It is interesting to note that in today’s Gospel reading from John, Jesus spoke to those who “believed in him” (Jn 8:31). But the more he talked, the less they seemed to understand who he was: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” His listeners balked at the word “free”, asserting that because they were ancestors of Abraham they have never been enslaved by anybody.

In the United States of America, freedom is also highly valued. Many of us would probably react very much in the same way. We may have different ways of expressing why we feel that we are free, but we would certainly assert that we are not enslaved to anybody or anything.

Jesus’ words ring just as true then as they do today: “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” Jesus shined his light on the truth that many of us do not see, which is our enslavement to sin. If we truly seek to be free, then we need to acknowledge this point. What many of us claim to be freedom, doing whatever we want to do, when we want to and how we want to do it, is not true freedom. We cannot even hear the clanking of the chains or feel the weight of the shackles chaffing at our skin as we raise and shake our fists to assert our freedom of indifference!

Our response to Jesus’ statement: “who commits sin is a slave of sin” ought not to be one of hiding, denying, rationalizing, attacking or fleeing. It is better to embrace the truth that Jesus is placing before us. In this way, we allow his light to expose the darkness in our heart where sin speaks and where we have said yes to engaging in those sins. Becoming aware of our fault for those things we have done and have failed to do is the first step in healing and moving toward true freedom.

When Pope Francis was asked in an interview, “Who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio?” he answered, “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and I accept in a spirit of penance.” We are all sinners because of the fact that we all in some form or fashion place idols before God. This is not a negative, pessimistic, or defeatist attitude, quite the contrary. When we call out our sin in truth, we can be free from it. When we think our life is about us first and foremost, and ignore or rationalize our sin then we are enslaved, such that it chokes and threatens to undo us. Then we experience its debilitating effects and succumb or attempt to free ourselves because the process becomes likened to a Chinese finger trap. The more we pull to escape, the tighter the grasp.

We become free from our sins by acknowledging that we are sinners. This does mean we are awful people. It just means that we have fallen for an apparent good instead of the true Good that God wants for us. We also cannot ultimately be freed by our efforts alone. We need to work in collaboration with the mercy of Jesus. We need a savior.

Jesus accepts us as sinners, as we are. We do not have to be perfect or have our house in order for him to come to be present with us, for he is already waiting for us. We do not need to be worthy, we just need to be willing to open the door when he knocks, and invite him into the chaos of our lives so he can heal us with his grace, love, and mercy. “So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free.” Let Jesus in today, and each day thereafter, so the slow and steady process of healing can begin.

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Photo: Crucifix in the sanctuary of the cathedral, St Ignatius of Loyola, PBG, FL

Link for the interview with Pope Francis from America Magazine, September 30, 2013

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, March 24, 2021

“You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world” (Jn 8:23).

Jesus is not making a judgment on humanity or creation. All that God has created is good, including us. If that were not so, the Son of God would not have become one of us in our humanity. Jesus is the incarnate Son of God. He is one divine person, the Son, with a human and a divine nature, as well as a human and divine will. Jesus came to restore that which was lost in the fall. Jesus came to heal and restore us to the fullness of our likeness and image, the full reality of who his Father created us to be.

The “world” is the finite reality of the fallen human condition apart from our participation in the will of God. It is the apparent good of claiming that we know best and that we do not need God. The world is a distortion of what God intended, humanity as well as creation. This continues because of our turning away from the spiritual reality of God’s kingdom, the refusal to care for each other and the earth that God has given us by using and abusing humanity and the vast natural resources for our own selfish gain. God’s grace builds on nature when we willingly accept God’s invitation to participate and collaborate with his will.

We are only passing through this fallen and weary world. We are pilgrims on a journey. Each day we can choose to contribute to the false narrative of a world devoid of the reality of God, that fuels countless acts of inhumanity, violence, wars, and environmental degradation in which we merely exist for a time and are gone. Or we can choose to align ourselves with the One who came to restore and transform us.

Each day we can choose to follow the will of God to support the dignity of each human being, be advocates of access, healing, and reconciliation as well as be peacemakers and faithful stewards of the earth. Each day we can make a difference by choosing to belong to what is above, so that God’s will can be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Photo: A good model for us in this matter, St. Francis of Assisi – taken at the cathedral of St. Ignatius of Loyola in Paim Beach Gardens, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, April 5, 2022

In the preceding verse (Jn 8:12), the Pharisees do not believe in Jesus’ claim that he is “the light of the world” because he testifies on his “own behalf, so [his] testimony cannot be verified” (Jn 8:13). The point being made here is that for verification there must be support given by two or three valid witnesses (cf. Deuteronomy 19:15). Jesus testifies on his own behalf as does his Father who sent him (cf. Jn 8:19). His witness in this matter is God.

