In grade school I learned at the final judgment all our deeds would be made known. Everyone would know what we did in life, both bad and good. You might think that knowledge would motivate good actions and deter evil, but think again. When Bernard Madoff admitted his guilt in a multi-billion dollar swindle, he said he always knew the day would come when he would stand before the justice of the law. Clearly that knowledge did not deter him from continuing his scam right up to his arrest.

Not all the parishes will be reading the same Scripture passages at Mass this Sunday and the two following. Catholic Sunday Mass readings are divided into three annual cycles. This year we are in Cycle B. However, in any parish where candidates are being prepared to receive the sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil, the readings are taken from Cycle A. So much for the notion that Catholics do the same thing everywhere and always.

There is a man of faith I have been counseling who lost his 19-year-old son through suicide. The boy was his life and more - the redemption of all his father had failed to be. Can you imagine the devastation of a man who now thinks of God as too distant to save his son from death? But Abraham's dilemma (Genesis 22) was that God asked him to sacrifice his son whom he had hoped would be his redemption from passing away into nothingness. What kind of God demands the sacrifice of one's son?

This Lent begins with a rainbow (Genesis 9:8-15). On this first Sunday of Lent, an instrument of violence is the sign of peace and even of joy. How can that be?

But that is what every rainbow does for the heart, it signals peace after the storm. My heart rejoices and I smile every time I see one. Yet this bow is the instrument of violence of the mighty warrior God who fought on the side of the Hebrews and was used to defeat his enemies.

Half a lifetime ago, the Lord taught me a prayer. Although I have lived it for the last three decades, I still have a long way to go to live it fully. Along the way I have taught the prayer to countless others and each time the reaction is the same. The head nods, the eyes fix on the words, and a quick knowing breath sounds a wordless Amen: "Let it be so." It is as if the same spirit in each of us recognizes the prayer's utter challenge.

The Conversion of St. Paul is usually celebrated on Jan. 25, but this year it is only an optional celebration because it lands on a Sunday, the day each week the church remembers the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

That risen Savior appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus where Paul was journeying to arrest Christian Jews and bring them back to Jerusalem for trial as heretics. Jesus, using his Jewish name, asked him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

Having no children has not kept me from having grandchildren, at least the honorary kind. In fact, I have two sets. The Filipino ones live in St. Louis and the Norwegian ones in Denver. So perhaps you will understand when I say my fourth-grade Filipino grandson is a very swift runner. He is so good at racing that he says his real competition is himself. He keeps trying to better his own record - he is sometimes successful and sometimes disappointed. Although once he broke his leg skiing, he recovered to race again.

The Christmas tree is out of the house, the wrappings tossed and the lights put away, but something else is stirring. Those wise enough can see it. It is the Epiphany of the Lord, a revelation of the meaning of Christmas that lingers into January and insinuates itself into the real situations of life as much as Christmas stirs our dreams of a fuller life.

Christmas is a time for worship and so I offer some prayers for those who would like to make Christmas a part of their worship all year long.

A reporter called to ask if our parish was doing something new and different this year to prepare for Christmas, perhaps some musical performance. While he was at it he also asked if there was anything new I had thought of to say in my Christmas homily.

Why are so many Catholics not worshiping at Sunday Mass? In 1972 about 50 percent of registered parishioners participated weekly in Mass. Now about 30 percent do.

Once again sexual addiction is in the news! The recently resigned governor of New York has admitted involvement with prostitutes. Such behavior is more likely the sign of an addiction rather than just a momentary indiscretion.

Years of historical study have not kept me from being amazed by current trends. But I was shocked by the advertisement in our local paper offering to use cremains, the ashes after cremation, to make a diamond to be worn in memory of the deceased. Funeral practices change with new technologies and are widely diverse among countries and cultures but the Catholic Church living among all these has a faith that seeks to honor the diversity while preserving God's revelation in Christ. I hope my surprise is actually a feature of my Catholic faith in the resurrection of the body.

This weekend, 250 people gathered in Springfield for a day of reflection on women in the ministry of Jesus. The gathering featured reflection on the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well (John 4:5-52).

A pastor mentioned to his priest friends that he had not taken a vacation in 10 years. A brother priest responded, "You ought to take one for the sake of your people."

Two years ago, I asked our parishioners to eat chocolate. We got a big response; in fact, we sold out of our free trade chocolate and coffee. And parishioners wrote to several international companies asking them to stop the trafficking in child labor that sustains their huge profits. Free trade chocolate, like all free trade products, provides more money for the families that grow the product by bypassing the companies that otherwise have a monopoly on the market.

What would you say about Jesus to a group of Christians made up of 50 percent ethnic Jews and 50 percent non-Jews? That was only one of the major questions facing Matthew when he wrote the Gospel account which bears his name. I begin teaching a five-week course on Matthew on Jan. 24 and the public is invited. I suspect we will have at least as diverse a group as Matthew had in Antioch and the questions may be at least as vexing. I hope if you read any further you will be enticed to come.