Gossip is a seductive and enticing poison. Many of us fall for its lure and its intoxication. We may think we feel better about ourselves by putting someone else down, we may be jealous of what another has, envious because we wish someone ill, maybe someone just rubs us the wrong way, or the intent may not be hurtful, but we just get caught up in discussing the happenings of others. We may feel justified in choosing to gossip when someone has hurt, offended, or wronged us in some way. Even in that instance, we observe Jesus offering a different approach in today’s Gospel.

Jesus said to his disciples: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone” (Mt 18:15). Jesus is drawing on his Jewish heritage. Leviticus 19:17 warns against holding hate in your heart and instead encourages seeking to reason with your brother. Jesus is redirecting us from adding fuel to the fire by seeking revenge, stewing in our own hurt, and/or defacing others which will build resentment and hate. Instead, he is inviting us to seek reconciliation.

Pope Francis, in his General Audience back in September 9, 2016, was very clear: “[G]ossip is a ‘terrorist’ who throws a grenade – chatter – in order to destroy,” he added. “Please, fight against division, because it is one of the weapons that the devil uses to destroy the local Church and the universal Church.” Let us refuse to be a weapon of the devil in his plot to divide us with our thoughts or our words, but instead, seek to be a disciple of Jesus by advocating for forgiveness and reconciliation.

Jesus commands us to be more discerning with our tongue. With our words, we can cut, wound, and destroy, or we can convict, reconcile, and heal. St. Paul encourages us to let no evil talk pass our lips but to instead only say the good things that people need to hear. We have the choice before we speak of what words we let loose. We can choose words that tear down or choose words to lift up and empower. It is easier to grumble about someone with others in the shadows, rather than to approach them in love, hold them accountable with constructive criticism, forgive, and pursue the harder work of reconciliation.

If we are not quite ready for that, Pope Francis invites us to “bite our tongue” instead or we can choose to pray about the situation with someone we trust: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt 18-20). When we turn to Jesus and support from one another, instead of giving into the temptation to gossip or seek revenge, he will give us the strength not only to resist the temptation of furthering hurt and division but heal and guide us so that we can seek to win back a brother or sister.

Photo credit: Rosary walk under the Spanish moss last Saturday evening through Riverside Park, Vero Beach.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, August 14, 2024

“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me (Mt 18:3-5).

The above response Jesus gave was to the disciple’s question regarding who is the greatest in heaven. Jesus offers an unexpected response, as children had no esteem, honor, or greatness in his society. Jesus was not pointing out so much the innocence of children, but emphasizing that children were completely dependent on others for their very survival.

If we are to embark or stay on the journey that will lead us to the Kingdom of heaven, we need to do the same. We need to give our control and apparent, self-sufficiency over to God and place our total dependence on him alone. We need to depend on God as does an infant or young child who depends absolutely on their parents.

Very young children have not developed a defensive filter and they say what is on their mind, often with precise insights! How often do we do the opposite by automatically responding in a defensive manner, thinking about how we will be received or fearing an ulterior motive from the question? Jesus has taught us that our yes is to be yes, and our no is to be no, and anything more is from the evil one (cf. Mt 5:37). As his disciples, Jesus calls us to be humble, to admit to our sins, our mistakes, to confess, correct, and learn from them.

We grow in humility when we take responsibility for our actions, repent from and let go of that which we place before God, and renounce that which can lead us away from God. We also do so when we resist the allures of material, apparent goods, and our own self-centered postures, which so often can lead us astray. We can avoid many of these pitfalls when we follow the instruction of Jesus to “become like children” by surrendering our control and placing our total trust in God first.

We live in a fallen world and there is a temptation to buy into the idea that “might makes right” and “the prize belongs to the survival of the fittest”. This attitude supports a belief in separateness and diminishes the reality of our interconnectedness. We are all wounded, a bit beaten up by life, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, and in need of God’s healing touch. Instead of assuming a defensive posture or contributing to the growing division and darkness, may we instead align ourselves with God and ask him to love others through us, even those who may not appear to be so loveable. We could all use a little more empathy, kindness, support, and understanding. Let us be a healing balm to each other that is so needed.

