From Season to Season

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him.   Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” …   Jesus [said to the woman], “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one, sir.”   Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” — John 8:1-7, 10-11 Blessed Charles de Foucauld (d. 1916), a soldier and explorer, monk and priest, missionary and martyr, once wrote, “We are all children of the Most High. All of u...

While the young son was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.” But his father ordered his servants, “Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.” —Luke 15:20-24 On October 1, 1950, a 27-year-old man was executed in Paris for murdering a police officer during a botched robbery. Jacques Fesch, the murderer, was a victim of neglect by his parents and the isolation and boredom that can accompany a life of privilege. He was a rake. He lived an restless life, wandering from relationship to relationship, job to job, eventually finding himself the fath...

In classes and days of recollection I offer during Lent, I often remind participants that the purpose of Lent is twofold: it is the time of final preparation of the uninitiated (i.e. catechumens) for baptism and the time for Christians to recall their own baptism and they prepare to renew their baptismal promises on Easter Sunday. Unfortunately, this second aspect of Lent often gets lost. Yes, we all renewed our baptismal promises at Easter and were symbolically sprinkled with holy water, but, for most of us, that moment seems to be over as soon as it has begun and we don’t really appreciate the significance of the act… which is surprising since we’ve spent 40 days preparing to say “I do!” with a renewed mind, heart, and spirit. We renew our baptismal promises each year because conversion and growing in faith are lifelong processes. In saying that, I simply mean that each moment of every day (not just the days of Lent) offers us infinite possibilities for experiencing grace, for cho...

On Sunday, April 12, Pope Francis will celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday by offering a Mass in remembrance of the 1.5 million Armenians murdered in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1918, in what has become known as the " Armenian Genocide ." Among those killed in what has been called the "first genocide of the 20th century," was a bishop of the Armenian Catholic Church : Blessed Ignatius Maloyan. Born in 1869 in Mardin, Turkey, Shokr Allah Maloyan was baptized into the Armenian Catholic Church as an infant. A good student and gifted linguist, he was sent by the local bishop to a nearby convent to begin studies for the priesthood. Ordained in 1896, he took the name Ignatius in honor of Saint Ignatius of Antioch. In November of that year, he was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, to serve as an aid to the Armenian Patriarch. Distinguishing himself for his learning and rhetorical skills, he became a popular speaker and was actively involved in dialogues with the Coptic Chu...

The L ord is close to the brokenhearted; And those who are crushed in spirit he saves. The L ord redeems the lives of his servants; No one incurs guilt who takes refuge in him.  - Psalm 34:19, 23 Sacred Scripture reminds us that God “knows how we were formed; that we were made of dust” (Psalm 103:14). These simple, unsophisticated words are in fact a profound statement of faith. They acknowledge that all that we have and are is a gift of God. Beyond this, we are also reminded that we are all made of the same “stuff”—we are all capable of every sinful act the human mind can imagine. Our shared, broken human nature is the great equalizer. Mercy is that compassion or forgiveness that is shown toward someone, even when it is within one’s power to punish or harm the offender. To say that God is all-merciful is to acknowledge that God also has absolute power. For our part, we show mercy because we remember that we are like other people. Many of us have a stereotype of sai...

Included in a collection of essays entitled A Maryknoll Reflection on the Liturgical Year is this story from Father Ken Tesing, a Maryknoll priest who spent decades serving in East Africa: I came back to the United States from my mission in Tanzania, and I was visiting my brother and his family at their farm. As farmers always do, we went out to look at the fields and crops. My brother asked me, “Look, do you recognize those weeds?” I replied, “No, I don’t think I have ever seen them before; how did they get into your fields?” He said, “Some years ago herbicides were developed; the weeds and grasses we struggled with in the crops when we were just growing up have all been eliminated. All these seeds were just lying dormant in the ground; they could not compete earlier with the dominant weeds and now they have sprouted and come forth.” We talked about this. My brother said farming is like life; there will always be challenges, always be differences. We need to be patient and t...