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This Sunday's Gospel features the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. An initial read of the parable might make us wonder if it's not a little unfair: The "foolish" virgins simply forgot their oil, and can't we all relate to forgetting something from time to time? Important for us to recognize that this isn't the parable of the "organized" and "disorganized" virgins but that of the "wise and foolish". The wise ones organize their lives according to that which is most important: Readiness to meet Jesus the Divine Bridegroom. The foolish ones do not organize their lives in this way. May we grow more and more in Wisdom, which is to see from God's perspective and organize our lives accordingly!

On this Solemnity of All Saints, we talk about the historicity of the veneration of the saints and my own relationship with St. Catherine of Siena.

Today's Gospel concerns a confrontation between Jesus and those opposed to him and involves a Roman coin, an "idol", technically, because the Roman Emperor was called a "Son of God", his father Caesar Augustus having been deified. What great irony that the Pharisees have this coin in their pocket, a symbol of a false God, when the true "Son of God", true image of God the Father, stands before them! Adding special meaning to this text is that fact that each one of us -- including the Pharisees, including Tiberius Caesar himself -- bears God's image and likeness and thus "belong to God", as the coins with Caesar's image "belong to Caesar."

In today's Gospel the King invites a bunch of guests to his son's wedding banquet ... Yet, inexplicably, no one wants to come. Some of the messengers are even brutalized by the invitees, and the king responds by killing them and destroying the city. The invitations are broadened, but someone who showed up improperly dressed is thrown out. Today we explore one of Jesus's most intriguing and perplexing parables!

This weekend, on October 3rd, we celebrated the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. Why is he still so beloved today? Is his life still relevant? We explore the life of this popular and timeless saint.

When I hear the parable of the two sons who are asked to go to work in the vineyard -- one who says "yes" but doesn't go and another who says "no" but ends up going -- I can't help but think of what Paul says of Jesus in the 1st chapter of 2nd Corinthians: "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us… was not “yes” and “no,” but “yes”..." Who is it who saves us from our fickleness -- our so often saying "no" to God in our infidelities and betrayals? It is only in Jesus that we can say "yes" to God and -- in Him -- remain faithful, because He is faithful.

The parables usually contain elements so strange that we are drawn into a deeper consideration of them. The parable of the landowner who keeps going back for day laborers is no exception. He goes at dawn to get people to work in his vineyard. He goes back again at nine and noon. And, surprisingly, he goes again at three and at five. Was he just really bad at estimating the number of workers he would need? Or is something entirely different happening?

Jesus tells us today how he wants us to handle conflict in the community (which is inevitable). He tells us that we must first go to the person privately. After that we can take along some well-meaning others. After that we can go to the church authorities. Jesus is teaching us that part of being in His family means that we need to challenge and encourage others to be the person who God created them to be! But that we must be willing to engage the person who needs correction one-on-one. Let's pray for the grace to live this Gospel!

One of the central misunderstandings that the Apostles have with Jesus in the Gospels is the meaning of his identity as Messiah. They (and everybody else) would have conceived of the Messiah in worldly terms: He would be a great (and worldly) king, overthrowing (with violence) the enemies of Israel and enjoying worldly power and honor and pleasures. So this helps us to explain why Peter, whom Jesus praised in last Sunday's Gospel for correctly identifying him as the Messiah, is now so scandalized when Jesus says that he is going to suffer and be killed. (And for all of us sinners, we constantly avoid suffering.) But God so uses suffering in our life to bless and challenge and heal us, making life in Christ a wonderful adventure.

When we hear the account of Jesus's dialogue with the Canaanite woman, we often get caught up on how different Jesus's treatment of this woman seems to be than the other people who request healing. But this itself should be an indication that Jesus is truly doing something new and significant as he heals this foreign woman in a foreign land ... fulfilling the Old Testament prophesies that the Savior of Israel is also the Savior of all Nations!

In today's Gospel we have a couple important images of Jesus: He goes to the mountain from which vantage point he can see the storm the disciples are caught in (as well as the storms of my life!). And he goes to walk in the midst of that storm and reveals himself to his disciples. May we take comfort that Jesus (1) sees and knows everything I am going through, and that He (2) comes to be with me in the midst of the storm.

In the Gospel today Jesus arrives at a deserted place in order to be free of the crowds and to grieve and pray after learning of the death of John the Baptist. In this compromised human state, he discovers the crowds have followed him, and he immediately begins ministering to them. The loaves and fishes are similar. On its face this offering is much too small and poor to make any difference. Yet God uses this pathetic little offering that the disciples make to feed a multitude. How can we discover and embrace this dynamic in our own life?

In this last installment of our summer series on Mary, we explore the Scriptures to discover how the relationship between Jesus and Mary reveals Mary's unique role in the Church!

What does it mean for us to call Mary the "Immaculate Conception", and what evidence is there that this is the case? We reflect on how Mary's sinlessness does not make her less human but more human -- the human being and woman -- the "New Eve" -- exactly as God intended the human person to be.