by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.

“What hotel room do you give a 800 lb. gorilla? …. Any room he wants!” King Zedekiah thought he could kick out an 800 lb. gorilla. In his case that gorilla was the Babylonian Empire, and Judah was its vassal state. The king was playing power politics; he was trying to get Egypt to rescue him. That is no more than exchanging one 800 lb. gorilla empire for another one.

“Words of Life”
by Deacon John Kerrigan

Were you and I able to pass along to the next generation but one word or sentence from the Christian Scriptures, what would it be? That’s right, a word or sentence that captures the heart of the text and fosters spiritual growth. No easy task.

by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.

My grandmother was in her late 90’s and failing. It is wonderful when relatives step up to the plate to help her. … But when someone shows up, whom you’ve never met, whom my mother did not recognize and my grandmother did not know, then question! …

“Lord, Teach Us How to Pray”
by Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P.

We might hear today’s scriptures and conclude that prayer is about bugging God until God gives in. Or, worse than bugging, begging or even bargaining. Actually, Abraham sounds less like a sincere bargainer than a wheedler, cajoler, coaxer, tickling God’s ears with flattery. If prayer isn’t bugging, begging, bargaining, or worse, what is it?

by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.

It was a decades ago, but I see it still: the holiday table heavy with food, antipasti, home-made raviolis, leg of lamb, giant salad, conversations enlivened by Manhattans and wine, and homemade pies!

“Confessions of a Guilty and Beloved Bystander”
by Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P.

The story of the Good Samaritan reminds me of the famously failed finale to my favorite sitcom, Seinfeld. This show about nothing mistakenly tried to be about something in its last episode, which found our solipsistic city dwellers tried in court for breaking a small town’s Good Samaritan law.

by Fr. Bob Glynn, S.J.

I am going to give you a peek into what religious life in the Jesuits was like forty-two years ago when I entered in the good old days. … So the first thing you had to have was a trunk.

by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.

“For freedom Christ has set us free.” Do you believe that? Or do you think there are too many rules? … A Dominican was at a meeting, and he was put on the spot. Wojciech Giertych is the Theologian of the Pontifical Household; he’s Pope Benedict’s and Pope Francis’ theologian.

“Why Are You Looking Up?”
by Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P.

Have you felt lost, directionless, even abandoned, recently? Perhaps you even find yourself grieving. Those graduating soon might feel some of these things, hopefully mixed with joy and hope. By the end of today’s passage from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles surely feel sad and lost.

by Fr. Xavier Lavagetto, O.P.

There is in us an abiding hunger for love. Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) put it well; “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” … Would you love to be irresistibly desired? … God does, but it takes us a lifetime to realize that God loves us that much.