Category: integrity

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The Unreachable Star?

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

– “The Impossible Dream” from Man of La Mancha; written by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion

 

I am Don Quixote.   Continue reading “The Unreachable Star?”

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Gethsemane

Holy Thursday

It was a meal that gave Jesus’ disciples a lot more than they expected.

They had prepared a Passover meal, eager to celebrate this great feast of God’s liberation of their people with their Master. Jesus, unexpectedly, redefined the meal. He would be their Passover lamb. His own sacrifice would be the means by which humanity would be reconciled with God. The disciples, on their part, were to reenact this new Passover in memory of what Jesus was about to do.  “What did this mean?”, the disciples must have wondered.

But there was more.   Continue reading “Gethsemane”

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He Emptied Himself

Palm Sunday (B)

Living in our multimedia society, we cannot help but notice how many people, near and far, are in great need. News reports bring to us people who have endured great poverty, famine, disease, war, and natural disasters of all kinds. Local reports tell us of the needs of people much closer to home. Many of us get a steady stream of form letters and emails, requesting our help for some great need or other good cause.   Continue reading “He Emptied Himself”

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God and Caesar

29th Sunday of Ordinary Time: Matthew 22:15-21

At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” – Matthew 22:21

Repay to Caesar. Render unto Caesar. Whatever translation we use, this is one of Jesus’ best-known ‘one-liners’.  It has also been one of the most discussed and argued ‘one-liners’ that Jesus ever uttered.

What did Jesus mean? Continue reading “God and Caesar”

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Integrity

Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent: Matthew 23:1-12

Long before I was ordained, I remember being at a particular Mass where the priest preached rather strongly against a certain sin. After Mass, as people were leaving the church, one man said to the priest, “You really told them, didn’t you, Father?” The priest replied, “I meant that for you, too!” Stunned and speechless, the man walked out.

When we read or hear Jesus’ strong words about the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading, we, too, might be tempted to say, “You really told them, didn’t you, Lord?”  We easily forget that the Gospels are not only about events that happened during the life of Jesus. They are also about the life that each one of us is called to live today as followers of Jesus. As such, the sins of the Pharisees mean very little to us today. However, the stories of Jesus that were included in the Gospels were chosen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, precisely because they had a great deal to say to Christian life. Unless we can see that we, too, can be like these Pharisees, we have missed the point.  Continue reading “Integrity”