image of Mary in the Church of the Annuciation in Nazareth I had the opportunity over 10 years to visit the Holy Land. On our last day, we went to Nazareth and went to the Church of the Annunciation. It is hard to describe what it was like to read Luke’s account of the Annunciation in the very place where it happened. I have not read the story the same since. In that sacred place, God became human through the simple yes of a poor young woman. Mary’s yes has resounded since. H

Last Lent. when I led Matt Rowles series on the Passion Narratives, The Final Days, one line from the series has stayed with me for the entire year. The line basically said that when we sing the hymn, “Lift High the Cross”, are we really saying that we Christians do that to avoid the reality of Jesus’s call and example: that the Cross is carried by so many in our world and we do not see it and the reality of what Jesus says, “Take up your Cross and follow me”. If we lift it

Today’s first reading about Susanna is tough one to hear. This poor young woman was exploited the old men, and they blamed her for what they wanted to do. Many women today are exploited or shunned by society: Women who are struggling to make ends meet and are on Social Service Young women sold into human trafficking. Women who are exploited in the porn industry and made into objects Women in domestic violence situations