bible

Let us like Mary, hear and embrace God’s word “with a generous and good heart”.

A person can go on a walk and hear the beautiful sound of a bird and think to themselves, that is a very nice sound, enjoy it, and keep walking on. Another person may hear the bird song, actually stop, and listen for a time and then move on. Still, another person may not only hear the sound, stop, and listen, but also look in the tree to see what type of bird is making that sound, identify it as a cardinal and then walk on.

Each person experienced the bird on different levels. Even the one who stopped to appreciate its song and take the time to identify it as a cardinal, still limited him or herself from experiencing the deeper wonder and uniqueness of this particular cardinal. God knows though. He knows this bird intimately, as he does with the entirety of his creation, including knowing each of us better than we know ourselves.

We may hear or read Jesus begin with these words of his parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed” (Luke 8:5), and then our eyes glaze over and our minds may go immediately to, “Oh, I know this parable well,” identify it like the person identifying the cardinal, and may even appreciate the parable, but then tune out because we have heard it before or many times before. We too would then miss the greater depth and wonder of what God wants to share with us.

Jesus helps his disciples to understand the parable when he tells them, “The seed is the word of God,” and then identifies how different people hear, and then act or don’t act on the word they have received. Those on the path of hard, traveled ground, the word is stolen by the devil; those representing rocky ground which has some soil “receive the word with joy” but since there is no depth in which to root, “they believe for only a time and fall away”; and the seed that fell among thorns was choked by the anxieties, riches, and pleasures of life. The final resting place was the best, the “rich soil” symbolizing “those who embrace the word with a generous and good heart, and bear fruit through perseverance” (See Luke 8:4-15).

God knows each of us, knows our deepest and authentic desires, our deepest wounds, our sins, and our greatest promise. He loves us, wants the best for us, and so shares his seed, his word, with us in many ways.

Are we willing to open our hearts and minds to receiving the wonder of Jesus’ guiding and leading, or are we hardened and allow the devil to steal our Father’s word away for us? Are we willing to be patient to not only receive and savor his word, but also put it into practice? Are we willing to place his word in a place of prominence within our minds and hearts so that the many diversions, anxieties, stresses, and strains don’t choke its life? Are we willing to be persistent and daily call to mind this wonderful gift God has given to us, the gift of his living word, and allow it to take firm root, to nourish and water it, allow it to grow and flourish in our lives?

More than anything else, one of the most important practices that we can engage in each day is meditation and prayer upon the seed of God’s word. Not just saying prayerful words and moving on, not just a functional practice that we check off our list, but receiving God’s word as he wants to give it and allowing it to germinate in our hearts and minds so that we may be transformed. The enemy will seek to steal, distract, divert, and dissuade us from receiving and nourishing the gift of his word.

We need to resist these temptations, renounce them, pull them out as we would weeds and repeat the word or phrase we have received. We can meditate upon the words, “A sower went out to sow his seed” for some time and imagine what kind of soil God finds in us. Not in condemnation, but in gentle honesty. When we find areas where the soil is anything but rich, we attend to it. Tilling to soil of our soul with the hoe of a simple phrase like, “Jesus, I Trust in You” can do wonders. Turning this phrase over regularly in our minds breaks through hardened soil. Our hearts soften, our minds are more open, and there the seed of God’s word can begin to germinate and take root.

When we regularly identify and turn over those areas of hardened soil, more and more what we think, speak, and do is nourished by the eternal spring of the Holy Spirit. Even when temptation arises, trials and tribulations threaten, any thorns will remain undeveloped, they will have no bite or choking strength. We will doubt less and no longer choked by anxiety when we anchor our trust in Jesus and his love for us. We will persevere through challenging times, as well as be grateful in tranquil times when we allow God’s word to be rooted more firmly and to stretch more deeply into the depth of our souls.

Photo: Mary through her practice of pondering and trusting in God provided the rich soil needed such that through the power of the Holy Spirit conceived the Word in her womb and he took on flesh.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, September 19, 2026

Jesus calls each of us to accompany him.

Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women (Lk 8:1-2).

