Mike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada HomepageMike Landry: Catholic speaker, writer, & music minister in Alberta, Canada

Eucharist

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Meditation for Holy Thursday

Public Domain (source)
Public Domain (source)

Today is Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Easter Triduum, a three day feast which remembers for us the events of Christ’s Paschal mystery.  Although we celebrate them over three days (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday), they make up one single feast in the life of the Church.  If you want to know more about what’s going on, check out the www.BustedHalo.com video Holy Week in 2 minutes (it is embedded below), and the USCCB has answers to some questions you might have about Holy Thursday (click here). [Read more…] about Meditation for Holy Thursday

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Unfolding John 2:1-12 (The Wedding at Cana)

In a lot of ways, it’s fitting that Jesus’ first miracle takes place at a wedding.  Marriage is one of the key threads found throughout scripture: the Bible begins with a married couple in the garden of Eden (the early chapters of Genesis) and concludes with the wedding feast of the Lamb in the book of Revelation.  Woven throughout scripture, the relationship between humanity & God is often compared to a marriage, with God being the groom and we the (often unfaithful) bride.  Jesus’ presence at a wedding that early in the Gospel recognizes the tremendous value of marriage, which He elevates to the dignity of a Sacrament in the life of our Church.

That being said, what Jesus does at this particular wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12) teaches us several notable things about Him, about the Kingdom of God, and about what God wants for you and I. [Read more…] about Unfolding John 2:1-12 (The Wedding at Cana)

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Audacious Faith: “This IS my body…”

Leonardo da Vinci [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Leonardo da Vinci [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Every Sunday, from the time I was seven years old, I would walk up the aisle of my local parish Church.  When I got to the front of the line, the priest or auxiliary minister of communion would hold up a flat, round, white host and declare reverently “The Body of Christ,” to which I would reply with equal reverence “Amen.”  What did all of this mean?  I don’t know.  What I do know is that afterwards, I was to return to my pew, kneel, and say a prayer of some sort.

In spite of the fact that I had attended Mass from the time I was a child, and that my parish priest had tried (in vain) to explain to me what was really going on at the Mass, this ritual was meaningless to me up until my teenage years, when I found myself on a retreat asking someone what the term “Blessed Sacrament” meant.  The answer?

[Read more…] about Audacious Faith: “This IS my body…”

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Unfolding Scripture: God’s Covenant with Moses

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Following the time of Abraham, the people of God embark on an incredible journey.  There’s some good, there’s some bad, and there’s some ugly.  The descendants of Israel (Jacob) had grown from twelve sons into twelve tribes – and they’d gone to live in Egypt, as God had used the jealousy of brothers to save his people.  Unfortunately for the Israelites, their time in Egypt had taken a turn for the worse so that at the time of Moses’ birth, they found themselves in Egypt working as Pharaoh’s slaves and crying out desperately for a rescue.

God’s family plan made its way down the river, in the basket (Exodus 2:1-4)… and God again chose an unlikely hero. [Read more…] about Unfolding Scripture: God’s Covenant with Moses

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Unfolding Scripture: Mark 14

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Mark 14 is one of the longest chapters in the Gospel of Mark, spanning the sequence from Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem and the Last Supper up until His arrest and Peter’s subsequent betrayal.  There’s a lot of action – and many moments to which many of us can relate.

This chapter begins with a conspiracy against Jesus (Mark 14:1-2), and Judas’ decision to turn Jesus in (Mark 14:10-11). [Read more…] about Unfolding Scripture: Mark 14