I’ve always had a liking for country music. One of the special effects its singers use is what might be called echoing.
McKenna
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?
The Collaborative Instinct
by Tom McKenna, CM | February 21, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 3 Comments
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 | February 7, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 2 Comments
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!”
Lord, I Am Not Worthy (Mt 21:28-32)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 18, 2023 | Formation, Reflections
Reading Jesus’ parable about the two Sons, it struck me how often in the Gospels Jesus leans in favor of the ones who are out of favor.
More Than (Matthew 20:1-16)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 4, 2023 | Formation, Reflections
There’s an ancient (1964!) song entitled “More Than”– More than the greatest love the world has known/ this is the love I give to you alone.”
Outbreaks of Glory (Isaiah 49:3)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jan 11, 2023 | Formation, Reflections
Every once in a while when reading the Scriptures, something lights up, jumps out into the present time and place.
God Up Close (Mt. 11:2-11)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 14, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
Something with which most every believer can struggle is the felt nearness of God: how close up do I sense the Divine presence?
Advent Receptivity (Matthew 3:1-12)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 30, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
One way to hear the Advent Gospel message is to put ourselves in the shoes of all those people walking out to that desert to listen to John the Baptist.
“Practicing” The Faith (Malachi 3:19-20)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 16, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
As with all literature, there are many words in the Scriptures that need interpretation, that second look to get at their more underlying meaning.
Looking Out and Looking Up (Luke 19:1-10)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 2, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
Luke’s 19th chapter begins with a story of “two people looking.”
65th Anniversary of Vincentian Brother Alfred Smith’s Service
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 19, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
To keep God’s people safe and alive in their battle against Amalek, Moses has to hold his arms high in the air for a very long while.
Stand Up and Go! (2 Kings, 5:14-17; Lk 17:11-19)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 5, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
For all of us who have been through the pandemic, we know first-hand how disease and sickness have a way of separating us, how they can isolate and cut us off from the rest of life.
Acceptance — And Ingenuity (Luke 16:1-13)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 21, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
Scripture Scholars tell us that the meaning behind the word “parable” is curve, as in throwing a curve.
Prioritizing (Lk 14: 25-9)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 7, 2022 | Formation, Reflections
There are hardly any words in all the gospels more blunt than the stark ones Jesus proclaims in Luke’s 14th chapter.