A simple but significant statement. Jesus is fully human and fully divine and was willing to come close in simplicity. Many chose not to follow him, but there were those like “the Twelve and some women” who did. Jesus continues to meet us today in the same ways of simple encounter and invitation. The Son of God incarnate draws close to us in our humanity, as human beings, so that we can enter into a relationship with him and his Father through the love of the Holy Spirit, thus becoming one with him in his divinity.

From the beginning of his public ministry, throughout his time walking this earth, and continuing on after his resurrection and ascension into heaven, Jesus now in his glorified body  invites people to participate in his life and the kingdom of Heaven which is at hand in his very presence. Jesus does so by building relationships. This is how Luke can write the verses that Jesus was accompanied by the Twelve and Mary Magdelene, Joanna, and Susanna. These were real people with whom Jesus developed real and intimate bonds. Jesus is not a myth.

Christianity is not a Lone Ranger religion, it is not the survival of the fittest, and Jesus did not teach us to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We are created by God to be in communion, to be in a relationship with him and each other, to experience his love and to love one another. That means we are required to have the humility to recognize we can’t go it alone, do anything on our own. We need to ask for help from God our Father and each other when in need and be willing to serve as God calls us and to help when we are asked to help one of our brothers or sisters.

We are invited to welcome, engage with, and make time for each other by exchanging in the stories of our tragedies and our triumphs. Let us resist the temptation of withdrawing into our own bubbles and instead, risk encountering one another in our poverty of spirit and weaknesses. Relationships are not perfect. By putting God first, making a commitment to him and his commandments, and putting those commandments into practice, we can better commit to being there for each other.

When we are growing in our relationship with God, he feeds the deepest core of our being as no other can. Thus fulfilled by his love, our insecurities that seek to derail our human relationships will diminish. We can risk being ourselves even when tempted by our fears. As we begin to feel safe in God’s love we can better breathe, trust, keep an open heart and mind, give the benefit of the doubt, and be more understanding, kind, and forgiving, all of which are ingredients for healthier relationships.

Jesus invites us to walk with him and to forge relationships grounded in mutual respect, where no one is last and where no person is left behind. Our addictions, insecurities, and disordered affections only survive when we isolate ourselves. When we allow Jesus and others to come close, spend time with him and one another, our weaknesses, sins and shortcomings will be revealed. That is good news. Each conflict, when we bring it to the Lord, helps us to forgive and be forgiven. Conflicts now become moments of grace to heal and purify, leading to greater intimacy. We are not alone when we identify and reject the lies of the enemy. Continuing with Jesus, our relationships will heal and deepen.

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Photo: Awaiting Benediction at the NCDVD, National Convention Diocesan Vocation Directors, during the Eucharistic procession after Mass at the amphitheater on the grounds of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 18, 2026

Trust in Jesus, enter into the pain of our sins and wounds, and we will be forgiven and healed.

Logistically, to our modern minds, the setting of this verse may appear confusing. How could this “sinful” woman be standing behind Jesus such that her tears would fall on his feet? When we think of someone sitting and eating, we imagine them doing so by sitting in a chair. Thus, the feet would be under the chair or toward the front of the person.

During the time period and cultural setting in which Jesus lived, a customary practice when eating was not to sit at all but to recline for the tables were set lower. From this position of reclining then it would make sense that she, “stood behind him at his feet weeping and began to bathe his feet with her tears” (Luke 7:38). The woman next knelt down, dried his feet with her hair, and then anointed Jesus’ feet with the ointment she brought for him.

She did not rationalize, deny, ignore, or come grudgingly nor wait for Jesus to call her out, she came not asking for healing but with true contrition for her sins. Hopefully, we can be like this woman, and come to Jesus with the same open heart to his love so that we too will experience his compassion and have our hearts pierced with our own sorrow for the hurt we have caused others through our sinful actions. To cry tears to the point of “bathing his feet with her tears” showed the depth of this woman’s sorrow for her sin as well as the gratefulness of Jesus’ forgiveness.

Those quick to point the finger at other’s sins, like Simon, who judged this woman, are less apt to be aware of the depth of their own sin and thus “the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little” (Lk 7:47). We are not forgiven less because God is not willing to forgive but because God will not go against our free will. Hiding, being in denial of, rationalizing, or justifying our sins, curving in upon ourselves or listening to the father of lies keeps us at a distance. If we are unaware or unwilling to bring our sins forward with true sorrow, repentance, and a willingness through God’s grace to change, we are cutting ourselves off from the healing and forgiveness God wants so much to share.

