In many different instances, Jesus shows awareness of a world wider than the human one.
McKenna
Gospel Steadiness (Luke 24)
by Tom McKenna, CM | October 30, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
Anyone who regularly prays the rosary knows the experience of repetition. In the course of fingering the beads through five decades, you’ll have recited the same prayer, the Hail Mary, over 50 times.
Children And The Kingdom (Matthew 19:14)
by Tom McKenna, CM | October 16, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
Jesus’ frequent mention of children can shed light on the nature of this Kingdom He speaks about, the Kingdom of his dear Father.
The Sacrificing Seed (John 12:24-26)
by Tom McKenna, CM | October 2, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
In John’s gospel, to shed light on the meaning of his upcoming death, Jesus employs the image of a grain of wheat.
Modeling Virtue
by Tom McKenna, CM | September 18, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
One of the occupational hazards of people who study religion and theology is to equate ideas with the force behind them.
llluminators (Matthew 16: 15)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 21, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
David Brooks, columnist for the New York Times, lays out two different styles of interpersonal relating. One he calls the llluminator and the other the Diminisher.
Is It Enough? (John 6:1-15)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Aug 7, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
A commentator on these readings posed a beguiling question: “how much is enough?”
The Shining Gaze (Ps 4:7a; Lk 24:36-80)
by Tom McKenna, CM | May 1, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
A favorite verse, Psalm 4, reads: “Lord, let your face shine upon us.” It summons up a very warm and private kind of experience that each of us in our own way can recognize.
Solidarity – in Life, Death, and New Life (Mark 14:1-15:47)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Apr 17, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
A remark I once overheard: “I don’t mind suffering when nobody knows about it – as long as somebody knows about it!”
John 3:16 – Read It!
by Tom McKenna, CM | Apr 3, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
If you’ve watched any sports events over the last decades, you’ve seen banners held high, calling attention to a famous passage in John’s Gospel.
A Closer Walk (John 2:13-25)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 20, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
Early in St. John’s gospel, we see Jesus resolutely striding into the outer courtyard of the Jerusalem Temple, a space bordering on what the Jewish people acknowledged to be God’s own Dwelling place.
Gratitude: The Key (1 Cor. 9: 16-19; Mk.1:29-39)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 6, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
A question: what is it that allows people to keep on giving? What is it that motivates someone who isn’t receiving any reward or payment to continue being generous?
The Collaborative Instinct
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 21, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
There have been times in both the history of the Jewish people and in our own Church when there was a wide dividing line between the clergy and the rest of the believing people.
Inside Authority (Mark 1: 21-28)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 7, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
There is a phase to describe what often happens when somebody who is believable begins to talk: “When he or she stands up to speak, everybody listens!”
Gospel Readiness (1 Samuel 3:3-10)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 24, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
Am I more often alert to the sounds of God’s presence? Or do I not pay much attention to the ways God is directing me?
The Light That Beckons (Mt 2: 1-12)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 10, 2024 | Formation, Reflections
Stories can bring delight. And if there ever was a story that has sparked delight among believers, it’s the one about those three travelers from the East…