Reflections on the Gospel Reading for the Day

Revenge, retribution, or eye for an eye? Neither. “Offer no resistance to evil” – Love, forgive, and show mercy.

Today we receive the fifth antithesis, in which, Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil” (Mk 5:38-39). The Mosaic law, an eye for an eye, that Jesus first addressed was originally an attempt to curb the emotive response of revenge. If someone had killed a clan or tribal member, there would have been those who would choose to retaliate by inflicting as much carnage as possible to the people responsible, even up to and including the death of the whole clan or tribe, even the women and children. The rationale behind this was that there would then be no one to come back for revenge. The idea of seeking instead an eye for an eye was to temper the retribution to a more measured and proportionate response.

Jesus though is saying that “an eye for an eye” does not go far enough, and raises the challenge of being his disciple to a higher level, being that even the thought of revenge is not to be considered. Jesus is not just seeking to lessen the cycle of violence, he is giving us the means to end it. Forgiveness is the cornerstone of the teachings of Jesus. Instead of seeking revenge, Jesus is commanding that we seek to forgive those who have harmed us. We who pray the Our Father or the Lord’s prayer, are to take to heart and be mindful of the words we pray each and multiple times each day: “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.“

The urge for revenge is powerful and primal. Revenge is wired into our survival instinct to protect ourselves. Jesus invites us to grow beyond our mere instinctual responses and survival instincts. He is calling us to mature beyond the bestial and to be a people who do not merely survive, but thrive. Jesus is seeking to infuse us with his divine life so that we will be transformed. This is true not only for ourselves but for those who would seek to do us harm. Instead of striking back with revenge, we are to be flexible and adept enough to instead appeal to their conscience. We are to take all that others throw at us, and meet them with the courage to stand, receive their worst, and disarm them with the blinding light of the love and forgiveness of Jesus.

This is no easy task, especially when we experience ongoing injustice and needless loss of life. To put into practice such teachings as the turning of the other cheek, we need to start small. We need to resist the immediate thoughts of revenge that arise for the smallest of offenses. When someone makes a snide remark, and/or offers demeaning or dehumanizing comments directed at us or others, we resist retaliation. We hold them accountable by not adding more fuel to the fire. Our hope is to receive the offense and mirror back to them what they have done such that their conscience may be convicted. By loving them instead of striking back in kind, we may win back a brother or sister.

To be a disciple of Jesus means we need to be contemplatives in action in the face of cruelty, division, and dehumanization. We need to ground ourselves in the word of God as we return to these challenging teachings of the Beatitudes and antitheses often, believe in them, meditate and pray upon them, keep them at the forefront of our minds and, with the courage and guidance of the Holy Spirit, put them into practice. Doing so will then help us to be centered and intentional when conflict arises. Instead of responding with a knee-jerk reaction, we can breathe and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance and then choose how best to respond.

Some would say this is naive and impossible. It is true that we will not be able to resist thoughts, words, and acts of revenge and walk the path of forgiveness on our willpower alone. We need to surrender our ego and pride to Jesus, who as the Son of God became one with us in our humanity, experiencing our humanity at its worst, so that we can become one with him in his divinity and become human at our best. As we receive his love, forgiveness, and mercy, we will be transformed. We will be even more transformed when we love, forgive, and extend mercy to others.

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Photo: Jesus has taken our sins, our worst, and our inhumanity upon himself on the Cross to forgive us and show us that there is a way through our darkness into his light.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, June 15, 2026

Our true Shepherd has come to give us a word of truth, let us hear and rest in it.

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd (Mt. 9:36).

This movement of compassion is for the people who are not being led by the religious leadership of this time. This also echoes periods of time in Israel’s history when they were not properly led or led astray by insufficient and/or corrupt leadership. The imagery of the shepherd and tending of the sheep is present in the Old Testament as well. There is a wonderful example where Ezekiel hears the Lord speak to him: “To the shepherds, thus says the LORD GOD: woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been pasturing themselves! Should not shepherds pastor the flock?… You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sick nor bind up the injured… but rule harshly and brutally…”

One of the reasons the prophets arose, was at the calling of God, to speak judgment against the corrupt leadership of Israel. God has always heard the cry of the poor and when the people were left to fend for themselves and “were scattered and wandered”, God spoke through Ezekiel saying that: “I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest – oracle of the Lord GOD. The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal…” (cf. Ezekiel 34).

Jesus has been doing just as Ezekiel outlines in 34:15-16. And even though Jesus is “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness” (Mt. 9:35), the sheep are gathering but most of the shepherds and condemning. Neither his teaching nor his healing is being acknowledged or accepted by the leaders. Instead, there is a growing animosity.