When we follow the lead of the woman by expressing the same trust and faith, willing to bear our soul with humility and sorrow, with our deepest and darkest sins, we will not only be forgiven but experience a deeper outpouring of our Father’s extravagant love. The one who confesses truthfully, fully, and contritely is forgiven more, loved more, and thus will love and forgive more.

We may not want to face our sins or our wounds. It is true that as we open our hearts and minds to the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit we will experience pain. Just as we will not physically heal without experiencing the pain of broken bones mending or skin growing back together to make a scar, we won’t heal deep, emotional wounds or be forgiven of corrosive sins left in the dark. Jesus experienced the excruciating pain of dying on the Cross. No Resurrection was possible until Jesus experienced his death.

When we are contrite, confess, and atone for our sins, when we face our deepest hurts, there will be pain, but Jesus will receive and meet us in our anguish and anxiety. Jesus will love us even where we feel the shame and are most wounded. To be loved and forgiven there, frees us from the lies and fears that have kept us isolated. Bringing all to the light in humility, having the courage to go where we allowed no one entry before, Jesus embraces us. As we allow him to hold us there, we will feel safe, the tears of sorrow and pain will then flow, and they will turn into tears of gratitude. For having been seen at our worst, our deepest anguish, our most vulnerable, we will find that we have not been rejected but instead forgiven, accepted, and loved.

Photo: The more we have faith and trust in Jesus the deeper we go, and the greater forgiveness and healing we well experience!

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, September 17, 2026

May we trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit when he is inviting us to embrace change.

“To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit In the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep'” (Lk 7:31-32).

Jesus convicted those who held a narrow view of who was a true follower of God by sharing the image of a flute being played and no one was dancing, thus in times of joy, there was no celebration. When the funeral dirge was sung, they did not weep, they did not mourn. Jesus then tied the analogy to his present condition regarding those who did not accept the ascetical practices of fasting and the call to repentance from John the Baptist, nor did they accept the inclusive and festive table fellowship of Jesus.

In our own time, we have encountered those that are not pleased beyond their own narrow focus and who suffer from a hypersensitive, tunnel vision. Anything that hints at even a slight variation of change sends tremors of discontent. If we are honest, we all have some resistance to change, but if we are to authentically live the Gospel, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman’s quote is an apt barometer: “To live is to change and to be perfect is to have changed often.”

My wife, JoAnn, embraced change much more easily than I. She consistently helped me, even when I didn’t feel it was helpful in the moment, to resist getting too comfortable. She did so again in “changing her address” seven years ago already to a heavenly zip code. Working through the reality of her death, the adventure of two years of seminary, and adjusting to the blessings of completing now two years as a priest, have continued to present opportunities to embrace change.

It would have been easier to seek an early retirement and live a quieter life, which was what I thought was the prudent move at the time, but God had another plan. When most my age are thinking of or beginning an early retirement, I instead trusted in the Father’s guidance and embraced the invitation to change again and embark on a new adventure. Though not easy, I am very happy that I did.

I have enjoyed very much my time serving at Holy Cross. I have been blessed by a wonderful community. I have learned a lot and continue to adjust. And before I could get too settled, Bishop Manuel has invited me to be the director of vocations, seminarians and our new discernment house, while remaining here as parochial vicar. Change continues!

The Church, at her best, is a balance between the rock, solid foundation of our core beliefs, such as is outlined in the Nicene Creed, which provides stability, assuredness, and identity. While at the same time, she is open to the life-giving inspiration of each nudge from the Holy Spirit. When we in each generation follow the lead of the Holy Spirit the Gospel will continue to be relevant.

As we remain grounded in what we believe, it is important that, at the same time, we allow ourselves to be flexible and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us. In this way, we can avoid molding the Church into our image, and instead be conformed and transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus, who is the embodiment of Love, the Trinitarian communion of which we profess in the Creed.

