Browsing Fr. Jasper's Homily

Open Arms

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

For nearly a week my brother had been hospitalized with some serious health complications, and so my family spent most of our days with him, enduring the seemingly-endless testing, the fear and boredom, and the 90-something-year-old roommate.

I’m not sure what purgatory is like, but I sometimes get ... Read More »

The Voice

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

I am convinced that pre-K teachers are saints who walk among us.

Many years ago, I was privileged to teach alongside a woman who has worked with children under the age of 5 for at least three decades now.  She herself had (and still has) a childlike joy ... Read More »

Where We Started From

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

Hearken back to the day of your First Communion: do you remember what you wore?  No doubt, most of us who received the Sacrament for the first time in second grade (or thereabouts) looked like little brides and grooms coming down the center aisle of our parish churches: ... Read More »

Divine Mercy Sunday

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

My one forever-memory of Pope Francis will probably always be associated with a Johnny-on-the-Spot.  A port-a-john.  The porta-potty.  (What is the official name for such things?)

When the Holy Father came to Washington D.C. in September 2015, I was a third-year seminarian at the time, and our entire ... Read More »

What If

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

It was sudden and dramatic. 

Television news aired the moment that a massive tree fell on top of a mid-size SUV stopped at a traffic light along a roadway in Kennett Square, Pa.  The car was obliterated from just beyond the driver-side door all the way to the ... Read More »

Shame No More

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

His father called him “Quad,” the fourth in a line of men who shared the same name and passed it down through the generations.  While in school, however, his teachers called Quad by his baptismal name, especially when he was in trouble – which happened to be quite ... Read More »

From Where I Stand

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

It may, in fact, be the most important question we ask ourselves this Lent: Where am I standing?

Am I in the sty?  In the field?  On the porch?

All three locations capture the heart of the spiritual journey, and all three have ramifications for accepting the grace ... Read More »

Let It Alone Challenge

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

The first time I remember consciously becoming aware of the question: “Why do good people seem to randomly suffer?” happened during the World Series Game between Oakland and San Francisco in October 1989.  At the start of Game 3 at 5 p.m., a 6.9 earthquake rocked the Bay ... Read More »

A Shore Thing

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

We were in a small group sitting on the beach, a motley crew of high school boys attending their senior retreat at the Jersey Shore: a couple of athletes, the lead of the school shows, one very quiet academic kid, and two boys that were hard to pigeonhole ... Read More »

Led by Love (UD homily)

Posted by Peg O'Donnell

 

Why would God do it?  Luke comes straight to the point at the beginning of the Gospel for this first Sunday of Lent: “The Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted.”  In other words, Love led God into the desert.  Nothing but Love.

The “desert experience” ... Read More »