Mary M. McGlone

Mary M McGlone, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, gives retreats and days of reflection and is a writer and interpreter/translator. She may be reached at [email protected].

By this Author

The statue of the Risen Christ on top of the facade of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican

Easter: 'Christ will come again'

Scripture for Life: The resurrection is not a mystery to be clung to, but a practice to develop in ever new and deeper ways. 

Christians carry palm fronds as they walk the traditional path that Jesus took on his last entry into Jerusalem during the Palm Sunday procession on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem April 2, 2023.

Palm Sunday: Hope even in the darkest end

Today, evil seems so present that the faithful cry out with Jesus, "My God, why have you abandoned us?" In his account of Jesus' passion, Luke invites us to enter into the scene to learn what Jesus teaches his disciples.

Painting: "Christ and the woman taken in adultery" (1612) by Frans Francken the Younger (Artvee)

Fifth Sunday of Lent: Sin no more

Scripture for Life: As we move toward Holy Week, these readings invite us to approach the mysteries with eyes ready to perceive God's love working through everything — even the worst events imaginable. 

Burundian volunteers serve food to displaced families at Rugombo Stadium in Burundi, Feb. 18, 2025, after Congolese fled from renewed clashes between M23 rebels and the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (OSV News/Reuters/Evrard Ngendakumana)

Third Sunday of Lent: God's saving action

What do these readings offer us as we reach the halfway stage of our Lenten journey? First, they warn us against judging others, reminding us that nobody deserves the life God gives us and that God is never the source of suffering.

The Transfiguration, depicted on the ceiling of the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul in Providence, R.I. (Wikimedia Commons/Farragutful)

Second Sunday of Lent: The destiny of everything

Scripture for Life: In these first two weeks of Lent, we've begun a new stage of our Holy Year pilgrimage. We've seen human frailty and the glory of what humanity can become. 

The sun sets behind a desert view in the Spur Cross Ranch Conservation Area in Cave Creek, Arizona. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec)

First Sunday of Lent: The sacrifice of time

Scripture for Life: Lent is our time to allow divine love to touch us so deeply that we begin to see like Jesus did, and thus act in his name. 

Virtual glasses using artificial intelligence are seen in this photo. (CNS/Reuters/Yves Herman)

Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Husks, grain and AI

Scripture for Life: Today's question seems to be, what will lead us to wisdom of heart? 

Miraculous catch of fish, detail from a stained glass window in St. Colman's Cathedral, Cobh, Ireland (Teresa Malcolm)

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: From spectator to prophet

Scripture of Life: When the experience of evil feels as palpable as the mysterium, we may well be afraid. Yet, our very distress constitutes the call to stand up against destruction and injustice.

Turn of the golden key (Dreamstime/Konstantin Sutyagin)

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord: The first turn of the golden key

Scripture for Life: Christ's birth and reception by the simple made the first turn of the golden key. Now it is ours to dare the second turn and exercise the humility to be open to wonderful and challenging treasures we have never imagined. 

The Holy Spirit, traditionally depicted as a dove, is pictured in a stained-glass window at St. John Vianney Church in Lithia Springs, Georgia, in this May 4, 2015, file photo. (CNS/Georgia Bulletin/Michael Alexander)

Third Sunday in Ordinary Time: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me'

Scripture for Life: Remembering Paul's message that no gift is lesser or unnecessary, we can ask the Spirit how to use those gifts for the good of all.

Pope Francis prays after walking through the Holy Door to inaugurate the Jubilee Year of Mercy in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in this Dec. 8, 2015, file photo. In the background at left is retired Pope Benedict XVI. The pope has approved the theme, "Pilgrims of Hope," to be the motto for the Holy Year 2025. (CNS/Vatican Media)

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: A jubilee of hope

Scripture for Life: In this Jubilee Year, we are invited to be pilgrims of hope. Our hour has come. 

Pope Francis baptizes a baby during Mass in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican on Jan. 7, 2024, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. (CNS/Vatican Media)

The Baptism of the Lord: The precedent Jesus set

Scripture for Life: Baptism is supposed to make us eccentric like Jesus, people who get noticed because their behavior falls outside the "norm."

The adoration of the Magi is depicted in a painting in the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. (CNS/Nancy Phelan Wiechec)

The Epiphany of the Lord: Seeing anew with the Magi

Scripture for Life: The pilgrim Magi remind us that we too are invited to be humble enough to see something new. They help us realize that there is always more to discover in God's mysteries. 

A 15th-century German stained glass panel with the Visitation (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Blessed are you who believe

Scripture for Life: Jesus' incarnation happened in one moment of history. From the manger to the cross, it was hard to believe in such a simple, humble God. It still is.

(Unsplash/Cody Black)

Third Sunday of Advent: Seek real joy

Pope Francis teaches that if we want to experience the joy of the Gospel and union with God, we need to begin by sharing God's concern for the poorest among us.

Tiles spell "joy."

Second Sunday of Advent: Captivated by possibility

Scripture for Life: This week we will celebrate both the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe, feasts that celebrate the human potential to collaborate with God's ongoing offers of grace and thus change history. 

waves

First Sunday of Advent: God is waiting

Scripture for Life:  Today's Gospel gives us an apocalyptic vision amazingly applicable to our days. Lest we think we're unique, people throughout the ages have felt the same — and who's to say it's not true?

St. Martin de Porres is depicted in a stained glass window at Holy Rosary Church in Minneapolis.

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time: A living, loving incarnation of Christ

Scripture for Life: What might St. Martín tell us today about love of God and neighbor?

"Christ Giving Sight to Bartimaeus," by William Blake, a painting created between 1799 and 1800 (Wikimedia Commons/Yale Center for British Art)

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time: What does it mean to see?

Scripture for Life: If Bartimaeus were here, he might beg us to listen deeply for the good news in our fragmented world. He would probably tell us that we really do need to hear and respect viewpoints different from our own.

An extraordinary minister of holy Communion holds the chalice during Communion at Sacred Heart Church, Dec. 10, 2023, in Prescott, Arizona. (OSV News/Bob Roller)

Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time: A love stronger than sin and death

Scripture for Life: Jesus has always had followers who recognized and still bet their lives on the faith that weakness opens them to grace, that avoiding the traps of fear and control frees them to believe in the power of their baptism.