Even though many of the shepherds are gathering like a coming storm, Jesus continues his Father’s mission without any concern. He calls twelve to assist him. This is no random number. Jesus is presenting himself as the new Moses, who called twelve to assist him in leading the freed slaves from Egypt in their journey through the wilderness to the promised land. Jesus is the new David who unified the twelve tribes as a nation of Israel. Jesus is calling a new leadership to begin a new age, a new kingdom, and a new Israel.

And a cast of characters it was. Especially through the Gospel of Mark, the apostles have many fits and starts and sputters and seem to never be firing on all cylinders. And yet Jesus saw something in them that they did not see in themselves. Jesus never gave up on any one of them. He taught, guided, corrected, modeled and prayed for them, and when the time came, prepared them for his greatest act of love and sacrifice, his crucifixion.

The apostles were rocked to their core, they failed in every respect. Jesus still did not give up on them. He conquered death and rose again. Jesus came back to them and did not punish them but breathed life, breathed the love of Holy Spirit into them, forgave, and showed them a better way. Just as Jesus gave them the authority in today’s account to teach, heal, and cast out demons, he gave to them again in that upper room after his return. And as we remembered and celebrated again only a few weeks ago, after the Annunciation, the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost, and all that Jesus prepared them for, they assumed in receiving the mantle of Apostles and the Church was born.

We gather around these wonderful accounts each day or each week at each Mass as well as in our own private reading, prayer and meditation. We read or hear again what has been preserved and transmitted generation after generation, the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, the judges, prophets, and how the faithful remnant passed what they received to Joseph, Mary, John the Baptist and Jesus, and he passed on a deeper and richer deposit of faith to the Apostles, not just to remember our history, but to remember who and whose we are.

The word exists only when there is one to speak or write it AND one to hear it. The Apostles heard the word of Jesus, were empowered by him, and in the end, did what he told them to do. We now stand in that same wonderful line of succession. Jesus, is not only our Shepherd, but also the Word who became flesh, one with us in our humanity, was spoken into the world by his Father and was heard. So the Word continues to be spoken because the Father sees in us what he saw in those he has called in every generation so that we can become one with his Son in his divinity. The Holy Spirit is also present to love and guide us to accept the truth of the word that he speaks, that he wants us to breathe in, receive, find our rest, and abide in: we are the beloved daughters and sons of our loving God and Father. May we hear and savor that truth today.

Photo: May you give yourself a place to be still and quiet and savor the truth of who and whose you are.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, June 14, 2026

Telling the truth is a much more peaceful way to live.

In today’s Gospel, we read about the fourth antithesis where, Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow. But I say to you, do not swear at all (Mt 5:33-34). The taking of an oath in Jesus’ time became an acceptable practice to confirm that someone was telling the truth. Taking an oath by invoking God made the testimony or presentation of one’s statement more believable because he was willing to receive God’s judgment upon himself if he was lying.

People expanded this oath taking as Jesus pointed out by replacing God’s name with taking an oath by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or one’s head. The thought being that one would escape God’s judgement if they were not being fully honest. Jesus points out that this would not be the case. For heaven is God’s throne, the earth is his footstool, Jerusalem is the city of the great King, and it was even God who made the color of one’s hair.

As with his other antitheses, Jesus called his disciples to go deeper, to be better. The word of the disciple ought to stand on its own weight such that they need not take an oath at all. Jesus spoke the truth always and his disciples are called to do the same. If his disciple tells the truth, there is no need to take an oath. The “Yes” or “No” of a disciple is sufficient. “Anything more is from the evil one” (Matthew5:37).

We can see remnants of this practice today, when we hear someone say, “I swear on my mother’s grave that I did not…, I swear on our friendship that I did not…, or I swear to God as my witness that I did not…”

Jesus is teaching us as well that we are to resist the temptation to swear an oath at all. We are to just tell the truth in all circumstances. We are to be people of integrity and stand on what we say as the truth. We are living in a time period in our country where the ability to tell the truth is being called into question, where lies and the bending of the truth are becoming common place. This is one of the reasons why so many people have such a low opinion of secular and even religious leadership. But it is also present in our day-to-day interactions with one another.

In a 2014 episode of his television show, Dr. Phil, he gave a list of reasons researchers gave for why people lie: People lie to take what is not rightfully theirs, to escape accountability, to create a fantasy/false self-esteem to escape their mundane life, to avoid punishment, to inflict pain, to feel better in the moment, steal admiration, and to gain advantage to exploit others.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a very good place to start. Lying destroys the very foundation of our relationships which is trust. Once trust has been broken, it is very hard to come back from and rebuild. Lying also supports our false self. Even if we do not get caught in a lie, we know, and our conscience convicts us of that fact. There is an ache in our soul because we are not being true to who we really are.

Covering up lies expends a lot of energy because we have to constantly remember what we said. Left unchecked, one lie leads to another, and we then string together a web of lies. We also begin to feel sick inside, because we have not been created to be deceitful and dishonest. We have been created good, to be people of honesty and integrity. The worst damage is that when we live a life of lies, have been lied to, not only our trust in each other falters, but so does our trust in God. Anxiety and stress increases because we feel a growing isolation and separation from God and each other. 

