There is a danger when we read a comment from Scripture such as when Jesus, “cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons” (Mk 1:34). The danger is that we may not believe we are capable of healing as Jesus did, so we don’t do anything active with our faith. We also might think that Jesus is divine, so of course there is no way we can measure up to what he has done. An even less helpful line of thought would be to disbelieve that the healings of Jesus happened at all, that they are all made up, and that they never really happened.

Another challenge can be pride. We may want to heal like Jesus, for the purpose of our own aggrandizement, so people look at us, not God. That was the sin of Simon the magician, who saw the Apostles healing, just as Jesus had, and offered payment to them for the power to accomplish the same (cf. Acts 8:9-25). The other problem is wanting to do something grandiose, something beyond our own unique gift and charism.

What we need to keep in perspective is that Jesus had a specific mission to accomplish, and yes he is divine, but as I have shared Jesus is also fully human. He had a specific mission from his Father, he gave a specific mission to his Apostles, and he is presenting us with a mission that his Father has for each of us as well. Jesus himself proclaimed: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father” (Jn 14:12). Not only does Jesus say we can do works such as these but even greater ones! Jesus knows the plan God has for our life, the part we are to play, and he will share it with us and empower us with that which we need to accomplish it.

We all have the capacity to provide God’s healing presence to others. God works through us when embrace the love of the Holy Spirit and are conformed by it such that we come to know how God wants us to love others. There is some way for all of us to contribute. Throughout the Bible their are accounts of how God invites others to service, each in very small and humble ways – Jesus himself began his days on this earth wrapped in swaddling clothes in a feeding trough, as vulnerable and humble a beginning as there can be and then pretty much living thirty years in obscurity until his public ministry began.

Let resist the temptation to limit and define Jesus, but instead embrace the gift of a “sitting theology” in which we allow ourselves to look at Jesus, take him in, for he is “infinite Love incarnate” (Barron). We just need to place ourselves before Jesus and allow him to expand us so that we can receive his revelation and guidance so to know the mission our loving God and Father has planned for us.

Then as we go about our lives each day may we continue to be contemplatives in action, open to the experiences that come before us, the opportunities and interruptions that arise in which we can be present to another with a smile, an active listening ear, and a helping hand. In each small act we say yes to God’s invitation to be present to others by our willingness to love as he has loved us, by willing the good of each other.

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Photo: Ready for mission!

These quotes are from Bishop Robert Barron Lesson 5 from his Word on Fire Institute which provides lectures from himself as well as other fellows in the Institute. I have been excited to be involved in it for over the past three months or so! To learn more and see bios of the men and women fellows go to: https://wordonfire.institute/#section–38490

Link to Mass readings for Wednesday, January 16, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011619.cfm

Jesus “taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes” (Mk 1:22). What does Mark mean? Mark is relaying to us that the way the scribes taught and discussed their sacred texts was by quoting various trusted interpreters they learned from, those who had the weight of authority to do so and tracing the lineage of their learning all the way back to Moses.

Jesus quoted no one. He spoke from his own authority.

The Gospel of John picks up the source of Jesus’ authority from the beginning line of his Gospel. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). Jesus Christ is the Word, the Logos in Greek. Who would have more authority to speak about the word of God, than the Logos, the Word, himself?

The authority of Jesus was not only limited to teaching but restoration. As he was teaching in the synagogue he expelled the unclean spirit of a man when he said, “Quiet! Come out of him” (Mk 1:25)! Time and again we read accounts of Jesus healing and exorcising demons with his word.

If you haven’t read the Bible ever, have not for a long time, or have been away for awhile. I invite you to read the Gospel of Mark. Along with prayer, reading the Gospels is a way to come to know Jesus and experience his authority in our lives. You may do so along with the Church as we are reading the Gospel daily or at your own pace, say five to ten minutes a day. What may be even better is to read a short section at a time and meditate on the passage read.

Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, it is quick moving, and action packed. The Gospels lend themselves particularly well to visualizing the text, and placing yourself in the reading as if you were watching a movie. See what Jesus is revealing or communicating to you in the silence of your heart.

We can also receive a word or phrase and carry it with us through the day, such as from today’s account. We may not be dealing with being possessed, but if we are experiencing pressure, temptation, feeling indecisive or divided we can call on Jesus’ words and speak in his name, “Quiet! Come out of me!” or “Peace be still!” and receive through the authority of his word his healing presence within us.

We do not have to journey alone this day. We have the gift of prayer and the Word of God to help us to remember that Jesus is present with us, helping us to continue his mission which is to help us and others to be aware that the kingdom of God is at hand!

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Photo: Jesus makes himself known to us in his Living Word proclaimed and lived in our lives!

Link for today’s Mass reading for Tuesday, January 15, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011519.cfm

“This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).

With these words as recorded by Mark, Jesus begins his public ministry in time and space and we in 2019 begin the first week of Ordinary Time together. Whether we are in the Christmas, Easter or the season of Ordinary Time, each day is an opportunity to be thankful and celebrate our life because this continues to be “the time of fulfillment” because the Kingdom of God is still at hand because Jesus is still present to us.

We are not alone on our journey. The Son of God became human, as we just celebrated this Christmas season, and as we will celebrate in Easter, he died and rose again. This was no mere resuscitation like with Lazarus who rose and died again. Jesus conquered death and became the first born of the new creation. We who die with Christ in Baptism rise with him and participate in his life now and for all eternity.

Jesus is closer to us now than he was to his disciples and those he walked among when he first proclaimed his word of truth that his very presence was the Kingdom of God which was at hand. This reality becomes more relevant to us as we allow ourselves to be led by him and conformed by him, so we too can know his Father and participate in the love of the Holy Spirit.

One of the things that holds us back from embracing the gift of Kingdom of God in our midst is our choosing to place ourselves first before God and others. Jesus calls us to reorient our lives in urging us to repent, to turn away from the false reality that we are the center and author of our own lives, such that we come to realize the truth that God is our true author. To repent also means to open ourselves to his love, to trust and feel safe that God accepts us as we are, right now at this moment.

We do not have to do anything or act perfectly or say the right prayer for God to love us, we need to “move the Lord out of the category of ‘polite company’ and into that of intimate friend to whom one can tell everything” (Barry 1987, 55). In this way we will be more open to allow him to transform our being such that we are more conformed to the Body of Christ, we will then become like a pencil in the hand of God such that he writes the pages of the script of our life and we become participants in the act of proclaiming his kingdom.

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Photo: https://www.pexels.com/@belle-co-99483

Barry, S.J, William A. God and You: Prayer as a Personal Relationship. NY: Paulist Press, 1987.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, January 14, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011419.cfm

The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Jn 3:15-16).

These verses summarize our readings through the week. People are wondering if John the Baptist is the messiah. In each instance, John’s reply has been no. John consistently points to Jesus. John shared in today’s account that he has been baptizing in water, but Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.

The Holy Spirit is the love shared between God the Father and the Son. Both love and fire transform that which experiences their touch. Through our Baptism we have been cleansed from the power of sin and have been created anew, born from above. We have been grafted to the living organism of the Body of Christ. As St Paul writes in his letter to Titus that we were “saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5).

Many of us, if we were baptized as infants do not remember our baptism, just as we do not remember our birth. Yet both are significant and joyful events. Many of us celebrate and enjoy our birthdays, but how many of us celebrate and enjoy our baptism? I include myself, as I do not even remember the date of my baptism. As Christians we are not invited to just follow and learn from and then imitate Jesus, as if he is our model and teacher alone. Through baptism, we become transformed by his fire and love. Baptism is the entrance sacrament because we are conformed to Jesus, and become a part of his Mystical Body. Through Jesus, we enter into the very life of the Trinity whose name we have been baptized into.

