Mary M. McGlone

Scripture for Life: The feast of the Epiphany reminds us that the good news is for everyone of every age. Its proclamation can bring great joy or cause terrible consternation, depending on what each person or society values.

Scripture for Life: God has given birth to a creation capable of participating in divine life. Jesus gave a replicable witness to that truth. Like him, we need to pray without ceasing to open ourselves to grace.

Scripture for Life: The time is ripe; this is the moment to make straight the paths, to remind ourselves that Christ is alive and the Spirit is active among us.

Scripture for Life: Paul asked bluntly, "Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" If he asked the same of us today, with what depth of conviction could we say yes?

Scripture for Life: Today's readings are meant to provoke us to sharpen our senses and sensitivity. Jesus' parable asks us to judge where we choose to focus and what we intentionally block out.

Scripture for Life: Sometimes the kind of question a 5-year-old could answer helps us make a good judgment: "In Jesus' parable, who did the most good for others?"

Scripture for Life: The title of this feast, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, expresses the paradox of Christian faith. Christ's death revealed that evil is as dead as its works.

Scripture for Life: This may sound presumptuous, but all Jesus is asking is that we share in the banquet God prepares for all of us together.

Scripture for Life: What is our call from these Scriptures? Perhaps it is to let ourselves be tamed — over and again — by God and those whom God loves. 

Scripture for Life: Today's liturgy invites us to learn how to take hold of the freedom we have and to help it grow like bamboo, the fastest growing and one of the most useful plants on Earth. To do this, we need to cultivate new attitudes through asking and answering serious questions. 

Scripture for Life: Many times, we ask, "What would Jesus say?" In this case, we have an answer in today's Gospel. The disciples ask, "Teach us to pray."

Scripture for Life: When communications media bring the world into our homes and onto our phones, our sense of being neighbors has become global. Our neighbor is anyone we bother to see.

Scripture for Life: Evangelizers know that the reign of God they announce is real. They've experienced it in communion with God and others. They know it can't be proven, only experienced, and when it is experienced, it's contagious.

Scripture for Life: What if we considered our everyday activities as being like a procession manifesting the presence of Christ among us? 

Scripture for Life: As we celebrate our loving relationships, let us also take prayerful time to become more aware of how these loves make us who we are.

Today's feast reminds us that God not only chose to dwell among us, but to dwell in us. That mutual indwelling grows for a lifetime. It fulfills every human life.

Scripture for Life: As we come to the end of our Easter season, we can ask, "What have we learned? How have we changed? Has our faith in the resurrection of Christ given us courage and freed us from fear?"

Scripture for Life: It is one thing to say, "Love one another." But here, Jesus takes it to the extreme: "Love one another as I have loved you." Whoa! That definitely belongs to the new heaven and earth.

Scripture for Life: Let us call to mind and heart the insights or events that have moved us to express our faith in action, how our work contributes to Christ's mission, and the meaning of our baptism and communion. 

Scripture for Life: The Easter season offers us the opportunity to let ourselves be perplexed and even to doubt as we wait for the good news to saturate our souls.