Examining our conscience is a good daily practice, and being humble enough to admit where we have lied is the next best step. In the beginning, to undo a habit of lying may feel hard because we have allowed a habitual pathway to form. We experience a knee-jerk or automatic response. Yet with intentionality and prayer we can rework our mental wiring. By asking God to help us to imagine how we could have handled the original situation in a more honest way, we can reach out to the person and apologize, move toward reconciliation, and be better prepared to tell the truth the next time, live a life of honesty, which is a healthier and more peaceful way to live.

Being patient with ourselves and seeking the Sacrament of Reconciliation for habitual patterns, grants us an opportunity to express our contrition and seek not only forgiveness, but Jesus’ grace to help and strengthen us to tell the truth. When we call on Jesus’ name, make a prayerful pause, Jesus will help us to harness the courage to resist the temptation to lie and to instead tell the truth. In time, with the help and love of the Holy Spirit, our vices of deceit will be transformed into new virtues of honesty. Let us live by Jesus’ command to make our, “‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and [our] ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one” (Mt 5:37).

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Photo: The father of lies has already lost, let us not give him any entry.

Link for the clip from the Dr. Phil Show showing the list for why we lie

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, June 13, 2026

When we allow our heartbeat to align with the Sacred Heart we will experience his rest and peace.

“It was because the LORD loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn your fathers, that he brought you out with his strong hand from the place of slavery, from the hand of pharaoh, King of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 7:8).

God hears the cry of the poor. He sends Moses to free his chosen people. Not because they are the best and brightest, the strongest or having the most potential. He is doing so because of his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the patriarchs. He is doing so because he loves his children, those enslaved, but also all of humanity and creation. The chosen people are chosen not so they can keep God all to themselves but so that they can reveal him to all peoples.

All that has been created has come to be out of the outpouring of God’s love. We and everything that is, exists because God willed and loved us into reality, to be loved and to love him and each other in return. 

God still comes close today, he still hears the cry of the poor. The poor are each of us in the depths of our souls crying out to our loving God and Father, just as St. Augustine in his introduction to his Confessions identified: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless, until they rest in you.” We all thirst and starve for his love and communion. The pharaohs today are not just those who overtly oppress others, though there are still those who do, but more subtle are the fallen aspects of each one of our egos that enslave our authentic and true selves. 

God has sent another Moses to free us: “In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him” (I John 4:9).

Jesus comes close, he shines the light of love into our darkness, our sins, our traumas, our fears. He gently invites us to come into the light of his love, to be embraced, forgiven, and restored as the beloved children that we already are, but to often forget.

Each day and during moments of the day, it is helpful for us to remember that we are the beloved daughter or son of the creator of all that exists. He made and formed each of us as an expression of his love. There has never nor will there ever be again someone like you. You are loved as you are right now as you are and you need do nothing to prove that. All we need to do is receive the love God offers to us. 

Listen quietly for the beating of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and allow your heart to align in rhythm with his heart, such that Heart speaks to heart. Receiving the love of the Father through Jesus is the key to our freedom. No self-help program or three-point strategic plan needed (counseling does have its place and time). Just a simple, “Yes” to your loving God and Father, as Mary said, “May it be done to me according to your word.” As Jesus said, “Not my will but yours.” A simple slowing down and returning throughout the day and each day to an opening of your heart to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

Aligning ourselves to the pace and rhythm of the Sacred Heart of Jesus helps us to experience his rest, which is deeper than physical. The rest that Jesus promises is the rest that our soul has always longed for. It is in that simple rest that we can experience the safety and stability of his love, a release from stress, strain, and pain, and deep, slow breathing that leads to peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding. Rest yes, but not for just ourselves. We are to “bring the peace of the risen Lord to our world, with the freedom born of the knowledge that we have been loved, chosen and sent by the Father” (Pope Leo XIV).

Painting: The Sacred Heart of Jesus accessed from Trinity Catholic College

Pope Leo XIV Solemnity of the Sacred Heart Homily, June 27, 2025

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, June 12, 2026

Our hearts, thoughts, words, and deeds can dehumanize and depersonalize or provide healing and give life.

As was presented yesterday, Jesus made it clear that he did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but he came to fulfill them. In his Sermon on the Mount as recorded by Matthew, Jesus offered practical ways in which we can find fulfillment and happiness by properly ordering our lives by following his way. In today’s account, he introduces the first of six antitheses. With these apparent contrasting statements, beginning with, “You have heard that it was said” followed by, “But I say to you”, Jesus provided for his disciples the way to avoid the trap that some of the religious leaders of his time fell into: “I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:20).

