“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another” (Jn 13:34).

We are capable of loving because Jesus has loved us first. All of creation is an expression and an outpouring of the divine love and communion of the Trinity. Love, if it is true, goes out from the self to be there for the other. St. Paul wrote that love is patient and kind (1 Cor 13:4). These are virtues that flow out of our willing the good of the other as other.

When we act with patience, we love because we resist the temptation to react and strike out. We do not seek to protect our ego, but seek to understand and be present to the person. We see them beyond their brokenness, we resist fueling and feeding their frustrations by not adding our own impatient responses, and thereby help to dissipate any growing negativity. Instead we allow Jesus to love the person through us. We listen, accompany and guide.

When we are kind, we do so because we resist returning hurtful acts with acts of love, seeking nothing in return. We are kind because this is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. We are not kind in the hope that people are kind in return. We are kind because that is the foundation our being, this is our posture and disposition that we direct toward those we encounter.

So often we do not know what another is going through. When someone cuts us off in the course of our travel, we do not have to react in anger, but can choose instead to send a blessing, that the driver may find peace of mind, slow down and have a safe trip. We can pray that all those driving may drive mindfully so all may be safe on the road.

When someone is short or curt with us, instead of reacting by being sharp or snarky in return, we can take a breath, and ask Jesus in that moment to be present in us and minister through us to the person in our midst. We can choose to be open to loving the person as Jesus loves us, accepting them as they are in that moment, and being willing to allow the Holy Spirit to be present in our encounter with them.

Some good beginning steps that I have found to love another is to be patient and kind in the moment, to smile, and offer my hand in greeting and be available to listen. These very simple acts do have a cost in that our ego and focus on self becomes less, but what we gain in return is that Jesus becomes more and we see each other as human beings. In these simple acts we say to the other, even before we have said anything with our words, that they are important to us, they have worth and dignity, because we are willing to make the time to acknowledge and respect their presence, not reacting to and defining them by their weakness and brokenness in that moment.

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35).

Photo: CN Strong, patience and kindness in action!

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, May 15, 2022

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete” (John 15:11).

What is this referring too? “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

And what is his commandment? “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

Even when life appears pretty dark and division and suffering seem to be waiting around every corner, we need not give up, give in to cynicism, and/or fall into despair. God wants us to experience joy and fulfillment despite our experiences and not through being lemmings or slaves but as Jesus said, “friends”. The friends of Jesus are those who hear and share the word that Jesus has received from his Father which are his commandments, the greatest of these is to love.

We will be happy and fulfilled when we align our will with the will of God who is Love. St. Irenaeus taught that the joy of God is the human being fully alive. For us to be fully alive, we are to love as God loves us. God keeps inviting us to receive his love and his joy, to be happy. Many of us do not experience the fullness of this joy because we are distracted and diverted by what appears to be good. With time and experience, we often find in fact they are not. Much of what we expend our energy doing are feeble substitutes.

Neither will we experience fulfillment and joy through denying, covering over, or being so busy that we don’t have to face the sufferings in our or other’s lives. We ease and grow from our suffering by entering into it. Jesus meets us in our suffering with his arms wide open and we begin our healing at the root. By willing our good and the good of others, we can alleviate some of the suffering in our realm of influence as well. Each day we need to decide if we are to curl up into our shell or to be an agent of healing and love and by doing so, we can make our corner of the world a little better.

Photo: With JoAnn, who taught me how to come out of my shell, to live and to love.

Mass readings for Saturday, May 14, 2022

Our days are so full of activities, conflicts, health issues, technological stimulation, 24/7 news cycles, social media interaction, division, polarization, and mix into all of this, ongoing warfare in Syria, Yemen, and between Russia and Ukraine, which can all contribute to our emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual unrest. If we do not have the proper foundation and orientation, we can feel stretched, hollow, and/or fatigued at best. One day can seem to blend into another, and another, and another. The image of being on a hamster wheel or an unending treadmill can fall afresh in our mind’s eye when we actually do take a minute to breathe. Anxiety, worry, stress, fear, prescriptions, and addictions all appear to be on the rise and swirling out of control.

