cup of tea, I noticed something attached to the front door of the refrigerator. In a household with children I would not be surprised to see drawings, report cards, pictures, and whatnot on the refrigerator door, but this was a friary with four ordained brothers, all…shall we say, a bit past the half-century mark. So, I stopped to see what was posted. Continue reading
Words of Life
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. In Jn 6:60, some of the disciples of Jesus react negatively saying ‘This saying is hard; who can accept it.’ Are they referring just to the immediately preceding passages (vv. 51-59) or are they referring to all of Jesus’ claim in v.42, ‘I have come down from heaven.’? Jesus’ own words give us the context, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before?” That a man from Nazareth should claim that he is a life-giving revealer sent down from God, from heaven, is “hard” to take and only faith can overcome the “offense” or stumbling-block of the Incarnation. But if his words are too hard to take, then a worse shock awaits them when they see him raised on the cross and then it will be a real test of their faith to believe in his death and resurrection. Continue reading
Eucharistic Life
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. Where the principal focus of the previous section is the bread of life as the divine revelation given to men by and in Jesus, Jn 6:51 moves the focus to a clearly Eucharistic theme – ‘I am the living bread come down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.‘ While some argue the words are metaphor, the Jews clearly understand. Jesus is referring to eating of his flesh. Continue reading
Flesh for the life of the world
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. With all that in mind (the previous posts) we come to the gospel passage for the feast.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
Turning to God
The first reading today is again from the Book of Tobit, as are all the first readings from this 9th Week of Ordinary Time. Tobit has fallen on hard times. His property has been confiscated, he has been blinded by bird droppings and is now four years blind, his wife has been put to work, his mood is sour and melancholy, and his wife questions what has become of his righteousness and charity. Continue reading
Coming to Jesus for Life
This coming Sunday is the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ. In the previous posts in this series we have not yet commented on the verses that comprise the gospel. As noted earlier our verses (Jn 6:51-58) are part of the much larger Bread of Life Discourse (Jn 6:22-69). And so it is good to explore meaning in the verses that precede our gospel passage. Continue reading
Being Steadfast
The first reading today is again from the Book of Tobit, as are all the first readings from this 9th Week of Ordinary Time. In yesterday’s reading, we meet Tobit, a righteous and pious Jew living in the diaspora of the Assyrian conquest of Israel. We learn that he interrupts a festival meal of Pentecost in order to carry out an act of righteousness and mercy – to bury one of his countrymen and fellow exiles who has been murdered and the body left in the marketplace. His neighbors caution and ridicule him, telling him to play it safe, but is reminded of the warning of the prophet Amos against the unrighteous of Bethel: “All your festivals shall be turned into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation.” And so he does the righteous and charitable thing. Continue reading
D-Day Remembered
Today marks the 79th anniversary of the June 6th “D-Day” landings in Normandy during World War II. It marked a turning Point in World War II as it provided the Allies with a foothold in Western Europe and set the stage for the subsequent liberation of France and the defeat of Nazi Germany. The Normandy landing resulted in significant casualties on both sides, with thousands of soldiers losing their lives. It remains a powerful symbol of the bravery and sacrifice of the soldiers who fought and gave their lives for the cause of freedom and the defeat of tyranny. The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, situated on the shores of Omaha Beach, serves as a poignant reminder of the cost of war and the importance of preserving peace. Continue reading
Catholic Public Schools
In Oklahoma on Monday, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved what would be the nation’s first religious charter school. The online school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, is to be run by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa, with religious teachings embedded in the curriculum. Within minutes of the vote, Americans United for Separation of Church and State announced that it was preparing legal action to fight the decision. The ruling in this case is limited to the Board’s overview of online, virtual schools and is not a broader decision affecting all public schools in Oklahoma. The school’s patron saint is St. Isidore, patron saint of the internet.
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