We can live a life of joy when we resist the temptation to hold on too tightly. Nothing and no one in this world lasts because all is finite. When it is time to mourn, let us weep, and if we do so well, when it is time to embrace life we can do so with the fullness of joy and we can dance and live again. What lasts, even eternally, as St. Paul wrote, is love. God is love and God created us out of an abundance of his love. When we are willing to surrender our wills to the Father, our hearts and minds to the Son, and allow our souls to be led by the Holy Spirit, we will better embrace change and live a life of inner freedom and joy!

Photo: Rosary walk at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception. Here for a week for the NCDVD, National Conference for Diocesan Vocation Directors. Learning a lot! Recommitting to the priority of prayer.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Praying with Jesus and Mary helps us to embrace our suffering and experience God’s healing.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (Jn 19:26-27).

During the summer of 1991, I joined the Franciscans of Holy Name Province for my pre-novitiate year and was stationed at the Holy Cross Friary in the Bronx. My ministry for that year was working in the adjoining parish of Holy Cross. Shortly after entering, one of the friars, Br. Paul Goldie, died. He had been serving at the friary since 1953 and had been a friar for 54 years. Myself and my cohort were blessed to have gotten to know him a bit. A practice among the friars was to pass on personal items to those in the community when one of their own passed away.

I was honored to have been given a picture of St. Francis and a rosary of Br. Paul’s. The picture I have carried with me all these years since and hangs in my room in the rectory of another Holy Cross, now in Vero Beach, Florida.

When I first looked at the Rosary, it was clearly worn with use. It was very well made and durable. It was also different from others that I had seen before. I didn’t ask any of the friars, most likely because I already felt self conscious about how little I knew about Catholicism at the time I entered. Instead of a crucifix it had a Miraculous Medal, instead of five beads there were three beads leading to the decades of beads, and instead of five decades of beads, there were seven groupings of seven beads. In between each of the series of seven beads there was a small medal. On one side was a picture of Mary pierced in the heart seven times, and on the back of each medal was a different scene.

I would find out some time later that this was a Rosary of Our Lady of Sorrows. The depictions on the back of the seven medals represented Mary’s seven sorrows: Simeon announces the suffering destiny of Jesus, Mary escapes into Egypt with Jesus and Joseph, Mary seeks Jesus lost in Jerusalem, Mary meets Jesus as He carries his Cross to Calvary, Mary stands near the Cross of her Son Jesus, Mary receives into her arms the body of Jesus taken down from the Cross, and Mary helps place the body of Jesus in the tomb.

The fifth mystery, Mary stands near the Cross of her Son Jesus, is from our Gospel reading today. For Mary to witness her son dying such an agonizing death, it must have been the most sorrowful of the seven. Yet, Mary did not run from the pain, she embraced his and her own pain. The piercing of the lance must have pierced her own heart, into the depths of her own soul. Mary, though free of sin, was not free of the pain of a fallen world. In fact, Mary, like Jesus, felt it more deeply.

When we are willing to love, we risk experiencing and entering into the pain of those we love. So many times we run from love, because we do not want to experience the pain relationships entail. We are finite and fragile beings, and so we will let each other down, we will make mistakes, say the wrong things, do hurtful things, we will get sick or deal with chronic illness and need care, we will lose patience, we will sin, and those we care about will die. Jesus though calls us, like he did with Mary and John present at the Cross, to remain present to one another. We are not to walk away when life gets hard, we are to love, to provide comfort and support, and as we do so, we will experience the fruit of a deeper relationship which is grounded in the unimaginable love that God the Father has for us.

Love is the bond of communion that gives us the strength to move through the crossroads and upheavals of life. Love is the bond of commitment that draws us out from our selfishness, and allowing God to love us in our weakness and anxieties, will help us to grow stronger together, and to be present to one another. Where there is an authentic relationship, there is love at its foundation. When we love one another, we participate in the communion of the Holy Trinity, we participate in the very same divine communion of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Is there risk of rejection in loving another? Yes. Is there pain in love? Yes. Is there conflict in relationship? Yes. Yet to be fulfilled, to be fully alive, for love to be real, we must be willing to take the risk to love and be rejected, just as God does with us. As we enter relationships or strive for better authenticity in our present relationships, Jesus calls us to love, to commit, be present, to sacrifice and share our pain and experience another’s pain. Jesus strengthens us, when we turn to him, to stand by each other in our imperfections as well as be humble and willing to offer and seek forgiveness and reconciliation.