Jesus continues in today’s Gospel account to attempt to help the Pharisees and those gathered around them to understand who he is and what is about to transpire regarding his crucifixion. Jesus shared that God his Father sent him and continues to be with him. The Father has not left Jesus alone because Jesus maintains the intimacy of their relationship as he follows the will of his Father and will continue to do so all the way to being lifted up on the Cross.

Those listening to Jesus do not understand. They asked if he was talking about killing himself. Often throughout the ministry of Jesus many, even his Apostles, do not understand what Jesus taught, and that was because they were trying to make sense of what he said from this purely material and finite reality. Jesus invited them to seek a deeper understanding by sharing that he is from above and they were from below. They were needing to be born from above, to open their minds and hearts to him, as Simon Peter did when he came to realize that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus gave those he taught a choice. They could die in their own sin or repent and choose to live in participation with him.

Discipleship is a journey. We will not come to understand Jesus from one instance or encounter. Even Saul, who had an amazing experience and encounter with Jesus and changed his name to Paul, would take about three years to begin to digest the significance of what happened to him that day on the road to Damascus. It will be so with us as well. We need to resist the world’s craving for instant gratification, especially regarding the growth of our discipleship and spiritual maturity.

We will develop on our faith journey when we acknowledge and repent from our sin, believe in, and respond to the invitation of Jesus, which is not a one time event. We are to remain committed and walk with Jesus day by day, moment by moment, and follow the will of his Father as he did. The gift of the liturgical seasons is that as we walk each year with Jesus and assess our growth, we will, like a finger making an upward spiral motion, come again and again to the same point each year, hopefully, higher up that spiral each time.

Sometimes it is hard to see changes in our daily reality, but over time and with the gift of hindsight, we can discover that we indeed have made a closer walk with Jesus a reality. Regarding areas we can honestly assess that this is not so, it is not too late to begin again, to repent from that which keeps us bound to this world and turn our gaze to that which is above. Jesus made his choice to follow the will of his Father, to be lifted up, and to die on the cross for us. We too have been given a choice. We can hold tight to our selfish nature and curve in upon ourselves or we can open our heart to the cross, receive what Jesus offers, and be free.

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Picture: Mosaic of Crucifixion from Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, April 4, 2022

In today’s Gospel account from John, many people gathered around Jesus in the temple area and were sitting and listening to him, when a horrific display of human wickedness breaks in as, “the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle” (Jn 8:3).

This act of depravity is worse if we spend any time thinking about this verse. This was a calculated plan hatched by the scribes and Pharisees. They had been watching this woman for the opportune time to break in and catch her, using their own words of accusation, in “the very act of committing adultery” (Jn 8:4). If this group was this calculated and malicious, they would not have probably even given her the opportunity to put her clothes on, but grabbed her and brought her to the temple area.

The shame that this woman must have had to endure as she was dragged openly and publicly through the streets was made worse because this crowd brought her to the temple area. The temple was where people came to give sacrifice to atone for their sins and to worship God. What was worse was that the dehumanization of this woman most likely had nothing to do with bringing her to repentance, but had all to do with demeaning her for their own twisted ends to trap Jesus.

The Pharisees and scribes hatched this plot just to trap Jesus in what they believed was a fool proof way to bring charges against him. If Jesus did not follow the law of Moses and condemn her to be stoned, he could be charged for speaking out against the Mosaic law. If he did condemn her, he would have lost face in front of all those who had come to listen to him preach as he often had done about the mercy and forgiveness of God his Father.

The response of Jesus was to give some visual aid to another of his teachings of taking the log out of your own eye before you seek to remove the splinter in another’s (cf. Mt 7:5). Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger (Jn 8:6). We do not know what Jesus wrote in the dirt that day. St Augustine proposed that he was writing the sins of those gathered around him as they were waiting for his judgment.

This makes sense, for when Jesus stood up he said, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (Jn 8:7). Jesus then knelt back down and continued to write on the ground. One by one, starting with the elders, the accusers, and even those who had gathered to listen to Jesus that morning, all walked away.

Jesus stood to find only the woman standing before him. This is the first time he addressed her. He asked where her accusers were, and “Has no one condemned you?” She replied with three simple words, “No one, sir.” And Jesus replied, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more” (Jn 8:8-11). Jesus did not seek to inflict any more shame on this woman but instead he forgave her.

