McGrath Institute Blog

Elijah was having a good day, until he wasn’t. He had just defeated hundreds of false prophets on his own, then brought rain down upon the drought-stricken Israel, all in the sight of the king who had been seeking his downfall. The Israelites flocked to Elijah’s God, leaving behind their divided allegiance to other deities. It was a good day––until Jezebel heard what Elijah had done.

Editorial note: This blog is the second in a six-part series featuring our free Lenten resource, "A Scriptural Pilgrimage to Christ Through Lent," written by Lenny DeLorenzo.

“May we bear the wounds of your Son, for through his body he gave us life.”

That’s a hard prayer to pray, but that’s what the Church instructs us to pray on Wednesday morning in the second week of Lent. Who could possibly beg to receive wounds? We are much more comfortable praying to be relieved of our wounds. And yet, the wounds of Christ are the source of healing for our own wounds. To accept his wounds is to be healed of ours.

Editorial note: This blog is the first in a six-part series featuring our free Lenten resource, "A Scriptural Pilgrimage to Christ Through Lent," written by Lenny DeLorenzo. 

In the center of Notre Dame’s campus is a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The words “Venite Ad Me Omnes” are engraved on the pedestal beneath the figure of Christ with outstretched arms. This is the Son of God who descended from the Father to become one with us. He went all the way down to the bottom of who and what we are, all the while beckoning: “come to me, everyone.”

Editorial Note: The following is an excerpt from an essay entitled "Kobe Bryant and the Bread of Life," published at Church Life Journal on February 4, 2020.

Nine people died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020. Their names are John, Keri, Alyssa, Sarah, Payton, Christina, Ara, Gianna, and Kobe. Each of them is mourned by those who love them. Three of them were children. Other children lost their parents and siblings in the crash. Spouses were widowed. It is all a tragedy.

The reason the tragedy has dominated the news for consecutive cycles is because of the one person whose last name did not need to be published for us to know who he was: Kobe. His death is no more a tragedy than the deaths of the other eight; if anything, his daughter’s and her friends’ deaths are even more tragic. But Kobe is the one we all knew and I knew him no better than you did. But I loved him.