catholicism

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seeking a sign? Seek the sign of Jonah, repentance, and the one who is greater, Jesus, our savior.

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, “This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah” (Lk 11:29).

To understand what Jesus means, we need to understand the sign of Jonah. Jonah was sent by God to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, to call them to repent from their wicked ways. The Jews not only considered Nineveh to be a place of decadence, wickedness, and godlessness, they also recognized it as the heart, the capital city of Assyria. Its military which had invaded Israel and conquered the northern kingdom around 721 BC.

We can understand Jonah’s initial refusal to follow God’s lead. Not only did he not want to go to Nineveh, but Jonah also did not want them to receive mercy. He wanted God to punish and destroy the nation who he considered an enemy. Those who have read the Book of Jonah, know that Jonah finally acquiesced, and within hours of his proclamation to the citizens, including the king, they repented and God showed them mercy.

Jesus draws a parallel between the people of Nineveh and his listeners. The people of Nineveh heard and repented to a reluctant messenger. The Ninevites, Gentiles, the sworn enemies of Israel, received God’s mercy when they repented. Now, in their midst was one greater than Jonah, the Son of God, and they were demanding of him a sign. The sign of Jonah was repentance. Jesus, from the beginning of his public ministry, preached the same: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).

Many did not listen to Jesus. We would do well to listen to Jesus’ message. Repentance is a foundational spiritual discipline. We are called to consistently and daily examine our conscience and to come to accept that we live in a fallen world. This is not a pessimistic view. This is an awareness of the reality of our present condition.

By accepting that we live in a fallen world, that there is only so much that we can do by ourselves and on our own power alone, we will begin to recognize that we need a savior. The next step that we can make is to acknowledge that we need to repent, to identify and turn away from our sins, and turn back to him who can save us. For apart from him, we can do nothing, yet with God, all things are possible.

St Mother Teresa recognized the need for Jesus and stressed this when she taught her novices that she was not interested in numbers and she was not interested in having a branch of social workers. She and those who followed Jesus were to be missionaries of God’s charity. They were to serve Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor. To do so they participated in daily Mass for an hour so they could bring Jesus and see Jesus to those they encountered each day. After returning from their time of service they participated in adoring Christ in the Blessed Sacrament for an hour. Empowered and renewed by Jesus, blessed by his mercy and love, they could serve Jesus in those they met in the harshest of conditions.

Jesus calls us, as he did his listeners, to resist seeking signs as did the Jews and wisdom as did the Greeks, but repent and give our lives to him. By emptying ourselves of our preconceived notions and opening our hearts and minds to follow his lead and be conformed to his life, we can be about doing God’s work. As long as we stay connected to Jesus, he will guide and give us the means to accomplish that which he sends us to do.

We stay connected to Jesus by allowing his light to shine in our hearts and minds so that we can better identify our sins. Not to be condemned or shamed, but convicted of them so that we, like the Ninevites, will repent and turn our focus back to God. Our goal is to enter a daily rhythm of thanking God for our blessings, acknowledging where we have said yes to his will, while also resisting temptations and when we fall, repent and ask for forgiveness and help to do better.

With a daily examen, we will learn and grow with God’s grace, slowly our selfish and disordered pursuits will cease to be our priority, we will no longer put our own interests at the center. Instead, we will accept Jesus as the core of our lives, that he may be the guiding light of our thoughts, words, and actions. For we are “called for freedom,” to be freed from our sins so that we can “use this freedom” to “serve one another through love” (Galatians 5:13 ).

Photo: Jesus calls us to repent from anything that separates us from him and his Father so that we can experience the love of the Holy Spirit. Are we willing to repent?

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, October 12, 2026

We are all invited to the feast. How will we respond?

