Reflections on the Gospel Reading for the Day

Jesus mounted the cross to unleash the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing” (Lk 12:49)!

What has been burned does not remain the same. What fire touches, it transforms.”Holiness is standing in the fire of self knowledge and letting it burn.” – Fr. Wayne Sattler. Jesus can’t wait to unleash the fire of the love of the Holy Spirit upon his apostles at the feast of Pentecost. He will have to go through the cross though to get there. Jesus died for Mary and the twelve. He also died for all of humanity, but also in the radical particularity, he died for each of us.

Jesus wants us to be consumed so as to be transformed by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Encountering Jesus affects a change in us. When we are open to allow the Holy Spirit to breathe on the embers in the depths of our souls they are fanned like tinder and ignite. We continue to fuel the fire by getting in touch with what God has called us to do in our place and in our time.

We are not to be a Christian in name alone but in thought, word, and deed. Pope Francis, in his exhortation The Joy of the Gospel, wrote: “THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept this offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, and loneliness” (Francis 2013, 9). Joy is a gift, a holy flame, that is given to us by the Holy Spirit. This spark once ignited wells up within, and rises up and out to be shared with others. It is different than pleasure which has its source in the stimulation of the senses being aroused but fades once the external stimulus has ended.

Happiness is also external and fleeting. It lasts longer than pleasure in that the memory of the experience will linger but it too will fade away. Joy wells up from within, as it is imparted to us by God and can be present even when the external experiences are stressful or chaotic. I experienced this when I was still teaching 5th and 6th Grade Religion and acting as the dean of students at Rosarian Academy. At the same time, I was also immersed in family and parish life, as well as my studies and formation activities for the permanent diaconate.

One particular morning I woke up exhausted. When the alarm went off my first response was to skip my morning prayer and hit the snooze button to get an extra twenty minutes before rising. Instead, I literally crawled to my small chapel area, lit the candles, and opened my breviary. When I read the words in Psalm 42: “Hope in God; I will praise him still, my savior and my God”, something ignited within. I felt an energy well up within me that I cannot to this day describe. I felt an inexpressible joy. Not only did the experience carry me into the day, relieve the exhaustion, but lasted throughout the whole week.

God is the foundation of our lives and our Father seeks to transform us with the fire of his love. Even when we are at our lowest, with only the smoldering embers of our faith, we need to resist the temptation to feed indifference, desolation, and/or despair. When we turn to and trust in Jesus, he offers a way when there seems no way. Begin with a breath, be thankful for what we do have, even if it isn’t much. We can be thankful for God’s love and presence even when we don’t feel it. Keep showing up to pray, even if sometimes we have to crawl to get there, and the Holy Spirit will fan the embers within our soul to set us ablaze.

May we, “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that [we] may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). To know the love of Jesus is more than knowing about him. We don’t read and study the Bible as we study a historical text. We meditate, ponder, and pray with Sacred Scripture daily, to encounter a Person, Jesus Christ the Son of the living God. In doing so, the Holy Spirit will also enkindle in us the fire of his love and moments of consolation that we can experience regardless of our external or internal struggles.

Nothing else in this world can satisfy us as much as experiencing and being transformed by the love of our Father! When we seek God first, the attachments to finite things will begin to loosen. When we trust Jesus, who mounted the cross for us, and align our will with his, we will come to know him and experience his love. When the fire the Holy Spirit burns only that which is pure will remain.

Photo: “In the depth of the mystery of the cross, love is at work, that love which brings man back again to share in the life that is in God himself.” – Pope St. John Paul II in Magnificat, Oct. 2026, p. 321.

Pope Francis. Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel. Frederick, MD: The Word Among Us Press, 2013.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, October 22, 2026

Is this parable for us? Yeap.

“That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely” (Lk 12:47).

Jesus, as did the prophets, spoke in ways that can be jarring. The purpose was to shake his listeners out of a dull stupor and to make clear his point. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus addressed Peter’s question: “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone” (Lk 12:41)? Jesus was most likely speaking to Peter and the Twelve. They are the ones he entrusted with continuing his mission. And just as he had been clear to point out those Pharisees who had abused their positions, he was being just as clear with Peter and the apostles to be sure to imitate not the Pharisees but him.

