The great Canadian Jesuit theologian Bernard Lonergan used to say: “Be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, and be responsible.” To what are you attentive?

If you’re like most U.S. citizens, you have at least one daily interface with a news report. If you use a cell phone or computer, headlines about breaking events are leaping out at you by the hour. Whether you get your news from television and magazines or electronically delivered services, one common feature of news outlets is that the news is generally bad.

One day people were standing around talking about the Temple, remarking how beautiful it was, the splendor of its stonework and memorial gifts. Jesus said, “All this you’re admiring so much—the time is coming when every stone in that building will end up in a heap of rubble.”

Like many people my age, I had an inordinate childhood fear of quicksand. From movies and TV shows I learned that I couldn’t always count on the ground beneath my feet. I also learned, though, that the more you struggled, the faster you sank.

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

I shall not fear anyone on Earth. I shall fear only God.