Blog - February 2020 RSS Feed

Thank God it’s Friday. We know what that phrase means out in the world, but it’s special for us Catholics. Friday, Good Friday, is the day Jesus died for our sins. That’s why Fridays are particular days of penance and prayer

Some people out there think Catholics are mindless robots controlled by rules. We know the truth — our faith is freeing. As we hear in today’s reading, we can choose to follow God or not, but we must live with the implications if we don’t.

In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus is beginning His journey to Galilee that will lead to Jerusalem and ultimately His death and Resurrection. Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, we start our 40 day journey in Lent to Easter.

On today’s Conversation with Cardinal Dolan, Father Dave Dwyer  and I talk about Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and Lent. Giving up things for Lent help us understand the suffering of Jesus and is an important reminder that the only thing that truly satisfies is the Lord.

We hear a beautiful prayer in today’s Gospel. A man whose son is possessed says to Jesus, “I do believe, help my unbelief!” We all experience that feeling, don’t we? We want to have faith and hope, but sometimes in life it’s hard.

Are we the temple of God’s holy spirit, or are we dust? The Bible tells us that we are treasures in earthly vessels. Yes, God made us from the clay – but He also breathed into us His own life and spirit.

Jesus opened the ears of the deaf man and he hears Jesus — the Word Incarnate. Today we celebrate the feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius who translated the Bible into the Slavic languages so others could hear the Word of God too.

We love numbers and statistics, don’t we? In this morning’s reading, David took a census to find out how many people were in the tribes of Israel. God was furious because David was putting more trust in numbers than in God’s power.

When her son Warren called me early last Friday morning to tell me of his dear mom’s passing, I was not surprised. I had visited Mary Higgins Clark in the hospital in early December – only to see her at the Catholic Charities luncheon the day after her release!

On this week’s Conversation with Cardinal Dolan show, I talked about the passing of author, Mary Higgins Clark. She was a friend who’s been on this show a number of times. I also talked about my upcoming trip to Cuba and the effort in Canada to expand assisted suicide.

In today’s Gospel we see two approaches to Jesus. There is the woman who had faith Jesus could heal her simply by touching Him. Others, like Jairus’s friends, doubted and scoffed at Jesus, but He rose Jairus’s daughter from the dead.

My homily from yesterday. In yesterday’s reading, King David is being cursed & criticized. His guards ask what they should do & King David replies, “Let him alone and let him curse.” There’s no use letting people get under our skin.

Early February is the dreariest time of the year, and all of us are looking for something to lift us out of the darkness. We realize that inside of us is a constant battle between light and darkness – but God is in the business of illumination, and we know that light will conquer darkness.