Reflections on the Gospel Reading for the Day

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

Jesus is our LORD!

The opening scene from today’s Gospel from Mark opens with Jesus teaching in the temple area. He poses this question to those gathered, “How do the scribes claim that the Christ is the son of David” (Mk 12:35)? The question that Jesus is offering engages in the Jewish debate regarding the promise of the Messiah or Mashiach in Hebrew, the Christ or Christos in Greek. Messiah or Christ is not a surname but a title meaning anointed one.

One interpretation of the long-awaited Messiah was a kingly figure descended from King David. Son of David is a common Messianic title. The blind Bartimaeus called out to Jesus using this title (cf. Mk 10:46-48). Jesus then quotes the beginning of Psalm 110 as he goes deeper. “David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said: The Lord said to my lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet’” (Mk 12:36).

This statement can be a little confusing, especially if you are hearing this word proclaimed and not reading it closely. The first Lord referred to by Jesus has a capital letter “L”and the second lord has a lower case “l”. The reason for this is that in the original Hebrew the sacred name of God was not to be uttered or written. Instead, the Hebrew Adonai, meaning LORD, would be used to refer to God. The use of the word lord, Hebrew, adoni, with a lower case “l” could refer to a patriarch of a family, tribe, or military king and ruler like King David.

In this very short account from Mark today, Jesus deftly addresses some of the titles floating around about him, Messiah, Son of Man, Son of David, and with his final question, “David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son” (Mk 12:37). Jesus is saying that this One to follow David would be even greater than the expectations of these messianic titles because he preceded David and so is even greater than the genetic heir to David. Jesus is saying that he is the Son of God, LORD, as well as Lord. Just a little bit dizzy yet?

Jesus as Son of God, as LORD, as God, not only far surpasses even the highest ideal of messianic hope but would also be a direct challenge to the occupying Romans. For in the ancient Greek, of which Mark is written, Kyrios, means Lord. For the Romans, Caesar is Lord. Jesus is challenging the worldly establishment by saying that he, not Caesar, is Lord. He is challenging the religious establishment by saying that he is LORD, God.

Jesus, soon after speaking these words, will participate in his suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension, where he will return the right hand of God his Father. The enemies that will be subjected under his feet will be Satan, sin, and death, each of which he will defeat in his crucifixion, resurrection, and celebrate in his ascension as well as continue to lead us from his throne at the right hand of his Father.

This is why Jesus is our hope even and especially during our troubled times: personally, within our family and communities, country, and our world. Jesus is our Lord – not any emperor, president, or worldly leader. Jesus is our LORD to whom we are to place our trust and follow. Jesus our Lord, and our LORD, will lead us to freedom from our bondage to addiction, sin, suffering, fear, insecurity, powerlessness, poverty, self-sufficiency, and ultimately even our death.

Photo: Jesus our Lord will lead us out of our present darkness and into his wonderful light.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, June 5, 2026

Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves begins the moment we allow God to love us.

“Which is the first of all the commandments” (Mk 12:28). This may have been a challenge to Jesus, or it may just have been a valid question of one seeking the Truth. Scribes were the experts in securing and making known the Torah. They could read and write, a skill not only used for protecting and passing on the faith, but also for the daily tasks of commerce and contract writing.

This question of the scribe was one that was asked often by those who sought how best to live out the Torah. Not only were there the Ten Commandments, but throughout the Torah, there were 613 prescribed laws! A common debate that was often entered into was which were the most important to follow to be faithful, as well as the minimalist approach, being, which were the most important to be followed so someone could just get by?

Jesus replied, “The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” With this response, Jesus drew first on Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and then regarding loving your neighbor, Leviticus 19:18. By answering in this way, Jesus stated that when we orient our lives to who God has created us to be, which is to Love God first, place God at the center instead of ourselves, we can then better love our neighbors and ourselves.