Jesus and the woman stood facing each other in the temple area, a stone’s throw away from where the Mercy Seat of God was present in the Temple. Jesus met this woman’s shame and misery with compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. He cleansed the Temple of the hypocrisy of those Pharisees and scribes who had darkened the Temple area that day. He did convict the woman of her sin, but did so in a way that respected her dignity, unlike those who hauled her out publicly to humiliate her for their own malicious purposes, but in private, when all had gone.

Though the compassion, love, and mercy, of Jesus, I can imagine, that the woman who had been dragged through the streets, humiliated, and full of shame, who also feared that her death was imminent, walked away from her encounter with Jesus crying not just with tears of relief, but with tears of joy, having been healed and empowered by Jesus. She may indeed have died that day, but as she walked away, was born again, a new creature, formed and fashioned by the infinite love of God.

How do people walk away after they encounter us? Do they feel belittled, dehumanized, and demeaned, or understood, empowered, and redeemed? Jesus meets our misery and shame with compassion,  love,  and mercy. Are we willing to do the same with each other?

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Painting: The Woman Caught in Adultery by Jean Carter Kimble

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, April 3, 2022

Jesus is recorded, a few verses before (cf. 7:37-39) today’s Gospel,  speaking about quenching the thirst of those gathered around to listen to him. The thirst he is talking about fulfilling is spiritual thirst, that thirst which we all desire to be refreshed by, that which we have been created to receive; the thirst to belong, to be in communion, to be loved and to love in return. Jesus speaks of coming to those who thirst to be refreshed with: “Rivers of living water [that] will flow from within” (Jn 7:38). Jesus spoke of the day when he would send the Holy Spirit to well up from within the soul of each person who would follow him. All who participate in the life of Jesus would come to experience the love shared between God the Father and God the Son, who is God the Holy Spirit.

Some who heard Jesus speaking in this way were deeply moved, they believed him to be the Prophet, others believed him to be the Messiah. Yet, there were those who could not see past their own preconceived notions. They heard his teaching, may have even been moved as well but said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he” (Jn 7:41)? Remember Nathaniel’s first reaction when Philip had told him that they had found the Messiah? Nathaniel asked if anything good could come out of Nazareth (cf. Jn 43-47). Jesus was also rejected because he was looked down upon because of his trade as a tekton, a carpenter or a day laborer.

Why the region of Galilee, the town of Nazareth itself, would be disparaged is a matter of speculation. The fact was that there were those, unlike Nathaniel, that could not see past their initial prejudices. Even though Jesus spoke and taught with authority, though as the Temple guards who were sent to arrest him said, “Never before has anyone spoken like this man” (Jn 7:46), and even when Nicodemus spoke out rationally, requesting they hear Jesus out and give him the opportunity to make his case, there were those in authority and among the people who could or would not hear Jesus. Case closed.

We must come to terms with our ingrained, prejudicial attitudes and our limitations of thought that prevent us from seeing as God sees, otherwise, we will become like a stagnant pool and, as did those in today’s Gospel account from John, close ourselves off from the invitation of Jesus. Many of our daily routines, habits, livelihoods, health, and very lives have been shaken and threatened by this pandemic. We can react out of fear or to the other extreme, react as if nothing has changed putting our lives and others at risk. Aristotle wrote that virtue is the means between two extremes. Courage is the means between being paralyzed with fear and excessive reckless abandon.

There are sensible precautions we can take that we are all now well aware of to keep ourselves and those around us safe. From my time in the hospital I learned, the most important is to wash our hands often and not touch our faces, especially, eyes, noses and mouths. Wearing masks, social distancing and receiving the vaccine are also ways to protect ourselves and prevent the spread of and hopefully bring about an end to this outbreak and all its variants. By doing so, we can be engaged in our lives while keeping ourselves and others safe.

A more reasonable and rational approach is true for us spiritually as well. We can give in to fear and say that Jesus has left us in our times of trial and tribulation, that he doesn’t care, or even that he does not exist, for what kind of Lord would put us through this? Or we can follow the lead of Pope Francis who shared in his Ubi et Orbi message around two years ago that Jesus, “more than anyone, cares about us.”

Jesus does care. His hand is held out before us. We can reject it or grasp it, the choice is ours. Jesus is the source of living water, he is the eye in the midst of any storm, and the light leading us through the darkness. When we choose to breathe more and react less, we will be more likely to recognize and accept the offer of Jesus. By taking his hand and allowing him to lead us, we will act with more prudence, be more present and mindful, as well as more understanding, empathetic, and caring toward one another each day going forward.