Jesus wanted to make sure that his successors were not to continue on with business as usual and going through the motions as those entrusted with the deposit of faith he had given them. What Jesus required of them was not just for themselves, but those whose care they had been entrusted with and beyond them to all the nations. His parable was for both the Twelve first and foremost, and then to their successors and all who would choose to be his followers.

Unfortunately, we have witnessed those in Church leadership who have in effect, “beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk” (Lk 12:45) on their own power throughout different generations in Church history. Those who have: abused children, covered abuse, skimmed off the top of the donations from the blood, sweat, and tears of their parishioners’ donations, limited access to positions within the leadership of the Church to only male or clergy, been unmerciful confessors, held up the sin of one group or groups while turning a blind eye to others. These and other forms of hypocrisy do irreparable damage.

The world has been darkened by sin and it has crept into the Church. Even though all of us have been wounded we have not been destroyed by sin. The Son of God entered into the condition of our fallen nature, became one of us, one with us, in all things except sin. Yet he received our sin and the sin of the world upon himself, was crushed by it on the Cross, and he died. Jesus experienced the consequences of our sin which led to his death. Because he did not sin, and was willing to give his life for us, giving us all of himself and holding nothing back, not even his life, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he conquered sin and death.

Even when those in his name have participated in and perpetuated in that which Jesus warned his Apostles against, we are not to lose heart nor hope. I agree with Bishop Robert Barron that we are called out of “the realm of hatred, racism, sexism, violence, oppression, imperialism, what Augustine termed the libido dominandi (the lust to dominate).”

We are called out of darkness to be children of the light. We do so by following Mary’s directive to do whatever Jesus tells us to do and reject anything that is not of his love. This is just what the saints have done to counter the corruption of their generation. They were purified in the crucible of the love of the Holy Spirit and became a radiating light in the darkness. They reflected the light of Jesus in their time and place. We will be like them when we are willing to, in the words of St. John Paul II, “be taken over by the light of Christ, and spread that light wherever” we “are.”

Photo: We are called to reflect the light of Jesus in the darkness as the moon reflects the sun.

Barron, Robert. Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith. NY: Image, 2014

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, October 21, 2026

May we be prepared for Jesus when in comes.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks” (Lk 12: 35-36).

As disciples, we need to be ready for the coming of Jesus. Yes, for when he comes again at the end of time, but just as importantly, to be prepared for his coming each day in the midst of our lives. If we do not prepare to encounter him daily, the likelihood of us being prepared for his coming again will be slimmer, and only the Father knows the time or the hour.

To plan something means that we outline all that needs to be done down to the last detail. This can be an advantage especially when we are dealing with blueprints for a home or building. By having detailed plans we can be sure that we have the proper materials and tools, an estimated budget, and hire the help needed to accomplish the goal. I was blessed to experience this process as we renovated our church after the tornadoes of Milton came to town. We opened again this past November.

There are many areas in our life where planning has its advantages. Planning our spiritual life is important, deciding when and how we are to pray, meditate, study, engage in Bible and spiritual reading and/or which Mass we are going to attend, establishing a routine of spiritual direction, confession, time for fellowship and small groups, and how, when and where we can serve others. These are all plusses for planning.

The challenge with planning pops up when we become too attached to the plan and we leave no room for the Holy Spirit, no awareness for the knock at the door because we are so focused on sticking to the plan. Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are on the horizon. How many times have we experienced planning a dinner with guests, gotten stressed when things did not go exactly as planned and spent more time adhering to the plan and its execution such that we missed engaging with those we were working so hard to provide hospitality for? Martha learned this lesson.

Preparing is akin to planning, in that we get ready for an endeavor but we are more flexible to other options not governed by our fixed mind and our sense of being in control. Jesus calls us to be prepared to receive him at any moment, through many people we encounter in our daily lives, friends, family, and the unexpected moments with those Jesus brings along our path, as well as unexpected moments that occur in our lives or the lives of our loved ones.

The complementarity of planning and preparing shows best when unexpected events in life arise. When we heard of JoAnn’s diagnosis we went into planning mode, and as anyone who has spent any time with JoAnn knows, she was in her element when there was some planning to be done. There were many things in those final months we planned for and for the most part, they came together. There were also interruptions and blocks to the plan where we needed to adjust, sometimes without notice. Preparing helped us to be flexible and so open to following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Even before JoAnn’s diagnosis, she often said that life was hard. She saw many people suffering and couldn’t understand why people couldn’t be kinder to one another. St. Oscar Romero wrote, “It would be beautiful if people saw that their flourishing and the attainment of their highest ideals are based on their ability to give themselves to others.