Whenever we enter the sanctuary or chapel before Mass and dip our finger into the holy water and make the sign of the cross on our foreheads, we do so as an affirmation of our baptism. We remember that we are literally part of the Body of Christ. When we are conscious of this action, we also recommit ourselves to our baptismal vows. We are promising to reject the ways of Satan and all his empty promises and affirm our belief in God the Father, Jesus his Son, the love shared between them, the Holy Spirit and that we are a part of his Body, the holy catholic Church. When we do this same action as we leave, we do so empowered by his Word proclaimed, the Body and Blood we have received and our communal fellowship shared with the people of God, to go forth to live a life of peace, glorifying the Lord by our life.

On this feast, as we celebrate the baptism of Jesus, may we remember and celebrate our baptism, the day we died with Christ and so also rose with him as a part of his new creation. May we recognize that we are not mere imitators of Jesus but drawn ever deeper into an organic relationship with him. The transforming fire of the love of Jesus we received at our baptism grows each and every day as we are more and more conformed to him. From this sacred union we radiate the warmth and tenderness of his love to all those we encounter. A light has shown in the darkness and it will not be overcome but spread through us as the Body of Christ.

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Photo: The Baptism of the Christ by Daniel Bonnell accessed from: http://frvlad.blogspot.com/2014/01/baptism-of-jesus.html

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, January 13, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011319.cfm

“So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.”(Jn 3:29b-30).

How could John be feeling joy with decrease? This is counter to what many aspire to in our country. Aren’t we supposed to obtain more, be more popular, and not rest on our laurels, if we are to be happy? If our end goal is, fame or honor, wealth, power, and/or pleasure, then yes that would be true. But John is giving us an insight here about what brings us real joy.

Real joy comes from within when we have found our meaning and purpose in life, our mission. John was clear with what his mission was. John came to prepare the way of the Lord. He experienced this from his time when he leapt in the womb when Mary first arrived to see Elizabeth. From that moment, he was preparing the way for Jesus and continued to do so into his adult life. He was not distracted by how many people he was or was not baptizing, but he was focused on preparing people to be ready for the coming of the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world” (Jn 1:29).

John is not threatened by Jesus, he is overjoyed that the time of fulfillment had come. What John had been called to do by God he had been doing. He said with true joy that Jesus must increase because he must decrease because this is the fulfillment of his mission. How many of us get to experience the fruits of our labor?

If we want to be happy, experience joy and be fulfilled in our life, then following the lead of John the Baptist might be a good way. I am not saying that we necessarily need to sell off everything and live in the wilderness. What John did was open his heart and mind to God, and became aware of the relationship that already existed between him and God. By building that relationship he was able to recognize the voice of God and discern the mission that God had for him. He then acted on God’s leading, found confirmation, and became clear of the part he was to play in salvation history.

Each and every one have a specific role to play in God’s plan. There is a specific mission he is inviting us to partake in. We come to understand our mission by slowing down and becoming consciously aware of the relationship God is already developing with us. As we do so we become aware that the Holy Spirit “impels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of faith, the encounter with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the soul of mission” (Francis 2014, 48).

Let us begin or continue to make time for listening for the voice of Jesus that we hear in the silence of our hearts, discern where we are placing our time and energy, examine how God is inviting us through his creation, our experiences, and relationships. As we step out and risk, following what we believe God the Father wants us to do, he will not only confirm for us, but provide for us the means to accomplish our mission. It is time to awake from our slumber and be about our mission.

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Photo: Beginning my mission as a Catholic school teacher, fourteen years ago – my first class, first grade at Rosarian Academy when the joy of mission first began!

Pope Francis. The Church of Mercy: A Vision for the Church. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2014.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, January 12, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011219.cfm

The man in today’s Gospel scene takes a tremendous risk by approaching Jesus. He is a leper and so considered unclean. The appropriate response for him when someone is coming into their general vicinity is to give as wide a berth as possible, if not remove themselves from view, or to make themselves known to be unclean to any passerby.