St Augustine, the bishop of Hippo (354-430), echoed Jesus’ “Greatest Commandment” by stating that we can love God and do whatever we want. The order of that statement is aligned to the commandment Jesus gave. God is first. The problem many of us have is that we place ourselves first and seek to bend God’s will to our own. We look to flip the words to: do what I want and God will love me. It is true that God will love us, but we will not experience the intimacy of his love, just as we weaken intimacy with our human relationships when we put ourselves, our interests first before others.

When we shift our orientation to God first, such that he is the foundation of our life, our world opens up and expands. Many of us are wounded by our own sin and the sin of others. We retreat into defensive postures and actualize defense mechanisms to survive. These may be good and necessary at the moment, but the challenge is that if we continue to live in a posture of survival mode, we are merely existing.

God lays out for us a life of consolation and joy, and we can experience this more when we recognize our need for and open ourselves up to receive God’s love. When we allow him to love us, we can then receive his healing balm of forgiveness, love, and mercy. Once we begin to experience these gifts, we will begin to see ourselves and others, not from our own limited perspectives where we can slip into defensive postures that may feed our insecurities, biases, and prejudices, but see from the greater breadth and depth of how God sees us as his children, made in his image. We are not constricted by God’s love but expanded.

God reaches out to us in so many ways to tell us that he loves us more than we can ever imagine. Unfortunately, when we are diverted and distracted by other false pursuits and find ourselves opposed to his will, we limit our experience of his love. Yet, God’s love for us remains unconditional. God loves us as we are, right now, right at this moment. We just need to take some time to sit, breathe, and be willing to accept the gift of being loved for who we are as well as embrace the fullness of who he has created us to be as mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual human beings; as well as resist repressing any aspect of who we are, allow God access to all of us, and when we do we will grow in holiness and wholeness.

Through embracing God’s healing forgiveness, love, and mercy and being engaged in the fullness of our humanity, we can begin to relax our defensive postures. We can become advocates for healing the division, dehumanization, disrespect, and polarization in our realm of influence, in person, and online. In being loved, we begin to feel safe and no longer controlled by our fears and insecurities. Being loved, we will project, react, and should over ourselves less, and be more open to encounter and accompany one another as human beings, and experience our differences not as obstacles but as gifts for our mutual growth.

Photo: The fire of God’s love burns in each sanctuary lamp where his Son is present in the tabernacle. May we join him, sit awhile, breathe, receive, rest, and abide in his love.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, June 4, 2026

Jesus teaches and shows us that the God of the living invites us to experience and share his love.

In today’s account, Jesus faces another challenge, but this time and the only time recorded in Mark, it is the Sadducees that confront Jesus. They present a hypothetical case based on the provision of Deuteronomy 25:5-6, which states that if a man dies and leaves a widow who has not yet given birth to a son, that she is not to marry outside of the family, but she is to marry her husband’s brother. The reason was so that the first-born son would “continue the line of the deceased brother”(Donahue 2002, 352).

This was the starting point of the presentation. The representative of the Sadducees, then presented the absurd case in which six brothers marry the woman and all die before the woman gives birth to a son. “Last of all the woman also died. At the resurrection when they arise whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her” (Mk 12:22-23). The logical presentation was presented in this way to prove their point that there is in fact no resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection of the dead because they saw no overt mention of it in the Torah, the Law or the Teachings, or what we as Christians would call the first five books of the Old Testament.

The reply of Jesus aligns him with the belief of the Pharisees, as they believed in a resurrection of the dead, that is not a mere resuscitation, but that “the whole person will be restored to life” (Donahue 2002, 352). Jesus counters the claim of the Sadducees by inferring that they did “not know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Mk 12:24). Jesus shares, not if, but when the dead rise, they will not marry as they had done during their life on earth, but that they will be like the angels. Jesus also cites an account in Exodus when Moses encounters God. During their exchange, God states that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled” (Mk 12:27).

Our loving God and Father is the God of the living. He is the source and sustainer of our life and that life is to continue beyond the temporal reality of our present experience and on into eternity. God has created us to yearn for communion with him, to find our true fulfillment in our relationship with him. In this life and in the next, we will not ever be able to exhaust that hunger and desire to be one with him. His love beckons us ever on.

