stceceliastgabriel

Spy Wednesday

posted 4/8/20 Today is Spy Wednesday, the day on which the Church gives us the gospel reading that describes the conspiracy between Judas and the chief priests to have the Lord Jesus arrested and condemned to death. “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” Judas said to the chief priests. The gospel tellsContinue reading “Spy Wednesday”

Making Our Way Home

posted 4/7/20 I was talking with one of our religious education teachers yesterday, a man very committed to that ministry, and during our conversation he told me about the last class he had before everything was suspended. By then there was already a feeling of unease about the growing threat of the Coronavirus and speculation on what measuresContinue reading “Making Our Way Home”

The Shroud

posted 4/6/20 Yesterday the Archdiocese of Turin announced that the mysterious Shroud of Turin will be displayed for veneration on Holy Saturday. This will be just the 20th time in the known history of the shroud that it will be on display for public viewing. The Shroud of Turin is a rectangular piece of woven linen measuring 14ft.5in.Continue reading “The Shroud”

Palm Sunday

posted 4/4/20 One of my enduring memories of Palm Sunday growing up is my father’s expressions of exasperation at the amount of palm my sisters and I would bring home from church. At the time I didn’t understand it. Why wouldn’t you want to get a big handful (or two) of palm? But looking back, I kind of get it because by the endContinue reading “Palm Sunday”

Friday of Sorrows

posted 4/3/20 Today we find ourselves in the Friday of what’s called “Passiontide,” which refers to the final two weeks of Lent. Passiontide begins in dramatic fashion, with the veiling of images in our churches on the 5th Sunday of Lent. If you visit St. Cecilia Church, or watched the video of the parish Mass in St. Gabriel’s last weekend, youContinue reading “Friday of Sorrows”

Accepting God’s Will

posted 4/2/20 The first reading from yesterday’s Mass has stayed with me all day, and I find myself continuing to think about it. It was a passage from the Book of Daniel and tells the story of three young Israelites who are living in exile in Babylon about 550 years before the birth of Christ. They are amongContinue reading “Accepting God’s Will”

Walker Percy

posted 4/1/20 When I was in seminary I was introduced to the work of the author Walker Percy. Percy was a native of Alabama and after finishing college at the University of North Carolina went to study medicine at Columbia University in New York. While working as an intern at Bellvue Hospital in 1942, Walker contracted tuberculosis and was forced toContinue reading “Walker Percy”

Dealing with Anxiety

posted 3/31/20 This afternoon I was listening to a lecture by a priest named Fr. Dominic Legge, who is a member of the Order of Preachers (known also as the Dominicans) and lives in Washington, DC. His topic was Grace and Anxiety, and it was about the spiritual and emotional struggles that people feel in times ofContinue reading “Dealing with Anxiety”

Mercy

posted 3/30/20 The gospel for today’s Mass is the Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11). Scribes and Pharisees bring a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery to Jesus, who is teaching in the Temple area in Jerusalem. They try to test Him, wanting to know if He will make a judgment in accordContinue reading “Mercy”

This Strange Sabbath

posted 3/28/20 The Holy Father’s Urbi et Orbi blessing yesterday was very beautiful. I was particularly struck by the solitary image of him walking up the steps to the podium, and then by the moment in which he led Benediction, blessing the city and the world with the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. In his prayer, the pope said: “ItContinue reading “This Strange Sabbath”