Is there an answer to this hyper pace or are we doomed to just keep going until the wheels fall off? The opening verse in today’s reading provides an antidote when we begin to feel agitated or unsettled by any or all of the above .

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me” (Jn 14:1).

We are invited to place our trust in God through his Son, Jesus. By putting them first does not mean that the externals to our life will take an abrupt turn for the better, but what it does mean is that we will have support and divine assistance. It means that we are not alone in our struggles. The disciples found this out when in the midst of a sudden sea squall. Their boat was taking on water as the waves grew higher they were terrified and so, called to a sleeping Jesus. Jesus awoke and with a word, he calmed the sea (cf. Mk 4:35-41).

Jesus may or may not calm the sea of our trials and tribulations, but what he will do is be present with us through our storms in life and we can trust in him that he will guide us through. As we grow more confident in our trust in Jesus we will come to be assured that no matter who or what comes at us, he will be there to assist us. Then will experience more peace and calm within ourselves – no Prozac or Zoloft required. The ultimate assurance that Jesus provides is that when we surrender our life to him we belong to him, we are not alone or orphaned. He gave his life for us, to redeem and save us so that we can be assured of our home for eternity.

Our trust and faith in Jesus will grow when we realize that building the foundation of a prayer practice and a relationship with him, as with any other person, takes time spent together. The best part is that Jesus will help us. As we seek his discernment, he will show us where we can make changes in our life. Our first step is to allow ourselves to make periodic efforts to stop in our day to be still.

This time does not need to be lengthy, three to five minutes to start can do wonders. On the surface level, by stopping for five minutes to pray and breathe more deeply and consciously, we get off the wheel, we step out of survival and reaction mode, so we can then make more mindful decisions, and we can come to see that we truly have options, but more importantly, we begin to experience a growing relationship and intimacy with Jesus so as to begin to recognize his voice and receive more guidance.

The Liturgy of the Hours, meditation and as part of my recovery from pneumonia, a newly introduced stretching routine, has provided a good anchor for me. When I went to the emergency room a year ago January, I made sure to bring my breviary and rosary in case I was hospitalized which I was for five days.

Having set times to stop to meditate and pray throughout the day has been helpful, especially on those days when my schedule is full to overflowing. Author Wanda E. Brunstetter, wrote, “If you are too busy to pray, you are busier than God wants you to be.” There is a lot of truth in her statement. I have had busy days, weeks and months, where I have wondered if taking the time to pray and meditate was really the most sensible choice. Time and again it has been. I have also been pondering during my recovery about the fact that I have been way too busy for some time.

The Rosary is another great way to get into God’s word by meditating on the mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary. If you are not able to pray the whole Rosary in one sitting, start with one decade a day. Read for a few minutes from the Bible once in the morning and then return to meditate on the same verse or verses that touch or challenge you throughout the day. You can also read the daily Mass readings and place your self in the scene and allow the account to open up before you as if were actually there.

Each of these practices offer us a few of the many ways to stop the madness, to slow down, simplify, and connect with the power, the love, and the grace that Jesus yearns to share with us such that no matter the external or internal upheaval, we may experience his peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding (cf. Philippians 4:7). An important point to keep in mind is that we need to be aware of the season we are in, and our particular station in life. Rising an infant your very young children is a key priority. Taking time to pray is important for renewal and guidance, but those times will be shorter and more flexible than for someone who is retired.

It is always important to begin small, seek Jesus’ guidance and take baby steps. What is important is that we pray daily, how long is not, and as we grow in this process our life will adjust and there will be activities that we realize we can let go of because they really aren’t helping us to deepen our relationship with God and we will begin to see what are real and healthy priorities that we need to maintain.

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Photo: My anchors for slowing down to hear God in the quiet of my heart.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, May 13, 2022

Today’s Gospel from John begins as Jesus had just finished washing the feet of his disciples. Jesus then said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him” (Jn 13:16). Jesus not only taught the truth that God the Father sent his Son to serve and not be served, he modeled this practice consistently.