The scribes and Pharisees that Jesus pointed out were those who believed that they were following the letter of the law and/or commanding that others do so, but their hearts were not changed. They may have been adhering to the external provisions, but there was no transformation, their hearts were hardened, they were focused more on their own access to honor and power. They were also imposing strict adherence to the law without providing the support or means for others to achieve what the law imposed. The law became more important than the dignity or value of the person. Jesus recognized the law but also realized that it was in place to help to provide guidance and discipline so one could better resist the temptations of our fallen nature. The law was to be a foundation to be built upon, not the end goal in and of itself.

This and the five antithesis to follow, outlines how: “Jesus calls his disciples to a higher standard than that of the scribes and Pharisees and he brings out the true meaning of the law. External conformity to the law is not enough. The law must be interiorized so that it penetrates one’s heart and leads one to live according to God’s ultimate intentions” (Mitch and Sri, 96).

Just as children need clear boundaries and structures in place to provide a clear path toward healthy development, this is also true for those of us growing and maturing spiritually. We need to learn to crawl, to build strength and balance before we can take those first wobbly steps. With continued support, we are then able to walk and soon run. Jesus is not only providing the means to go through each of these stages in our faith life, figuratively teaching each of his disciples and us today to not only crawl, walk, and run but to also be able to fly as we seek to reach the heights that Jesus is willing to raise us to!

The Beatitudes and six antitheses are challenging when we take the time to read and ponder them because each one of them goes counter to much of the way the structure of our fallen world has been governed for centuries. If we are to catch the fire that Jesus has come to set, we need not only to read, pray, meditate, and contemplate upon on the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount that we are working through, we need to also see their relevance and practicality to our time and place today, not dismiss them but begin to put them into practice. As Christians, our faith ought not to be shaped and informed by our culture, but we are to be shaped and conformed by the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, so to shape and inform our culture.

Today we start with the first antithesis: “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, Raqa, will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna (Mt 5:21-22). The seeds of anger begin to sprout in our mind from our knee jerk reactions to a perceived or actual threat, from our hearts hardened by prejudgments, prejudices, and/or a reflection of our level of spiritual immaturity.

Jesus addresses the known provision against murder. He then builds a hedge around the Torah. Building a hedge is a common practice in which if one does not want to break the law, another law is imposed so as to protect one from even getting close to breaking the first. If we can resist the temptation to react and instead step back for a moment, take some deep breaths, pray, and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we will be less likely to criticize, judge, demean or dehumanize another, and then there is much less chance for our anger to grow into wrath, that left unbridled could lead to murdering someone.

Jesus is also saying that our words matter, that they have the power to destroy or to create. Calling someone Raqa, Aramaic for a blockhead or idiot, and then calling someone a fool, would “be liable to fiery Gehenna” (Mt 5:22). How much more egregious are we today? How polarized we have become inside and outside of the Church because of the level of demeaning words, tone, and language that is spoken, condoned, and justified? This has a ripple effect that poisons our children and each of us. We wonder why we are more in a state of anxiety and stress where we see our own leaders no longer speaking with respect but in dehumanizing ways. We can then fall into the same pattern which poisons our family, relationships, politics, and it has even poisoned the Church with growing divisive rhetoric, overt expressions of prejudice, and depersonalization.

Instead of settling for two-dimensional caricatures of one another, we can go deeper when we are willing to spend time with and get to know each other. Jesus challenges us to slow down and see the person before us with dignity and respect. When we resist reacting, giving in to our biases, and prejudgments, and instead recognize the value and dignity of each person, we will have a better chance of building relationships and saying only the good things that people need to hear. We will also be more apt to reform policies and structures that respect the dignity of each person in the womb, after birth, and at each stage and condition of life until natural death.

May we all take some time today to reflect on Jesus’ teaching about how we think, speak to and about, as well as act toward one another. May we examine our consciences and seek forgiveness for those times we have thought, condoned, or justified thoughts, words, and/or actions that have been belittling, dehumanizing, and demeaning directly or while with others. In this way, we can ask God to heal our hearts. “[O]nly peaceful hearts can build a world of peace… The heart is the source of peace: there we must learn to meet rather than clash with each other, to trust and not mistrust, to listen and understand instead of closing ourselves off to others” (Pope Leo XIV, xiv). 

Jesus, please heal us and infuse us with your justice, love, and mercy so that we will be inspired to live out your teachings daily. Help us to encounter each other with mutual respect and understanding as our brothers and sisters, no matter our race, ethnicity, creed, and/or gender, and to commit to building a culture of life and dignity for all, not in some abstract utopian way, but in the concrete moments, one person, one encounter, and one thought, word, and action at a time.

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Photo: Making time to breathe, receive, rest, and abide in God’s love will help us to better discern our thoughts, words, and actions and allow the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and minds.

Mitch, Curtis. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.

