McKenna
“First Generation Disciples”(John 10: 14-15)
by Tom McKenna, CM | April 21, 2021 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
“Handing on the tradition” is a phrase often connected with matters of faith.
Living “As If”(Acts 4: Jn 20)
by Tom McKenna, CM | April 7, 2021 | Formation, Reflections | 4 Comments
Where are the assurances that these claims about Jesus rising to new life have any substance?
We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe
by Tom McKenna, CM | March 24, 2021 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
All of us have heard the phrase, “living in the past.” Usually it has a negative ring – – somebody missing out on the good things happening now because he or she lives on memories of a bygone day.
Entering “The New Temple” (Jn 2:13-25)
by Tom McKenna, CM | March 10, 2021 | Formation, Reflections | 1 Comment
“Dense” is a one-word description for people who have trouble seeing beneath the surface of things.
![Taking In (Nehemiah 8; I Corinthians 12; Luke 4: 18-21)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2016/02/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Taking In (Nehemiah 8; I Corinthians 12; Luke 4: 18-21)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 26, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
“Taking in the news.” It can refer to events both good and bad, taking in the news of a baby’s birth, for instance, or at the other end, receiving word of a loved one’s passing.
![Taking In (Nehemiah 8; I Corinthians 12; Luke 4: 18-21)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2016/02/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Being The Beloved (Isaiah 40:11: Lk 3:22)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 12, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
A gift – something given over freely, with good will and coming not from obligation but from good will and esteem. It raises the question: of all the gifts to receive, which would be the most valuable and precious?
![Taking In (Nehemiah 8; I Corinthians 12; Luke 4: 18-21)](https://b704496.smushcdn.com/704496/en/files/2016/02/mckenna-tom-reflections-featured-facebook-1.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
Three Epiphany Words (Mt 2:1-12; Is 60:1-6)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 29, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
This thread of “Stop, Look and Go” winds through the words and actions of this Feast of Epiphany.
Repenting From Fear to Trust
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 15, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
Repenting From Fear to Trust (Matthew 4: 17) In Matthew’s fourth chapter we come across what you might call the very first word in Jesus' very first sermon, Repent! Which means at base “to turn around.” And so the gospel, “From that time on, Jesus began to...
A Family Gift: Practical Integrity
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 1, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
A Family Gift: Practical Integrity (Mk 3:1-6) If you were hired as the Public Relations director for the Jerusalem Pharisees and Scribes mentioned in Mark, you wouldn’t want this section of the gospel to get too much circulation. In their confrontations with Jesus,...
Heavenly Gaze
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 18, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
A scene setter. You’re out in the cold night fields, keeping close watch over your flock. And suddenly this light is shining at you and all around you. From out of this radiance a voice of an angel sings out news about the infant in swaddling clothes lying in a...
Sensing Grace
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 4, 2017 | Formation, Reflections
Sensing Grace (Lk: 1:26-38) The angel Gabriel reveals to Mary that she’s “full of grace.” And so the question, what is this “grace” that Mary is filled with? There are few better answers to be had than the one in the five words that follow. “The Lord is with you!”...
Attuned To The Fear of the Lord
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 21, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Attuned To “The Fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:1-5; Lk. 10: 21) In Isaiah’s description of the special one God will send (“A shoot from the stump of Jesse”), he lists a number of qualities this person will have. Wisdom, understanding, strength, and so forth. But one of...
Counsel for An Anxious Time
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 7, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Counsel for An Anxious Time (Lk. 17:20-25) All through Luke’s gospel, the underlying movement is towards Jerusalem. From the beginning that’s where Jesus is heading, and as He gets closer the pace picks up and the tensions rise. This is not only because of the...
Belief Under Pressure
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 23, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Belief Under Pressure (2 Maccabees, 7; Luke 20: 38) One of the things that has sharpened inside me on my journey into the senior years is a sense of time passing (where did it go?), and an accompanying wonderment about what happens when it does pass. What’s on the...
Lost and Found
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 9, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Lost and Found (Luke 19:1-10; Wisdom 11) Throughout Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells a good number of “lost and found” parables and incidents. There’s the lost and found coin, the lost-found pearl and earlier on the lost-found tax collector, Levi. And last Sunday we come...
Unchain The Word Through Memory
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 26, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Unchaining The Word Through Memory One short sentence in Paul’s letter to Timothy (2 Tim 2: 10) caught my attention right off, “The word of God is not chained.” Paul himself is in chains, and it’s the contrast here that’s striking him. The Word of God is the opposite...