We limit ourselves and the gift of wonder, as did the Sadducees, when we reduce the mystery of heaven to a problem to be solved. It is natural to think and ask questions like what do we do in heaven, who will we meet, and will…, fill in the blank here. In our present state of three-dimensional reality though, there are probably no words or descriptions that would suffice. A better way to exert our energy is to realize that heaven is not so much a place as it is a communal state of unity with God. We are better able to do so when we open and prepare our hearts, minds, and souls to receive the one who has loved us into existence and continues to invite us into deeper communion with him. We can also ponder the gift that he is present in all aspects of our lives now and that we just need to attune our awareness of his presence in our lives.

As we become more aware of the presence of God, we will begin to experience his closeness and his love. We are to share that love concretely by choosing to be more understanding, patient, and kind with those we care about as well as those who we feel, not so much. As we learn to get along with one another, spend more time with one another, we can experience others beyond our comfort zones. God comes closest to us in our relationships. As we are loved by God and share our love with others, love increases, the source of which will never run dry.

God, please reveal yourself to us and help us to be open to encounter you in our experiences with each other. Help us to remember to turn to you as anxieties, conflicts, and struggles arise; to listen and love one another as we help to foster opportunities for forgiveness, reconciliation, and mutual understanding. Help us to realize that in seeking you we will be found by you because you have already been present waiting for us. It is in our encounter with you that we experience the foretaste of heaven.

Allow us to experience your peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding in each exchange such that we are inspired to act in ways today and each day that respect the dignity, not of a select few, but of each person we encounter, through our thoughts, words, and actions in person and online. It may not seem like much, but even in the face of hatred, prejudices, and polarization, through small acts of love and treating each other as part of one human family, as brothers and sisters, God’s love will ripple out and help to heal and transform us and our little corner of the world.

Photo: No greater love than this…

John R. Donahue, SJ and Daniel J. Harrington, SJ. The Gospel of Mark, vol. 1 of Sacra Pagina. Edited by Daniel J. Harrington, SJ. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, June 3, 2026

In knowing God, we will discern how to repay to God what is God’s and to Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Two groups usually at odds have come together in their mutual disdain for Jesus. The Herodians – supporters of the Galilean tetrarch, Herod Antipas, have acquiesced and allied themselves with the Roman occupation so that their “party” can remain in leadership, and the Pharisees, who are opposed to Roman occupation, seek nothing to do with, nor seek to support in any way Caesar’s self-imposed status as a god. Mark indicates that representatives of each group are sent to Jesus to “ensnare him in his speech.” The intent is to trap him and so gain evidence to bring charges against him.

They come up with an elaborate plan that seems foolproof. A representative from these groups asks Jesus, “Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay” (Mk 12:14)? If Jesus assents to pay, then the Pharisees can bring charges against him for idolatry. If Jesus refuses to pay, the Herodians can then bring charges against him for disobeying Caesar’s tax. Jesus asks for a denarius, a Roman coin, and asks what image is on the coin, the response is Caesar. So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him (Mk 12:17).

Jesus bested them at their own game in thinking outside of the limitations that were imposed on him by his questioners. Our faith is built on Jesus’ response. Not in the modern distinction of church and state, but more often than not we are to follow Jesus’ model and guidance of how we are to live in the world but not be of it. In most cases, we are to embrace not an either/or response, but a both/and response. Ultimately, the final determiner is God.

One example of such a false dichotomy often displayed is that faith and reason are opposed and cannot co-exist. One could approach Jesus today, as did the representative for the Herodians and the Pharisees, and ask, “Rabbi, should we follow faith or reason?” We are more authentic in actualizing and pursuing the greater breadth, depth, and width of understanding who we are as human beings and our place in the cosmos when we embrace both faith and reason. Our science and intellect are spurred on by our sense of wonder and awe in that we seek to understand our world around us.

Faith seeks understanding! Using our ability to reason, to hypothesize, and ask, “Why?” has lead humanity to some wonderful discoveries. Reason and science though can only take us so far.