We can better give ourselves to others when we focus less on ourselves, and resist following the voices of our fears, wounds, and insecurities. We are much better prepared when we invite Jesus into our poverty, pain, and places where we don’t feel all that lovable. When we do, we will experience courage, healing, and security grounded in our Father’s love for us. When we daily trust and follow Jesus in each situation, ground ourselves in his love, we will experience life more fully, handle challenges more gracefully, our hearts will expand and we will be more compassionate toward others.

Photo: When we step out look up, be prepared because God has something to share!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 19, 2026

Let us not give into greed but give thanks and give freely.

Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions” (LK 12:15).

Jesus wisely warns us to resist the temptation of greed, which can be defined as an intense, selfish desire for something. Here Jesus addresses the greed of material wealth, but we can also have unhealthy selfish desires for anything. Jesus also stated that “one’s life does not consist of possessions.” Material goods are finite and will not fulfill us. They can be good when used for the purpose they were intended for and in moderation.

God provides for our needs. Fostering an attitude of thanksgiving for that which we have received and then being good stewards with those gifts helps us to resist succumbing to greed. St Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD) wrote: “How could we do good to our neighbor if none of us possessed anything.” God does bless us materially, and from what we have been given we are to assist those in need. The problem comes when we interfere with the flow of receiving what God has given us by hoarding what we have received and rationalizing our unwillingness to share.

Also, when we look to our wealth as our safety net, instead of God’s providence, we begin to cling to what we have and develop an unhealthy attachment. We buy into a false security in placing our trust in material wealth. We need to remember that the material and finite here below will not satisfy nor will it last, we need to set our heart and mind to God and the things above first and foremost.

Reading, meditating and praying with Sacred Scripture, being grateful, acts of almsgiving, willing the good of and supporting one another, will help us to resist the temptation of greed and help us to be open conduits of God’s mercy. Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903 AD) wrote that “Once the demands of necessity and propriety have been met, the rest of your money belongs to the poor.” How many of us are willing to put that quote on our bathroom mirror? More so, put it into practice? How about posting this quote from John Chrysostom (349-407 AD) over our closet and reading it before we enter: “The man who has two shirts in his closet, one belongs to him; the other belongs to the man who has no shirt.”

God has given us the greatest gift we could ever receive, his Son, Jesus. In so doing, he has given us the gift of our salvation which is a reason to rejoice! He loved us and all of creation into being and is loving us into eternity. We are invited to participate in the love experienced between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We do this best when we resist clinging to the material and finite and instead being thankful for the gift of life and invitation to be in relationship with his Son. May we resist clinging to and instead share that which we have received from God, our infinite source and spring of eternal Love. We will be fulfilled and joyful, not by how much we have saved up in our bank accounts, but by how much love we invest in serving one other.

Photo: Giving thanks last week for a new day, blessed to be walking to church to celebrate Mass and give the gift of the Eucharist – Priceless!!!

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, October 19, 2026

“Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.”

The Pharisees and Herodians hatched a clever plot to trap Jesus. The Pharisees pretty much went along with paying the Roman taxes, although against doing so, because under Roman rule, they were also able to inflict a temple tax, which is equivalent to approximately a laborer’s wage for for two days. By keeping the peace with Rome, they paid their tax but also received monies from the temple tax. The Herodians showed public support for the paying of the tax because they supported the house of Herod and his dynasty. Herod Antipas, the tetrarch or prince of Judea and son of the deceased Herod the Great, would only stay in power as long as he abided by the authority of Rome. Which meant making sure his subjects paid the tax and he kept the peace.

There was another sect within Judaism that identified themselves as nationalists or zealots. They were more openly opposed to the Roman tax, to the oppression by Rome, the presence of Roman leadership, and the military in their land. They also were not opposed to striking out from time to time agains the Roman leadership and would be brutally pushed back in doing so.