Leo XIV, Pope. Peace Be With You!: My Words to the Church and to the World. Dublin, Ireland: Harper On, 2026.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, June 11, 2026

Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets, which brings the law of love to the forefront.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt 5:17). Jesus was a devout Jew, he was taught how to live out the law and the prophets in his daily life by Joseph, Mary, and his Father. Jesus grew up not only practicing but embodying a deep understanding of the law and the prophetic tradition. We see evidence of that when, at twelve, he is found by his parents among the teachers and scholars discussing the law with understanding and wisdom. Jesus, in his public ministry, very much spoke with authority, as God, calling the people of Israel back to the law, both those who have turned away from God as well as those who used the law as a bludgeon and for building a wall to keep others out.

Jesus also showed time and again that being true to Torah was more than just following the law. Obedience to God and allowing God to transform each person’s heart and mind was the point. The law was about building relationships with God and others. Jesus extended his hand, person to person, offering an invitation of welcome for people to come to know him and his Father intimately. He called out many religious leaders who taught the truth but lived another way. Jesus healed on the Sabbath, Jesus forgave sins, Jesus touched lepers and he ate with tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners, those on the peripheries, not because he was being willy-nilly with the law, but because he was showing the deeper interiorization of how to live out God’s commands by his lived example that the greatest commandment of the law was and is to love God with all his mind, heart, and strength and to love his neighbor as himself.

This practice goes right to the foundation of who God created us to be. All of humanity has been created in God’s image and likeness. Each of us is endowed with dignity by the very fact that we exist as a daughter and son of God. Yet, it is in our choices to sin, that we lose our likeness to God. Jesus calls us to repent, to turn away from our sinful attitudes and ways, and to turn back to receive the love of God.

In Jesus, we see that the highest observance of the law of God is to love. Jesus met each person where they were and accompanied them. That also meant calling out those who misused the law by keeping others at arm’s length. Jesus did the opposite. As the Son of God, Jesus became one with us in our humanity, so that we can become one with him in his divinity. Jesus offered others his arms extended outward, inviting others to experience his loving embrace. He showed this in a graphic and powerful way on the cross, where he opened his arms wide to embrace all peoples of every race, ethnicity, and gender, even in our deepest sins.

Jesus built on the law and the prophets, because he was the fulfillment of them, and in doing so, he gave the law its greater context. The foundation of the law and the prophets were founded in love, meaning its highest expression, which is to will the good of the other as other. The law is not to be like a stagnant pool or just on stone gathering dust, where we grasp onto the law and tradition for its own sake. The divine law of God is rather like a running stream, it is always fresh and being renewed by the Holy Spirit.

What Jesus ushered in, was the reign of God, which was possible through the foundations laid by those who had gone before him: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, the judges and prophets, David, and those who answered the call of God to serve in his name. From a person, Abraham, to a clan, a loose gathering of twelve tribes and then a nation, Israel, God called a people to himself to shine the light of his will to others. Then at the appointed time, he sent his Son, to be one with the people he called to draw all nations to himself so that all were and continue to be invited to come to be one with him, the God of all creation.

Our joy and fulfillment take shape most meaningfully as we are transformed by the love of God. As we build on the traditions of our faith that give us a solid foundation, we must resist holding on to them so tightly that they strangle and suck the life out of us. That which leads us to encounter and renew our relationship with Jesus in love is what we are to embrace and share. That which has become stagnant and no longer is an avenue for affirming life must be purified.

The love and mercy of God put into practice through Jesus was not a watering down of the law and the prophets. Jesus not only fulfilled both expressions, but he also raised the bar even higher when he taught his disciples to move beyond seeking an eye for an eye, to not resisting an evil person (see Mt 5:38-39), and challenged them further in requiring them to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (see Mt 5:44). To accept and put into practice these radical expressions of love is only possible when admit our powerlessness, weakness and frailty. Asking for God’s help transforms us.

Jesus’ love sheds light on the law. What is more important than white knuckled external observance of the law is a deeper trust in the love of God to identify the darkness of our own sins and idolatry. Doing so frees us from the temptation of becoming overzealous moralizers. We are not to lead with the law but with love. This happens when we are humble enough to trust in the purifying fire and convicting movement of the Holy Spirit in our lives, are willing to confess with contrition our sins, and become less drawn to protecting our false and fallen selves. 

Emptying ourselves in this way, we are then open to drink from the living stream of Jesus’ love, we are purged of corruptive and debilitating attachments. We become more comfortable in our own skin, are true to ourselves, and who God calls us to be. Being loved, forgiven and experiencing the mercy of God helps us to heal and to become whole. Hurt people can hurt people. Healed and grateful people can instead show another way than reaction, isolation, and division. We can radiate joy, hope, and love and invite others to experience the love of God we have received.

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Painting: May we collaborate with and make something beautiful for God.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Jesus calls us to be salt and light.