From his conception, gestation, and birth, the Son of God developed as a human being in the very simplest of conditions and endured the hardships of those on the margins. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were political refugees very soon after his birth. The young family was forced to flee from Bethlehem to Egypt. When Herod the Great died they returned to Nazareth, and other than the incident in the Temple, we hear nothing about the life of Jesus until he begins his public ministry. The most likely reason for this was that there was nothing to tell. Jesus most likely apprenticed with Joseph, in the trade of a simple tektōn, a woodworker, which was pretty low on the rung of the social ladder.

Through the short time of his ministry, Jesus modeled for his disciples what a follower of his entailed and what it meant to be one of his successors. To follow in his footsteps they would need to participate in servant leadership. He not only taught them but lived and modeled that there is no task too menial that we can’t roll up our sleeves and dive in to help. There is no person too other that we can’t assist when they are in a need.

A good prayer and meditation for us today is to ask Jesus to reveal for us how we have resisted his urgings in the past regarding serving others as well as when we have refused to interact or treat someone with anything less than the basic human dignity which they deserved. Have we ever thought that what he was asking of us was beneath us? Have there been people we have kept at arm’s length or refused to reach out to? For those ways in which we have withdrawn within ourselves and refused to be of help may we ask for his forgiveness.

Being willing to allow Jesus to shed some light on our lack of embracing opportunities to serve is a good place to begin. Then renewed with his forgiveness and healing touch, may we be more willing to be bearers of the understanding, grace and mercy which we have received. May we be more open to each of the people and/or tasks that God will place before us, the discernment to know his will, and the clarity and courage to act as his servant with humility and without hesitation.
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Photo: Our first Cross Catholic Outreach Hunger Challenge at St. Peter.

Link for the Mass reading for Thursday, May 12, 2022

“I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness” (Jn 12:46).

What might be the darkness that Jesus refers to? It could be anything that turns us within ourselves, away from that which is True, Good, and Beautiful. This can be prejudice, ignorance, cynicism, sin, violence, hatred, racism, war, division, dehumanization, and the list goes on.

A major root that keeps us in this darkness is fear. Jesus offers us the light of his Father. He encourages us to leave our self-imposed imprisonment by loving us as we are, more than we can imagine, and more than we can ever mess up. Christianity is not just a set of moral principles, a set of doctrines, a philosophy, or a theology. Christianity is about an encounter with a person, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

The light of Jesus leads and invites us to experience that which we have been created and are restless for – an intimate relationship with God the Father and each other. Through the light of his love, Jesus reveals to us those apparent goods, false substitutes, and idols that distract us and keep us separated from deepening our relationship with God. We come to know God when we are willing to receive the love of the Holy Spirit, to be ourselves by letting go of our masks, and are moved to share that love with each other.

Jesus, please help us to resist any selfish impulse or reaction based on any fears or past hurts and guide us instead to love as you have loved us. Help us to be led by you to participate in simple acts such as a smile, an offer assistance, to reach out, to be present, and willing to listen, and/or to choose to be more understanding, supportive, and encouraging. In these small ways, please shine in and through us, then out toward others. Help us to trust that the darkness will not overcome the radiance of your light!

Photo: Sacred Heart of Jesus statue on the grounds of St Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter FL

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Jesus continues to present the imagery of the shepherd in today’s Gospel reading from John. He offers the assurance of security and protection that is to be found for those that are in his fold when he says, “No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one” (Jn 10:28-30). How does one enter the fold of the Good Shepherd? All who hear his voice and follow him will be known by him and so be a part of his flock.

Yet, there are those who hear his voice and do not recognize the Shepherd. They do not follow him and so are not known by him, although he seeks them out. They may know about the Shepherd, have heard of him, but do not know him. Their hearts and minds are closed. They do not believe in his miracles, his exorcisms, his teachings, and the question of those opposing him in today’s reading is, “If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly” (Jn 10:24). Jesus did just that by saying that he and the Father are one. The response to the forthright comment of Jesus is that those who are closed to his answer pick up rocks to throw at him (see Jn 10:31).