This state of uncleanness was not a mere sense of hygiene. This was considered ritual impurity. So anyone touching a leper would be considered unclean not because they contracted leprosy themselves, but merely by touching the person in some way. For this reason, lepers were ostracized from family, friends, and the larger community socially as well as being forbidden to worship. This is a horrific state to find oneself in, for as human beings we are social beings who want to belong, to be a part of, to be loved.

The leper cast aside all social norms and fell prostrate before Jesus and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean” (Lk 5:12). Jesus knew full well the social norms, and it is very telling that not only did Jesus heal the man, he healed him by placing his hand on the man. He could have easily said, “I do will it. Be made clean” (Lk 5:13), without touching him and the man would have been healed. There are Gospel accounts of Jesus doing just that.

Jesus says more in his willingness to touch the leper than he does even with his words of healing. He places himself on the same level with the man by removing the tremendous stigma of him having to be separated from human touch. Jesus becomes present to him in his condition of forced isolation and in that simple touch Jesus comes close and in doing so, he will no longer be kept at arm’s length but restored to community and fellowship.

This is what the Son of God has come to do. He has come close to all of us. He has become human so we can see the face of God, we can feel the tenderness of his touch, and we are understood when no one else is there to understand. Jesus has come close so that we know that we are not alone, that we are loved more than we can ever imagine, more than we can ever mess up, more than our worst mistake. Jesus has come close so we can experience how it is to belong, to be loved and to love others in return so we too can come close to those too often are kept at arm’s length.

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Photo: accessed from – pinterest

Link for the Mass reading for Friday, January 11, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011119.cfm

He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).

Jesus, who had just sat down, spoke these words to his hometown congregation in Nazareth who had just heard him read the passage from the writings of the prophet Isaiah. Jesus proclaimed that he was the one to whom Isaiah was talking about. Luke chose to place this event as the starting point of Jesus’ public ministry, of bringing glad tidings to the poor, proclaiming liberty to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord (Lk 4:18-19).

This message of universal healing for all of humanity, restoration and reconciliation for all people would be the mission of Jesus. He presents to his hometown folk the message that he would be the vehicle to bring the love and redemptive work of his Father to all the nations, to invite all people to be aware of the reality present to them: that God his Father was inviting all into communion and relationship. The poor mentioned were not just in reference to those experiencing material poverty, but to those finding themselves on the margins of society, the outcasts, those on the peripheries. The captives were not only those imprisoned for debts or crimes, but those bound in the chains of their own sin and addiction. The blind were not only those who could not physically see, but those who experienced the spiritual blindness of pride and arrogance. The oppressed, were not just those under the iron fist of totalitarian and dictatorial regimes, but those pressed down through their own self imposed anxieties and fears.

In what ways are we in need of Jesus’ teaching, healing and restorative power? What is keeping us on the peripheries, apart from communion and fellowship? What sins and addiction keep us bound, what fears and anxieties keep us oppressed? What is keeping us blind to the reality that God is in our midst and seeking a deeper relationship with us? Today we hear or read again Jesus’ words proclaimed in the Gospel. Jesus invites us to be healed and to align ourselves with his will and ministry of loving service to others.

The same words Jesus spoke to the people of his own hometown he is speaking to us. Will we hold on to our biases and prejudices, to our tribe, our nation, our political party? Or will we come to Jesus, kneel before him, acknowledge our need for his healing and make him the Lord of our life?

Let us spend some time today examining our conscience. Then come to Jesus with a contrite, sorrowful heart for what we have done and what we have failed to do. May we feel his healing hands on our bowed heads and the warmth of his forgiveness and love pouring through us to purge us of our sin and pride and heal us from that which keeps us bound. Then, in recognition of how much suffering and pain is present in our country and world, let us ask Jesus how and where we can participate with him in bringing healing and reconciliation to others, to bring about an “acceptable year of the Lord” in 2019(Lk 4:19).