We cannot come close to imagining what Mary and John experienced with Jesus at the climax of his crucifixion. Each of them embraced horrific pain and sorrow at the foot of the cross, yet they remained, and so they were able to mourn, heal, and experience the full joy of the Resurrection. At the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, they also experienced the divine communion of love between the Father and the Son and shared that same love and commitment with the community of Jesus’ followers and those who had never met him.

Br. Paul’s Rosary of the Seven Sorrows, is a reminder for me of the brotherhood I shared with the friars for the year and a half that I was with them. It is also a reminder that there will be pain and struggles in this life but that I am not alone. Mourning JoAnn’s death from 2019 and recovering from Covid and double pneumonia in 2021 are realities that I am continuing to heal and learn from. Not running away from those challenges, but like Mary and John, seeking strength and guidance by following Jesus’ guidance.

We can trust Jesus and Mary, as well as John and the apostles, and turn to them when we are faced with challenges and suffering. Praying with the mysteries of the Rosary or the Seven Sorrows can be of great help. When we resist merely reciting but instead slowly praying and pondering the mysteries, we can experience with Jesus and Mary how they were able to face their suffering. They in turn will gently guide us to experience and face our own and provide comfort, healing, and direction through.

Photo: Br. Paul’s Seven Sorrows Rosary.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, September 15, 2026

“So must the Son of man be lifted up”.

“In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died” (Numbers 21:6).

What kind of God would bring poisonous snakes upon his children? When Jesus taught his disciples about prayer didn’t he say, “Is there anyone among you… if a child asks for a fish, will give it a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him” (Mt 7:10).

Is God a loving Father or a harsh taskmaster?

He is a loving Father who not only wants his children to live but to experience life to the full. God freed his people from their slavery in Egypt and was not only leading them to the promised land but also providing for and protecting them every step of the way. And yet, the people did not focus on or extend any gratitude toward God. They instead consistently grumbled and then rose up against Moses. In this instance, they not only grumble, but they rejected the manna God was giving them by saying, “We are disgusted with this wretched food” (Numbers 21:5). The people were rejecting food from heaven, the bread of life, that God their Father was providing them.

In rejecting life, they were choosing death. God allowed them a stark image of their choice of opposition to him, their choosing to separate themselves from him, by sending the serpents. The imagery of the serpent would have come to mind quickly to the people. For it was the serpent who tempted Eve and Adam and led them to their Fall. It is the ancient serpent that seeks to distract, divert, and destroy. As St. Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD) wrote: “The serpent struck Adam in paradise and killed him. [It also struck] Israel in the camp and annihilated them” (Word on Fire Bible, p. 643).

As Christians, we interpret the serpent in Genesis as Satan, which in Hebrew means adversary or opposer. Those of the people who rose up against God opposed him as Satan did. God revealed to them who they were serving. In their rebellion, God showed them that when they rejected God and his love, protection, and provision, what the consequences to that choice would look like. Apart from God they would die. In repenting from their disobedience, trusting in and following God, even when the desert held no promise, they would live because God not only provides, he is the source of life. “This particular punishment is another way of insisting that negativity necessarily follows from rebellion against God’s will” (Barron, p. 641).

When the people saw and experienced the result of their sin so graphically, they correctly repented: “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, the he take away the serpents from us” (Numbers 21:7). Moses interceded and God provided the healing antidote. He guided Moses to place a bronze image of a serpent on a pole. All who then looked upon it, were cured. In seeing clearly what had led to their poisoning, they could renounce it, and then receive God’s mercy, forgiveness, and healing. “Somehow, seeing sin for what it is serves to disempower the hold it has upon us” (Barron, p 641).

Jesus, the divine Son of God, becomes one with us in our humanity to reveal to us the path to participate in his divinity. When we are willing to see, Jesus shows us our own rebelliousness, pride, our sins that arise when we listen to the father of lies and separate us from God and each other. Jesus has not come to condemn us but to convict and save us. He leads us away from our slavery to sin. Jesus took the sin of the world upon himself as he was lifted up on the Cross. As he shared with Nicodemus, “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15).