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Photo: When, like children, we depend on, trust in, and follow the light of God he will lead us through any darkness to experience to Good, the True, and the Beautiful in this life. Riverside Park, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, August 13, 2024

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24).

Jesus invites us to deny our self-centered default position which places I, me, and mine (As George Harrison sang) at the center of each of our decisions. We can deny ourselves when we resist making excuses for our sins and come to a genuine place of sorrow for the pain we have caused God, ourselves, and others. By acknowledging our sins and confessing them, we die to our selfish ways, and then we rise again through the power of Christ. Empowered by our humility and the strength of Jesus, especially in the grace we receive in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we are better equipped to resist those temptations when they rise again.

We are also in a better position to then take up our cross, which is to follow the will of God. Jesus showed us the proper orientation of surrender when he said at Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42). Jesus followed his Father’s will to the cross and endured horrific suffering, excruciating pain, humiliation, and abandonment, to death and into new life!

Many a mother I have talked with has shared the struggles of labor, but also expressed the joy of giving birth; many students I have taught have been exasperated by the time and effort expended for an examination, a sporting event, art show, musical or theatrical performance and yet experienced the joy from the feat they accomplished; and how many times have we faced a challenge, trial, or cleared some obstacle and felt the exhilaration of overcoming the hurdle?

Taking up our cross and following the will of God means accepting a disciplined approach to our lives. When we follow God’s will, as opposed to our own solely, apart from and isolated from God, the difference is that we are not alone in our persistent effort. Inviting God to be a part of our decision-making process and trials for our everyday physical as well as spiritual pursuits is the key.

In my mid-twenties, I entered the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province to study for the priesthood. In the year and a half of discernment, from time to time I would imagine my ordination day. To my surprise, I did not feel intense joy. I enjoyed every aspect of my experience with the friars and the ministries but there was something or as I soon came to realize, someone missing. I took a leave of absence and about a year and a half later, I realized what was missing was a family.

About two years later I met JoAnn, and her three children, Mia, Jack, and Christy. Six months after that we were married and seventeen years later, I was ordained to the permanent diaconate. This is the short version of the story. There were bumpy moments as we learned to grow together by being willing to see each other’s point of view, some perspectives took a little longer than others, and we were at our best when we were willing to sacrifice for and serve one another.

The journey took its roughest lurch in the summer of 2019 when JoAnn was experiencing her final weeks with us on this side of heaven. From the beginning of JoAnn’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, we both prayed, not that our will but God’s will be done. This cross was the heaviest to bear, yet Jesus shouldered it with us and blessed us richly in our surrender. I am truly grateful for those final months that we had together.

Grief and sorrow have their own time frame and their expression is just as unique as each individual. One thing I miss the most is holding JoAnn’s hand. In my new home of Holy Cross, I am able to shake and hold many hands. The hands of my “new bride”, the parishioners of Holy Cross.

Sometimes we who mourn, believe falsely that feeling joy again, living our lives again, is somehow a betrayal to those we have lost. There were times that I allowed that lie to settle a little too long. I finally was able to believe what JoAnn had told me, which was, “I know you will be sad but don’t stay there. I will be closest to you when you are doing things that make you happy.” The veil between heaven and earth is very thin at Mass!

Serving as a priest at Holy Cross this past month has been an incredible gift and joy. It has been one of the happiest periods of my life. That does not lessen the gift of my twenty-three years with JoAnn but is an affirmation that our years together prepared me for this time. The best way I can honor her and our love is by being a priest with a heart willing to share that love with those whom God calls me to serve at Holy Cross and beyond.

Denying ourselves and taking up our cross each day, is a grace to let go of the lies that attempt to divert and distract us from who we have been created to be and how we are called to serve best. Each day is a new opportunity to begin again, to live life anew, to the full, with peace, joy, and love to overflowing!