God’s grace does not diminish but builds upon nature. The gift of faith helps us to go beyond the ability to solve problems in the sensory or physical realm alone and to experience the ground of Mystery by entering into a relationship with God and the spiritual realities of his creation that transcend our physical world and capacity to measure it. God has created all things visible and invisible.

Just a few of the many examples of practicing Catholics from our past who have shown this both/and approach are Copernicus (1473-1543), who developed the theory of heliocentrism, meaning that the earth is not the center of the universe but instead revolves around the sun; Nicolas Steno (1638-1686), who excelled in the study of anatomy, geology and is considered the founder of the study of fossils; Laura Bassi (1711-1778), first female professor of physics; Gregor Mendel (1822-1844), who was an Augustinian friar and is considered to be the father of genetics; and Fr. Georges Lemaitre (1894-1966), who is considered the father of the Big Bang Theory.

The Catholic Church is not opposed to science but discourages the concept of a hyper-scientism: that something is real or exists only if be measured by the senses or experimentation alone. This limits the gift of wonder. “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves” (Pope John Paul II, Opening line). We need to continue to embrace the gift of wonder and rise to meet its invitation by soaring aloft with both wings of faith and reason.

Pope Leo echoes these sentiments of a healthy, discerning both and approach: “Our first task is neither to demonize nor idolize technological tools, but to utilize them on the basis of a fundamental principle, namely that truth is a common good and not the property of those with power or influence” (paragraph 137).

Even in the new digital age and with growing advancements in AI, we can embrace that which can be helpful with moderation and prudence, while at the same time continue to protect the dignity of humanity and the value of the truth. We will do this best when we prioritize God as the foundational relationship and starting point for discernment in our lives. As we love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, we will know better how to repay to God what is God’s, as well as how to repay to Caesar what is Caesar’s.

Photo: We know God better when we spend time in silence, in adoration, in prayer, meditation, and contemplation.

The following link lists an article by Shaun Mcafee regarding 11 Catholic scientists through the ages: https://epicpew.com/11-amazing-catholic-scientists-you-should-know/

Link for Fides et Ratio by Pope John Paul II

Link for Magnifica Humanitatis by Pope Leo XIV

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Will we serve ourselves or the owner of the vineyard?

“At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard” (Mark 12:1-12).

Unfortunately, not only did the tenants not offer the produce due to the true owner of the vineyard, but they also beat his servant and sent him back empty handed. This pattern repeated. The owner sent more servants. They were beaten and some killed, and then the owner sent his son, thinking that they would respect him. They killed him as well, thinking that then the inheritance would be theirs. Jesus ended the parable with an account of the swift retribution of the tenant farmers by the owner and the redistribution of the vineyard to others. The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders realized that the parable was directed at them.

The leaders were not happy about being compared to the wicked, tenant farmers. This only deepened their resolve to arrest and persecute him. Instead of digging in their heals, had they saw instead that the parable was an opportunity to see their own sinful behavior of not being faithful stewards, they could have repented and reconciled themselves to the will of God.

We who read Parable of the Tenants may be quick to judge the whole lot: the stewards, chief priests, scribes, and elders. If we do so, we do at our own peril. What does this parable say to us? How have we been good stewards of that which God has given, including our own lives? A common mantra is that this is my body and I can do whatever I want with it. Though this may be a popular cry of individualism and self-autonomy, it is not biblical.

All that we have is a gift from God, including our life and our very being. Each of us is a unique wonder, while at the same time we are not our own to do with as we please. We are God’s beloved children, daughters and sons created in his image and likeness. Our likeness has been dimmed by sin and so feeds our knee jerk and sometimes visceral reaction against the notion that we are not our own to do with as we please. This mentality is fueled by a radical individualism that seeks to be in control. We believe that we know better, that we know what will make us happy and what will fulfill us. So we give in to our pleasures, passions, and wants.