The Parable of the Wedding Feast (Mt 22:1-14) continues with a similar tone to The Parable of the Tenants presented last Sunday (Mt 21:33-43). An invitation is offered that is followed by rejection, death, and harsh judgment. We need to remember that these are parables, not specific historical accounts, in which Jesus is seeking to reveal something significant. Jesus would have also shaped this parable, as well as others, depending on the audience he was speaking to, a common practice in oral tradition. This can be a possible reason for the similarity and differences in the account of the same parable given in Luke (14:15-21).

Jesus often shared table fellowship with many, we see consistent evidence of this. Jesus also “used meal imagery to depict the eschatological banquet or final salvation” (Meier, 271). The imagery of the great wedding feast in this parable conveys to the listeners then and us reading today, that all are invited to participate in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus first sought to gather the scattered people, once united under King David as the twelve tribes Israel, yet there were those who ignored, were indifferent to, rejected, and even rebelled against his invitation.

They, as the chosen people of God, were to be a holy people, a faithful witness to the one God. Jesus sought to reignite their original purpose, yet there were those who refused and so he shared in this parable that others would be invited. Jesus’ invitation as a universal message echoes that of Isaiah: “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will provide for all peoples a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines” (Isaiah 25:6).

As with the Parable of the Tenants, Matthew emphasizes not only the rejection of the invitation, but includes the violent images of the abuse and death of the servants sent by the king, and the king’s punishment, by putting them to death and then the burning of their city. Some biblical scholars see this as a possible allusion to the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. Luke does not include the abuse of the messengers or the king’s punitive justice. Matthew was emphasizing that there will be accountability to the way in which one responds to the invitation.

We do not know the time or the hour, so we must not delay in our decision. “In the concrete context of his ministry, at any given time Jesus would have spoken this parable to this or that group of his fellow Jews as a salutary warning not to ignore his urgent final message, lest they suffer the consequences on the last day… Decide now, or soon it will be too late and your place will be taken by another” (Meier, 272). This message was directed to all who heard it. Each person then and now needs to make a decision.

Jesus, the Son of God, in the humanity that he has assumed, in his willingness to give his life for us, opened up heaven for us. This act of love and grace is a free gift and we are invited to participate. We can choose to be indifferent, receive, or reject the invitation. Many of those who have said yes, have followed the same path to martyrdom by sharing the message they have received and lost their life and now wear the white robes at the great wedding feast in heaven.

The invitation has been given to us today. We may not all be asked to give our lives but we are called to give witness to our faith in the unique way God calls us. Will we ignore, make excuses, or say yes?

Paul’s letter to the Philippians gives us encouragement that what we can depend on. We are to remember that Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead assures us that, “God will fully supply whatever [we] need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.“ (Philippians 4:19).

Photo: Seminarians who have said yes and united for a day at St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami! Please keep in prayer our seminarians from the Diocese of Palm Beach.

Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew, vol 5, Probing the Authenticity of the Parables. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday October 11, 2026

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Luke 11:27-28).

Jesus is not discounting his mother nor putting her down in any way by his response. Especially because Mary is the exemplar of not just someone who, but one who other than he, consistently heard the word of God and observed it. Probably even before but the earliest record of this we have is Mary saying, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your will” (cf. Luke 1:38). She was instrumental in collaborating with God’s will to bring about the salvation of the world in her willingness to bear his only Son.

The wonderful gift of what Jesus said is also an invitation to all of us. If we ever felt at some point that we never fit in somewhere, if we did not quite belong, or we didn’t measure up to someone’s or our own expectations, we need no longer feel that way. Jesus is inviting us to have a seat at the table. And the good news is that there is unlimited seating! If we feel anxious or out of sorts, are discerning a heavy decision and feel paralyzed, dealing with a relational conflict and not sure how to respond, the Holy Spirit provides a way.

All we have to do is go to our Bible. And if it has been awhile, pick it up, blow off the dust, and open up to the Gospel of Luke and read these lines for ourselves. In doing so, we hear the word of God and then begin to ponder what we have heard and then observe it, put what we have heard into practice. Simple as that.