If Jesus sided with paying the tax to Rome he would upset the nationalist zealots, as well as most Jews who were not gaining any benefit in having to pay temple or the Roman tax. If Jesus sided with not paying the taxes, the Herodians would be able to present a case that Jesus was defying Rome. This devious alliance between the Pharisee and Herodians who otherwise were opposed seemed to be foolproof.

The disciples of the Pharisees were sent with Herodian representatives to ensnare Jesus and so begin to divide and conquer his support base. The only problem was that they were used to playing two-dimensional chess and they were on their way to meet a master at three-dimensional chess. Jesus immediately saw through their flattery and called them out for what they were – hypocrites! Jesus then deftly answered their challenge with, “repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mt 22:21).

The coin used to pay the tax was a denarius, and it bore the inscription of the Roman emperor, Tiberius, on one side: Caesar Augustus Tiberius, son of the Divine Augustus and on the other was ascribed, high priest. In point of fact, the coin did belong to Tiberius. The coin bore his image, likeness, and inscription of deity status. It was also deeply offensive to the Jewish faithful, for only the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was God and there was to be no God before him. Jesus not only evaded their verbal trap but, as he often did, also utilized the situation as a teaching moment for those present with him and for us today.

We are citizens of states and countries, while at the same time citizens of heaven. We are to give to the government that which is for the greater good of the society to provide for appropriate services and the protection of our fellow citizens, especially in being sure to take care of the poorest and most vulnerable among us. We are also to pay to God that which belongs to God, ultimately our very life.

The prophets and Jesus presented a consistent message that God is to be first before all else, that he is to be the priority over everything. Also, that God wants all of us, not just that we worship one day a week. We are to align ourselves with his will and have the courage to follow him. Jesus was no hypocrite. What he required from his followers, he did himself. Jesus showed this in his encounter with Pontius Pilate. Jesus did not call down the angelic host to wipe out the soldiers that came to apprehend him at Gethsemane, nor did he do so with Pilate and his army in the Praetorium.

Instead Jesus said: “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above” (Jn 19:11). God allowed the judgment of Pilate to stand, his death, the death of an innocent man. Jesus followed his Father’s will to his death, and death on a cross, to bring about a greater good, the salvation of our souls. Jesus rendered to Caesar what belonged to Caesar, submitting to the unjust judgment, and to God what belonged to God, his very being and life.

May we pray daily for the discernment to know and the courage to follow the will of God as did Jesus and the saints, such that we too can be engaged citizens in our society while remaining faithful to our God. We are to be shaped and formed not by the society, culture, and political climate. We are to be shaped and transformed by the Gospel of Jesus the Christ. “So our highest obligation in life – and one that is imposed on every man, woman, and child, regardless of nationality and citizenship – is to give ourselves back to our Maker” (Mitch and Sri, 286).

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Photo: A good way to assess if we are giving to God what belongs to God, is to assess how much of our time, talent and treasure we give to him and how much to other pursuits. Over time, the hope is that we see that we are giving more of each to God.

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

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, October 18, 2026

Will we be obstinate or open to the love of the Holy Spirit?

“Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven” (Luke 12:10).

This verse is often referred to as the “unforgivable sin” and it can be difficult to understand. Also, if you have been reading this blog regularly you may have read more than once my writing that God forgives us more than we can ever mess up, so, how is it that we can’t we be forgiven for blaspheming the Holy Spirit?

Returning to the account I shared in yesterday’s reflection, as a junior or senior in high school, one of my teachers commented that if we thought Stephen King wrote amazing tales, then we might find reading the book of Revelation from the Bible interesting. This was not a Catholic but a public school. As a reader of Stephen King and at that time I think he had only written a few novels at the time, that phrase stayed with me, and a few weeks later, I purchased a King James Bible from our local bookstore, Waldens, which I am not sure exists anymore (Waldens not the King James Bible). I don’t remember if I read it at all, I must have thumbed through it a time or two, but then placed it on my shelf, next to my a copy of The Stand.

A month or two passed and I remember being at a party and not having much fun, so I left. When I arrived home I had the urge to open my newly purchased Bible and when I did my eyes found not the words from the author of Revelation but Luke. He shared: “Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows” (Lk 12:7). After reading the section leading up to this verse, I felt God saying to me that I would not ever win the lottery, but like the sparrows, he would take care of me. He would provide me with the opportunity and the ability to work. He has continued to be true to his word through all the ups and downs of my sixty-one years so far.

