Tag Archive: #reflection

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...]

Self-Entrustment

It is a beautiful occurrence for the first day of this New Year to fall on Sunday and on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It is as if God wants to tell us that this year Our Lady [read more...]

Christmas: A Time for HOPE

While many of us may become stressed out before Christmas and depressed afterwards—working hard to make the holiday perfect and burning out once it’s all “over”—the Light of the season can still shine through if we remember one thing. In [read more...]

How Pope Francis Views Advent’s Call to Hope

Advent is a “continuous call to hope,” says Pope Francis. It seems, then, that a key aim of this pre-Christmas season is to focus attention on hope’s immense importance for everyone. But why? Is hope a problem? Sure, it can [read more...]