Photo: Strengthened and nourished by another of God’s paintings during my evening Rosary walk.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, August 9, 2024

Peter shows, as he did when he walked on and then sank in the water, how our faith journey can be compared to a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, sometimes more intense than others. As expressed, time and again in the Gospels, Peter provides examples of taking a step forward and two steps back.

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, Peter still called Simon at this time, exemplified this balancing act of our growth process as he first answered Jesus’ question as to who Jesus was when he stated, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus not only commended Simon for being open to sharing this revelation given to him by God, but also added, “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:17-18).

Name changes were common when there was a significant change in one’s life throughout the Bible. We can see evidence of this in the examples of Abram, changing his name to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, and Jacob to Israel, just to name a few. Without a doubt, this event was a significant giant step forward for Simon Peter!

Yet, just as Peter reached the heights of theological insight he would just as quickly come crashing down again as he cut his teacher off. Jesus began to share with his disciples about how he would suffer, be killed, and rise again on the third day when, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Matthew 16:22-23).

From being called the rock upon which Jesus would build his Church in one instant, to being called Satan in the next, Peter’s experiences offer some solace for us who are on our own faith journeys. Peter apprenticed with Jesus and as in any learning experience, he made mistakes. We need to realize that in our spiritual life this is going to happen to us as well. We will have days when we feel the joy of the Holy Spirit filling our soul, and yet in the next instant, we may feel empty. We may have clear discernment and direction and then feel indecisive and confused. Some days our prayer is fruitful, we feel energized and on fire, and other days we may experience dryness and that we are just going through the motions.

Jesus’ admonition of Peter to get behind him was not the end of the story. In fact, it would get worse when Peter denied Jesus three times! Yet, Peter persisted and Jesus continued to forgive and give him an opportunity to repent, to start over. After his resurrection, Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter loved him, and three times, the third a bit exasperated, Peter said, “Yes,” undoing the travesty of his denials. After the Ascension of Jesus and Pentecost experience, Peter, empowered further by the Holy Spirit led the early Church and gave the ultimate witness and measure of his spiritual growth and maturity by giving his life.

We too will have fits and starts along the way, but the key is to remain faithful to the journey. To continue to dust ourselves off when we have fallen down, be willing to get up and learn from our mistakes, to repent and be forgiven, to seek the help and support of Jesus and one another and begin again. The Good News for us today, is that we are not defined by our mistakes or our worst moments. We are defined by Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God!

Photo: The journey continues, just over a month now at my wonderful parish home, Holy Cross Catholic Church, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, August, 8, 2024 

He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But the woman came and did him homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” (Mt 15:23-24).

Reading Matthew 15:21-28 to get the full feel of this Gospel account is helpful before proceeding (If needed, see the link below).

Jesus’ reaction in this scene does not appear to be consistent with how he has acted toward others who have approached him in the past. Is he just having a bad day and taking it out on this woman? Is his reaction because she is a woman and a Gentile at that? I don’t believe either case to be true.

Jesus has seen his disciples time and again attempting to turn people away, just as recently when the five thousand were hungry and they were ready to send them to the nearby villages, knowing the hour was late to get their food. Jesus was also tired that day too, all but spent, yet, even so, I am sure that he did not check to see who were the card-carrying Jews among those who had gathered, but instead fed all.

I wonder if Jesus was not so much testing the woman’s faith, as much as he was testing the faith and the response of his disciples. The woman was calling for help. Would the disciples offer to provide her support, following the lead of Jesus who they had observed so many times before? Jesus remained silent to her initial plea for help. What did the disciples do? They asked Jesus to send her away. Jesus appeared to support their indifference when he justified his non-response by stating that he was sent to the lost sheep of Israel, clearly, she was of another fold.

