Readings

The Gospel about Jesus walking on the water works in two ways: It reveals how Jesus reaches to individual Christians and to the “barque of Peter”, the Church.

And Catholics can take that joy of giving to another level — a supernatural level — “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.“

We face Jesus 100 times a day, in his Church, in his Scripture, in the poor, and in our conscience. We face Pontius Pilate even more.

Where Christian leadership means service, numbers grow. Where it means “lording it over” others, numbers fall. In the United States, numbers are falling. Fast.

How about us? What will we be known for? What we gave up for love, or what we clung to so tightly that we held it more dear than God himself?

Jesus, Genesis, Proverbs and the Psalms agree with the old Dean Martin song: the bliss of marital union makes life beautiful.

The Gospel for the 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time gives a very basic, and therefore very powerful, way to understand the Christian life.

All around us are people just like that deaf man in the Decapolis, stuck in a silent, Christless world ... waiting.

His demands may be easy or difficult, consoling or awkward. Our answer is always the same: “Where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

What we love about the Catholic Church can be summed up in a single word: Mary.

In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus speaks to a faithless, murmuring audience. An audience just like us.

Change your identity with each Mass — from a slave working for the fleshpots of Pharaoh to accomplishing the works of God in the body and blood of Christ.