And yet there is so much keeping us busy, distracted, and diverted from spending time reading, meditating, and praying with God’s word. We might look at the Bible as just another book because there is so much that appears to be more enticing, inviting, and engaging. God has made us not for merely finite but infinite pursuits, to seek the things of heaven. 

The Bible, initially in his youth, did not offer much to St. Augustine. He thought it for the simple minded. After many years though seeking and indulging in the things of the world, even the pursuit of truth, he was left feeling empty. He then found solace in reading the Bible which only increased when he “transcended the literal sense.” The literal sense being that which he read and understood with his mind and reason. In allowing himself time to ponder, the Holy Spirit touched him in the depth of his soul and “enabled him to find at last the answer to his deep inner restlessness and his thirst for truth” (Pope Benedict, General Audience, January 9, 2008).

We too are restless and tired existing in a world that entices us with so many other voices and attractions but in putting those enticements into practice, we are left wanting. Yet, the daily discipline of reading and praying with the Bible provides peace and rest for our souls like nothing else can. Slowly and gently our intimacy with God grows when open up our Bible each day, breathe, and slowly read and ponder. When we not only read the words, but also meditate and pray with them, we transcend the literal and experience God’s living stream flowing in our veins. We are refreshed, renewed, and transformed.

Photo: May we, like Mary, trust in and ponder the word of God and put what we have received into action.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, October 10, 2026

God loves us, hears our prayers, and guides us to healing and wholeness.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Lk 11:9).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues to teach his disciples and us about prayer. The key point he is emphasizing is to be persistent in our prayer and to trust in God. He is our Father who cares for us more than any human can. He cares and will provide for us more than our own earthly parents or friends.

Yet, we can be frustrated in prayer because when we do make the time to pray, we may feel or think that nothing is happening or has happened. We may pray for a specific petition for our self, or for a particular intention for another and felt, or thought, that there was not an answer from God. One may pray a sincere, seemingly selfless prayer for a loved one, a child, a spouse, a friend, to be healed from a particular painful emotional situation, a conflict to be resolved, or someone ill and dying, and yet, the situation continues, the conflict may not get better but may worsen, and/or the person still dies.

The one petitioning may feel deeply hurt because they did what Jesus said; they asked, they pleaded and begged, but felt they did not receive the ending of pain, the resolution, or healing they sought for themselves or others; that which they pleaded, was not given and, instead what they found was nothing but pain and heartache; they knocked until their knuckles were raw and experienced no one on the other side.

Our attitude and orientation to prayer matters. When we sincerely turn our hearts and minds to God in prayer, something happens between us and God, though it may be beyond our cognitive grasp to understand or our sensory awareness to experience. There may indeed be emotional highs and consolations experienced in prayer, but if seeking those is the primary motivation for prayer we will find ourselves more frustrated than not. There may also be lows in prayer, dryness, even desolations, and even feeling God’s absence. Emotions are fleeting and not a good barometer when measuring the effectiveness of prayer.

Another big misconception is that we pray to God as if he were a gumball machine. It may seem a silly analogy but how many of us really do pray and worse, only pray that way, and when we do not receive the specific thing we asked for, at the time specified, when we wanted and as we wanted, we brood and think God doesn’t care or does not, in fact, even exist. We may even slip into the barter posture. God if you grant me this, I will do that. If we are only open to receive what we want on our terms, again we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.

The very desire to pray is the beginning of our awareness, for God is the one who reaches out and invites us to pray. The answer to what or who we ask, seek, and knock is found at the end of the Gospel reading for today: “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Lk 11:13)?

God knows what is best for us, he sees our potential, he wants us to experience joy and be fulfilled. How can we best live our lives in this world to attain that reality? We do so by asking for the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? The infinite, communal love expressed between God the Father and God the Son. Our goal in prayer is to enter into God’s reality, the infinite communion of Love.