As we continue our journey in Ordinary Time, we continue to be blessed to sit at the feet of Jesus for the next few weeks as we hear, ponder, and hopefully begin to put into practice his teachings from the Sermon on the Mount. In today’s account, Jesus has just finished presenting the beatitudes and encourages his disciples to live out this empowering teaching by being “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (cf. Mt 5:13-16).

This call continues to ring true for us today as his disciples. We too are to be “salt” and “light”. Salt has two major properties, preservation and flavor. Jesus emphasizes the aspect of salt being seasoning that one puts on food, which enhances its flavor. Our lives are better when we put into practice Jesus’ teachings and are transformed. Not only does the life of God living in us enhance our experience of life, we enhance the lives of others. 

We are also to preserve the goodness that God has created. For all that God has created is good. The enemy, Satan and his minions seek to corrupt and disorder that which God has made good. We are to counter the effects of sin with remaining faithful in times of darkness. Allowing Jesus to shine his light in us, we experience his love in the darkness in our lives, are forgiven, experience, healing and move to wholeness. Through our transformation we then radiate the light of Jesus for others and invite them to allow the light of Jesus into places where they too may not feel loved, where they feel alone, or isolated. In experiencing God’s love and light shining through us to them, they can begin their own journey of healing.

Each morning upon awaking and experiencing our first breather of the day, let us remember that we are an Alleluia people. A people grounded in hope and joy which we experience more as we die to our old self, our sinful self, so that we become less and Jesus becomes more. Our faith is not just for us alone, we are to go out and share it with others, we are to bring Jesus to others. “Isreal was to be a light to the nations (Isa 60:1-3; Bar 4:2). Jesus calls his disciples to fulfill this role by living the beatitudes in such a way that the world may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mitch and Sri, 92). 

Pope Francis, in the very first line of his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, writes: “The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, emptiness, and loneliness.” The Pope is not saying that when we accept Jesus into our lives and develop a relationship with him that all will go our way and on our own terms, there will no longer be conflict or pain, and that our life will now be perfect. 

Jesus is the very embodiment of love and the light that leads us away from the darkness of our sin. His love invites us to experience a better way. Instead of path leading to death, Jesus lights the way to eternal life. Jesus is present and accompanies us in our pain and sorrow and assures us that we are not alone. Jesus is the one who fulfills the longing of our heart’s deepest desire, he reveals to us our meaning and vocation in life. Jesus offers us hope as well as his hand to lead us through our darkest nights of despair and trauma.

We who have experienced the healing balm of the presence of Jesus in our lives, have grasped his hand for strength, have leaned on his shoulder to cry on, and experienced the joy of our encounter with him, are to be present to others in the same way. We are to be salt by bringing the joy of Jesus to all those we encounter. We need to resist becoming salt that has lost their flavor, meaning that we are no different than those in the world. We are not to slip into gossip, cynicism, and relativism, but instead are to be people of integrity, understanding, and truth.

I am not extroverted or outgoing by nature. I was much more reserved and internal as a youth. In my freshman or sophomore year of college, I heard a talk on cassette given by Mother Theresa of Calcutta. She mentioned reaching out to others with a smile. I still remember the first time of risking to smile at someone after hearing Mother’s encouraging words. I was walking up the sidewalk toward the parking garage on campus. I do not remember if the person I smiled at returned the smile, yet I do remember that day as a key moment in my faith journey. 

Having heard practically how to share the light of God’s love with another, and then to follow through, filled me with joy. Smiling continues to make a difference in my life and hopefully, the lives of others. When we are living our lives as Jesus guides us, as we read, meditate, ponder and put into practice his teachings, then the people in our realm of influence then we are being salt and light. People feel better after having been in our presence, because they have had an encounter with Jesus through us. Even if they feel convicted, they are not condemned but offered a better way that leads from shadows or darkness and into light.

How can we be salt and light that Jesus invites us to be? Live our lives as he did and commit daily to spending time breathing, receiving, resting and abiding in the presence of his Father and following his will. A simple way of adding some flavor and some warmth in our interactions is offering a smile. Doing so need not only be limited to those we feel comfortable with or like. We can share a smile with those we may have had conflicts with and even those for whom we may feel a bias or prejudice toward. This is only a small beginning, but it draws us out from our own self-centered focus and directs our attention toward willing the good of another.

A simple, yet genuine smile can work wonders for someone who begins to believe that no one cares or has the time of day for them. This is true for the recipient as well as the giver. If you have felt like you have lost some of your flavor or if you are not sure how to be a light for others, next time you catch the eye of another, smile.

In this small act, we say to the person on the receiving end of our smile that we care enough to notice them, that they are loved just for being present in that moment. They have worth and dignity just for who they are. A simple, sincere smile can bring a little flavor to someone in a sour mood, as well as a little light to someone in a very dark place. 

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Photo: As we allow ourselves to be transformed by the love of the Holy Spirit we will radiate the love of God to others.