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Photo: Cardinal Newman students, last day of classes and reading for graduation last year.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, January 10, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/011019.cfm

And when he had taken leave of them, he went off to the mountain to pray (Mk 6:46). We often read in the Gospels that Jesus went off by himself to pray. I am sure this was not a practice that he began during his public ministry, but one that he learned and developed from Mary and Joseph. The Apostles themselves witnessed Jesus praying, and in the account of Luke 11:1 one of his disciples asked Jesus to pray.

Pope Francis in a general audience he gave in 2013 shared that, “the Church is apostolic because she is founded on the preaching and prayer of the apostles” (Francis 2014, 37). Jesus prayed, he taught his Apostles to pray, and we are at our best when we are people of prayer. We hear of prayer and that we need to pray, but what is prayer and how do we pray?

That we even desire to pray, that we even want to be closer to God is already a prayer. This is true because we are experiencing an invitation from God to draw close to him, to develop a relationship with him, to come to know the one who knows us better than we know our self.

Fr. William Barry in a book I am reading now, describes how prayer is becoming consciously aware of our relationship with God. This helps to counter the idea that God is like a gumball machine in the sky, we just need to say the right types of prayers, be good, say them in the proper order and we will get what we want, we will be happy. “God is in relationship with each and every created thing in the universe and in relationship to the whole of it… whether that being is aware of the relationship or not.” The amazing thing about God is that “he will not force himself on us. He continually tries to arouse our awareness and interest in him” (Barry 1987, 12-13).

God reaches out to us in so many ways such as a majestic sunrise or sunset, the ebb and flow of the waves on a beach, and the brilliant radiance of a starlit sky. He can also do so  through our trials of sickness, pain, other’s who are being hurt, or encountering injustice, he is also present through our everyday relationships and experiences. The key is to be aware of what is being stirred up within us when we experience something and allow ourselves to “wonder about the experience and its meaning” (Barry, 13).

What is most important regarding becoming people of prayer is our awareness, our becoming conscious that we have a relationship with God. “This relationship is based on God’s actions to establish it and his desire that we become conscious of who he is and wants to be for us. Our consciousness depends on our willingness to pay attention to God’s actions, or at least to experiences that might be actions of God, and to let our desires for God be aroused” (Barry, 14).

Another claim that Fr. Barry counters regarding prayer is that if God knows everything about us and everything, why bother to pray at all? God is not just wanting information, he is inviting us to relationship. He wants to know whether we believe he cares how we feel and whether we are willing to let him in, to let him know what we feel and desire. We need to be honest in our dialogue of prayer and be willing to reveal ourselves to God, while at the same time, be open and willing to allow him to reveal what he seeks to reveal of himself to us. This is how we build authentic relationships with God and each other (cf. Barry, 15).

Jesus we feel your invitation in so many small ways each day, though often, we allow our harried pace, distractions, and temptations to lead us away from the gift of your presence. Please help us to slow down and rest in the wonder of how God our Father is present to us and the love of the Holy Spirit is working in our life each and every day. Help us to realize we do not need to be perfect to come to you, to say the right words to be heard by you, nor to feel that we have to say any word at all, but we can just rest in your loving gaze. Help us to be conscious, to be aware of how much God our Father cares about us, that he is interested in how we feel and what we think. Help us to remember that we are all called to be holy, to be saints, to be mystics, because you call each and everyone of us to be in relationship with you.

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Photo: pexels.com

Barry, William A. S.J. God and You: Prayer as a Personal Relationship by William Barry SJ. New York: Paulist Press, 1987.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, January, 9, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010919.cfm

We can observe two movements of Jesus going out to serve others in today’s Gospel. The first is evident in the beginning verse: “When Jesus saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things” (Mk 6:34). Jesus witnessed their deeper, spiritual hunger. The crowd gathered around Jesus for they were hungry, yet they were not even aware of the depth of their hunger.