God not only provided work, but has continued to provide something even more, an awareness of his presence in my life. These beginning stepping stones have led to others that would ultimately pave the way to me typing these words to you today. Because of each successive yes to the invitation and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and confessing those times that I did not, I placed myself in a better position each time to recognize, hear, and follow the word of God.

Now, that experience could have taken a different turn. I could have resisted the initial curiosity that welled up within me from my teacher’s discussion and instead of going out to purchase a Bible, I could have stayed home that day and opened up my copy of The Stand and given it a second read. Thus denying that invitation of the Holy Spirit, I would not have had a Bible when I went to that party. I could have followed through on the first urging to purchase a Bible but then resisted the second urge to leave the party. Choosing to ignore either or both promptings would have led to a higher probability of my not hearing God’s voice that night. Say each step did happen up to and including hearing God’s voice but then I denied that I heard God, instead attributing the experience to some bad pepperoni pizza from the party. Each one is an example of how I could have closed myself off to God’s invitations. Left unchecked, and continuing to follow the momentum of closing my heart to God, I most likely would not be typing these words today.

God invites us to share in his life in a myriad of ways. With each invitation, no matter how small, we can say yes, or we can dismiss these “encounters” as mere “coincidences.” With each denial, we further limit ourselves to the possibility of acknowledging an encounter with God. We can even begin to doubt and/or come to a place of denying that he even exists. We could then develop “a mentality which obstinately sets the mind against the Spirit of God, and as long as that obstinate mindset perdures, God’s forgiveness cannot be accorded to such a person” (Fitzmeyer 1985, 964).

God loves us more than we can ever mess up, so much so, that he gives us the freedom to reject him. He does not impose his will upon us. John the Baptist and Jesus got this, and this is why their emphasis on repentance was so preeminent in their preaching. If we turn to God with humility and contrition, true sorrow for our sins, God will forgive us and we will receive his healing touch.

The danger of a consistent and obstinate disposition against God is that like a muscle that is not used, it will atrophy, and so will our ability to see God working in our lives. We will become less and less able to notice his gentle stirrings and invitations. We will become spiritually blind and our hearts will become hardened. Now that does not mean God stops communicating. He continues to reach out to us in an infinite number of ways, but we are less and less able to receive the forgiveness he so thirsts to give us when we close off ourselves to even the mere possibility of him doing so.

Jesus, in becoming one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity, opened up the opportunity for us to experience the Holy Spirit, who is the Love that is shared between himself and God. Opening up the Bible, as I did so many years ago, opens us up to the living Word of God. The more we say yes to his guidance and leading, the more we will experience him, the more we will begin to recognize his voice, the more we will participate in his forgiveness and love, and the more we will be nourished and strengthened. I do not believe in coincidences, but God-incidences!

Photo: Many of the pictures that I post come when I listen to the nudge of the Holy Spirit to go outside and look up!

Fitzmeyer, Joseph A. The Gospel According to Luke X-XXIV in the Anchor Bible. NY: Double Day, 1985

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, October 17, 2026

God wants us to know our worth and experience his love. He shares both in many ways.

“Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows” (Lk 12:6-7).

Some forty-five plus years ago I was in high school and either in my junior or senior sociology or psychology class, my teacher mentioned that if we thought Stephen King told amazing tales, we ought to definitely read the Bible. He keyed in especially on the imagery expressed in the Book of Revelation. My teacher’s comment piqued my interest because I enjoyed reading Stephen King, though I had not spent any time reading the Bible.

My teacher’s words stayed with me beyond that class period. A few weeks or months later I remember going to Waldens, a bookstore, at the Enfield Mall in the next town over from where I grew up in East Windsor, Connecticut. I purchased a King James Bible. I don’t remember reading it right away, but shortly sometime after. The occasion was my being at a party with friends, one of the few I attended during high school. I don’t remember anything about the party or why I left, but when I arrived home, I remember going up to my room and for some reason grasping my new Bible. I then opened it at random and began reading. The verse above along with the verses to follow such as, “Do not worry about your life” (Luke 12:22) is what I read. It was the first time that I can remember experiencing God speaking to me.