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Photo: Pope Francis delivering his reflection before his Urbi et Orbi blessing for the world -CNS photo/Guglielmo Mangiapane, pool via Reuters accessed from America Magazine

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, April 2, 2022

Jesus affirms who he is and whose he is in today’s Gospel of John. Despite those who do not believe that he is the Messiah, Jesus again makes his point very clear: “I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me” (Jn 7:28-29). Jesus is the Son of God made man and he belongs to the One who sent him, God the Father.

As Jesus was challenged in his time, he continues to be challenged today. That level of challenge has increased even to the degree that his human existence is even dismissed in some circles as a mere legend. Even as a historical figure, some speculate that Jesus did not walk the roads of Galilee and Judea as recorded in today’s Gospel. This need not be a reason for alarm. Though it is a reason to know our Tradition, the deposit of faith that has been preserved and passed on from Jesus to his Apostles and disciples, and to those early Church Fathers and Mothers named and unnamed, and passed on up to us to this day in an unbroken apostolic succession. It is important to read the Bible, immerse ourselves in the sacred texts, and allow Jesus to speak to us again and again.

It is important to know what we believe, who we believe in, and whose we belong to. In this way when we are challenged by others, we do not need to stoop into a defensive crouch, but instead listen to the person’s points, their critiques, and ask questions of what they believe and why they believe what they believe. We can share our position while at the same time being open to understanding where our questioners are coming from. We can then respond with an open mind and heart of surrender to allow the Holy Spirit to be present through us.

When we are anxious, defensive, seeking to be right, or fearing to be wrong, we limit what Jesus can do through us. God is not about numbers and quotas, he is about building relationships, one person at a time. It is more important to build relationships than to win arguments. We can learn much from St. Bernadette of Soubirous who when challenged time and again regarding the validity of her experiences and encounters with Mary responded, “My job is to inform, not convince.”

Social media platforms can be good platforms to exchange ideas as well as horrific experiences of the worst of our humanity. It is important that we remain respectful face to face and remember that screen to screen there is another human being on the other end. We are on a journey of faith and sharing what we have received in a spirit of charity and dialogue with those we interact with is a good practice. All of us seek the True, the Good, and the Beautiful and especially during times of uncertainty and instability, it is important to respect and love those who have differing perspectives outside of and even within the Church, and be open to the reality that we can learn from each other and allow God to guide each of us through our common challenges as we continue to journey together.

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Photo: Nothing like a good discussion, although my doctors are continuing to urge me to do so by wearing a mask!

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, April 1, 2022

God heard the cry of his people who were suffering from enslavement in Egypt. God called and sent Moses to free them. Pharoah did not accept the request of Moses to let his people go and instead put more pressure on his slaves to fulfill their daily quota of bricks as before, though now without providing the straw that they needed to accomplish the task (cf. Exodus 5). The Hebrew slaves did not take out their frustrations on their oppressors but on Moses. This pattern of complaint continued time and again, even after their freedom was assured and they wandered in the desert. Even though they were free, they complained regularly when things got tough, and stated that they were better off in their slavery and dependency on the Pharaoh instead of placing their trust and dependency on God.

God the Father sent his Son to free us from our slavery to sin, just as he sent Moses to free the Hebrews enslaved under Pharaoh. How many times do we, like our ancestors, also complain, preferring our life of sin, a life of mere existence, over embracing the gift of a life lived to the full because it is what we know. Even worse, there are too often those in positions of spiritual leadership who abuse their power, look out for their own interests, instead of guiding and serving the people entrusted to their care.

Jesus is recorded in today’s Gospel as saying, “how God has made his will known to the people, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent” (Jn 5:37-38). God the Father has sent his Son to reveal his will but too many do not have the eyes to see or the ears to hear.

Those who are learned “search the Scriptures, because [they] think [they] have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But [they] do not want to come to me to have life” (Jn 5:39-40). What is hidden in the Hebrew Scriptures is revealed in the New Testament: the New Covenant made with Jesus and all of creation. The prophecies of old testify that the Messiah will come as a suffering servant, he will unify the nations, cleanse the Temple, and the enemies of God will be placed at his feet. These affirmations are presented and known by those who study the sacred texts, yet they still do not recognize the signs that the Messiah is in the very midst of them.

