Sunday Reflections from the C.PP.S.
C.PP.S. Members share their reflections on Sunday readings
God Expects Us to Serve
By Fr. Tony Fortman C.P.P.S. In today’s Gospel, Jesus expects us to give our best. You and I are made mostly comfortable by many blessings. We have enough food, we have automobiles, we have homes. (Some of us may not have all of that, but most of us do.) When we are...
Lazarus’ Name Points to His Humanity
Lazarus and the Rich Man by Jacopo Bassano By Fr. Steve Dos Santos, C.PP.S. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus (Luke 16:20). One of the things that I learned early on in Biblical studies was to pay attention to names as they appear in Biblical texts....
Do You Go in or Do You Not?
By Fr. Joe Uecker, C.PP.S. You just died. You come before the throne of God. God doesn’t say much of anything. God just looks at you with love. What gets you is when you look around and see who is there! You see Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Sadam Hussein, the shooter...
Check with God before Building
By Brother Tom Bohman, C.PP.S. It was the summer of 1958, and I was eight years old. My brother and I decided to build a fort of sticks and wood on the north part of our farm near Osgood, Ohio. It was one of those moments of freedom and we worked on the fort for about...
We Can’t Be All Things to All People
By Fr. Tony Fortman, C.PP.S. Today we hear from Sirach. “My child, conduct your affairs with humility, and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God. What is too sublime for you, seek...
Lord, What About Us?
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. Just a few days ago, Peter asked Jesus in the Gospel, “Then who can be saved?” Today’s readings answer the question once again. To the people of Israel, who thought that they alone would be saved, the prophet Isaiah proclaims that people...
The Fire of God’s Love
By Fr. Tim McFarland, C.PP.S. The Gospel for this Sunday has always seemed out of context to me. Most of the sayings of Jesus are about coming together and loving others. Today, however, we hear Jesus say he has come to light the earth on fire and there will be...
Does Our Faith Calm Our Fears?
By Fr. Harry Brown, C.PP.S. Today’s scripture readings deal with the journey of life and preparedness. Life cannot be a journey without destiny. This outlook on life requires faith in God. It is like the faith in his father that truly makes a child feel safe when the...
The Richness of Relationships
By Fr. William Nordenbrock, C.PP.S. Life is short, death is sure. Only the hour remains obscure. I was a young high school student at Brunnerdale Seminary when I first heard this quote. At the time I found it quite amusing. Fifty-plus years later? Not so much. While...
Persistence is a Good Strategy
By Brother Brian Boyle, C.PP.S. Persistence is a well-known strategy when facing a challenge, and it works. Persistence is not about seizing the day, but merely enduring it. Athletes who employ a persistence strategy wait for their opponents to make mistakes and die a...
To Serve or to Listen?
By Fr. Matt Keller, C.PP.S. Is it better to be a Martha or a Mary? Is it better to be the one who serves Jesus and the rest of the guests, or is it better to be the one who sits and listens at the feet of Jesus? Is it better to be the one who serves or the one who...
Can We See All People as Neighbors?
A Sunday Reflection from the C.PP.S. By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. In today’s first reading, Moses summarizes the whole law in very simple words. The law, he says, is not something mysterious, something up in the sky…, something across the sea…. No, it is something...
The Precious Blood Calls Us to Freedom
By Fr. Tim Knepper, C.PP.S. As Missionaries of the Precious Blood, today’s Gospel is fitting for us. As missionaries there is a tension sometimes, not so much about what we do or who we are, but with how much stuff and how little stuff we should have. Years ago, when...
Going Back to the Beginning
By Brother Matthew Schaefer, C.PP.S. Only two weeks ago, the United States Province of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood was created at our assembly in Indianapolis. Over the last few years, our thoughts, prayers and hopes have been focused on this “new...
Am I Free Enough to Let Go?