It was not a booming voice emanating from the burning bush that was directed to Moses, the room didn’t shake, nor did the lights flicker. Yet, in that quiet and still moment, I heard in my mind, “You will not ever win the lottery, but like the sparrows, I will take care of you. I will always give you the ability and means to work.” God has proven true to his word. I have not won the Mega Millions, Lotto, or the Power Ball here in Florida. It is also true that you can’t win if you don’t play and I haven’t.

I have no desire to because God has provided me with the opportunity to have regular, gainful employment and even though experiencing some tight financial times through the years, God has provided beyond work in those times of need, through the kindness of friends, families, as well as some amazing assistance outside of the norm. When I took a leave of absence to spend with JoAnn that time with JoAnn and our kids we had no income, and the generosity of those from our parish at St. Peter as well as our family from Cardinal Newman HS took collections and helped us.

Does God still speak to us as he spoke to the people in the Bible? Absolutely! God speaks to us directly, through his written word in our personal reading, and in our time of communal worship through homilies. He also speaks to us through the sacraments, music, art, movies, through others, through our serving each other, through his creation, and a myriad of other infinite possibilities.

The question is not so much, does God still speak to us? The question is why don’t we hear him? One way is to ask God to help us to recognize his voice. So we can be like the sheep that come to learn the shepherd’s voice. Another way is to stop and be still for set periods of time each day. Doing so gives us the opportunity for reflection, to ask God to reveal times in the past where he has spoken and we were not aware. When we examine and reflect on our day, with God’s help, we can look back and see where God has been with us and reached out to us.

Sometimes, as happened to me for the first time, it is acknowledging when God is speaking directly to us instead of dismissing an experience outright. I could have shrugged off the encounter with God I had that night so many years ago as some bad pizza at the party. Instead, I trusted that what I heard was the encouragement of God and he has shown that word to be true time and again.

Since that wonderful and grace filled moment, consistent time each day to pray and staying long enough to listen has been a big help for continuing the conversation! Some reasons we may not hear God is because we feel we are too busy to pray, and if we do pray, we are doing or talking, not listening, and not allowing God to do. God’s silence is also a profound answer. One of God’s language is silence. Just like learning any new language we only become fluent the more we immerse ourselves in the language. Are we willing to be open and believe that God speaks to us? Are we willing to spend time daily in silence and learn God’s language?

St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta learned from her own experience that: “In the silence of the heart God speaks. If you face God in prayer and silence, God will speak to you. Then you will know that you are nothing. It is only when you realize your nothingness, your emptiness, that God can fill you with Himself. Souls of prayer are souls of great silence.”

God knows us better than we know ourselves and loves us more than we can ever imagine. We can trust God and believe that any time spent with him will be to our benefit. Our Loving God and Father cares for and provides for us as he does the sparrows. Are we willing to answer his invitation to spend time with him and to listen for his word or his silence? God is not telling us to get up and do something. He is inviting us to be still and let him do something in and through us!

Photo: St. Mother Teresa at prayer in Kolkata, 1995, taken by Raghu Rai.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, October 16, 2026

Let us “cultivate peace in our own hearts and relationships.”

Woe to you, scholars of the law! You have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter” (Lk 11:52).

We all yearn to be loved, to belong, to be accepted, and fulfilled. God knows the depth of our yearning because as St. Augustine taught, God knows us better than we know ourselves. For God sees past the apparent goods and disordered affections that we cling to and cloud our vision, and he invites us to take steps into his light that we might see the truth of his love and our fulfillment that can only be satisfied fully in him. From that core communion all else in our lives can be properly ordered.

To willingly prevent access to those who seek, as did those “scholars of the law” for whom Jesus convicts in today’s Gospel, is an egregious offense. Especially in the way that Jesus describes. They themselves have the key to enter, do not avail themselves of the gift they have received, and worse, prevent others from going in!

I remember a time in eighth grade where I had wanted to ask a girl out to the school dance. I confided this hope with someone but of course, the word got out. A few days later at the beginning of math class, our teacher announced to the whole class that I was the first one he had ever heard of being rejected before I could even ask someone out. First time I heard about it, so a double blast, the news and how I found out. I wanted to melt into the floor. Teachers have been entrusted to provide guidance and a safe place to learn. Their words can tear down or empower. Woe to those “take away the key of knowledge.”