We pray first and foremost to help us to grow in relationship with God. This happens through our participation and conformation to the life of Jesus. When we take time to learn, meditate, pray with, and put into practice Jesus’ teachings as his disciples did, we will start to see as he sees, we will come to see the truth of empty promises, apparent goods, substitutes to fill our emptiness and faulty defense and coping mechanisms that we have been utilizing as guideposts to merely survive and get through life.

When we stay consistent in an authentic life of prayer, God won’t bend to our will, but we will change. Instead of God becoming smaller to our demands, he expands our hearts and minds to be capable to receive his love. As we mature, we will begin to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (cf. Galatians 5:22-23)?

Why may God not appear to answer prayers for healing of a relationships, resolutions to conflicts, physical healings for a loved one with a chronic condition or one who is dying? I do not know. God though does not wave a magic wand and poof all is wonderful. If we genuinely seek healing for ourselves and others, that will take time, for God seeks healing for the long term, and that means helping us to build firmer foundations through trusting him and receiving his love.

When we trust God there is less disappointment, because we can be more patient to receive God’s outcome, than grasp for our intended outcome. We trust that God knows better than us. Sometimes what we ask for we receive in the way we asked, and sometimes we receive what we asked for in a different way than we expected.

We need to resist running from the pain and be willing to trust that God has not abandoned us but is with us. The tears that arise from our suffering can then become a healing salve, a doorway into the open arms and embrace of Jesus who awaits us in the depths of our frustration, grief, and pain. Even our loved ones who have died have not come to an end but have experienced a new beginning. JoAnn often would say in her last few weeks that she was just changing her address. God answered our prayers for JoAnn’s healing, just not the way we had intended.

Ultimately, what we ask, what we seek, and what we knock for when we pray is to be loved, to belong, to be a part of someone and something greater than ourselves. We have been created as a living, craving hunger, and desire to be one with God and each other. This is true for the atheist and the mystic alike. We have been created to be loved and to love. God’s love is present to us no matter the internal or external turmoil within ourselves or those we love.

The Holy Spirit is the gift of prayer that is open to us all. He is the love shared between the Father and the Son, that we too can experience. This is why he is the answer to our prayer, though sometimes to be aware of his presence takes perseverance. It may not be that God is not answering, but that we are not patient enough to receive the answer. We need to be patient enough to be still and know God. Prayer is about building a relationship and like any other relationship, that takes consistent time and work.

To mature in our relationship with God not only takes perseverance, we also need to trust him. One of the enemy’s chief tactics is to sow the seeds of doubt and mistrust. Trust in God’s love for you. Trust that he hears every prayer. Continue to show up each day and pray. Even if you feel nothing is happening, God is working within you, fighting for you, helping you to feel safe, to heal and grow in trust. It is also important to spend regular time in quiet, for God’s primary language is silence.

God provides an answer to every prayer. May we be willing to seek his truth, trust in him that he knows best and will guide us well so that we may follow the path that he lights before us. “Leave it all to God and leave your interests in His hands. He knows what is fitting for us… No matter: tell Him honestly, candidly, and ask Him to help you trust Him.” – St. Teresa of Avila

Photo: No matter how dark, and even when there appears to be no way, trust in Jesus, he will hear our prayer and show us the way.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, October 8, 2026

May we bring any anxiety to Jesus and receive his love and consolation in exchange.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Lk 10:41-42).

My wife, JoAnn, and I used to have more than a few spirited discussions on this Gospel passage each time that it arose because, at first reading, it appears that Jesus does not show any empathy or regard for Martha’s gift of hospitality nor for all the work that she is doing, she who was “burdened with much serving”. All the men are sitting around listening to Jesus, and Mary… she is doing the same, and who is left to do all the work? Martha.

Blessed to serve as a permanent deacon for ten years, I saw my own, as well as other deacon’s wives, carry extra weight and burdens in support on the home front to allow their husbands the time to serve. Many of us also still held full time jobs. Not only deacon’s wives, this reality is also true for many wives who are full-time homemakers, run in-home businesses, or carry a job outside the home, as well as care for the children, overseeing the bills, the day to day grind. They too may find themselves, feeling under-appreciated, undervalued, not respected for all they do, and “burdened with much serving”.

