One of the most memorable experiences of my time as chaplain to college students happened about seven years ago — in one of the most rugged, forgotten corners of Appalachia, Kentucky. Ten students from Montclair…
TRANSFIGURATION OF THE LORD
For some reason the transfiguration of Jesus has always been a difficult moment in the life of Christ for me to wrap my head around and to enter into... In terms of the time-line where…
WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO DO FOR YOUR…
What are you willing to do for your faith, for what you believe? At the core that’s the question we encounter with this Gospel. It seems such an awkward episode. Because, on the surface, Jesus’…
BIGGER THAN A MIRACLE
They just finished dinner. Keep that in mind. This Gospel picks up (somewhat randomly for the way the lectionary normally functions) right where we left off in yesterday (Sunday’s) Gospel reading. It’s like those Television…
WHAT IS IN OUR CONTROL (& ISN’T)
What is in our control and what isn’t? That’s always an important question for people in terms of juggling responsibilities and managing their lives and expectations. But even more so, that probably been one of…
ORDINARY, EVERYDAY MIRACLES
There’s a sadness with this familiar story about Jesus attempting to minister at home. We know the details on a historical level - Jesus is not able to accomplish very much because the people’s limited…
ST MARTHA, THE FIRST “JERSEY GIRL”?
I feel bad for St. Martha. Here it is her “feast day” when the Church takes a moment to celebrate her relationship with Christ and we can’t seem to escape the unfortunate or perhaps unfair…
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN… PRICELESS
In the advertising world - it’s rare that a marketing campaign would continue for many years, let alone decades. Yet, the tag-line: there’s some things in life that money can’t buy. For everything else there’s…
STRONG AS DEATH IS LOVE: Feast of St.…
For the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, one of the options for the readings at Mass [read here] comes from the Old Testament book called the Song of Songs - which we don’t get to hear…