The scholars of the law, as well as the scribes and the Pharisees were charged to teach and lead people to God. Instead they were making it harder by laying heavy burdens upon them and not raising a finger to help. Jesus fulfilled the Law. His teachings further built on the Torah and challenged the people even further. The difference was that he invited his listeners to align themselves to him, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Jesus meets us where we are ant then strengthens and transforms us when we trust in him and seek his strength.

Jesus is the “key of knowledge”. He offered himself to the scholars but they refused to receive him or his message. Jesus came to open up heaven for all, in the humanity that he assumed. He called out the Pharisees, scribes, and scholars of the Law with the hope that they would repent and enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Unfortunately, many hardened their hearts further, and “began to act with hostility toward him”.

Jesus offers us the same invitation today to repent and believe in the Gospel. We are to love and support one another, even when some express their hunger in unpleasant ways. Here it is even more important that we resist reacting in kind. Instead, let us be patient, give another the benefit of the doubt, convict as Jesus did as necessary, and be willing to listen with our spirit instead of our ego for what their need truly may be. May we receive the “key of knowledge” not to lock but to open the door for others to the healing, peace, love, and a clearer understanding of the teachings of Jesus.

As Pope Leo XIV shared at the Mediterranean Youth Council on September 5, 2025: “What we need is to cultivate peace in our own hearts and in our relationships, to let it blossom in our daily actions, to work for reconciliation in our homes, our communities, our schools and workplaces.”

Let us pray for Pope Leo’s full and complete recovery. Photo from Pope Leo praying Rosary with children on October 1, 2026. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/EWTNNews/Vatican Pool.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, October 15, 2026

We need not fear the light and law of God, but instead receive and conform our lives to his love.

Jesus continues to call out those Pharisees who follow their own will and put themselves in places of honor instead of God, and then one of the scholars of the law, feeling offended as well, interjects: “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”

Jesus did not soften his words or hold back. He went right at the scholar convicting him as well, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them” (Lk 11;45-46).

Jesus is clear about his mission, about what the kingdom of God is not and what it is. Jesus is shining a light on the practices of those Pharisees and the scholars of the law that are not fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. I believe that there were those who were. Yet, for those he challenged, he did so in the hope that they would see the darkness that was blinding them. Unfortunately, unlike Bartimaeus (see Mk 10:46-52) who knew that he was blind and wanted to see, this was not true for many whom Jesus confronted.

How about us? Are we aware of our blind spots? Are we willing to allow Jesus to shine his light and love in our direction? Will we cover our eyes because the light is too bright and withdraw further into the shadows, or worse strike back in retaliation? Will we rather, close our eyes for a moment, breathe slow and steady, remain still, and then open and allow our eyes time to adjust.

When we allow ourselves to be touched by the light and love of God, resist wincing and running away, or defiantly pushing back, the brightness of the Mystery of God will reveal to us that which has kept us bound. Will we justify or rationalize our behavior or will we be transparent, repent, believe in the Gospel, and walk further into the light and the embrace of Jesus? Will we stand in the brilliance of God’s love and truth and let the fire of his love burn away all that is not of him?

Let us resist the path of those Pharisees and scholars of the Law who imposed heavy burdens without being willing to help others along the way. It is important for us to know the Catechism, the Bible, Canon Law, participate in the sacraments, and be people of prayer and service. The purpose of each of these pursuits are not for themselves only nor to gain knowledge for knowledges sake. We do so that we will come to know Jesus and the love he shares with the Father who is the Holy Spirit.

We have been created for nothing less than to participate in the very love of God, to participate in his divinity that he came to share. This love and relationship with God increases when we confess our sins, are forgiven, and then having received God’s mercy, share what we have received with others.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. In fact, his interpretation and expansion of the law was much more demanding than the Pharisees or the scribes. The difference was and continues to be, that, Jesus meets us where we are and loves us where we are. He does not lower the bar but raises it. He wants us to realize that we can only follow God’s law with him. Without Jesus we won’t be able to even come close. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, but with him, all things are possible.

In admitting our weakness and revealing to Jesus our poverty, he then gives us the strength to mature, for he is our “rock and salvation” (Psalm 62:2-23). He is the solid foundation upon which we can stand and build. “The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer – and don’t forget this because it’s very important – should be that he work and prepare himself with determination and every possible effort to bring his will in conformity to God’s will” (St. Teresa of Avila).