The disciples did not step up to defend the woman. Maybe they even egged Jesus on and yet the woman persisted. She came forward and knelt before Jesus imploring him to help her and Jesus met her with a degrading slur, referring to the woman as a dog. The disciples would now certainly appeal to Jesus for mercy, right? Nothing. Nada. His apostles stayed silent, or worse they may have even started to have a good laugh at her expense.

The woman did not back down. She remained resilient in her effort because her daughter needed her help and she would not be turned away. She did not react or get defensive, but returned with her own retort, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters” (Mt 15:27). Jesus then upended the whole scene by stating that the woman was the one who had great faith! A woman, a Gentile, and not his disciples.

This is a good Gospel to ponder and to help us to assess our faith. Are we preventing people from encountering Jesus or are we opening opportunities for people to experience the healing and love of Jesus? This is not to be an exercise in shame but one of awareness. The disciples fell short in this case, but they did not walk away with their tails between their legs. They remained with Jesus and would eventually give their lives for him.

Are we as persistent as this woman was when faced with our challenges and trials? She remained firm and resolute. First, she came to Jesus because she believed he could heal her daughter. Do we believe that Jesus can help us in our situations, and do we go to him? And she wasn’t leaving until he did so. Do we have the same conviction in Jesus that he can provide for our need, are we willing to reach out to him, and persist when he appears to be silent? The Canaanite woman is a model of clear intent and persistence that we can emulate.

Again, our examination is not to lead us to beat ourselves up if we lack this clear intentionality and persistence in our faith. If we fall short, we admit that truth and strive to be more intentional in our times of prayer. We set a time each day to pray, and for whatever time we choose, we resist any distractions that would attempt to derail us. We are clear and resolute in our intention that it is just Jesus and us that matter in that moment. And even when we feel nothing is happening or that Jesus is silent, we continue to come back. For each time we show up, God will happen.

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Painting: Jesus and the Woman of Canaan – Michael Angelo Immenraet

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, August 7, 2024

Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother, John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. (Mt 17:1-2).

Peter, James and John experienced Jesus’ profound teachings, his powerful signs and wonders, his healings, casting out demons, love and mercy, all of which were leading those of his followers to believe in the reality that Jesus was the Son of God. I imagine Peter, James, and John, though acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, still pretty much looked at Jesus as an amazing man, but human. In the encounter of Jesus transfigured, Jesus revealed to his inner circle of Apostles not only a foretaste of what was to come in heaven but a glimpse of his actual divinity.

Jesus is not 50% God and 50% human. He is fully God and fully man. This is the Mystery of the Incarnation; the reality that the second Person of the Trinity took on flesh and became human while remaining fully God. This is an important reality, because in this very act of Infinite Grace, the Son of God assuming humanity, Jesus, the Godman, opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed. The Son of God became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity. Through our participation in the life of Jesus Christ we are deified, becoming like God as we deepen our relationship with his Father.

“By revealing himself, God wishes to make [us] capable of responding to him, and of knowing him, and of loving him far beyond [our] own natural capacity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1997, 52). This reality of the invitation to experience communion with the Loving God and Father of all creation is for everyone. Our joy and fulfillment are achieved through developing a relationship with the God of Jesus Christ.

Many may say they are happy and living a good life without having a relationship with Jesus Christ or apart from God or his Church, and I would not disagree with them. I would only add that if we are honest with ourselves, there is more to life than the mere material and finite reality we see and experience with our senses. When we slow down enough, when we are actually, still enough, we can experience a deeper yearning for more as well as a deeper healing needed. We become in touch with the fact that nothing of material reality will ever truly satisfy us.

Even with great achievement, mastery, honor, and accumulation, there is still a lingering question, “Is this all there is?” We experience consciously or unconsciously a restlessness, we continually search to fill this unease, feeling satisfied for the moment, but eventually in short order, we are left empty, time and time again. This unease is our soul’s yearning, our transcendent nature longing for more, and that longing is for the infinite that the finite cannot provide. St Augustine of Hippo (354-430) articulated this desire and yearning so well in the opening chapter of his autobiography, Confessions: “You move us to delight in praising You; for You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.”

