Mary M. McGlone

Scripture for Life: From Samuel to Jesus and the disciples, it's all about looking, listening and hearing, attitudes that lead to discovering who we are and are called to be. It's all about vocation: seeking and listening.

Scripture for Life: "Epiphany" refers to a manifestation of God or an insight into the deep meaning of something. Epiphany is beyond our control. Epiphany happens to people willing to have their minds changed.

Scripture for Life: The Creator did not exercise power and might, but set the universe on a course of evolution in which divine love would one day take on flesh and need to rely on the goodwill of people.

Scripture for Life: Today, the Spirit of the Lord urges us to rejoice because we know that the hungry can be fed and the brokenhearted healed.

Today, we hear some of Isaiah's most famous lines, "Prepare the way of the Lord! ... The glory of the Lord shall be revealed. All people shall see it together."

Scripture for Life: As we begin Advent, we might recall some of our most memorable experiences of anticipation. Waiting reminds us that, like it or not, we don’t control the universe. 

Scripture for Life: We celebrate this Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, on the heels of the first session of the synod on synodality. The synod is calling us to learn how to journey together as church and as the people of the world. 

Scripture for Life: Genuine thanksgiving will motivate us to accept the trust put in us and imitate God's limitless liberality.

Scripture for Life: Where can we find wisdom or knowledge of God? Today's first reading makes a promise: She is "found by those who seek her," and, "She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire."

Scripture for Life: Young or old, celibate or in a committed relationship, no matter our gender, all God asks is that we give of ourselves exactly as we are — and that we give our all.

Scripture for Life: Avoiding meticulous mandates, Jesus invites us to deeper considerations. By recalling Genesis and the human vocation to be icons of the divine, he calls forth our creativity.

Scripture for Life: What if we thought of our calling, our vocation, as an invitation to "the good life" in the sense of a life of fulfillment, joy, celebration, commitment, laughter and love? 

Today's readings invite us into at least two styles of prayer. The first, as Paul says, is to pray with the trust that produces peace, remembering that God urges us toward unimaginable good in every circumstance. 

Scripture for Life: If we resist the idea of learning from the other, we must be hearing this Sunday's readings correctly — the Scriptures are supposed to challenge us.

Scripture for Life: Sometimes we look at religion as a transactional affair: If we do good, we'll get rewarded, if not, we'll be punished. Thus, like Constantine, we shoot for the best we can get with the least disturbance to other priorities. 

Scripture for Life: Sirach talked about cherishing wrath. That seems to be the direct route to self-inflicted torment. How about the alternative of cherishing gratitude? 

Scripture for Life: In this second week of the 2023 Season of Creation, we are called to take up our vocation as creation's caretakers without delay.

Scripture for Life: Both Jeremiah and Peter had a bone to pick with God. But Jeremiah received a new perspective. Nothing was forced on him. Nor on Peter and friends.

Today, we find ourselves called to answer Jesus' question for ourselves. Happily, we don't need to figure it out alone, nor live it alone.

Scripture for Life: Concerns about who is in and who is out are as old as nature. As Isaiah, Jesus and Paul knew well, it's hard to free people from their ethnocentrism — the pride being part of an exclusive pack.