Lately I have been thinking a lot about perfection. For most of us I would be willing to bet that a significant amount of blood, sweat, and tears has been shed in order to bring something in our lives to perfection. But what is perfection exactly? The definition may be as varied and unique as each individual is from another.  Is perfection a value? Is it a virtue? I would like to think it is a very important thing to subscribe to as long as I don’t get too obsessive or naive about it. Perfection …

In the Catholic Christian tradition, grace signifies Christ’s life in us. In ordinary speech, grace means “charm” or “appeal” (“She is a very graceful person.”), but the word’s root meaning has overtones of kindness, favor and gift. In Christian belief, therefore, grace suggests God’s goodness and generosity, which endow us with the life of Christ. Grace is gift par excellence. Grace is our sharing in the salvation and redemption of humankind that was accomplished by the life, death and resurrection of the God-Man, Jesus. It is a new kind of relationship with God. When we …

We all know that the Church is the Body of Christ and that each member is necessary. We hear this from St. Paul’s epistles on a regular basis.  I wonder, though, whether we are truly comprehensive in valuing the members of the Body of Christ and their importance to the whole. Our vocabulary about some people seems to imply a certain lack of honor for their vital importance. When we classify people as handicapped or disabled, how focused are we on their contributions? I have thought about this question quite a bit over the last …

When we vote during primary elections, the precinct officials always ask us for our political party affiliation. Years ago I shocked an election worker by answering “I am a socialist.” It’s true. We Franciscans are socialists. We hold things in common. Franciscans receive paychecks or stipends made out in the name of their religious order or their local community. The automobile I use is titled under the name of “Franciscan Friars,” and so forth. Of course, I am not a socialist in the traditional understanding of dictatorial communism or state controlled ownership of everything. Still, …

If Jesus’ life had ended on the cross, his story might have been a high point in creation. Here was someone who had done everything right, had followed God’s plan for the world in his words and actions, had attempted to contribute to the development of what God had begun in the human creature, had apparently demonstrated how rich and how spiritually profound a human life could be. It was an exemplary life. But Jesus’ life ending on the cross would also have been one of the saddest stories in the history of creation. He …

“He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.”  This verse appears at the beginning of John 13, and we heard it recently at Holy Thursday Mass.    For some reason, this line jumped off the page at me during Holy Week, even more than the image of Jesus’ self-awareness about his power before stooping to wash feet. There is an incredible intimacy about this line – Jesus loved his own until the end.  The Greek word here is just as strong, idios, which literally means pertaining to one’s self, or …

April is Child Abuse Awareness month. It makes me sad that we actually have to designate a month to focus on a problem that ought always to be at the forefront of our attention—and that ought not be a problem at all. And yet it is a chronic problem. When Marcus Feisel was murdered several years ago, I shared in the anxiety of our community as we prayed and searched and hoped for a happy end to his story. Of course, it didn’t happen. For me the story had a particular poignancy because Marcus lived …

Rebirth. New Life. Gratitude. Salvation. Joy. The real true story of our lives is that we live in darkness much of the time. We simply don’t know why we do the things we do, why tragedy befalls us, or how to live our lives with meaning and purpose. We stumble around in the dark trying to make things work, trying to make sense of it all, and trying to connect with the people we love. We fail often. But, sometimes we connect on a level that changes everything. That kind of connection gives us joyful …

In what Jesus taught and did people found a new hope and a new freedom. If God’s love is as abundant as Jesus said, if every human creature, even the seemingly unimportant, has a special dignity, if all are called to participate in the kingdom of God which has already begun, then Jesus was presenting a whole new world. People no longer needed to be ashamed of themselves, to feel the oppression of not really belonging or the despair of not knowing where to turn in their sinfulness. True, there was still sin in the …

Sacrifice. Loss. Mourning. Silence. Worship. When we first enter the church on Good Friday, we are immediately confronted with barrenness. The sanctuary is stripped of all ornamentation—no flowers, candles or altar linens. Some churches also cover up all the statues and icons with a purple veil. We are left with feelings of loss and deep sorrow. Good Friday commemorates the anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion and death. For Catholics, Good Friday is not just an historical event, but the sacrificial death of Christ which, with the resurrection, comprises the heart of what it means to be …