Even Moses testified of Jesus when he said: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kindred, and will put my words into the mouth of the prophet; the prophet shall tell them all that I command” (Deuteronomy 18:18). Yet the successors of Moses would not even believe in his writings, so Jesus said how would they believe in his words?

Jesus shows us in our Gospel reading today how the people of his time could have known he was who he claimed to be. This is true for us today as well. If we are sincerely seeking God who has and continues to make his will known, we will find him in philosophy, mathematics, the sciences, literature, his creation, in our service to each other, as well as in truths of other faith traditions. Yet, the fullness of the Father is revealed in our encounter of him through his Son, “whom he has sent”. Do we have eyes to see?

Jesus is also revealed in Scripture, the Old and New Testaments. To understand the New Testament we must understand the Old, for Moses and the prophets testify to his coming and Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. Do we leave the Bible on the shelf like any other book? If we do read it, do we do so as if it were a dead letter, or do we read and hear it as it is truly meant to be read and heard, as the living Word of God proclaimed? We are more than a people of the book. We are a people of encounter.

The Father makes himself known to us through the presence of his Son and the love of the Holy Spirit. To experience the truth of this reality we are offered his invitation to relationship. As we reach out to God, we come to realize that he is already present and reaching out to us through his Son. As we run to God, we realize that he is already running to meet us, seeking to hold us in his loving embrace, now and forevermore!

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Photo: of icon of Christ the Saviour from Assumption of the Virgin Mary Ukranian Orthodox Church

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, March 31, 2022

The words of today’s Gospel from John is an answer to Jesus’ healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda we read yesterday. The issue at hand for those who are incensed by Jesus’ healing is that he has done so on the Sabbath. Jesus does not help his case with his critics for he says he healed on the Sabbath because he was directed to do so by his Father: “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes” (Jn 5:21). Jesus does not make concessions with those who oppose his actions of healing. He clearly states the truth about who he is, the Lord of the Sabbath. For those not believing Jesus is who he says he is, this is blasphemy of the highest order. This is why they plot to kill him.

So too in our own age, there are many ways to express our understanding and belief about who Jesus was in his time and is today. If you haven’t thought about Jesus beyond his name in a while, about who he really is and why he is relevant to our lives, then allow St. Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria, who lived from 297 to 373 AD, to offer a point to ponder today. Athanasius held firmly to and taught with conviction that Jesus is, “the Son of God [who] became man so that we might become God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 480). This statement is an acknowledgment that we cannot be saved on our own merits, through our own will power and discipline alone. We become fully alive when we actualize who we have been created to be. This happens through our participation in the divinity of Jesus the Christ.

The reality that Jesus, fully human, is at the same time the second Person of the Holy Trinity, and became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity is something worth thinking and praying about. There is much writing and discussion about how many people are leaving the Church, while at the same time still hungry, I would say starving, for a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. This is true for those who leave as well as those who remain, whether either could or would articulate it in that way. Could it be that we have forgotten the foundation not only of our faith, but who we are to follow?

By meditating upon and returning periodically to the words of St. Athanasius we just might remember who and whose we are. In this way, we will not have to face what lies before us alone as St. Patrick came to realize. As we begin or continue our day may the words of St. Patrick become our shield as well: “Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me.”

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Photo accessed: https://www.cathopic.com/search/candles

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Were you ever picked last for the team, whether on the playground, P.E., or gym class? I remember being on both sides, being picked last, and picking others to join and having to pick someone last. I much more preferred being chosen last than having to be in the situation to choose a classmate last because someone had to be in that position at some point, and it was often an agonizing situation. In our Gospel reading today, Jesus comes upon a man who has experienced an even worse situation.

This person has been in need of healing for thirty-eight years. Apparently, there was a limited time to get into the waters of the pool to experience the healing properties that it afforded, for each time the water stirred, while the man moved to get closer to and enter the water, “someone else gets down there before” him. This is worse than getting picked last, as he doesn’t in a sense even make the team!

But with Jesus, the last shall become first. Key ingredients are belief, faith, and a willingness to be healed. Jesus does not impose, even in the case of healing, Jesus invites. He asks the sick man, “Do you want to be well?” When the man in need of healing explains the limitations he has experienced in the past regarding getting to the pool, Jesus does not hesitate. Jesus commands him to rise, pick up his mat and walk. The man is no longer the one picked over, the one ignored, the one unseen. The sick man encounters Jesus and is healed by his word and restored.