This is why we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross today. What was a wicked sign of oppression and horrific suffering has now become an incredible expression of love. As we look upon the crucifix, upon Jesus who has been lifted up for us, we are reminded of the suffering that Jesus bore. Jesus took upon himself “all the dysfunction of the fallen human race” (Barron, p. 642).

We see graphically on the Cross his death, the result of our sins, and our choice to separate ourselves from God. We also see love, God’s only Son who took upon himself the sin of the world. On that Cross is where Jesus died for each and every one of us, and in so doing conquered the sin and death brought into the world by Adam and opened up for us the door to eternal life through his resurrection. The Crucifix presents to us a clear choice, what our life looks like apart from God and what it looks like in communion with God. With every thought, word, and action, may we choose Jesus, the Bread of Life, and experience his love.

Painting: Jesus gave everything of himself holding nothing back to show us what true love is.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, September 14, 2026

Word On Fire Bible: The Pentateuch. Elk Grove Village, IL: Word on Fire, 2023.

There is wonderful peace to experience when we are forgiven and when we forgive.

“So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart” (Mt 18:35)

Unfortunately for many of us, we do not do forgiveness well, yet, Jesus is very clear with this parable that we need to. Our salvation depends on it! Go ahead, click the link below for today’s reading and read the full parable. We are to forgive because God has forgiven us, over and over again, and he will continue to over and over again. If we repent and are contrite, showing genuine sorrow for our sin, God will forgive us. As I learned from Pastor Barry Johnson when he was still the pastor at Jupiter First Church: “God loves us more than we can ever mess up.”

Jesus is clear throughout the Gospels and in today’s parable that God will forgive us, the issue at hand though is that we need to also forgive as God has forgiven us. The servant in this parable was forgiven his massive debt by the king. Shortly thereafter this same servant had the opportunity to forgive someone who owed him a much smaller debt, a no brainer that the servant would act in kind, yet, he did no such thing. He strangled his debtor, and when asked to be patient, he offered none and had the man placed in prison.

He couldn’t even use the excuse that he was so demanding because he wanted to pay his master back, because his master had forgiven his whole debt. Instead of being grateful and sharing the same grace he received, he did the opposite.

Our lives are emblematic of this parable. God has not only had compassion on us, he offers to forgive us, over and over. Pope Francs shared often that God never tires of forgiving us, we tire of asking for forgiveness. More amazing is that his Son, Jesus, gave his life to atone for our sins and to unleash the power of the sacraments including the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are the recipients of his infinite mercy, grace, and forgiveness which we will never fully grasp and comprehend. Jesus’ forgiveness knows no bounds and is an unlimited, infinite wellspring that we can draw from again and again.

Waking up each day with gratitude for the gift of our life is a good start, yet, how many of us actually take the time to be thankful for the life we have been given? The freedom to breathe freely and deeply? Do we even practice the gift of intentionally and deeply breathing? Jesus reminds us that we show our thankfulness best when we forgive as we have been forgiven. We are to be patient with one another, we are to assume a stance of understanding and support, not one of condemnation and hardness of heart.

We don’t do forgiveness well, but we can improve. Maybe we don’t do so well because we do not avail ourselves of the wonderful gift we have been given. Let us breathe a little more intentionally, slow down, resist staying mired in our own self-guilt or pity, staying too busy to be aware, or we compare – I am not as bad as…

Wallowing in our guilt is not what Jesus asks of us. He calls us to humility and a healthy awareness of when we miss the mark of living a life of service and following the will of God. We are to examine our conscience daily to acknowledge what we have done and what we have failed to do, confess, commit to do better and begin again. For those who have access to the Sacrament of Reconciliation – which is a gift of mercy, not a dress down, there is great healing available.

There have been times when I have walked out of the confessional feeling as if a massive weight has been lifted. A comparison I can think of is when I had an asthma attack that was not being relieved by my normal inhalation of the inhaler. After receiving a shot of adrenaline from the doctor, within minutes I felt such relief and peace. Confession is wonderful medicine and antidote to self-sufficiency, self-reliance, and pride. Once a month is a good practice.

