Lent

Easter Sunday — Hope Never Fails By Bishop Emeritus Felipe Estévez, Diocese of St. Augustine Christ is Risen, Alleluia! As we celebrate the Lord’s triumph over death, I can’t help but think of the men in my own state of Florida whose lives have recently been taken by capital punishment. I pray that Edward James,…

Holy Saturday — Waiting in Darkness By Sr. Barbara Battista, SP We call this day “Holy Saturday.” We spend this day, between death and resurrection, in quiet remembrance, as a somber vigil at Jesus’ tomb. This is not simply a re-enactment. Holy Saturday invites us to ponder the “tomb time” between Jesus’ death and resurrection….

Good Friday — The Women at the Foot of the Cross By Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister. Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdala.” (John 19:25) Today’s Good Friday gospel reading is heavy. We remember the Passion story: Judas, Jesus’ disciple, betrays him….

Holy Thursday — Becoming Eucharist By Don McCrabb, D.Min. The Eucharist is a restorative practice. It gathers strangers together and forms us into a community. It holds the tender truth of our failings and unleashes the power of our faith in the innate dignity of every human being. The Eucharist restores our humanity and sends…

Palm Sunday — Reflecting on Imago Dei By Lori Stanley Palm Sunday signals Jesus’s path to the cross and juxtaposes the honors he received upon entering Jerusalem with the suffering and violent torture that would follow. As bodies of onlookers hugged the road, Jesus made the journey to enter the city. Riding on a donkey…

March 31, 2024 | Most Rev. Michael Duca | Today’s Readings “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:8-9) , I have always been…

March 30, 2024 | Christian Bentley | Today’s Readings “He has been raised; he is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him.” (Mark16:6) , Two women, Mary and Mary, are moved to perform one more act of loving kindness toward Jesus — despite the probability of the body decomposing and despite their concern…

March 29, 2024 | Fr. Stephen Thorne | Today’s Readings   “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala.” (John 19:25) , The year was 1961 when Ben E. King first released the song, “Stand By Me.” It is considered a classic and has…

March 28, 2024 | Sr. Teresa Maya, CCVI | Today’s Readings “I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”  (John 13:15) We have all been there, those moments when we improvise a meal for unexpected guests or in response to difficult news. The…

March 24, 2024 | Carol Zimmermann | Today’s Readings “Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:10) The Biblical account of Palm Sunday, when Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds go wild, is a pretty dramatic moment. Right then and there in the city streets, it seemed as if it suddenly…

March 19, 2024 | Sr. Sarah Crotty, CSJ | Today’s Readings “Joseph, since he was a righteous man…” (Mt. 1:19). , The law and righteousness, vengeance and mercy, retribution and restoration: these tensions are often highlighted in our Lenten readings. Today, in our society, we seem to be heavy handed on the side of the…

March 17, 2024 | Brittany Holberg | Today’s Readings The Lenten Reflection for this Sunday was authored by Brittany Holberg, a woman living on Texas’ death row. It is part of a larger collection of her writing. Her story of preparing the ground for a winter garden is well suited for the Gospel reading this week where we…