The beautiful reading for this Sunday from the Gospel of Matthew about Our Lord’s admonition not to worry about our life’s needs brings to my mind the picture of the grinning Alfred E. Neuman, the iconic character in the satirical, funny MAD magazine, with the caption “What, Me Worry?” The Lord’s words are very clear: We should not worry about food, drink and clothing. He points to the birds of the air who are fed even without sowing and reaping. And to the wild flowers in th

Sometime in May of 2008, my deacon class had our canonical retreat at Loyola Retreat House in Faulkner, Maryland before our ordination on June 28, 2008. Our retreat master, a Jesuit priest, made us sit in a circle: There were 18 chairs: 16 for us retreatants, 1 for him, and an empty one. The empty chair was supposed to be the seat of Jesus, a physical sign that was supposed to remind us of the presence of the Lord Jesus as our retreat master led us in reflection and prayer du

These readings for this Sunday all fit together. And they are all addressed to each one of us . . . without exception. They are not only suggestions, but commands. May we have a proper response, however difficult it may be. Lv 19:1-2, 17-18 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the LORD, your God, am holy. "You shall not bear hatred for your brother or sister in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fe

As the master teacher, our Lord often used parables and images we are familiar with in everyday life to make his teachings more easily understandable. In today’s Gospel reading our Lord uses the ordinary things of salt and light. Salt, as we all know, is used to season food which ordinarily tastes bland, and to cure/preserve perishable items like meat and fish. This was especially true in Jesus’ time when refrigeration was not yet available. The salt killed the bacteria and