Diocesan
Our Father
For the past week, and up until just a couple days before Pentecost, the Gospel readings for daily Mass are from John?s recounting of the Last Supper. Here Jesus repeatedly speaks about, and prays to, ?the Father.? I want to…
God Wants Us to Suffer, A Pious Heresy
When I teach junior high classes about creation I usually draw a large circle on the whiteboard. I tell my class that this represents everything God created and I ask them to shout out the things that would go inside…
The Harlot and the Bride
In the?first reading today, John describes the apocalyptic fall of the great city of Babylon. While there?s debate among Scripture scholars over whether John?s vision of Babylon represents Rome or Jerusalem, for my purposes here I want to focus on…
The Conquering Healer
One of my favorite books in high school was Bram Stoker?s ?Dracula.? There was one detail of the story in particular that intrigued me. Dracula, even though he was spectacularly powerful, couldn?t enter someone?s house unless he was invited in.…
The Supernatural Vision of Fr. Kolbe
I believe it was sometime in June when I signed up to write the reflection on this particular day. To be honest, I wasn?t really paying attention to what the readings were or the feast day, I just picked a…
Hear this, you who trample upon the poor!
The first reading today, from the prophet Amos, is a pointed exhortation against the oppression of the poor and economic injustice: ?Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! ?When will the new…
St Paul?s Letter Against Pelagianism
Pope Francis appears to to be pretty concerned with something called ?Pelagianism.? He has made multiple references to it throughout his pontificate, including his new Apostolic Exhortation?Gaudete et Exsultate, and recently the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?released a…
One sinner showing another sinner how to encounter God?s mercy
As you have probably seen,?Where Peter Is?has focused quite a bit on ?papal apologetics,? that is, defending the Holy Father and his teachings from his critics. However, in my mind, the defense of the pope is simply the means to…
That We May Become God
Last week my oldest son turned five. I remember five years ago it hit me just how totally helpless babies are. I was terrified when we were being discharged from the hospital because somehow those crazy nurses trusted me to…