Discipline, temperance, and self-control are shunned. This selfish posture often comes from our unhealed wounds, the whispers of the father of lies, as well as living under the influences of a fallen world. Where God is not first, someone or something will be. This is what gives rise to a cult of personality. These pedestals are often built on the weak legs of the precarious wood of our finite and fallen nature. This is why so many leaders, religious, political and familial, have time and again all fallen off and let us down. They were placed where they never ought to have been placed.

This will continue to be the pattern, just as we saw in Jesus’ parable, which will lead to our own undoing, unless we are willing to let go of our attachment to the things of this world, including our own self-aggrandizement and narcissism. “I, me, mine”, is a debilitating cry.

The tenants in today’s parable looked for what they could get and take from what was never theirs. This grasping for immediate gratification undid the very core of their humanity and led not only to the desecration of the dignity of those the owner of the vineyard sent but lead to their own demise. In idolizing the things of the world instead of the things of heaven, they became undone.

Will we feed on the same radical individualism, or embrace our role as good steward, acknowledging, all that we have, even our very lives, are a gift from God, the owner of the vineyard. Recognizing that God is God and we are not, and trusting in his will for our lives will truly make us happy, fulfill, and help us to embrace who we are: co-redeemers with God. God has given each of us gifts to better his kingdom. May we serve well and seek to bear fruit that will last.

When we fall short, let us acknowledge that God has sent his Son to us. He has come to lead us to all that is Good, all that is True, and all that is Beautiful. He is also the only one we can count on. We need to place our trust in Jesus first, so when others fall, we do not fall with them and/or despair, because none of us are perfect. Each of us have our strengths as well as our weaknesses. As we grow in humility, we will grow in freedom and restore our likeness with God. As Jesus redeems us, we will experience our freedom and healing. As we heal, we can serve to help others who have fallen to experience a true freedom that will last.

Photo: Blessed to serve God and my parish family here at Holy Cross!

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, June 1, 2026

Let us not constrict but open our hearts to allow Jesus to love us even where we feel unlovable.

Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. The Trinity is the foundation of not only our faith but the reality of all that exists. The Catechism (CCC 234) puts it this way: “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the mystery of God in himself. It is therefore the source of all the other mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental and essential teaching in the ‘hierarchy of the truths of faith’.”

The Trinity is the “central mystery” of both our faith and our lives, the “mystery of God himself.” This is true because God has been, is, and always will be. God exists as a communion of three Persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three Persons in one God, but not three beings.

Anything we say about God though is going to be woefully inadequate of the truth about who God is. As the saying goes, all analogies limp regarding our description of God. We have a better chance of saying what God is not. To say that God is not a being is a good place to start because God is not in the same genus as us, nor in any genus. God is not even a supreme being, the being of all beings. God transcends all space and time. God is completely self-sufficient, God does not need anything, does not rely on anything, and thus he does not need anything or anyone, including us. This is good news, because that means that God is not in competition with nor does he demand anything from us for his own benefit.

God is infinite act of existence, or in the Latin of St Thomas Aquinas, ispum esse subsistens, the sheer act of “to be”. This means that God has no limitations. To say that God is three Persons is harder for us to comprehend because we often in our modern context use the words person and being as synonyms. To use the word person in speaking of God means that we are speaking relationally.

We describe God as Father because he begets God the Son, God the Son is the one begotten. The Son is not generated or created, because the Son has always existed with the Father. This is true because they are not finite beings separate from one another. They are infinite, though distinct in their relation to one another. God the Holy Spirit is then the Love shared between God the Father and God the Son. God’s immanence, God within himself, then is an infinite communion because of the infinite giving and receiving between each of the three. Each person gives and receives infinitely, perfectly giving all and holding nothing back.

We will never be able to fully comprehend God nor this infinite dance of giving and receiving, because the Holy Trinity transcends our finite reality. God is mystery not a problem to be solved. God cannot be proven, again because he is not in the genus of being, so no possible way we can in the material, three-dimensional reality we live in prove God. God transcends our reality. Yet we can encounter him and develop a relationship with him because he draws close to us, he reveals himself to us, he seeks us his created beings out. We are blessed in that he has drawn close to us in the Person of his Son. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).

