24th Sunday in Ordinary Time/2nd Sunday in the Season of Creation My love affair with trees began when I was 17 years old. I remember jogging around the Subic Naval base then, where I was spending my summer as an intern, jogging at the edge of beautiful rainforests, the likes of which I was seeing…
Category: Author: Mark Lopez, SJ
A Time to Clear the Air – Mark Lopez, SJ
Matthew 18:15-20, 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time/1st Sunday in the Season of Creation On this first weekend of the season of creation, let’s begin where many mystics of various faith traditions usually begin – by taking a long, deep breath . . . and by being mindful of how the divine is not only outside…
Family Priest – Mark Lopez, SJ
Luke 2:22-40, Feast of the Lord’s Presentation Today’s feast reconnects us to our Jewish ancestors in the faith, through their tradition of offering their first-born son to be the priest of the family. How beautiful that would be for us today – a priest in every family. No, not necessarily the ordained kind. But the…
Love that Restores – Mark Lopez, SJ
John 12: 20-33, Fifth Sunday of Lent If you’ve ever felt run down, or barren inside, or destroyed, today will be a good day to pray. Today will be a good day for you to try to listen to God telling you. “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the…
A Loving Presence – Mark Lopez, SJ
Saturday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time, Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary My Dad, for a very long time, did not believe in the role of Mary in our faith as Christians. Although he was a devout Catholic, a daily mass-goer, and a very dedicated minister of the Eucharist, he had questions….
Pippin, the Jesuits and the Pearl of Great Price – Mark Lopez, SJ
Matthew 13:44-52, 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time One of the musicals I loved listening to as I was growing up was “Pippin.” This was about the quest of a young prince, son of King Charlemegne, to find the meaning of his life. (To be clear, I’m not yet THAT old. It’s just that this musical…
Patronus – Mark Lopez, SJ
John 20:19-23, Pentecost Today’s recommended reading in relation to Pentecost will not be your usual Church encyclical, or Bible verse, or a quote from a famous Pope or theologian. Today’s recommended reading is none other than the book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (book three of JK Rowling’s seven-part literary phenomenon.) For the…
It’s Going to be OK – Mark Lopez, SJ
John 11:1-45, Fifth Sunday of Lent Let me start with a confession – about my own experiences of coming to confession before I became a priest. As a teenager, I used to be terrified of coming to confession, and really embarrassed to tell all my sins. Naturally, I don’t think any of us are comfortable…
With Justice and Equity: Playing on God’s Team – Mark Lopez, SJ
Luke 21:5-19a, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time “Three Days of Darkness.” That’s what it was called. I was in grade six when that doomsday prediction became popular. A solar eclipse was said to be but the beginning of 72 hours without the sun, during which time only blessed candles would emit light. And that, they…
Imagining Resurrections – Mark Lopez, SJ
Luke 20:27-38, 32nd Sunday In Ordinary Time A lot of prayers and thoughts these days go out to our dearly departed, having just celebrated All Saints’ and All Souls’. And since we’re also nearing the end of the liturgical year (Yes, only two Sundays left, before Advent helps us to begin again!) a lot of…
The Power of Prayer – Mark Lopez, SJ
Luke 18:1-8, 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time There was once a young mother who came to a Jesuit priest for spiritual direction. In the beginning, the Jesuit asked her “What is your deepest desire ? What are you really praying for ?” (In short, why have you come for spiritual direction?) And so this young…
The Ultimate Test of Character – Mark Lopez, SJ
Luke 16:19-32, 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time I sometimes wonder how many people will actually be allowed into heaven. And I wonder, what if, just what if, we were to be judged according to ways that we behaved in circumstances we thought didn’t really matter. For those of us who can drive a car, what…
One Lost Sheep 