SPY WEDNESDAY It is the last day of Lent. Tomorrow we will enter a new liturgical season, the shortest of the year, the Triduum. We have had all of Lent to reflect upon the words prayed over our ashes, "Repent, and believe in the Gospel." Today as we read Matthew's Gospel, we again see Judas's betrayal of our Lord. St. Matthew's account is heart-wrenching; the tension at the table is palpable even today as we place ourselves in the scene. The disciples are troubled, "Deeply d

HOLY TUESDAY Reading today's Gospel, I am struck by this verse: So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus' chest and said to him, "Master, who is it?" (Jn 13:24-25) Intimacy. Yesterday, Mary "anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair." (Jn 12:3) Intimacy. I don't have many people whose feet I touch or whose chest I lean against; in fact, I can count them on one hand. And yet, Mary and Peter have this level of intimacy w

TUESDAY OF THE TWENTY-NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Reading today's Gospel from St. Luke, this line strikes me: "ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks." (Luke 12:36) Cris and I have just returned from a two-week visit to Michigan to visit his family. As a complete introvert, being with people continually is challenging for me. Ready to open immediately? When we are speaking of interior prayer life, I'm all in. An hour in the Adoration chapel, easy peasy! But I'm no

THE FEAST OF ST. MATTHEW During this morning's Daily Mass, Father posed this question while preaching the homily: "How do we deal with conflict?" He continued with the question, "How do we deal with Roe v. Wade?" The second question was easy for me. I work in a pregnancy resource center. I have been on eight trips to Washington, DC, for the March for Life with hundreds of young people, and I've taught Theology of the Body to hundreds of teens. I believe Roe v. Wade is about a

TUESDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME Love your enemies. Today's Gospel message is so straightforward that we cannot deny what the Lord is calling us to as His followers. To be a child of our heavenly Father, we must love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. So simple yet so difficult in practice. In the first reading, Ahab repents from his sins. He fasts, he wears sackcloth, and he humbles himself before God. The two readings come together when we, as sin

MONDAY OF THE ELEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME I read this quote by Desmond Tutu this morning, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." Then I read today's readings. In the first reading, Naboth would rather suffer injustice than commit any act of sin. In the Gospel, Christ tells us to turn the other cheek, to walk the extra mile, to offer not just our tunic but our cloak as well. "I say to you, offer no resistance to one who i

On Divine Mercy Sunday we hear the words from the Gospel of John, Jesus has appeared to the disciples as a group for the first time and the first words He says to them are, 'Peace be with you." Then John tells us He breathes on them and says, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them." Jesus has given the disciples and The Church, the great work of bringing Divine Mercy into the world. The Rite for the Reconciliation of Individual Penitents begins w