Jesus, in his incarnation, is the enfleshed Son of God. Jesus is fully divine and fully human, and he reveals God the Father to us. Through becoming one with us in our humanity, we can share in the love that he experiences as Son with his Father when we are willing to let him in to love us, even in places where we feel unlovable.

The best way to understand, to know, and to build our relationship with God, is not to force God to fit into our finite reality, mindset, or limited view, but to be open to, “the Spirit of truth, he will guide [us] to all truth” (Jn 16:13). The Holy Spirit will guide us to all truth when we resist turning in upon ourselves and away from him, but instead be willing to resist constricting our hearts and be expanded by his love. Then we will be more open to opportunities to be loved and to love in our everyday moments. For where the willing of the good of each other is, God is, and Love is present.

Jesus was not sent into the world by his Father to condemn the world, he was sent to save, not just a select few, but all of humanity, such that all might have eternal life. The richness of the diversity of humanity is not a curse, but a gift. This Holy Trinity Sunday, may the Love of God move us beyond our defensive and divisive postures such that we resist closing our hearts and minds but instead become more willing to open them to build bridges of encounter and relationship.

Photo: A good Rosary walk back in my old evening walking grounds was for the soul.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, May 31, 2026

Jesus is the Lord of the temple, the Lord of our lives.

Jesus had not only created a scene when he, literally, turned over the tables in the temple, but had been doing so since the beginning of his public ministry. Jesus had been figuratively turning the tables on the religious leadership. The conflicts between Jesus and those in charge were not subsiding but only growing, especially now that Jesus was present at the Jewish spiritual center of the temple, the very seat of God. The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, are becoming more concerned about the teachings and actions of this itinerant preacher and believe him to be a false prophet. They approach him when he returns to the temple and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?” (Mark 11:28)?

Jesus, who is the Lord of the temple, “the lord of the house” (Mk 13:35), recognizes that the “servants in charge” (Mk 13:34) of the house, are not seeking the truth in this question. “The question is full of hidden irony: the stewards of the temple, whose authority is only delegated, are demanding that the Lord of the temple answer to them for his actions” (Healy, 234). Jesus deftly turns the table on them. In doing so, they reveal that they do not believe that John or Jesus are operating under the authority of God, but they fear the reaction of the people gathering around their discussion. This is the time of the Passover, and many pilgrims have come to Jerusalem to celebrate. The area is teeming with people. The last thing that the Jewish authorities want is another scene as Jesus had staged from his turning over the tables the day before. They do not want to have the Roman centurions getting involved.

The chief priests, scribes, and elders refuse to answer Jesus’ question. Jesus follows like fashion then and does not answer their original question. This episode and exchange, as with the other conflicts with Jesus leaves his challengers frustrated and angrier. They believe Jesus to be a false prophet, yet they are not willing to call him out publicly. Indecisiveness further fuels their already growing resentment. Jesus though is at rest because he knows that he is following the will of his Father and has nothing to prove.

How do we do with conflict? Are we as surefooted and confident in the love of our Father as Jesus? If not, there can be many reasons. Foundationally, we need to ask ourselves: “Are we following the will of the Father in all that we think, say, and do?” The peace that surpasses all understanding that Jesus experiences and promises comes from the assurance that our loving God and Father is with us, has our back, and supports us. We also experience rest when our conscience is clear. The challenge is to be clear in our discernment that we know the difference between God’s and our own will, as well as when our decisions are in accord with or opposed to God’s. When not, then we repent and turn back to him.

We may receive clarity, although many times we are indecisive. The answer to knowing God’s will is knowing God. We encounter and develop a better relationship with our Father as we would with any other person. Though until we develop a deeper prayer life, that is easier said than done. As many of the saints attest, the closer they grew in relationship, the more distant he appeared. This is true because Jesus invites us to go deeper, so we come to the point that we resist relying on our emotions, inspirations, and consolations, as well as our capacity to make sense of what we are asked. Jesus leads us on an eternal path that has no end, cannot be exhausted, and we are to follow without hesitation. Jesus speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. Why do we listen? Because Jesus is our Lord, the Son of God our Father.