Jesus approaches us in the same way that he encountered the sick man by the pool of Bethesda in today’s Gospel. Jesus meets us in our need, where we are, no matter our station in life. He does not leave us on the outside looking in, he does not leave us wondering if we are loved or if we belong. He does not only come to encounter us but if we are willing, to empower us to be about the mission given to us by his Father. Jesus gives meaning and purpose to our lives. Each and every one of us is a gift from God and has been graced with something to contribute to others, something unique to help make the kingdom of God a reality.

I invite you to enter a place of silence and stillness, without and within. Settle into a place with no or little distractions, breathe in deep and exhale a few times, then close your eyes. See your self as you are in your present seated position, breathing, experiencing your shoulders relaxing, and just being still. Then notice Jesus walking toward you as he did with the man at the pool of Bethesda. Does Jesus remain standing, does he sit beside you, or kneel before you? As he assumes whatever posture, allow your thoughts to reflect on what you need. As you are pondering, does Jesus ask you a question? What does he ask or what does he say?

Jesus is present, right here and right now, for you. There are no boundaries, no limitations, only those you impose on your self. Share with Jesus your need. You are no longer misunderstood, left out, or picked last. Jesus is present. Embrace the moment of knowing you are loved, heard, and that not only do you belong but you have a significant part to play in the kingdom of God.

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Painting: Head of Christ by Rembrandt

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, March 29, 2022

We hear often in the Gospels how those who believed in Jesus received healings, exorcisms, and were forgiven of their sins. We have also read accounts such as from the Gospel of Matthew that he “did not work many mighty deeds” in Nazareth “because of their lack of faith” (Mt 13:58).

In today’s Gospel account from John, Jesus speaks to a royal official whose son is close to death. Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left (Jn 4:50). Returning home to his son the man is met by the slaves from his household and they told him that his son would live and when they compared notes, they realized the healing occurred at the moment Jesus spoke and the man believed.

What do faith and belief have to do with Jesus being active in our lives? The way of the Gospel, the good news, is all about invitation and acceptance. Jesus enters our world, our reality, gently and humbly. He came as a poor infant, completely dependent on Mary and Joseph for his very survival. He would live the majority of his life in the obscure village of Nazareth most likely working as a day laborer. When he begins his public ministry he does so by inviting people to be a part of his life, to enter into a relationship with him and his Father. People are free to say no or to say yes to that invitation.

Faith is trusting that what Jesus says is true and that he is who he says he is. Belief is the act of our will that aligns with our faith, our trust in him. The man had faith in Jesus, and that is why he some him out. Jesus invited the man to believe that his son was healed and the man believed and walked away with full confidence that his son would be. Belief is followed by an affirmative act of the will. I can believe my car will run, but unless I get in it and turn the key, I am not going anywhere.

Just as the sun rose this morning, Jesus is present to each and every one of us. Just as Jesus invited Zacchaeus to come down out of the tree because he wanted to have dinner with him in his home, Jesus is offering his invitation to us to be a part of our lives. Just as Jesus invited Andrew and Peter, James and John to follow him, Jesus invites us to follow him as well.

If your schedule affords you the opportunity to wake up with the sun or early in the morning while the sun is still rising this week, I invite you to do so. Find a quiet place inside or outside, call to mind anything that you are grateful for, ponder your hopes and dreams, allow any struggles, confusion, sinful patterns, needs for healing and/or forgiveness for yourselves or others to arise. As the light of the sun pierces the darkness, allow it to be an icon of Jesus’ invitation to enter into any of the darker areas in your life.

“From the east comes the one whose name is Dayspring, he who is mediator between God and men. You are invited then to look always to the east: it is there that the sun of righteousness rises for you, it is there that the light is always being born for you… So that you may always enjoy the light of knowledge, keep always in the daylight of faith, hold fast always to the light of love and peace” (Excerpt from a homily on Leviticus by Church father, Origen, 184-253).

Embrace and be grateful for the light of Christ who comes to you today to guide you through your struggles and confusion, to hear the deepest prayers of your heart, to offer you the confidence that you can believe in his power to heal you and those you love, to invite you to embrace the gift of repentance, and be forgiven. As the warmth of the sun touches your face, breath in deep the mercy and grace of Jesus, believe Jesus is the Son of the Living God and have faith, trusting that he will be with you today in all you do. When you are ready, arise to face the day and walk on in the confidence and assurance, with the faith and belief that you are loved more than you can ever imagine and more than you can ever mess up, and that God will be with you every step of the way today.

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Photo: Catching the sun rising a few years ago.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, March 26, 2022