Combing the historical significance of the Christmas Nativity with the diversity of cultures and artists that have interpreted it through the ages, "Finding Bethlehem" guides you thoughtful commentaries of theologians and collectors alike, to artist statements and the voices of "behind-thes-scenes" participants in the Festival, the book explores the spiritual and artistic meaning of the Nativity.
Feast of Saint Benedict – July 11, 2011
Proverbs 2:1-9; Acts 2:42-47; Matthew 19:27-29
These words of Jesus we have just heard are the final conclusion to a much longer story. They are Jesus’ answer not only to Peter’s question, but first of all to the question posed by the rich young man who came to Jesus in great enthusiasm. “Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” But when Jesus answered him in words he did not want to hear, he turned and went away sad. He desired eternal life, yes. But the desire was only surface deep. Something else made more sense to him. Something else held his heart and his spirit. Something else stirred deep within him and following the itinerant preacher from Galilee was not it. For his part the dialogue was over.
Read More »Feast of the Sacred Heart July 1, 2011
By Fr. Joe
My Brothers and Sisters,
-It was because the Lord loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers that he brought you out and ransomed you.
-The love of God was revealed to us in this way, God sent his only Son into the world so we may have life through him.
-Jesus said, I will give you rest.
God’s love is so great, so immense, so powerful, so complete. We experience it in his loving actions throughout salvation history. And we realize as we reflect on this history that the important part of love is the actions of love. The feelings of love propel us into loving actions if love is real. We get to the core of it in John of the Cross, he says, “ love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and suffering for the beloved.
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