The Feast of the Transfiguration is an invitation, not to reject our humanity, but to embrace the fullness of what it means to be human, as the Son of God did through the Mystery of his becoming one with us. We are invited to embrace the fullness of our humanity; the reality that we are physical, emotional, intellectual, while at the same time, spiritual. Our fulfillment and joy come from a balance of nurturing each aspect of who we are in participation with Jesus.

Peter, James and John, as well as Augustine and the saints, embraced the invitation of Jesus and that has made all the difference. God invites us also to experience the wonder, to explore the full breadth, depth, and width of all that our reason and faith can open for us, and go even further, to embrace the yearning of our soul, that we may draw ever deeper into the intimacy of a loving relationship with God, ourselves, and each other. May we say yes to that same invitation today, tomorrow, and each day going forward, to continue to go deeper, to experience the fullness of our humanity and through participation in Christ, our divinity!
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Photo: God reveals himself through the gift of his creation as he does through his Son.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, August 6, 2024

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself (Mt 14:13).

This is not the first nor the last time that Jesus withdrew to a deserted place. Unfortunately, his effort for some alone time ended abruptly, for when he got off the boat, he was immediately met by people seeking him.

Making time for quiet may seem like a waste of time, just a simple act, but it is one that is very necessary. As busy as Jesus was, Jesus would make time to pray. Though the “deserted place” was full of people by the time his boat reached the shore, he did have some quiet, alone time before he disembarked. Jesus showed no frustration for having his plans interrupted, in fact, his “heart was moved with pity for them” (Mt 13:14).

Often, we lose our patience when we are interrupted. When we are cut off or cut short by someone else, we may react in a negative way internally or externally. Most of the times our hearts are not moved with pity, nor do we show compassion for those who may consciously or unconsciously come to us in need.

If we find that we are constantly impatient, short with others, one reason could be that we do not give ourselves time to stop and be still, we do not make time to pray, we do not sit still, internally as well as externally, even for a few moments and breath. We just keep moving, on the phone, on our apps, on the computer, working, studying, interacting with others, completing this activity believing that once we finish we will be all caught up. Hyped up on caffeine to keep up the pace we have set, we then wonder why we are consistently anxious or on edge, if we are even aware!

Jesus sought some downtime possibly to process the death of John the Baptist, and in today’s Gospel, we read that he did not get the amount of time he set out to have. Though he did get a brief respite on the boat before he reached the shore. When he saw the people, he did not whisper to himself, “Oh no, here they come again.” He instead was moved with compassion to serve their needs.

One way we grow in our faith and improve our health, is to put into practice the actions and teachings of Jesus. Giving ourselves, even a few minutes of quiet time as Jesus did in today’s Gospel can be of great help. I found this to be true one November afternoon during my first year back at seminary. I was attempting to get some reading done for a class when my head began to bob. I don’t drink coffee or caffeine drinks and usually would just push myself through. Instead, this time I felt led to try something new.

I set the alarm on my phone for fifteen minutes. I was out within thirty seconds and didn’t move again until the alarm went off. Unlike feeling groggy and disoriented when I had taken longer naps in the past, I felt a bit more refreshed. I got back to the reading and got more done in less time because I was more alert. This became a regular pattern in which most days at 3:00, I would stop, pray the chaplet of Divine Mercy, and then take a fifteen-minute nap.

Some days I did so at different times or on occasion not at all but this became a regular practice and made a big difference. Jesus invites each of us in our own unique ways to be still, pray, and rest daily. The time that we commit to need not be for a long period, five to ten minutes a day can work wonders. What matters more is being consistent and giving our mind and bodies time to reset and renew. Doing so will make not only a big difference in our lives but also in the lives of those we interact with on a regular basis.

Photo: My favorite icon. It hangs behind the altar in St. Mary’s Chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary. This chapel was a wonderful place to get away and pray for awhile.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, August 5, 2024