A two-word phrase Paul inserts in his letter to the Corinthians is so brief as to go almost unnoticed, but it opens onto a truth at the heart of the Gospel.
McKenna
Solidarity – in Life, Death, and New Life (Mark 14:1-15:47)
by Tom McKenna, CM | April 17, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 1 Comment
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 | April 3, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
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 | March 20, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
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 | March 6, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
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?
In The Boat (Mark 4:35-41)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jun 30, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
When Mark speaks to this endangered flock, it’s no surprise that he includes a pair of Jesus’ hope-filled parables, lessons on how things grow.
The Growing (Mk 4:26-34)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jun 16, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
When Mark speaks to this endangered flock, it’s no surprise that he includes a pair of Jesus’ hope-filled parables, lessons on how things grow.
Soaked Through and Through by Sense of God’s Reality
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 16, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
“Soaked Through and Through by Sense of God’s Reality” - Psalm 82 My Father loved and listened to classical music. Looking back on that, it’s a bit surprising because he was from a working class home, never graduated high school, played semi-pro football, and so on....
Not Just Interesting, But Moving
by Tom McKenna, CM | Mar 2, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
“Not Just Interesting, But Moving” (Exodus 3; Psalm 103) There’s a difference between things that are interesting and things that are intriguing, between things which make us curious and things which actually move us. I can pick up a score of a symphony and...
St. Louise and the tax collector in the back of the room
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 17, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
One of the famous Gospel characters is the publican, the tax collector in the back of the room. Jesus portrays him as the ideal worshipper, the best kind of pray-er. He knows how to come before God; he does it right. Not full of himself, not holding up accomplishments...
Hearing The Word in Pressured Times
by Tom McKenna, CM | Feb 10, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Hearing The Word in Pressured Times (Lk. 5:1-11) Here are some things to note in this Gospel about Jesus getting himself involved in a fishing expedition with Peter and his friends. For one thing, there’s Peter’s state of mind. He’s exhausted. All night on the...
Formation: Learning to See God’s Presence
by John Freund, CM | Jan 30, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
“Formation:” Learning to See God’s Presence (Mk. 3:7-12) One way of looking at this story of healing in Mark is to see it as a case of the wrong people discerning the right things. On the one hand, you’ve got these hoards of people following Jesus, and in so dense...
Who is Family – Fr. Tom McKenna, CM
by John Freund, CM | Jan 27, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
“Who is Family?” (Mk 3:31-5) To better digest this story about Jesus’ question, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” I ask you to try a little exercise in imagination. You’re at a family wedding, brothers and sisters, mother and father, cousins and children and...
Getting in the Spirit
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 23, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Father Tom McKenna offers the following reflection Getting “In the Spirit” (Samuel 18; Romans 8) The story of David and Goliath is set inside a larger narrative about the fall of Saul and the rise of David. And the difference between these two is that one, Saul,...
Hannah’s Prayer – Fr. Tom McKenna
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 19, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
Fr. Tom Mckenna offers this reflection on Hannah’s Prayer (I Samuel 1:9-20) In a talk on the spirituality of the Twelve Steps, the speaker told a story of a woman who was being swept along in a powerful ocean current. She was a swimmer and so at first wasn’t...
Reading the Signs: Dark or Light?
by John Freund, CM | Jan 17, 2016 | Formation, Reflections
In this reflection, written for a celebration of the feast of the Epiphany Fr. Tom McKenna offers thoughts on how do I understand this particular story -- how am I reading the signs -- that is so outside my usual way of looking at the world? You could look on this...