‘Tis the Season, but What’s the Question? © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com So I find myself on the First Sunday of Advent in a church, let’s call it the cathedral church of an upper Midwest city, because it’s Thanksgiving weekend and it’s the annual gathering of one side of our families. To be familial…
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“’Summer’s a comin’ – the power of an idea” © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Homily Thoughts on 33nd Sunday of Ordinary Time As the liturgical cycle concludes, as it always does, with a consideration of “Final Things” today’s Gospel speaks of end-time. It occurs to me that the message of end-of-time and second coming…
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“The Gift & The Riddle” © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Back in the day, at this end-time of both the calendar year and the liturgical cycle, Parish Missions took place in many local Catholic churches. Those of a certain age will remember the preachers coming to their parish to spend a week of evening…
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Demons in face of Salvation © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Seasonal change has come again. This one is that of reduced light and increased dark. This one is that of bringing in the harvest now that Spring’s sowing and Summer’s growing has proven productive. This one is of moving indoors – snow is not…
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“One in the Many” © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Celebrating the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 18, 2015 So, last Wednesday was one of those crisp and clear Fall days in Wisconsin that shocks a person into an immediate sense of the beauty that surrounds us. As the French philosopher Blaise Pascal said,…
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Bring Me an Easter Lily in the Fall © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com It’s October 1. Easter Lilies are blooming in our garden. That may seem a bit against the natural cycle of things, nature wherein white lilies appear at Easter, you know, in the Spring. Well, first of all we’re probably all clear…
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“Branded yet reforming” © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com For some reason Pope Francis’ visits to Cuba and the United States have raised a resurgence of brand loyalty in me, perhaps in you also. Those of us who have the brand of “Roman Catholic” imprinted on us and in us may have had moments of…
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“What’s an inclusive, progressive Catholic to do ….. next?”© by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com You find yourself, after signing the petitions, writing the letters, demonstrating, protesting…. You find yourself after educating yourself, attending the conferences, reaching out for mutual understanding…. You find yourself after praying with and for each other, sharing the depth of each…
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“Word for the weary and Revelation for the humble” © by Rev. Jim Ryan, jimryan6885@gmail.com Isaiah speaks to us today to remind us of the purpose of the Word of God by saying the prophet “sustains the weary with a word.” This word for the weary, this reminder that the Word of God has a…
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I saw the film, “Jimmy’s Hall” yesterday. Among other lessons conveyed, it seems to me, is the one that reminds us that oftentimes the most brutal wars are the local and neighborhood ones. If you haven’t seen the film it is based in the very turbulent, of course, Irish history of the 1930s. The worldwide…
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