Approaching Lent As A Time To Get Right With God
From the only prayer He taught us, to the Sacraments of the Church He gave us, to His definitive act on the Cross for us; we know that our Lord passionately understands that temptation and sin will be...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on the Grace and Mercy of God (Prodigal Son)
Those of us who have lived far off from God and have/are paying for the choices we made in opposition to Him can truly relate to how grateful the younger son must have been to become merely a dependent...
View ArticleBiblical Teaching on Being Possessed by Christ Jesus
Perhaps one of the most powerful sayings of Jesus in all of sacred Scripture was His last words to this woman – “Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” The call of today’s Sacrifice of the Mass is...
View ArticleA Fresh Perspective on Peter and the Apostles’ Denial
In totality, these Gospel accounts tell us two things, which people often take out of context. The first is that the Lukan version of our Lord’s prophecy held up. The second is that Peter is not the...
View ArticleJesus is Laid in the Tomb (Good Friday Reflection)
After this, Joseph of Arimathea, secretly a disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he could remove the Body of Jesus. And Pilate permitted it. So he came and took His body.
View ArticleOn the Second Confession of Saint Peter
Christ Jesus bestowed upon the Apostle Simon Peter a particular ministry, that he and all those who would succeed him as the Vicar of Christ on Earth would carry out. This reflection concerns the...
View ArticleThe Day I Heard the Lord’s Voice; The Day I Knew Jesus Is Real
I woke up on the morning of October 31, 2003 as the same agnostic/deist that I had been for most of my adult life, but by the end of that day I would actually end up praying to the God who I was unsure...
View ArticleJesus Connects Authentic Discipleship with Love
The call of today's Gospel is for us to continue to work to examine self and environment along the simple boundary that Christ Jesus gave us to do so - 'Have you loved others, as I loved you?'
View ArticleJesus Connects Love with Obedience
It is impossible to be obedient to God without loving Him, and it is impossible to love God without being obedient to Him. Yet, it is when grace works in us to knit the two together that the work of...
View ArticleJesus’ Treatment of the Widow of Nain
The call of today’s Gospel is to be open to God being God in our life, and moving beyond just a cursory attention to what He is doing in our life, and into a continual prayerful consideration of how...
View ArticleThe People Who Love You Are Those Who Know ‘Who’ You Are In Christ
One of the things I love about asking and hearing good questions, is that the good answers that they provoke produce information that you can actually do something with. It's transformative...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on Detachment from the World
This Sunday’s Gospel reading at Mass comes from Luke 9:51-62. The first eleven verses concerns Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and how He was rejected in a Samaritan village. I reflected on those earlier...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on Staying Focused on your Mission
The call of today's Gospel is to stay focused on your mission. Whatever God has called you to do - do that, and be very attentive to how He wants it done, when He wants it done, and where He wants it...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on the Three Responses to the Human Condition
This intimate union between the words love and neighbor is what today's call is all about. With every fiber of our being (mind, body, and soul) we must never fall into responding to the human condition...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching Against Self-Absorption (It’s NOT about are you a Martha or...
It’s common for us in the Catholic tradition to look at the Gospel reading today from Luke 10:38-42, and ask the question, “Are you a Martha or a Mary”, meaning are you the active (busy) type or are...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on the Benefits of Audacious Prayer
Taken together, today’s First and Gospel Readings at Mass addresses one divine thing; that is, God’s audacious response to our audacious petitions. This is a very important teaching, because the one...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on Being Rich for God
Indeed, there is a wealth in this life that is not vain. There is a wealth that comes from God that we gain more of not by hording it or saving it, but, rather, by giving it away. This wealth comes by...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on Almsgiving and Christian Service
At this Sunday’s Mass we will hear the reading from Luke 12:32-48. Here, Luke will continue the emphasis he has been making for a number of chapters, thus far, about disciples of Christ being focused...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on the Neccesity of Division
The call of today's Gospel is for us to embark more deeply upon this journey of purification through the Holy Spirit. It is a journey of true peace that is in contention with the false peace that the...
View ArticleJesus’ Teaching on the Voluntary Exclusivity of Heaven
The call of today’s Gospel reading is for us to be reengaged and rejuvenated in being uncomfortable in the world, while being comfortable In Christ. It is our duty to be living beacons of the light for...
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