Jesus offers the gift of relationship with him and his Father, to experience the love shared between them, the Holy Spirit. This offer is without condition. Jesus is open about who he is, who we are, and who we can become in participation with him. Those who say no to his invitation do so for their own reasons; a demand for proof, a listing of the terms and conditions that need to be met first, assurances sought for, and/or excuses offered, diversions, distractions, temptations, and many unique to each person. Just as Jesus invites us to freely come to him, he will only come so far as we are willing to receive him. He does not conform to us or to our will.  Jesus does not need us, yet he loves us by willing our ultimate good.

Even we who have said yes, only go so far. We hedge our bets, dip our toes into the water, and maybe go in ankle-deep, but not too many of us are willing to relinquish control, let go, and surrender fully all at once. Jesus offers, eternal life, true, but also a life of meaning and fulfillment now. A perfect life? No, there will continue to be challenges, conflicts, mistakes, and mis-steps as well as Jesus’ voice continuing to call us to follow him to go into the deeper waters, to seek freedom from our anxieties, fears, and weaknesses. He urges us to face conflicts, to be disciplined in resisting temptations of apparent goods, and to risk and trust him as he has his Father.

Through all our experiences, the ups and downs, the only assurance is that we are not alone. No matter what we may face today or tomorrow, we can be assured that Jesus will never let us go and no one can take us out of his hand. Each step of the journey we take, we can be confident that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, will be there to guide and protect us.

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Photo: Accessed online

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, May 10, 2022

“…the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice” (Jn 10:4). This verse is one of the keys to growing in the spiritual life and becoming a disciple of Jesus. Amidst all the voices, distractions, diversions, and temptations clamoring for our attention, we want to develop an ear to hear and a mind to discern his voice. There are so many directions we can take and opportunities we can be enticed by, many that are detrimental, but more challenging those that are good in and of themselves.

Jesus came to us so that we “might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). To live life to the fullest, to actualize our potential, we need to be able to discern the distinction between apparent goods and the true Good. An apparent good is appealing, attractive, and desirable, though once experienced, we conclude that it was indeed not good for us after all. We can see this in the promotion of processed foods, with additives and an excess incentive of enticing the taste buds with salts and sugars. The experience of eating many of these products is that they taste good going down, especially if eaten quickly and not savored, such that we often eat them to excess. They not only have little, if any nutritional value, more importantly, if this is the main source of our nutrition, over time, we will feel the ill affects of eating in this way.

When I sit down to eat pizza, there are two clear voices. One voice encourages an eating of the whole pie in one sitting, while another urges a balanced two-slice approach. I will let you decide which is my voice and which is the voice of the Shepherd 😉 The same is true regarding how we spend our time and treasure. We all have the same amount of time in the day. In what ways do we use our time, who is it that we are listening to regarding how we use the time we have been given? What are we investing our treasure in? Do we listen to the Father of Lies or the Good Shepherd?

A good practice for developing an ear to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd is to resist making decisions impulsively, no matter how small. When a decision comes to mind let us make time to pray with Jesus and seek his guidance, and resist making an impulsive decision, regarding food, purchases, jobs, and relationships. In all areas of our lives, let us pray before we do anything! We can ask ourselves each time, is what I am about to decide hindering or helping me to become a better disciple, to be true to myself and who God is calling me to be?

Over time and through various experiences we will come to better discern the voice of Jesus. It is also a good practice to have a core group of people we can talk over decisions with to get their perspective, to help keep us accountable, and to help us to stay on the path. In this way, we can also learn to hear the words of Jesus through others.

May we have ears to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice today, and each day going forward as well as the courage and humility in each instance to follow his will!

Photo: Enjoying a great burrito with Mia, Mission District, San Francisco a few years ago!

