Gospel Reflections for July 23 2017 What kind of world is this? Each week it seems there is a new fierce political battle, dangerous threat from North Korea, or some other dramatic crisis in the world. How would Jesus talk about this? Today’s Gospel presents our troubled world with the image of a field, in […]

Gospel Reflections for July 9 2017 Come to me …and I will give you rest. These comforting words from Jesus in today’s Gospel were very welcome to His disciples. He knew they struggled to live under hundreds of detailed religious regulations, plus the daily grind of harsh Roman military occupation and incredibly high taxes. His […]

Gospel Reflections for July 2 2017 What is this land for? I just returned from leading an annual archaeological tour of the Holy Land (Israel and Jordan) with 86 pilgrims coming from both Whittier and my former parish in Ventura County. While studying the biblical past we also encountered the difficult political present. Land ownership […]

Gospel Reflections for June 25 2017 Know the right person! I had dinner with my father a few years ago at a restaurant near the ocean that we used to enjoy regularly but had not visited for a while. When we walked in, the host looked up and said, “Welcome back! It is so good […]

Gospel Reflections for June 18 2017 “I have got to see this!” A friend of mine shared with me what he heard from a little child a few years ago at his parish at a Sunday mass. The Church was filled with many families with young children. During the consecration of the Mass, when the […]