Photo: The more time we give to Jesus in silence, the more he becomes the Lord of our lives!

Healy, Mary. The Gospel of Mark. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, May 30, 2026

Not hangry but a holy zeal for God’s house.

Upon a first reading of today’s Gospel from Mark it appears that Jesus woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He and the disciples were heading to Jerusalem, he was hungry, so spying a fig tree in leaf, he walked up to it and when he saw that there were no figs growing, he unleashed the words, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again”(Mk 11:14)!

In the next scene, we find Jesus returning to the Temple. He witnessed the money changers in the outer court, and he began to drive out those selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves (Mk 11:15). Good thing for the doves that Jesus only went for the seats!

There was a series of commercials which ran a while back in which a character was very hungry and acting out of sorts until they were able to eat the candy bar being promoted. Once they did so, the character transformed back into themselves. Is this what is going on with Jesus? Is he just hangry? Has his blood-glucose level taken a nosedive? Or is there something deeper going on?

Remembering that Jesus fasted for forty days in the Judean desert, I would speculate that there is something else going on. What is more likely is that Jesus is asserting his prophetic role. As with other prophets recorded in the Old Testament, like Jeremiah, who gathered the elders of the people, then smashed a potter’s flask, then shared that this is what God would do to them for being unfaithful (cf. Jeremiah 19), Jesus is most likely going with a similar hyperbolic display to make a dramatic point.

The fig tree is often a sign for Israel and is recorded as such in both Hosea and Jeremiah. When Jesus comes to the fig tree, his reaction is an expression of the unfaithfulness of Israel not so much at the fig tree. The chosen people are to be faithful to God in and out of season. When the disciples and Jesus passed by the fig tree the next morning, Peter exclaimed that the fig tree Jesus had cursed had withered to the roots. Jesus, not missing a step, mentions to his disciples that they are to: “Have faith in God” (Mk 11:22). By doing so, they will not whither and fade as those not being faithful to the covenant.

Jesus assumes his role as a prophet again when he is casting out the money changers in the temple precincts. It is no minor detail that the tables with caged doves were spared. If Jesus was going off in some kind of unabandoned rage, he would not have thought twice about turning over the tables on them as well. Jesus is making a spectacle that people would take notice. “Is it not written: My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples? But you have made it a den of thieves” (Mk 11:17).

Jesus is cleansing and restoring the Temple to its proper place as a house of prayer, but he is also showing that the temple tax that has been paid and the sacrifices that have been offered will no longer be needed. “Jesus’ actions signal the arrival of ‘that day’ prophesied by Zechariah, when the Lord would gather all the nations to worship him in Jerusalem, and ‘there shall no longer be any merchant in the house of the LORD of hosts’ (Zech 14:21)” (Healy, 227).

Jesus is foreshadowing how he will replace the brick and mortar and he himself will become the New Temple. Jesus will be scourged and crucified, he will be the sacrifice offered and the price paid for our sins. The altar will be the new table where his sacrifice will be memorialized and re-presented.

Jesus’ message at the fig tree and the cleansing of the Temple are just as important for us today. As his followers, we are to bear fruit in and out of season, this means that we are to live out his teachings in all areas of our lives, individually and in communion with one another. Jesus has given us all a gift to offer, something that no one else can or ever will quite do in the way we can. This is how we are to bear fruit. Jesus in cleansing the Temple, shows that he is the new Temple. We too are to be a part of this Temple. We are to resist the corrosive and corruptive temptations that assail us.

May we not be transformed by the fallen tendencies of the culture, but instead transformed by the love of God and remain steadfast and true to our calling. Let us be faithful to God’s will as members of the living Temple. We are precious stones, to be polished and refined, that we might radiate the light of Christ to those in our midst.

Painting: Raymond Balze, “Jesus Chasing Merchants from the Temple”