By Fr. Angelo Anthony, C.PP.S. One of my favorite stories from author and theologian Henri Nouwen has to do with a conversation he had with one of the famous flying Rodleighs, trapeze artists who perform in the German circus. Rodleigh was the flyer in the act, and he...
We Are What We Eat
By Fr. Tim McFarland, C.PP.S. Years ago, an advertising campaign used the phrase “you are what you eat.” That came to mind today on this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. In fact, some suggest that this phrase has its origins in early popular Catholic thought...
A Love Beyond Comprehension
Fr. Harry Brown, C.PP.S. “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit”—the sign of the cross—the Holy Trinity. This is probably the first prayer our parents taught us and will probably be the last prayer the priest or deacon will say over us at the...
God Has our Back
By Fr. Tony Fortman, C.PP.S. Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and the apostles in the form of tongues of fire. Jesus gives his apostles the courage to leave that upper room and go out to proclaim the Gospel. We receive this Holy...
Take the Message to Everyone, Everywhere
By Fr. Bill Nordenbrock, C.PP.S. The Solemnity of the Ascension is one of the universally recognized Christian Feasts (along with Christmas, Easter and Pentecost). Traditionally, it has been observed 40 days after Easter, although it is an indication of the importance...
The Spirit is at Work on our Midst
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. The apostles in Jerusalem were so convinced that the Holy Spirit was with them that they said so in their message to the Church in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. They knew that the Sprit was at work in their midst, and they had heard...
The Struggle, the Pain, the Love
By Fr. Tim Knepper, C.PP.S. Before today’s Pandora or Spotify playlists, songs on repeat flowed out of the speakers of my dad’s stereo system. The song with the most airplay, and long-term memory storage for me, was “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” by Lynn...
Freely Given, Out of Love
By Fr. Angelo Anthony, C.PP.S. On this Mother’s Day I would like to celebrate the vocation of motherhood with these pearls of wisdom shared by Moms. “When you can see your heart walking around outside, that’s the day you turn into a mother.” “If you hear the toilet...
The Difference Between Law & Ethics
By Brother Brian Boyle, C.PP.S. In a class I took 10 years ago, my classmates and I were asked to explain the difference between law and ethics. I responded, “Rosa Parks did the right thing (ethics) by not relinquishing a bus seat to a white passenger. That act broke...
A Promise of Peace and Mercy
By Fr. Bill Nordenbrock, C.PP.S. Frequently someone has confessed to me, “Father, I know that I am supposed to forgive them, but I just can’t.” In their words I can hear the pain that they still carry. In their words I can hear their need and desire to be healed. Just...
Christ is Risen!
Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, he has been raised. Luke 24:5-6 By Fr. Steve Dos Santos, C.PP.S. “Christ is risen!” Is the traditional Paschal greeting along with its response, “Christ is risen indeed!” Some add an alleluia for...
What Did Jesus Write?
By Fr. Tim McFarland, C.PP.S. The Gospel for this Sunday has always captured my imagination. Two points stand out in my mind. One, I always wondered where the man who committed adultery was. Second, what did Jesus scribble in the dirt? If this woman was caught in the...
God’s Healing Touch Can Help Us See
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine! Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! Today we celebrate the second scrutiny with those who will receive the Easter sacraments in...
Sinners Welcome
Year C By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. Our God is an awesome God, who reigns from heaven above, with wisdom power and love, our God is an awesome God! Today’s Gospel contains the third parable in a series, all in answer to the complaint of the Pharisees and scribes...
Use the Tools You Were Given
By Fr. Matthew Keller, C.PP.S. “Leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future” (Luke 13:8–9). Leaving the barren plant for another year may not make the most sense, but I think it says...
Our Citizenship is in Heaven
By Fr. Harry Brown, C.PP.S. This Sunday’s theme for readings is Lift up your hearts to God in prayer. And yes, today’s readings deal with persons conversing with God. Let’s ask ourselves during Lent: “Do I find prayer really important? When do I pray? How often? Do I...