Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com Community blog: Apostolic Times, https://maryofmagdala-mke.org/ Homily thoughts – 3rd Sunday of Easter – April 19, 2026 The disciples who recognize Jesus as he breaks bread with them could have stayed in Emmaus, since that was apparently their destination. They already had so much to recount to the folks at…
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Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com Community blog, Apostolic Times: https://maryofmagdala-mke.org Springtime in eastern Kentucky is intoxicating (that is, apart from the moonshine). My first experience of this came in the Spring of 1980, having arrived in the mountains in the Fall of 1979 which required me to wait until the next Spring for this…
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Who’s the man? Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com Community blog: https://maryofmagdala-mke.org/blog Homily thoughts – 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time – February 1, 2026 To me, there exists no clearer teaching of Jesus on how to put into practice his command of Love than the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). The centerpiece of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Cost of…
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Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com Community blog: https://maryofmagdala-mke.org/blog Introduction for Passionist alums. Many will recall the third-floor porch of the Louisville monastery. Some of us will remember it as our bedroom from mid-Spring into late fall, or, roughly, Easter to Advent, for several years, let’s say 1966-1970. The dozen of us – a…
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What’s so great about the 1950s? Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com Community blog: https://maryofmagdala-mke.org/blog Patrick J. Deneen, a political philosopher from Notre Dame, who announced the death of liberalism in his 2018 book, “Why Liberalism Failed” has proceeded to speculate upon that which best remedies the loss of liberalism’s unrealized promises. You can find…
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Emmanuel: God with us – God within us Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com Community blog: https://maryofmagdala-mke.org/blog By the time Jesus was born the title, “Emmanuel,” had lived in the psyche and history of the Jewish people for 700 years. The first time it occurs is during the reign of King Ahaz and the ministry…
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First Christmas, 1974 Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com Community blog: https://maryofmagdala-mke.org/blog The young associate Pastor’s first Christmas, St. Gemma Church, Detroit Advent, 1974 was my first season of liturgical anticipation at St. Gemma’s Parish. Going on four months into that initial year of ministry, the timing for settling in seemed just about right. All…
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The Cross of Irony Rev. Jim Ryan, PhD — jimryan6885@gmail.com First thoughts on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross When it comes to the Cross, it seems to me, we have lived through a seismic shift that began with a view of exclusion and pious practices. Back when the Roman Church held that…
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Mary Jo Federspiel, Community Member Good morning. First I need to make mention of the fact that you heard an excellent, scholarly, scripturally based homily from Gary last Sunday. Thank you, Gary. Today – you just get me. I also want to mention that the readings for today were somewhat different than the ones with…
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1st Sunday of Advent, December 1, 2024 Gary Meagher, Member Presider “To whom can I speak when no one remembers the wisdom of the past, when no one now helps those who struggle for goodness in the world? To whom can I speak when those who would speak for justice have gone silent and the…
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