Reflections
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the Second Sunday of Advent, Year A, December 7, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 12/06/25
As TV News and programs become increasingly unwatchable these days, I’ve made the conscious decision to only watch the Animal Channels. There, the big cats—tigers, lions, Chita, leopards are the lords of the wild, and they easily make meal of all other wildlife, big or small. Yet, occasionally I’ll ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the First Sunday of Advent, Year A, November 30, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 11/28/25
In his Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis has a line of reflection for people slow to turn from evil and reform their lives: Student-devils were getting prepared to be dispatched to the earth to complete their coursework in causing mayhem. Satan held a one-on-one interview with each of them. To ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe Year, Year C, November 23, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 11/28/25
For a Hebrew person, the name David represented strength, wisdom, conquest, leadership. Despite his recorded moral misadventures, the Jews remember him as their most illustrious leader. When they suffered terrible persecution under foreign rulers who enslaved and oppressed them, they remembered David and hoped for a king with the ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, November 16, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 11/14/25
The clock in my office won’t work, even after replacing the batteries, so I went to buy a new clock. Getting back to the car, I saw a ticket tucked to the windshield, which got me really upset! I exited the vehicle to check whether I had parked wrongly ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Year C, November 9, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 11/06/25
Today, we celebrate the consecration of one of our most holy places in Christendom called St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome—the cathedral church of the pope, and the Mother Church of all churches in the world. Some think it a mistake when they hear that St. John Lateran—not St. ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Soul's Day), Year C, November 2, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 11/01/25
On a certain All Souls’ Day, I asked parishioners how many of them would love to go to purgatory, and nearly every hand in the church went up. While I was edified by their faith in the purifying grace of purgatory, I asked them to aim instead to go ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, October 26, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 10/24/25
I learned that the reason why folks prefer the back row when they come to Mass is to identify with the humility of the tax collector in today’s gospel: and I say, “Bravo” to the back-seaters. I do hope, though, that the back-seaters do not develop the attitude of ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, October 19, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 10/18/25
A priest went with a friend to a boxing match. At the introduction of the contestants, one of the boxers approached the ring wearing a rosary bead round his neck. As the gong sounded to start the contest, the ‘devout’ boxer added a triple sign of the cross. Seeing ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, October 12, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 10/10/25
A newly elected mayor of a certain city was seeking the support of all stakeholders in his constituency. He had heard much about the priest in the city’s small Catholic Church and invited him out to dinner at an expensive restaurant, to which the priest obliged with gratitude. As ... Read More »
Fr. Jo's Reflection for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, October 5, 2025
Posted by John Wolf on 10/03/25
A few months before my priestly ordination, I was going through a pile of books in an old bookstore and came across a book with the title: “Is There Anyone There?” It sounded like a question that came from the deepest part of me, given that at that time, ... Read More »