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, May 8, 2022

I am not sure how many people reading this reflection are shepherds, live on a farm, or raise sheep. Many of us are most likely far removed from the daily life and commitment of a shepherd. With such ignorance as our starting point, we can fall prey to a false romanticism of the life of a shepherd as a reaction to the fast pace and hustle and bustle of modern urban and suburban life.

The commitment and demands of shepherds during Jesus’ time were all consuming, with little acknowledgment or recognition. In fact, many shepherds were looked down upon, considered the lowest of the low, at the bottom of the society of ancient Palestine. Yet Jesus compared himself to being a shepherd.

Just scratching the surface of the social context of shepherds could help to shed light on John’s Gospel today where Jesus paints an image of himself as the Good Shepherd as he says. “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27).

A good shepherd lived among his sheep, watched over them, cared for them, helped to birth and raise them. He would smell like his sheep. The lamb would hear the voice of the shepherd in the womb, in the first days after its birth, and on through its life. A good shepherd protected his flock with his life from predators and thieves. If there was danger, he would call the sheep to himself. Though we may not be fond of being compared to sheep, Jesus does the same for us. He watches and cares for us, protects, nourishes us with his own Body and Blood, and has given his life for us. Jesus guides us, if we are willing to hear his voice in the silence of our hearts.

We get into trouble when we stray from his protective care and wander away. Yet, Jesus will come when we are in need, baying for help. Each one of us are precious and important to him. He will find us if we are willing to be found, if we just call out to him, for he knows our voice too. He will come to us and will carry us back home on his shoulders.

With the humility and simplicity of a lamb, allow yourself to be still today, rest your head on the lap of the Good Shepherd, surrender to him all your cares, doubts, anxieties and fears. Allow yourself to be healed by confessing any sins that are weighing you down, let him impart some healing balm on past hurts left unforgiven, and let him bind up any recent wounds. At some point in your contemplation, also let soak in the ultimate gift, the gift Jesus has given us: his very life, that we might have life in him. A life not merely to exist or survive, but a life of joy and fulfillment in which we will thrive.

Listen for the voice of Jesus calling us to himself today, to receive, rest in, and renew in his care and love. This is the Lord’s Day, the day he rose again, conquering death for ever and always for himself and for us, the sheep of his flock. This is also Good Shepherd Sunday. May we remember and pray for our priests, bishops, and Pope Francis who have heard the call of the Shepherd and followed him to serve as our shepherds.

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Photo: Remembering and praying for our pastor, Fr. Don today. He led me and JoAnn back to the Church, to the diaconate, and now in a few weeks back into the seminary to study for the priesthood.

Link for the Mass readings for the fourth Sunday of Easter, May 8, 2022

Even though Jesus had fed the five thousand and they were satisfied and there was plenty more where this gift of grace came from, even though they traveled by boat and followed him to Capernaum seeking a sign, the discourse regarding eating his Flesh and drinking his Blood was just too far of a stretch for most of the disciples to take. In fact: Many of the disciples of Jesus who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it” (Jn 6:60)?

Many of his disciples walked away from Jesus at that point and returned to their former ways of life. They could not believe because they did not fully appreciate who Jesus was, the One from above, who was sent by the Father. They had not developed a deep enough relationship with him such that they could trust him and what he said was true, they could not believe in the One whom God had sent.

Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (Jn 6:67-69). Peter’s response is one of belief and trust. I am sure he and the apostles reacted in the same way as the other disciples gathered there, but they trusted Jesus enough that even though this teaching was hard, even inconceivable, he would make sense of it for them, just as he had done so many times before.

This is to be our response as well. When we find some of Jesus’ teachings are hard to digest, we need to resist the temptation to walk away. Instead, may we follow Mary’s model of pondering, as she did when Gabriel shared she would bear the Savior of the world. She did not fully comprehend what the message meant, but she trusted God and said yes. May we follow Peter, who may have also been dealing with mixed emotions and doubts, remained firm in his belief in Jesus because he trusted that Jesus was the “Holy One of God”. Peter had experienced that Jesus had known what he was saying and doing before, he would continue to trust him this time as well.