Surely, they heard the accounts of Jesus preaching with authority, his healings and exorcisms. They wondered if he could be the Messiah, the one who had been promised, present now in their midst. Yet, for the vast number of them, if not all gathered, they sought a leader, that Jesus was not. He was not to be a mighty military leader, he would not train his followers in guerilla warfare, and Jesus would not conquer the Roman occupation with might.

After his teaching, the time grew late and he and his disciples were aware of the hunger of the crowd. The disciples only saw the five loaves and two fish that were present, barely if enough to feed them, let alone the vast multitude. Their first instinct was to send them on their way such that they could fend for themselves. Jesus, who knew the Father, knew there were no limitations to his providential care. Jesus: Then, taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to [his] disciples to set before the people; he also divided the two fish among them all (Mk 6:41).

Jesus shepherded and provided nourishment for five thousand men, so if that number was not including women and children, the number could have been easily doubled, and all ate and were satisfied (Mk 6:42). Jesus was aware of their deepest needs and provided for them. Jesus knew their spiritual hunger as well as their physical hunger, better than those who came to listen to him.

Are we so different today? We think we know what we need, but how many times are they really apparent goods or substitutes for what we truly hunger for? We continually strive to be autonomous, self sufficient, able to control and govern or own affairs. We can witness this with the disciples wanting to send off the people to get their own food, and they would deal with the meager amount they had. Yet, this is counter to who we have been created to be.

Jesus showed his disciples time and again the way of God was not self sufficiency, but self surrender. They were and we are to place our complete reliance on God. We are to allow ourselves to be loved by God and so love others in return. This is not an emotion but an action of being aware of another in their time of need, being present, and allowing God to happen. “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). May we turn our heart and mind to God daily so to receive and savor his love, so to be moved to love and serve him in one another as he loves us.

Photo from pexels.com

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, January 8, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010819.cfm

In yesterday’s Gospel reading we celebrated the Epiphany, in which the three magi encountered Jesus. They left changed, no longer following the light but bearing it. Next Sunday we will recall the Baptism of Jesus by John. Today the daily readings jump ahead to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. John the Baptist has been arrested. He must decrease and Jesus increases.

Jesus inaugurates his ministry echoing the words of John’s ministry: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). John prepared the way for the Kingdom to come, Jesus himself in his person is the Kingdom of heaven. Heaven is not so much a place but a state of communion with God, and who better to embody the reality of heaven than the Son of God in our midst. He who remained fully divine, in communion with his Father, while becoming human and living among us.

Jesus proclaimed his promise of the Kingdom to his people who were suffering from their daily ills of poverty, possession, sickness, sin, and oppression from an occupying power. He is the one who has been promised. Jesus is the fulfillment of their greatest hope. Matthew summarized the ministry of Jesus this way: “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people” (Mt 4:23).

Jesus provided hope and healing to a people who were losing hope, a people struggling and in pain. Jesus taught the way, the truth and the life with authority, providing light in a growing darkness. Jesus did so through not only being the Kingdom in their midst, not only being their light to guide their way, but also empowering the people to rise up to be free from their slavery to the sin that kept them bound. He helped them to see that they could not be enslaved by anyone or anything. Jesus helped the people he ministered to see that what kept them bound was their separation from God.

Jesus did not only come to the people of Galilee two thousand years ago. Jesus proclaims his message again to us today, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). There is no better new year’s resolution to begin with than this! Jesus is still present to us, providing hope and healing, providing his presence of love and mercy, providing teaching which shines a light in our darkness, and he is empowering us to receive his gift so that we too can rise up freed from our slavery to our own selfishness and sin. May we decrease so to allow Jesus to increase in us. In this way, we will rise up and empower others as we provide the same presence of love, mercy, and forgiveness with those in our midst.

Photo by Rakicevic Nenad from Pexels

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, January 7, 2019: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010719.cfm