Reflections

9 Days for Life Novena: Day 2

9 Days for Life is an annual novena for the protection of human life. Each day’s intention is accompanied by a short reflection and suggested actions to help build a culture of life. Today, we pray for each person suffering [read more...]

9 Days for Life Novena: Day 1

9 Days for Life is an annual novena for the protection of human life. Each day’s intention is accompanied by a short reflection and suggested actions to help build a culture of life. Today, we pray for the tragic practice [read more...]

Hardened Hearts Show-and-Tell (with OLW School Students)

At Our Lady of the Wayside’s School Mass on Wednesday, January 18, Deacon Paul Onischuk asked what kind of hearts did the Pharisees have in the Gospel according to Mark? Hardened hearts that were not “open” or receptive to Jesus.  And [read more...]

Living the Good News

The message of Jesus is simple. It can be boiled down to two sentences. “The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the good news.” In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus appears in Galilee for the first time [read more...]

The Calling of St. Matthew

In Saturday’s Gospel (Mt 9:9-13), Jesus called Matthew, the tax collector, to be His disciple. This moment is captured magnificently in Caravaggio’s masterpiece, The Calling of St. Matthew. Matthew’s ‘Who, me?’ expression is probably not unlike that of many ordinary people [read more...]

“I Don’t Want Heaven if Not Everyone is Going to be There”

“If not everyone is going to heaven, then I don’t want to be there.” Is this sentiment honorable? Or misguided? Fr. Mike addresses the mystery of heaven and hell and gets to the core of what it means to be [read more...]

Behold the True Lamb

During this time of the National Eucharistic Revival, the faithful should take every opportunity to reflect on the Real and True Presence of Jesus. As John the Baptist urges, don’t miss the Messiah in your midst, “Behold the Lamb of [read more...]

Begin With the End in Mind

What do I want to be true about me at the end of this year that is not currently true? At the beginning of this new year, Fr. Mike shares the advice of Stephen Covey: “Begin with the end in [read more...]

Star of Wonder, Star of Light

The Epiphany of the Lord There is a story of an astronomy professor who was enthusiastically discoursing in a planetarium about the marvels of the known universe. Noticing an unpretentious priest who had joined his group of students, the professor [read more...]

The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it [read more...]