When we begin to experience God’s forgiveness more then we might be better able to offer more understanding and forgiveness. There is a lightness and a peace when we let go of a grudge or hurt we have held onto, especially those we have held onto for a long time. One small action that can help us to better forgive is to change the habit of saying, “That’s alright” when someone does apologize, and say instead, “I forgive you.”

If you are wondering now, as did Peter, how much are we to forgive? The answer is the same for us, “Seventy-seven times” or “Seventy-seven times seven”, meaning every opportunity we are given. Hopefully, we will begin to let go of the tight grip we have on our reactions, prejudices, and grudges and, unlike the wicked servant, recognize that in heaven and under heaven we are all brothers and sisters sharing the same invitation to receive and share the love of our God and Father. Will we receive his forgiveness and love, and will we share his forgiveness and love?

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Photo credit: The road to forgiveness and peace begins when we allow God to love and forgive us.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, September 13, 2026

The light of Jesus is a properly ordered response to any darkness we experience.

“A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks” (Lk 6:45).

We can experience hardships, trials, and suffering. We may have experienced recurring anxieties, insecurities, fears, traumas, and even come face to face with evil. Yet, we are not evil because of what happens to us, nor how we are tempted. Neither are we defined by any trauma, suffering, or abuse. We have been created good by our loving God and Father.

Negativity, sin, hate, and even evil, can be seductive, can lure us to rationalize and decide that what we may think of as good in the moment, is in reality, just an apparent good, a disordered good, or not good at all. To encounter or experience a word or act of unkindness, negativity, or even violence, we may feel justified in retaliation, yet if we speak or act in this way, we perpetuate the negativity or evil we seek to stand up against. In The Strength to Love, a collection of Dr. Martin Luther King’s sermons he wrote:

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”

At the moment we can identify a thought in our mind, let us breathe and decide where and from whom this thought is coming from. Let us bring the thought to the Lord. Often times our emotions arise from unidentified thoughts. Once we are blessed to be identify the thought, then we decided with God what to do. Many thoughts come from ourselves. They arise from the past experiences as well as the anticipation of the future. Others come from external experiences, observations, and/or concupiscence – our tendency to sin, and yes even some from demonic influences.

What we listen to, read, and/or watch on a regular basis has more influence on us than we might believe. Discerning each thought or influence that comes our way is important. Being more attentive to what we are feeding on, literally and figuratively, honestly assessing our thoughts before we speak and act, thinking through and deciding on what we will say and do is different and more helpful than immediately or impulsively reacting.

Consuming the things of this world will lead to a different way of life than meditating and pondering on the things from above (cf. Colossians 3:1). Spending time in prayer and following Jesus’ commands will help us to bear the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”(Galatians 5:22-23). Honestly examining our conscience daily will help us to be purified from that which is deadening and renew and heal us.

Violence and the worst of our humanity continue through multiple media outlets, also, they horrifically materialize in real time, and ad nauseam on 24/7 cable coverage. One way to counter evil is to resist bringing it into our homes, resist returning evil for evil even with thoughts, and instead learning and putting into practice Jesus’ teachings, which will help to expose the darkness in our own hearts. We will see more precisely how to clear out the spiritual, plaque buildup of our own fears, wounds, frustrations, disruptions, and disordered affections. Doing so will allow more room for the love of the Holy Spirit to flow. With our hearts flowing with love, we will react less, listen, think, and speak better, and choose to act in ways that promote healing, understanding, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love.

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Photo: Main chapel at the Retreat and Conference Center of the Immaculate Conception, Huntington, NY.

Link for the Mass readings for September 12, 2026

Let us build our life not on the things of this world, but by following the light of Jesus.

“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit” (Lk 6:39)?

This phrase from today’s Gospel appears to be one of Jesus’ simple teachings. It seems to be straightforward, practical and makes sense. Yet, as with much of what Jesus teaches, there is a deeper level. There are many degrees of spiritual blindness that we can succumb to. We can follow others, thinking we are improving, yet allowing them to lead us to fall into a pit or off a cliff.

Succumbing to a cult of personality is very tempting. Who are our models, our heroes? Who is it that we seek to emulate? Are they people who are seeking all that is good, true, and beautiful? Are they people who are guiding us to our highest hope and good to actualize the will of God for our lives, or do they constantly lead us astray?

