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One of my favorite things to do at the airport when traveling is people watching. The hustle and bustle of people sauntering through the airport or those who are hustling to their gate. The warm, happy reunions at baggage claim. A person reading a book or in deep thought. A group of friends laughing over drinks at a bar. An airport is an opportunity to be amid the full diversity of humans from all walks of life from all corners of the globe. As I watch all the people coming

From childhood through my mid 20s, I was consistently in environments that nurtured and supported my faith. I am long-time Catholic school educated. As a teenager, I became involved in my diocese’s youth department, attending formative programs, conferences, and retreats. I attended a small, Jesuit college and did my best to do all things campus ministry. Retreats. Small faith sharing groups. Service trips. Vibrant mass. Then, I spent two years in the Jesuit Volunteer Cor

The Holy Spirit moves. The Spirit is action, feeling, inspiration, breath, motivation, love. Love requires choice; it requires us to move from a disposition of the self to a disposition for others. The Spirit, as God, as Love, embodies the movement of God and presents God to us in many different ways. When we refer to the Holy Spirit in this way, it feels abstract. It can be difficult to grasp the enormity of what it means to say we have the Holy Spirit within us. It can be c

On this seventh Sunday of Easter, we celebrate the ascension of Jesus into Heaven, a glorious foundational event in our Christian faith and yet also one that challenges our rationality. Maybe you too have found yourself wondering such doubt-filled questions as “Did he really just float up in the sky?,” “Did it have to be so dramatic?” “Am I supposed to take this literally?” Today, I’d like to acknowledge that those doubts—and any others you carry—are safe in the all-knowing P

As we continue to journey along in this Easter season, I find myself reflecting on what it means to be an Easter people. It is an innately celebratory season where we remember for 50 days that death is not the end. With that in mind, I find myself being bogged down by the weight of the world. It feels like it is a constant stream of one atrocity after another, with only small moments of reprieve sprinkled in. It often does not feel like death is not the end. So, when our seco

Growing up, I didn’t know one could have opinions about war. It was like being a fish and remarking on the water one was swimming in: For the first 14 years of my life, I was an Air Force brat. My father served in the United States military for 23 years, enlisting when he was 19. This isn’t to say that I grew up with positive feelings about war, quite the opposite. My father did two tours of duty in Iraq, and though he came back physically uninjured, his experiences in the de

As we continue with the Easter season with readings only from the New Testament, I find today’s first reading from Acts very important as a former Protestant. The Twelve are so overwhelmed with work that they select seven reputable men and with prayer and a laying on of hands they assist so that they may all better devote themselves to prayer and better serve the community. And so begins the apostolic continuity. The more immediate problem, the equitable distribution of food

The first reading places us in the middle of ordinary worship, people fasting, praying, going about the rhythms of community life, when the Holy Spirit interrupts with a name. Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Not a thunderclap. Just a voice, rising out of silence, claiming two particular people for a particular work. St. Catherine of Siena knew something about that kind of interruption. She didn't seek power. She sought only to disa

Teaching the idea of “choice” to anyone can be a daunting task. Ignatian discernment, St. Ignatius of Loyola’s idea of using facts, prayer, and reflection as to whether a choice can bring you closer or farther from God, can be an extremely useful tool. It leads to action. Ideally, it can propel you through the “gate” from being stuck in the “thoughts and prayers” phase to informed, reflective choices that include God’s active presence. All of the readings today allude to the

During the Easter season, we celebrate not only that Christ is risen from the dead, but that He continues to draw near—often in the most ordinary and relational moments of our lives. The Resurrection is not distant; it unfolds wherever Christ is welcomed, recognized, and shared. The Emmaus story (Luke 24:13–35) offers a rich lens for reflecting on one dimension of missionary discipleship: accompaniment. At its heart, the Emmaus story is about companionship. Two disciples wal

