Lenten Reflections

This Lenten season, Michael Simone, S.J., and Brian Dunkle, S.J., STL ’09, will offer weekly reflections to help you prepare for Easter.

Michael R. Simone, S.J.

Michael R. Simone, S.J., is a Jesuit priest of the USA Midwest Province. After undergraduate studies at John Carroll University and graduate work at Weston Jesuit School of Theology, he attended Johns Hopkins University where he received a PhD in Northwest Semitics and Assyriology. He currently teaches Scripture at Boston College’s School of Theology and Ministry, and his research focuses on ritual and imagination in the religions of the ancient Near East. Fr. Simone is a former columnist for America Magazine and is currently a volunteer chaplain at MCI Cedar Junction.

Brian Dunkle, S.J., STL’09

Brian Dunkle, S.J., STL ’09, is assistant professor of Historical Theology at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. A member of the East Coast Province of the Jesuits, Fr. Dunkle studies early Christianity, the theology of the Fathers of the Church (patristics), and the development of liturgical hymns. He serves in the Archdiocese of Boston as a spiritual director and a weekend assistant at parishes in Everett and Revere, as well as at the correctional institutes of Concord.

Third Sunday of Lent Reflection

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus gets his message across not with a parable or a sermon, but with a whip of cords. He overturns tables, releases animals intended for sacrifice, and disrupts the sacrificial system of the temple. What caused Jesus to become so incensed?

Second Sunday of Lent Reflection

Years ago I saw a man transfigured. I was attending a 12-step recovery meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that took place at First Baptist Church on Central Square.

First Sunday of Lent Reflection

Lent is a time of growth. These weeks leading up to Easter are a time to let God guide us into new ways of living our lives, new efforts at self-discipline, and new habits of generosity and forgiveness.

Ash Wednesday Reflection

“Too often, when I look into my heart, all I see is a lot of me. There’s not much room there for anyone else, and that’s my real problem.” These were words spoken at the meeting of a 12-step fellowship not too long ago.