So often when one thinks of medicine in the bible their mind immediately turns to the parable of the Good Samaritan. While this certainly makes sense, the challenge with this parable is that we are so familiar with it, which perhaps that familiarity prevents the parable from speaking to us in our present context. So… Continue reading On the Good Samaritan & the Practice of Medicine
Author: peterjfonseca
Annual Day of Recollection for the Teachers of John Paul II Prep
Aristotle rightly taught that things should be evaluated in relationship to their purpose or end, their telos. For Aristotle, a good knife is one that cuts, because the purpose of a knife is to cut. If a knife no longer cuts well, we either sharpen it or we dispose of it and buy a new… Continue reading Annual Day of Recollection for the Teachers of John Paul II Prep
Homily for the Graduation Mass of Pope St. John Paul II Prep Class of 2023
Gathering to celebrate the commencement services for the St. John Paul II preparatory school class of 2023, the Church commemorates the Ascension of our Lord. Today, we celebrate that moment when Christ, having already thrown open the gates of heaven through His passion, death, and resurrection, ascended to the right hand of the Father, where,… Continue reading Homily for the Graduation Mass of Pope St. John Paul II Prep Class of 2023
6th Sunday of Easter Year A / Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day! Like many of you, over the past several days, I have been thinking a lot about what to get my mom for Mother’s Day. As I was dreading the reality that I might actually have to go shopping, it dawned on me that perhaps I have already given her the best gift… Continue reading 6th Sunday of Easter Year A / Mother’s Day
5th Sunday of Easter Year A
There are really not many guarantees in the world today, but there is one guarantee for each and every one of us. It is a guarantee many of us don’t want to think about, a guarantee many of us do not want to talk about, a guarantee that many of us don’t want to plan… Continue reading 5th Sunday of Easter Year A
Choose Life: What is on the Horizon
A reflection for the Archdiocese of St. Louis’s CHOOSE LIFE Lenten Pro-Life Series February 26, 2023 As an ethicist, I am afforded the privilege of challenging our world to step back from individual solutions to ensure that the practical goods they are pursuing are aimed at man’s absolute good. In a culture, that so often… Continue reading Choose Life: What is on the Horizon
Wedding Homily for my sister and brother in law
Vanity of vanities, what a way to start readings for a wedding Mass. These are certainly not the readings we are used to hearing at a wedding Mass, but since this Mass takes place on a Saturday evening, and this Mass counts for your Sunday obligation, we are instructed to use the readings for the… Continue reading Wedding Homily for my sister and brother in law
4th of July Homily
Tomorrow our nation celebrates our 246th birthday. In the history of countries that is a long time for one nation to be around. This weekend as we gather as a country to celebrate our nation’s birth, I think we need to step back and ask ourselves where are we as a country and where are… Continue reading 4th of July Homily
2022 Baccalaureate Mass Homily for John Paul II Prep
This afternoon, as we gather to close out another academic year and celebrate the graduation of the class of 2022, it only seems appropriate that we thank God for bringing us to this point. And so, it is appropriate that we begin our graduation exercises with this great act of thanksgiving, the holy sacrifice of… Continue reading 2022 Baccalaureate Mass Homily for John Paul II Prep
Good Friday
We call today Good Friday, but hearing the story of how Jesus is treated, of watching Him suffer on the cross, a death so brutal that Roman citizens could not be crucified, it almost seems ostentatious that we would even dare call today good. Yet today is good, because as Isaiah tells us in our… Continue reading Good Friday
Through The Cross To Light 