Fr. Christian Mathis | October 31, 2008
Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our profession of faith. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but one who was tempted in every way that we are, [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | October 30, 2008
This morning I had the opportunity to meet with one of several small adult faith formation groups that gather weekly at our parish. This year they are focusing on the sacraments and asked me to visit for prayer and discussion.
Two interesting questions brought forward were, “If receiving communion at the Sunday liturgy forgives one’s sins, [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | October 29, 2008
Part of the readings in our Just Faith group this week focused on the work of Dorothy Day. It made me reflect upon the positive influence she has been to me and prompted me to share a small piece of her writing here. She ended her own autobiography, The Long Loneliness with these words,
We were just [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | October 28, 2008
Last week on our diocesan priest retreat, our director suggested to us that it would be interesting to be able to take the time one Sunday to hover over each of the parishes we serve in a helicopter and to watch the flow of parishioners as they leave their houses and make their way to [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | October 26, 2008
One moment that stands out in my mind during my time of pilgrimage in the Holy Land was our visit to the Mount of Beatitudes. We arrived there in late morning and were given time to walk the grounds in quiet reflection. I chose to pull out my Bible and read Matthew’s version of the [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | October 25, 2008
One of the gifts of working for Eckerd Youth Alternatives was the power of music that was always present. It had the power to heal, to unify a group, to help express unspoken emotions, to lighten the mood and to bring a richness to our community in ways that other things might not.
My first memories [...]
Fr. Christian Mathis | October 23, 2008
“Peace be with you, Elton John!” are the first words I heard when turning to give the sign of peace to my friend Brent while at one of our celebrations of the eucharist this past week. Next was laughter from our retreat director who asked with a surprised look on his face, “Elton John?” Brent [...]