I think the Holy Spirit gets the short end of the stick. For all but about two Sundays the year (and Confirmation masses if we happen to stumble into one), the Spirit gets pushed aside for the far easier images of God that we hear whether of Jesus who walked among us or God the Father or Creator. Even this Sunday we will hear more about the teachings of Divine Mercy than the Spirit in many of our parishes. I also think that’s because we’re a bit scared of the Spirit in the Ch

There are many stories about appearances of the Resurrected Christ following his persecution, crucifixion, and burial. In the Gospel of John, St. Mary Magdalene meets the Risen Jesus at the tomb. St. Thomas the Apostle touches the hand, feet, and side wounds inflicted by the Crucifixion. Jesus enters the locked room where the Apostles were hiding. While fishing on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus greets the Apostles on the shore and invites them to breakfast. Each of these accounts

I am a very critical homily reviewer. My family has come to know my telltale signs of dissatisfaction, and they know to expect a full debrief of my feedback when we exit to the car after the dismissal. I’m not proud of this trait; in fact, I’m working actively to be more sympathetic to the priest delivering the homily. I know it cannot be easy to prepare a fresh interpretation or offer fresh perspective week after week to roughly the same audience who is looking for solace, g

Holy Thursday invites us into the very heart of the Christian life, to remember and live out the truths inherent in the events of that long, dark yet hopeful night: the Last Supper and first Eucharist, Jesus washing the apostles’ feet, Jesus praying in agony and surrender in the garden of Gethsemane, and finally, Jesus arrested by the Roman guards. During the Last Supper, after he performed the radical act of washing his disciples’ feet—a job reserved for the lowest-ranking

Happy Palm Sunday! Easter is fast approaching, but before we enter the Triduum, we hear the full passion readings today. When I was younger, I was so excited as the crowds finally acknowledged Jesus for who He is, and I got a toy with the palm branches. As I have grown up, I silently keep the hope that comes with shouting “Hosanna,” which translates to “Save Us,” as I wave my palm. The beauty of the Catholic faith is that we are indeed being saved! We are saved by the self-e

The story of the Annunciation is familiar to all of us - the moment of Mary’s great YES, a visit from the angel Gabriel, the prediction of Jesus’ name Emmanuel. We take from this Scripture passage songs and prayers that shape our understanding of who Mary and Christ are. In many ways, the Annunciation is Mary’s commissioning. It is the first time we acknowledge her as the Mother of God, and the first known time she responds to God’s call for her life. "Mary of the Annunciati

Happy 5 th Sunday of Lent. At this point in our Lenten journey if you are feeling like you are sitting in the middle of desert like Jesus might have felt, remember Resurrection Sunday is coming! On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, the readings confront us with a striking image: graves opening. In the book of Ezekiel, God promises, “I will open your graves and have you rise from them.” And in the Gospel of John, Jesus stands before the tomb of Lazarus and calls him back to life. At

We are past the midway point in Lent. Let us rejoice? We are officially on the second half of our desert journey. Let us rejoice? We are only three weeks from the end of our Lenten penances. Let us rejoice and be glad? We are encouraged to take a respite from penitential purple for joyful rose today. It is “Laetare Sunday,” and “laetare” means “rejoice.” We are supposed to look ahead in anticipation of the Resurrection. However, it is difficult to be an American in March of 2

Some scripture scholars question the literal reading of this passage. They specifically look at the five husband line and suggest that it could be referencing to a practice of the region worshiping local deities. Unsurprisingly, this woman was more easily cast as a woman with a sordid past over the centuries. Her story served the purpose of upholding the comfortable understandings of hierarchies of male and female, different branches of religious understanding, which sins are

Today’s Gospel reading was in the back of my mind as I spent the week with John, my four year-old. His two older sisters are away on a trip so he and I went on many adventures. John asks a lot of interesting questions, like any four year-old. There’s also a lot of “why, why, why” being asked when my attempts at answers are deemed insufficient. John will also repeat questions, day after day. My brain is constantly thinking about how I can answer questions better, more creative