I have to admit that I am not a big fan of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” the musical. Perhaps it is my own personal inclinations, my own disposition, but something about Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s “rock opera musical” I really don’t like.

When I was leaving my very first priestly assignment as a young parochial vicar, I was, naturally enough, very sad.

On this fifth Sunday of Lent, we read from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Our loving and just God speaks, through the prophet, about the nature of the Covenant.

This third chapter of the Gospel of John is a curious one. In it, we have the Lord’s dialogue with Nicodemus. They meet at night. You might note that this dialogue quickly becomes a monologue between Nicodemus and Jesus quite soon after it begins.

You might notice that in this “Year B” cycle of our lectionary, which is dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel according to St. Mark, we are now reading from another Gospel altogether, that of St. John.

As a kid growing up, I never looked forward to the season of Lent. In preparing for these 40 days of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, my family would constantly ask me, “What are you giving up for Lent?”

As a kid growing up, I had a deep fascination with famous people. Whether they were actors, singers or sports stars, if I saw them on television, then they were famous!

While the Church has not formally approved the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary said to be occurring for roughly 40 years in Medjugorje, there is no denying this village in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a place of great faith.