Mitch, Curtis. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Blessed is the one who hears and ponders the word of God and puts it into practice.

Curtis Mitch and Edward Sri, in their commentary on Matthew, offer three key insights into how to understand the beatitudes. Contextually, Jesus does not make up the genre of beatitudes himself. The Greek, makarios, can be interpreted to mean happy and “denotes blessedness or happiness not in the sense of an emotional state but in terms of being in a fortunate situation… In the Jewish tradition, beatitudes either commended those who take a certain path of life or promised future consolation to those in affliction” (Mitch and Sri, 88). 

The Hebrew Scriptures provide examples that Joseph and Mary would have read or shared from memory to Jesus, and he would have prayed with himself. “Forty-five beatitudes are found in the Old Testament, most in the Psalms and Wisdom literature, where they commend a certain quality, condition or situation. For example, the blessed are those who delight in God’s law (Ps 1-2), who take refuge in the law (Ps 2:12)… and trust in him (Ps 84:12).” (Mitch and Sri, 89).

Who is blessed to Jesus? Not even his own mother because she is his mother, but blessed is the one who hears and ponders the word of God and puts it into practice (cf. Luke 11:28). Jesus presents to his followers a path of how they are going to live a particular way of life. He is setting a road map that will guide them through the trials and tribulations that will come in doing so, and even when challenges arise, Jesus promises that his Father will provide consolation. Those who put the beatitudes into practice and live as his disciples will experience happiness and fulfillment. 

Mitch and Sri also show that “Jesus’ beatitudes represent a reversal of values, turning the world’s standards for happiness upside down” (Mitch and Sri, 88). Mature disciples of Jesus will come to experience consolation no matter the external storms that arise. Even in times of desolation, they will remain persistent and on course, so to come out on the other side stronger for having trusted that Jesus is with them even when they did not feel his presence. 

Jesus does not commend those who wage war as blessed, but instead: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God” (Mt. 5:9). Jesus does not promote the lives of the rich and famous, but instead: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3). Jesus does not affirm those who thirst for power, pleasure, wealth, and fame, but instead: “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Mt. 5:6).

These are just a few of the eight beatitudes Jesus presented. A good practice is to review each of the eight beatitudes that Jesus presents in the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount. Which one(s) strike a nerve. Stop there and meditate with Jesus leading us. Where is he helping us to see a way where we can release an attachment so to better follow more faithfully?

Jesus invited his disciples to sit at his feet as the “new Moses”. He came up the mountain like Moses who came up to receive the law. Jesus did not come to receive the law, he came to “teach it” (Mitch and Sri, 87). As he begins his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, the other wonderful thing we will realize about the beatitudes is that he was not just sharing head knowledge but practical ways to inherit the kingdom of Heaven, to grow in intimacy with his Father and share in the love of the Holy Spirit. All practices that he himself lived through and through.

The Beatitudes, like the Ten Commandments, are boundaries that define us as the children and inheritors of God’s will and blessing. They help us to uncover that which seeks to lead us astray, to isolation, and to our death, and instead identify how to stay focused on that which leads us to eternal life. The most important thing we can do every day is to pray, and the enemy knows that, so he will seek with all his means to distract, divert, and dissuade us from doing so or to keep our prayer and practices merely at the functional level. 

Jesus offers us his love that we might trust him to allow his light to shine in our hearts and minds and the places we would rather no one would see. Even those places that we may feel unlovable, because even there, Jesus will love us when we let him in. He seeks to reveal our sin and failures, not to condemn and shame us, but to help us to see what is enslaving and isolating us and that which keeps us from greater intimacy with his Father. The light and love of Jesus help us to see what our lives are like without God and what they are like with him.

As our consciences become better formed through following Jesus’ teaching, such as the Beatitudes, as we allow him access to our wounds and sins, as we are loved by Jesus even there, we will be purified by the loving fire of the Holy Spirit, and we will then be blessed with a clean heart and see God. See our Loving God and Father who has made us to be happy, fulfilled, and at rest; a rest that we will find when we breathe, receive, rest, and abide in Him.

Photo: Quiet time praying Evening Prayer after the Saturday Vigil Mass at St Helen Catholic Church in Vero Beach.

Mitch, Curtis. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, June 8, 2026

Nourished by the living bread of life, we will find rest in God’s love and know who we are.

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51).

Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven. He is to be our nourishment, source of refreshment, and very life. Like a tree that is planted near the streams of living water (see Psalm 1:3) we are refreshed in all seasons, when all is tranquil as well as when we are immersed in our unique challenges and struggles, as long as our roots remain tapped into the well spring of the life of Jesus.

We are to look to the things of heaven for our foundation, not the things of this earth. For the things of this earth are passing away as many of us know all too well. This does not mean we aren’t to enjoy the blessings that God has given us. All that God has created is good and to be enjoyed as a gift of his grace. It is more a matter of perspective. 