In aligning our will with Jesus, we are empowered to fulfill the prescriptions and practices that God has commanded, not for God’s sake but for ours! God’s prescriptions that we receive in the Old and the New Testaments are not to restrict but to free us from our slavery to sin. The goal of the Father is to write his law not on stone, but on each of our hearts.

In identifying and renouncing our sins, we will experience freedom from the false truths, diversions, distractions, and attachments that the enemy has been poisoning us with. Through daily reading, meditating, and praying upon God’s Sacred Word and Tradition and putting them into practice we become like a tree planted near a fresh running stream that will never wither and fade. Our roots will run deep and continue to receive the nourishment and sustenance that we were created for: the eternal spring of the Holy Spirit which purifies and heals us.

Jesus beckons us to come out from the shadows and into the radiance of his light. As we experience his love and mercy, he encourages us to continue to move out of our comfort zones, attachments, and slavery which stunts our spiritual growth. Jesus calls us to experience freedom. When we trust him and walk with him, our souls will experience the rest that it is starving for, the peace that we yearn for, and the love we have been created for.

Photo: As each sun sets, may we thank God for what he has given and repent from what keeps us from growing closer to him, so that each day we may receive and radiate a little more of his light!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, October 14, 2026

Seek healing on the inside and feel less isolated and more seen and loved.

The Lord said to him, “Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools” (Lk 11:39).

Jesus’ harshest critiques were for acts of hypocrisy. He did so to show, in no uncertain terms, how dangerous this was, especially for religious leaders. These men were entrusted with the care of God’s people. They may have observed the proper rituals, spoke, and dressed to match the part, but this all meant nothing if their hearts were hardened such that they were closed to the love and will of God. This situation was more perilous when they themselves became obstacles and stumbling blocks to those who sought God. Jesus indicting them as fools meant that they were bereft of the wisdom of God they projected to have.

In the depths of our very being, we seek and yearn for the transcendent, the infinite. We are spiritual seekers. We seek God while at the same time we experience suffering, injustice, and hypocrisy at the hands of the very ones who are our leaders in both the religious and political sphere. This is why Jesus convicted those who abused their positions because he knew the significant damage that they could inflict.

No one is perfect, our leaders nor ourselves. We all fall short of the glory of God, even those of us who seek and aspire to live by the Gospel. If we put anyone up on a pedestal, they, sooner or later, are going to fall, and the higher up they go, the greater the fall. God holds priority of place because is the creator of place. We are to seek God first. God is to be our foundation, the light shining on the hill, our guide, and source.

One way we can sidestep the trap of hubris is by resisting the urge to project all is well and good, that we are fine when we are not. None of us are super men or women. If we think we can go it alone, on our own power and persistence, we will fall sooner or later. A hyper sense of self-reliance means we seek God and each other less for help and support.

When we turn to Jesus to reveal our weakness and our sin, we can experience his transformative and healing power in our lives. To be vulnerable, to allow Jesus to shine his light into our inner darkness takes courage, but when we open all of our lives to him, we will identify and be able to release our own “plunder and evil”. The Holy Spirit can also help us to trust one another with our weaknesses, faults, and shortcomings.

We are healthier and stronger when we accept our own spiritual poverty, where we need help, and reach out to ask for assistance. We are better when we entrust ourselves to Jesus and a core group of people we trust, firmly ground ourselves in the love of God and one another. We grow stronger when we support the unique gifts of each other while at the same time hold each other accountable. Isolated and in the darkness, our sin festers and grows. When brought into the light, sin starves and withers away.

Jesus challenges us to resist projecting an image of perfection when all is not well on the inside. When willing to reveal our weaknesses, sins, suffering, and pain, we can receive help, heal, and let go of carrying the weight of seeking an internal perfectionism. We will also experience that we are not alone. Healed and transformed from being the center of the universe, which we never were or never can be, we can let go of having to project an image of perfection. We can instead be free to be ourselves as God calls us to be and radiate his love as we receive his love. Instead of driving people to the nearest exit, we can begin to welcome people back home to be forgiven, healed, loved, and transformed.

Photo: Allowing Jesus to come into our darkness within, we can experience his light, healing, love, and freedom.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 13, 2026