We need people in our lives that are not afraid to tell us the truth, or who respect us enough to guide us in such a way that they do not manipulate and take advantage of our blind spots but instead, help reveal to us our shortsightedness and give us the light to see clearer to avoid the pitfalls. To place any person on a pedestal is dangerous because they are imperfect and finite, sooner or later they will fall or not live up to our expectations. The one who we can trust though is Jesus.

We can do so because Jesus is more than just a man, he is the God man, the Christ the Son of the Living God who became one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity. How can we follow a dead man? We can do so because he is not dead. He rose from the dead, he conquered death and became the first born of the new creation.

When we read the Gospel accounts prayerfully by inviting the Holy Spirit to guide us, we can enter into the biblical scenes. As we read, meditate and pray with them, we can also as St. Ignatius of Loyola taught, apply our senses. We just watch and listen, smell, taste, and feel what is happening around us. This can be done even with lines of scripture that are not narrative.

I remember at the beginning of my thirty-day retreat reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. As I slowed my breath, I read this verse a few times: “To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). I then imagined Jesus sitting next to me on the bench. I hesitated for a moment and then asked him, “How can I know your love?”

Jesus said, “Trust me.”

Trust him I did and because I did, for the remaining time of my 30-Day silent retreat, as I walked with him through the Old and New Testaments, I experienced forgiveness, healing, joy, and transformation. We need to discern wisely who we follow. Jesus will light the path leading to our freedom when we are willing to trust him, follow his teachings, and put them into practice.

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Photo: Jesus is the light that will reveal and heal our blindness.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 11, 2026

Willing the good of those who are enemies, who hate and curse us is possible with the love of Jesus as our foundation.

Jesus said to his disciples: “To you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28).

If we thought the beatitudes and the woes that we experienced yesterday were a challenge, buckle up! Today, Jesus takes things up a notch. The Prince of Peace is inviting us to walk along the path to peace. The peace that Jesus invites us to engage in is not just an absence of violence but a peace that is grounded in mutual respect and unity. No matter where we might look, there are very few examples or models for us to see this Gospel being put into practice. We instead see a consistent engagement in rhetoric, language, and outright hostility that promotes dehumanization, division, contempt, hatred, and vileness. These voices not only rise in our secular and political discourse but also there is a growing din within the Church as well.

Jesus is also leading us away from the temptation to swing the pendulum the other way, such that what we think, say, and do has the substance of milk toast. We become so careful not to offend that we don’t share our ideas or what we truly believe to avoid conflict. Staying away from hot button issues and the taboos of talking religion and politics is not a way to bring about peaceful coexistence nor solve important issues.

Neither an overly aggressive nor a bland tolerance of engagement is what Jesus is presenting in today’s Gospel. Jesus is inviting us to allow ourselves to be healed and transformed from the survival mentality of fight or flight or being paralyzed by trauma. To move beyond our primal, reactive instincts, we need to feel safe. By breathing and allowing ourselves to be loved by God through meditation on and praying with his word and listening to him and his guidance in silence each day, we can move beyond placing anyone and anything else before God. As we grow in relationship with God, he becomes our rock foundation.

With God as our foundation, we can begin to open up to the reality of what Jesus offers in today’s Gospel. Who of us would agree with his teaching to love our enemies, those who hate, curse, and mistreat us? Jesus is calling us to love one another as he loves each and every one of us. This love is more than the emotional or sentimental surface level of love we are used to. Jesus calls us to a higher love, to have a sincere intent to will the good of each other, even and especially when we feel or think there is nothing to like about a person. This is how we can love even an enemy, by willing their good, wanting the best for them, which also is best for us.

If we want to see a change in our divisive and polarized time, we need to begin with ourselves, receive the message of Jesus, and begin, little by little, to put his teachings into practice. We will do so when we encounter one another, one person at a time, sit down, talk, and listen, resist reacting, give the benefit o of the doubt, and love one another. Easy, no, possible, yes, when we allow God to open our hearts and minds to the love God wants to share with and through each of us. As we breathe, receive, rest, and abide in God’s love there is a better chance we will love one another.

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Photo: Storm clouds will threaten, but the light and love of Christ will always overcome.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, September 10, 2026