(Pope August 26, 1978 to September 28, 1978) Albino Luciani was born of a poor family on October 17, 1912, in Forno di Canale, Italy.  He was ordained a priest in 1935.  Appointed deputy director of the seminary in the Belluno diocese, he taught …

(Pope June 21, 1963 to August 6, 1978) Giovanni Battista Montini was born September 26, 1897 in Concesio, Italy.  The son of a middle-class lawyer and mother, Montini was educated mainly at home because of frail health. Later he studied in Brescia. Ordained a …

During these weeks after Easter, we have journeyed with the early Church, first through its tenuous beginnings in Jerusalem, then spreading to the Jewish communities throughout the Mediterranean. We have witnessed the conversion of Saul, his being renamed as Paul, and how Paul took …

If you live on this earth, you can be sure of one thing: you will witness evil. We should expect it and be prepared to react. How then should we respond to evil? Hate it:   Romans 12:9 tells us “Let love be genuine. Abhor …

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). I do not talk much, in these Daily Reflections, about evil in the world.   Perhaps that is because I do …

It seems that ethnic, racial, and religious violence is undergoing a revival. The past decade has witnessed a sharp increase in violent sectarian or religious tensions. These range from Islamic extremists waging global jihad, power struggles between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle …

Today’s first reading (Acts 14:5-18), about Paul and Barnabas in Lystra, is worth lingering over. The Lectionary text ends with a cliff-hanger, making us want to continue reading to see how the story ends.   Halfway through the first mission trip, Paul and Barnabas …

During this season of Easter, we are treated to two sets of readings. Both are taken from the New Testament, and both have decidedly different approaches to telling us the Good News.  Luke’s Acts of the Apostles is volume two (the first being his …

In yesterday’s first reading (Acts 13:26-33) Paul continued his discourse begun on Thursday on salvation history and on how Jesus was handed over by the leaders of his people into the hands of the Romans for execution.  He addressed his words both to the …

Uncertainties and the unknown are a messy part of our everyday lives: Will my children find jobs in their new locations?  Will I be able to handle my aging parent’s debilitating disease?  Should I accept a new position?  What major should I declare in …