Fr. Jerry Schik, o.s.c.

My topic today will be: Blessings! I begin with Genesis Chapters 12 and 22. In the beginning, Sarah and Abraham had no religion. One day God came into their lives and said, “If you turn away from sin and believe in me I will give you two blessings: First of all, I will make you a great nation and secondly your nation will be a blessing for all the other nations. Through you, all the nations on earth will be blessed.” Abraham and Sarah put their faith in God and they were rewarded. They...

My topic today is the Gospel Path. Jesus is the shepherd who shows us the Gospel Path. Since our image for today is the shepherd, I wish to take a close look at the work of shepherds in the first century. In the time of Christ, they did not have fences, and the sheep were not kept in barns because they moved to a new pasture every day. Each day began with the shepherd moving his flock in hopes of finding greener pastures. The sheep listened to his voice and followed him. The shepherd showed...

We just heard the story of the Passion that took place nearly 2000 years ago, and we need to ask: How does it connect to our lives today? I believe that there are two connections: namely, our sinfulness and God’s mercy. It is a basic fact of life that we are sinful people. We are sinful in thought, word, and deed. When Pope Francis took office he began his speech by saying: “I am a sinner. ”St. John says it so well in the first chapter of his first letter: “If we say that we are without sin,...