BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) "O Father who sought me O Son who bought me O Holy Spirit who taught me." That beautiful prayer to the Trinity is quoted in a book on Celtic prayer ( The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination page 43 by Esther de Waal). It expresses beautifully the different qualities of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. The Father sought us. That reminds me of Psalm 139, a beautiful Psalm about God seeking us and being present with us at all times. O Lord you search me and you know me, You know my resting and my rising, You discern my purpose from afar. You mark when I walk or lie down, All my ways lie open to you. Before ever a word is on my tongue You know it, O Lord through and through. Behind and before you besiege me, Your hand ever laid upon me. Too wonderful for me, this knowledge, To

Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) Waiting in Prayer for the Holy Spirit - Intercessory Prayer You go on holidays every year and I do also. We need time away to recharge our batteries and replenish our energy. Many of you tell me where you go on vacation and you go to all sorts of interesting places. As well as going on holidays every year priests and religious also go on holidays with the Lord; it is called a retreat. Priests and Sisters take this holiday with the Lord every year but an increasing number of lay people also take this holiday with the Lord, a retreat, every year. Why? The pace of life is such now that we need a quiet time to spend with the Lord, loving him and soaking up his love and reflecting on our lives and where we’re going. We all need our private space and time apart, our time with the Lord. After Jesus’ Ascension his disciples returne

Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) What a contrast between the cruelty of the scribes and Pharisees and the compassion of Jesus in our Gospel (John 8:1-11). The scribes and Pharisees had no regard for the woman. They were only interested in using her to try to trap Jesus. She was a pawn in their game of chess. They had no regard for the fact that maybe she did not initiate the sin, perhaps it was the man. But Jesus is full of compassion. He restored the woman again, in two ways. He restored her spiritually by forgiving her, telling her he did not condemn her, while also insisting that she not sin again, and he restored her to society by saving her life. No one knows what Jesus wrote on the ground but some people suspect Jesus wrote the sins of the scribes and Pharisees. Notice also that it was the eldest who went away first. The eldest had committed more sins, those who had lived

On Sundays when homilies by Fr. Butler and Fr. Irvin are not available, we will feature homilies by Fr. Thomas Lane. Fr. Lane is a Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD on the campus of Mt. St. Mary’s University. He previously ministered in Ireland. (Originally delivered in 2013). Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD  Fr. Lane's website Jesus is the Promised Messiah Listen to Him even as He predicts His Passion What a grace for Peter and James and John to see Jesus transfigured. They got a preview of the glory of Jesus risen from the dead and his glory in heaven. It was also a preview of the glory we all hope to share in heaven. This was a very special grace for Peter and James and John. It was not the only special grace Jesus shared with Peter, James and John. Earlier in the Gospel (Mark and Luke) we read that Jesus only allowed Peter and Jam

Christ Calling The Apostles James And John , Edward Armitage, 1869. Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD  Fr. Lane's website ( Click here for today’s readings ) "Come after Me" - Call of the Disciples When Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John they were not called to be like the disciples of Jewish rabbis (Matt 4:18-22). The disciples of Jewish rabbis were not called to “follow” their rabbi. The disciples of a rabbi would not speak of following their rabbi, instead they would have spoken of learning the Torah. A rabbi would not even have called his disciples, it was the disciples themselves who chose their rabbi, not the rabbi who chose them. But Jesus called his disciples, and called them to spend time with him. The call was firstly to enter into friendship with Jesus. We could say that the disciples of a rabbi studied the Torah but the disciples of Jesus studied Jesu

St. Joseph’s Dream , illuminated manuscript, T’oros Roslin, c. 1260. Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD  ( Click here for today’s readings ) We are all busy preparing for Christmas. A lot of preparation had to be made for the first Christmas also by Mary and Joseph. They had to prepare by saying “yes” to God’s plan for the birth of Jesus. Today our Gospel focuses on the preparation made by Joseph for that first Christmas. It was a most difficult preparation for him. At that time Jews were betrothed one year before they got married. When a couple were betrothed to each other one year before marriage they were then legally united but did not live together. A year later the wedding ceremony took place and then the couple came to live together. During the year before marriage after they had been betrothed, Joseph learned that Mary was pregnant. What suffering he must have endured. The angel Gabrie

Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) Is Jesus in the Eucharist the center of your life? We divide time into BC and AD; BC before Christ and AD, Anno Domini - in the year of Our Lord - since the birth of Jesus. This is our way of showing that Jesus is the center of history, Jesus is the most important event in history. Everything in history pales into insignificance compared to Jesus. It is the same in our lives. Jesus is or should be the center of our lives. Jesus is or should be the center of our week. Because Jesus is the center of our lives we come here to celebrate the Eucharist every Sunday and afterwards we go in peace to love and serve the Lord whom we encountered here in the Eucharist. Just as we divide time into BC and AD, before Christ and after his birth, the Sacred Scriptures do the same and so we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old

Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) "O Father who sought me O Son who bought me O Holy Spirit who taught me." That beautiful prayer to the Trinity is quoted in a book on Celtic prayer ( The Celtic Way of Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination page 43 by Esther de Waal). It expresses beautifully the different qualities of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. The Father sought us. That reminds me of Psalm 139, a beautiful Psalm about God seeking us and being present with us at all times. O Lord you search me and you know me, You know my resting and my rising, You discern my purpose from afar. You mark when I walk or lie down, All my ways lie open to you. Before ever a word is on my tongue You know it, O Lord through and through. Behind and before you besiege me, Your hand ever laid upon me. Too wonderful for me, this knowledge, To

The Cenacle, also known as the "Upper Room", is a room in Jerusalem which according to tradition was the site of several events in the life of the early Church including The Last Supper and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples at Pentecost.  Fr. Thomas J. Lane S.T.D. Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture Mt. St. Mary's Seminary Emmitsburg, MD ( Click here for today’s readings ) Waiting in Prayer for the Holy Spirit - Intercessory Prayer     You go on holidays every year and I do also. We need time away to recharge our batteries and replenish our energy. Many of you tell me where you go on vacation and you go to all sorts of interesting places. As well as going on holidays every year priests and religious also go on holidays with the Lord; it is called a retreat. Priests and Sisters take this holiday with the Lord every year but an increasing number of lay people also take this holiday with the Lord, a retreat, every year. Why? The pac

On Sundays when homilies by Fr. René Butler, M.S. and Fr. Charles Irvin are not available, I will feature homilies by Fr. Thomas Lane, S.S.L., S.T.D. Fr. Lane is Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland on the campus of Mount St. Mary’s University. He previously ministered in Ireland. My first priority is bring you the best in Catholic preaching from priests who offer faithful, thoughtful, informative instruction. I'm grateful to the aforementioned for their contributions. For homilies and reflections by Fr. Butler visit his page . For homilies, videos and related content by Fr. Irvin see his website . For homilies, Bible study and more by Fr. Lane see his website . In addition to these homilists, I would like to thank  Fr. Philip Neri Powell , OP,  Fr. Daren J. Zehnle , K.H.S., Fr. Michael Woolley and  Fr. Michael Najim  for letting me publish occasional articles of theirs. Last but not least, I am grateful to you