Compassion: The Heart of Mission Our faith reflection on scripture is often rooted in our personal experiences; this fact proves true again and again. Permit me to begin with a…

A Critical Opportunity During the government of President Salvador Allende (1970-1973) in Chile, the government tried to ensure a more just distribution of the food and land of the nation.…

Living into the Paschal Mystery Today’s feast of the “Exaltation of the Holy Cross” is special, replacing the regular Sunday liturgy. It calls us to reflect upon a profound truth…

What more must I give up? I found this Sunday’s readings to be rich in challenging me in so many ways. I felt like I was on a retreat and…

Walk Humbly with Your God Today’s first reading and Gospel focus our reflection on humility. They also remind us of that popular biblical passage from the prophet Micah (6:8): “This…

Discipleship Costs Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel passage from Luke can be very disturbing; they confront us and question the quality of our discipleship, our genuine following of Jesus. We must strive…

Offensive Oratory A middle-aged couple came up to me after Mass one day, recently. “You should avoid terms like ‘concentration camps’, ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and ‘Gestapo tactics,’” they said. I didn’t…

Becoming Credible Servants Today’s Gospel mentions various forms of the word “servant” over a dozen times; we cannot fail to see the emphasis that Luke the Evangelist places on this aspect…

Christ is All and in All I was 26 years old when I went to Brazil in 1978 knowing that I was making a commitment of at least 6 years…

Knowing God as Compassionate Father Christian creeds address God as Father. Calling God “Our Father” is a personal address, asserting his care for all creation, especially for all humanity. God’s fatherly care is already found…

Don’t Miss the Good Part God’s Word requires only our full attention—the one, essential thing that we may, unfortunately, be unconsciously avoiding! We might be able to impress people with our capacity…

Celebrating God’s Boundless Mercy The Name of God is Mercy was the first book of Pope Francis after his election to the papacy on March 13, 2013. Pope Francis continually insists that mercy is…