#34 Lenten Reflection 3/28/2026 Spend some quiet time with the Lord.
Death comes for everyone and today Jesus cries out from the cross one last time and breathes his last. St. Mark shares this in just a few short words but those who love Jesus remain. It is the recognition that death does not have the final say, Jesus brings life and brings us to true life. Let us today spend some quiet time with Jesus. Remembering those who have gone before us and that we one day will follow them as Jesus holds us and leads us to life.
#33 Lenten Reflection 3/27/2026 The Cry from the Cross
Give glory and praise to God for the gift of life. Jesus cries from the Cross the words of the Psalms and we are called to listen and respond, not to the despondency of the situation but rather in the sharing of the relationship of love. A relationship that grows stronger when we share who we are, not the curated image that is air brushed and only recognizes the “good” feelings and well framed photographs but embraces the messiness and difficulties that come from a life lived in community and sacrifice for others. Sharing who we are with God, the fullness of who we are, brings us closer to the true gift of our humanity: we get to choose love and mercy.
#32 Lenten Reflection 3/26/2026 A Cross on the Wall
Do you have a Cross/Crucifix on the wall of your home? I walked around the rectory one day and counted the number of Crosses/Crucifixes I had in my rooms: my office and livings spaces. I had 21 then and have added several more. They aren’t art work that is static but they are living memories. A few come from the Eucharistic Missionaries of the Most Holy Trinity, the sisters I serve in San Jose. Four were gifts from Worldwide Marriage Encounter. One is from the family of my Godfather, another from a good friend who gave it to me at the funeral of her father. Each cross carries a story of love and as I sit and ponder the image of the cross above my television it carries the greatest image a love that gently draws my life into unity with Jesus in the embrace of the Most Holy Trinity. Take time and sit and allow the Cross of Jesus Christ to draw you into true life and love. Amen.
#31 Lenten Reflection 3/25/2026 Solemnity of the Annunciation
Jesus begins his six hours on the Cross. Six long hours of torture, unable to find comfort, each movement bringing more pain. Have you ever tried to remain still for six hours? Standing for six hours? Sitting for six hours? Even, just laying down, without sleeping or movement for six hours? Our body revolts at such stillness and yet we often run by that one sentence that it was 9:00 a.m. when they crucified him. We may want to stop and pause in prayer for our Church as we begin to ponder the next six hours, the final hours. Let us pray…
#30 Lenten Reflection 3/24/2026 Venerable Edward Flanagan…Pray for us
Today we rejoice as a Church as the founder of Boys Town, Fr. Edward Flanagan has been named Venerable, one of the steps to becoming a canonized saint in the Catholic Church. We are also reflecting on the the words, “Then they crucified him.” Jesus is crucified and dies for our sins. We are asked to meditate on the brutality and pain of this type of death, not as some morbid fascination or curiosity, but with the eyes of faith leading us to a deeper understanding of love. How in love we will suffer and die for the other. Choosing to offer our life in sacrificial love…pouring out everything in the hope of life. It could be in the service of those in need, like Venerable Fr. Flanagan or the martyrdom of St. Oscar Romero in speaking out for the poor. There is but one answer, to take up our cross and follow Him. St. Oscar Romero….pray for us. Venerable Edward Flanagan…pray for us.
#29 Lenten Reflection 3/23/2026 Carrying our cross
The last line in the reflection booklet today has such a powerful and wonderful gift in our final weeks of the Lenten Journey…we don’t know where we are going, or why this and not that, or how soon or late we will arrive…we just have to know Jesus and follow him. It may be a good time to look back and follow the path of transformation and conversion you are experiencing during our times of prayer. It may be a good time to go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation to find God’s mercy and grace. It may be time to just sit in silence with God. Amen. “He carried the cross, not knowing why, or where he was going. But he wasn’t lost, He was following the Lord.” (77)
5th Sunday in Lent 3/22/2026 Lazarus come out
Jesus calls us by name from the moment of our conception in the womb of our mother until the hour of our death…but the greatest call is at the moment of our death when God calls us from death into eternal life. In the Sacraments, this is the grace of God. In baptism he calls us to new life through the grace. In Reconciliation he calls us to new life in grace and in the Last Rites he calls us to new life. God’s grace, His gracious love is beyond anything we can imagine and yet we are invited to participate in the small moments of charity and mercy that we experience day by day. Let us hear Jesus’ call, to come out into the light of life and to abandon our death to sin as Jesus invites us to unwrap one another in mercy and love.