Sunday Reflections from the C.PP.S.
C.PP.S. Members share their reflections on Sunday readings
The Lord Has Done Great Things for Us!
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. Today’s readings call us to rejoice. While we wait for the coming of the Lord, we rejoice that Christ is already in our midst. While we prepare for the celebration of Christmas, we rejoice that our salvation has already come. The...
St. Francis Xavier, a Great Missionary
December 3 is the Feast of St. Francis Xavier, who is the patron of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood. By Fr. Harry Brown, C.PP.S. Fr. Francis Xavier, priest and patron saint of the C.PP.S., lived to be only 46 years old—born in 1506 in Navarre, Spain, and died...
A Citizen in Christ’s Kingdom
By Fr. Bill Nordenbrock, C.PP.S. I have heard a story told of what is claimed to be the shortest homily every—just seven words. According to this story, it was on the Feast of Christ the King and after reading the gospel, the preacher paused dramatically to ensure...
No Worries, God is in Control
By Fr. Jeffrey Kirch, C.PP.S. During this time of year in the northern hemisphere we begin to see signs of the upcoming winter. Trees that were once beaming with red, orange and yellow are now dropping their leaves, revealing barren branches. The sun is setting...
God’s Love Knows No Outsider
By Brother Brian Boyle, C.PP.S. Your actions, your efforts, and where and how you use your resources show who and what you are loyal to. These three readings remind me of that. In the first reading, a Phoenician widow and her son are preparing a last meal before...
Love, a Song God Puts on Repeat
By Fr. Tim Knepper, C.PP.S. Years ago, I worked at a retail store in the automotive department. We had a car stereo display where people could mess around with different systems before buying the one for their car. Probably, far more people messed around with the...
An Awesome God
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! God works wonders throughout history. The prophet Jeremiah proclaims to a people in exile: Shout with joy for Jacob…...
To Purify our Motivation
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. (Mark 10:43-44) By Fr. Steve Dos Santos, C.PP.S. As vocations director, I regularly ask inquirers some form of the question, “Why do you...
What Stands Between Jesus and Me?
By Fr. Angelo Anthony, C.PP.S. A wise woman who was walking in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met a traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked...
Jesus Shares our Humanity
By Brother Matt Schaefer, C.PP.S. Sometimes I’m perplexed by the readings chosen for Mass, especially some of the second readings taken from the New Testament. They can seem too brief; I imagine some of these readings are barely heard by many in the...
Setting a Good Example
Fr. Matt Keller, C.PP.S. They say that young children are easily influenced by what they see and hear. Some may say that are boys are more easily influenced than girls; whether that is true, I will leave up for debate. I would argue that adults at times are just as...
Give It All You’ve Got
By Fr. Tim McFarland, C.PP.S. As we read the newspaper, check the news on the internet or on TV, it is often discouraging. In Chicago (and other places), newspapers keep score of the shootings each weekend. For those of us who listen to the Scriptures this Sunday, it...
He Knows Exactly Who He Is
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. Who do you say that I am? It’s a simple question, but sometimes it is a question even I can’t answer about myself. Sometimes, hearing what others have to say about me helps me to understand myself better. That doesn’t seem to...
Open Your Ears, Open Your Heart
By Fr. Harry Brown, C.PP.S. The astonished crowd exclaimed after Jesus healed the deaf mute man, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” Indeed, no one is outside God’s grace and Jesus’ healing touch. When Jesus said, “Ephatha” (Be...
Giving Ourselves Freely
By Fr. Bill Nordenbrock, C.PP.S. I wonder how many preachers will ignore today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (5:21–32) and hope that no one asks about it. It is tempting to preach around the reading, since the text comes with the heavy baggage of...
Images of Mary Help Us in our Faith
By V. Rev. Jeffrey Kirch, C.PP.S. Throughout the centuries artists have been inspired by the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the history of art, there seem to be whole centuries where the only subject painted was the Virgin and Child. These pieces of art have nourished the...
Freaking Out in a Boat
By Brother Brian Boyle, C.PP.S. Have you ever completed an accomplishment, overcome a fear, or come to full circle on something, only to shrink back to the same place that you started out? When I was in the eighth grade, I went out in a canoe onto Wolf Lake with my...
God has Enough
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. Five thousand hungry people, what are we to do? Where does he expect us to get enough food for such a crowd? As we look around the world today, there are so many people in need, so many that a crowd of five thousand seems small. So,...
Celebrating Freedom from Fear
By Fr. Angelo Anthony, C.PP.S. As a child I remember looking forward to the annual Fourth of July festival that was sponsored by my home parish. Every year this day of food and fun ended with the traditional fireworks display. We would ooh and ahh at the bright colors...
Blood of Jesus, Save us!
By Brother Matt Schaefer, C.PP.S. I’m sitting in the Blessed Sacrament chapel at the Sisters of Providence Center in St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., pondering how to write this reflection for our feast day. The focus of the chapel is an altar of repose topped by a marble...
The Gift of the Precious Blood
A message for the Solemnity of the Precious Blood from our Provincial Director Fr. Jeffrey Kirch, C.PP.S. If you grew up with siblings, you may remember the feeling of holding your wrapped birthday gift and feeling the hot breath of a brother or sister on your...
Healing Comes in Unexpected Ways
By Fr. Matt Keller, C.PP.S. I feel for Jairus, the man who was seeking help from Jesus for his seriously ill daughter. Nothing would have been more frustrating and disappointing than to approach Jesus for help, only to have a woman who had been hemorrhaging for 12...
Finding God in the Storm
By Fr. Tim McFarland, C.PP.S. For those who have little children, the Gospel story may bring to mind images that are familiar. You might recall sleeping soundly through a thunderstorm but then suddenly being awaken by a frightened child who tries to crawl into bed...
God Nurtures the Tender Shoot
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. For those who’ve never seen one: a mustard seed is just a bit bigger than the period that ends this sentence. It is indeed a very small seed. Sometimes we think we need to have great faith, we need to do great things, to deserve the...
Say Yes to the Adventure
By Fr. Tony Fortman, C.PP.S. I remember traveling down to Corpus Christ, Tex., with my family when I was 12 years old. My grandparents spent the winters down in Brownsville, so one Christmas my family decided to take off for Texas in a pick-up truck with a camper on...
Welcomed into the Circle of Love
By Fr. Bill Nordenbrock, C.PP.S. Have you ever considered how the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is a Precious Blood feast? At least as I gaze upon my favorite icon, I considered it one of our feasts. Andrei Rublev was a 15th-century Russian iconographer and his...
Mary is Concerned for Us
By Fr. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. Weddings in Israel were celebrated for several days. Guest ate, drank, danced, told stories and rejoiced with the new couple. But if they ran out of wine before the celebration was over, it was quite an embarrassing situation. So, Mary...
Bringing Love to the World
By Brother Brian Boyle, C.PP.S. The readings today are challenges to look outside of our inner circles, niches, tribes, et cetera. The first reading tells how the apostles filled the twelfth slot that was left behind by Judas. The apostles may have already been in...
Joy is Found in Community
By Fr. James Smith, C.PP.S. Love is in the air. It seems strange to encounter this much love in the readings outside of mid-February. I guess it still fits, though, with this weekend being Mother’s Day. It is always a tricky task to navigate around the holidays of our...
Being Barnabas to Each Other
Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles. (Acts 9:27) By Fr. Steve Dos Santos, C.PP.S. I was born and raised in St. Barnabas Parish in Alameda, Calif. When I was a kid, it was always exciting when Barnabas’ name would begin to show up in...