We are not to be attached to the things of this world, even to those closest to us, because we are finite and imperfect and so we will never be fully satisfied because we seek the eternal in the depths of our souls. With God as our center and our refuge, we have a stability that is not only unshakable but eternal so cannot be exhausted. We know that no matter what, we are accepted, we belong, and we are loved. We renew, heal, and grow in wholeness as we receive him most intimately and concretely in the Eucharist, the bread from heaven, but also in resting in him, his creation, spending time with good friends and family as well as those he calls us to serve.

And we can do this more authentically and purely when nothing or no one else, including ourselves, but Jesus is the center of our lives. Letting go of our attachments takes time and effort but is well worth it because when we ask Jesus to reveal to us that which we place before the Father he will do so.

When we collaborate with our Loving God and Father to let go, this practice leads to a freedom and peace that we would otherwise not experience. We will still encounter the pain of loss, but it will not be as debilitating. In putting God first and deepening our relationship with him, we receive his love, we start to see ourselves as he sees us and grow in his wholeness which overflows into our relationships because instead of attempting to be something we are not just to fit in or get along, we experience the relief and rest of being simply ourselves. 

As we experience God’s love, we will slowly and surely come to identify ourselves not by what we do, who we think we are or who we think others think we are supposed to be, and/or others tell us to be, but rest instead in the truth and identity of being his beloved daughter or son. Our anxieties and fears will have less power over us, we will become less insecure and more confident, pride will weaken because we no longer place ourselves first. We will also begin to experience the maturing of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We become more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle and able to practice more self-control. 

During this Corpus Christi Sunday then, may we recommit to the truth and reality that Jesus is with us in a special and unique way as the “bread of life” in the gift of the Eucharist. He will nourish and lead us deeper into relationship with his Father so we may experience the intimate love of the Holy Spirit.  “Strengthened by the food that God gives us, let us bring Jesus to the hearts of all, because Jesus involves everyone in his work of salvation by calling each of us to sit at his table. Blessed are those who are called, for they become witnesses of this love!” – Pope Leo XIV Homily, June 22, 2025

Photo: Pope Leo leading procession, June 22, 2025, taken by Antoine Mekary – Aletia.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, June 7, 2026

Do we place our trust in ourselves or in God?

In our Gospel reading from Mark, there appear to be two separate accounts. In the first, we witness Jesus’ critique of the scribes, and in the second, the generosity of a poor widow is emphasized. There could not be a starker contrast between the two. Jesus points out those scribes with the primary motivation of self-aggrandizement, “who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets” (Mk 12:38-39). They make a lofty show of themselves, yet, what is worse is the following verse. “They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers” (Mk 12:40).

The implication is that certain scribes used their position not to edify, provide care for, and lead widows closer to God, but instead chose to exploit them for their own selfish gain. As Jesus finished his rebuke of the scribes, he then observed those making contributions at the treasury of the Temple. A poor widow donated two coins. No one, except Jesus, appeared to notice her. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more that all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (Mk 12:43-44).

Jesus commends this woman for her generosity. She does not make a fancy show of what she is doing, she quietly and simply gives all that she has. Is Jesus sharing his critique of the scribes who seek to exploit widows, just moments before sharing the generosity of this widow? Could her having so little have resulted from the exploitation of one of the scribes? We are not told why she has so little nor why she gives all she has, but her willingness to do so is clearly on display.

Often in the Gospels, Jesus holds up a mirror, as he did with the scribes, to those in positions of religious authority who place their focus on themselves, their own gain, and prestige. They are placed as stewards instead to help those they are supposed to serve, along with widows, orphans, the stranger, and those in need. Those like Matthew and Zacchaeus, though not scribes but tax collectors, embraced Jesus’ invitation of repentance, made a 180-degree turn from their old ways of self-service, and instead changed and began anew in following Jesus.

Will we be like the unnamed scribes and Pharisees who were not willing to look in the mirror that Jesus held before them, more interested in supporting their place of entitlement and privilege, and unwilling to change? Or will we, as did Matthew and Zacchaeus, allow our consciences to be convicted, be willing to repent, and rend our hearts so to be moved and more willing to love, so to stand alongside our brothers and sisters in need? The scribes are not the model in today’s reading, the widow was.

What affects one of us, affects all. If one among us is hurting, we are all hurting. We can do better to help one another. In allowing ourselves a time for a prayerful pause, Jesus will lead us to discern which thoughts to entertain, which words to speak, and actions and choices to make that are aligned with our loving God and Father’s will. Then we too will have the courage of the widow. She who did not give out of her excess but gave without counting the cost and trusted that God will provide. We will be more generous with our time, talent, and treasure when we are willing to trust God and freely give as he directs us.

Painting: “The Widow’s Mite” by James Christensen

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, June 6, 2026