Jesus is a model to follow, yes, but he is so much more! Jesus does not give us more burdens to bear, but graces that build on our nature that we are invited to receive. He did not want to die, but he was willing to say yes, to submit his human will to his Father because he trusted him and knew he would bring about a greater good. Jesus gave his life and in so doing he conquered death, transcending the time and space of our present dimension so as to be present to us in the Sacrament of the Eucharist at each and every Mass.

Jesus lives! He is the firstborn of the new creation, and he wants to not only lead us to eternal life, but impart his life in us, in such an intimate way that we may consume him in the gift of the Eucharist, that we may be one with him in this life and for all eternity! May we with Peter come to believe and be convinced, that Jesus is the Holy One of God!

Amen. Amen.
I’m alive, I’m alive,
Because he lives.
Amen. Amen.
Let my song join the One that never ends.
Because he lives.
The verse from Matt Maher’s song, “Because He Lives (Amen)”.

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Photo: Sharing Jesus at my first Mass as a deacon!

Link for video: Because He Lives (Amen), Matt Maher, from cd: Saints and Sinners, 2015

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, May 7, 2022

All that Jesus has been building up to is now coming to a climax. Any silent shock of disbelief or quiet murmuring has now escalated. The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his Flesh to eat” (Jn 6:52)? Jesus hears the growing concern and disbelief. If he was speaking in a figurative or symbolic way, this would be the moment to clarify his point.

Jesus does speak, but he does not walk back or qualify his comments. Jesus doubles down: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you” (Jn 6:53). Jesus does not only repeat that his disciples are to eat his Flesh but he also insists that they are to drink his Blood. Drinking or even eating meat with the blood of an animal was inconceivable for devout Jews. Also, the Greek used here in John’s Gospel for eat is trogein, which is used to describe how an animal eats, by gnawing and tearing at the flesh. The imagery that Jesus is using here is more graphic than the customary use of phagein, which would be used for chewing, as a human would chew their food.

Jesus continues to make his point that whoever does eat his Flesh and drink his Blood, will not only remain in him, but also Jesus will remain in them, and they will have eternal life. A wonderful end goal, but would any be able to make the leap of faith to get there? In tomorrow’s Gospel reading we will be able to see the response to Jesus’ claims.

Almost two thousand years later, we continue to have the opportunity to celebrate daily the person of Jesus in our midst. This happens through participating in the source and summit of our faith, the Mass. Our hearts have the opportunity to be set on fire as we hear the word proclaimed during the Liturgy of the Word, and then Jesus is made known to us in the breaking of the bread in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. We are invited to experience an intimate encounter with the Son of God, as we consume him, Body, Soul, and Divinity.

That we are to eat the Flesh and Blood of Jesus may sound just as bizarre as it did to Jesus’ followers. The term we have for this miraculous transformation of bread and wine is transubstantiation. What happens at the calling down of the Holy Spirit and the words of institution which are invoked by the priest is that the substance, the reality, of the bread and wine is transfigured into the Body and Blood of Jesus, while the accidental form or appearance remains the same. So we consume Jesus’ unbloody, acceptable sacrifice.

Jesus is giving all of who he is corporally, fully, holding nothing back of himself so we can receive all of him. In consuming Jesus, we become divine as he permeates our whole being. We are then dismissed at the end of the Mass to go, like Mary, to bear Jesus Christ, to love others as Jesus loved us. By giving ourselves to others, we will also experience Jesus in each other. For what we do to the least of our brothers and sisters, we do to him (cf. Mt 25:40).

Jesus is risen, he has risen indeed, and he has not left us orphans but remains with us now and for all ages! We are alive, because the Bread of Life lives within and among us! Amen. Alleluia!

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Photo: Our tabernacle in the chapel at Cardinal Newman High School. Spending some quiet time with Jesus before heading home for the evening.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, May 6, 2022