There’s a way of looking at our religion as a series of truths to be acknowledged and then followed out.
McKenna
The Shining Gaze (Ps 4:7a; Lk 24:36-80)
by Tom McKenna, CM | May 1, 2024 | Formation, Reflections | 0 Comments
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 | 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.
Drinking At The Fountain of God’s Word (Isaiah 55: 10-11)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 26, 2023 | Formation, Reflections
With this hot weather scorching many parts of the globe, it’s not hard to appreciate the metaphor the prophet Isaiah offers as a picture of how it is between ourselves and God — more specifically, between ourselves and the Word of God.
Receiving Me (2 Kings,4; Mt 10:40)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Jul 12, 2023 | Formation, Reflections
Two agitated men, just coming from a disastrous happening, were walking down a country road and pouring out their shared troubles. Each was focused on his own grief, but each was also was taking in the pain of the other.
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?
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.
Ready to See (Luke 3:1-6; Phil 1:9-10)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 15, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
What the teacher had done was prepare him to see. She had given him a way to notice more of what was there.
Intertwining Worlds (John 18: 33-37)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Dec 1, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
More than most any other, the feast of Christ the King immerses us in this swirling dilemma of negotiating worlds.
Acting Out (Mark 12:38-44)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 17, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
When you hear that someone is “acting out” it usually isn’t heard as a compliment.
Saints Like Us (Hebrews 12.1)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Nov 3, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
There’s an instinct to idealize the saints as entirely different from the rest of us, off in another league at some unattainable level of holiness and favor with God.
Stumbling Along ‘The Way’ (Mark 10:35-45)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 20, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
Most of us know the image backing the word “scandalize;” i.e., somebody tripping over a stone in the road.
The Big Hearted (Micah 6:6-8; Rev 14:13; Lk 8:4-15)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Oct 6, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
This homily was preached at a recent anniversary Mass for Fr. Joseph Daly, C.M. — a Vincentian priest beloved of many,
Playing Favorites? (James 2:1-5)
by Tom McKenna, CM | Sep 22, 2021 | Formation, Reflections
I knew a close-knit family of 5 personable children, and as they got older, they would kid their mother about having a favorite.