Husbands can do a better job of being present, more patient, respectful, and attentive to their wives and be more of an equal partner on the journey. There are challenges of being overwhelmed being single as well. Not having someone to help out to share the load, especially as we age. Our mortality, married or single, is a little closer on the horizon.

The point Jesus is making, that he makes throughout the Gospels, is to put God first, then family, work, and our unique vocation. The expression of that is going to be different for each station in life. There will be more time constraints for parents of infants. No matter how little time we may have, setting time aside to pray daily, to allow time to as Mary did, sit at the feet of Jesus and receive his nourishing word, rest and receive his love, and confer with him our challenges to receive his guidance is so important. Doing so, will then help us to properly order the chaos of our day as well as feel peace even in the mundane. The more we can “choose the better part”, we will find that time we did not think we had and Jesus will help our lives to be properly ordered.

This short account acknowledges the reality of how much we all juggle with in all ages. There is much to do and much to be done. Jesus was not disregarding Martha’s hospitality. Especially in the Gospel of Luke, there are many instances in which Jesus empowers women so far beyond the cultural reality of his time. We read this as we do any biblical account from our twenty-first-century mindset. Contextually, the men sitting at the teacher’s feet in a different room, the women cooking, and most times eating separately were commonplace for those in the ancient near east of the first century AD. Mary was the only person out of step with the times.

The interpretive key to understanding this account is what Jesus said. He pointed out that Martha was “anxious and worried about many things.” Mary could have been one of those worries, and not so much that Mary wasn’t helping in the kitchen, but because she was breaking the social norm of sitting with the men. When Martha calls Jesus to redirect Mary, she probably expects him to support her plea. Yet, Jesus acknowledges that: “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her” (Luke 10:42).

Mary, sitting and having her primary focus on Jesus was the posture of a disciple. Jesus was not only allowing her to do so, he was commending her for doing so. I can visualize Martha being taken aback at first, but then slowly feeling the muscles in her face relax as the lightbulb went on. We don’t know. But could Martha in that moment have experienced peace, that peace that surpasses all understanding, such that the anxiety and worry left her? Feeling the peace instead of fear, she too like Mary approached Jesus as Mary had done. Did Martha then take her apron off, throw it to the side, and sit down next to her sister and also become his disciple?

There is biblical evidence that beyond the Twelve, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, were Jesus’ friends. When Jesus came four days after the death of Lazarus, as soon as Martha heard Jesus was outside, she, not Mary, came immediately out to Jesus, and in that exchange, it was Martha who made the claim that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (cf Jn 11:27). Would she have had this insight, the same as Peter, if she was still holding a grudge from this encounter?

Our modern reaction and push back to this Martha and Mary account in Luke may not so much be a reflection on Jesus but how poorly men have treated women over the generations and how poorly women continue to be treated even today. No matter their ages, young, old, and everywhere in between, women are human beings created in the image of God. No one has the right to abuse, demean, disparage, devalue, or exploit any woman. Women are to be appreciated, heard, respected, cherished, and valued. Jesus showed that truth time and again, especially in the Gospel of Luke.

God has given each of us gifts to participate in his Father’s plan. May we resist the temptation to fear coming close to Jesus and taking time out to sit at his feet, to engage in mental maelstroms, to be “anxious and worried about many things.” Instead, when we experience the beginning tremors of any stress or strain, catch the effective movement, stop, breathe, be still and rest in Jesus’ presence as Mary, and hopefully Martha, did.

In Jesus’ presence, we will feel safe and can then share with him what is going on and hopefully be able to identify the source of the anxiety, share it with him and receive his love and consolation. Entering into this dance with Jesus of bringing him all that comes our way from within and without will help us to better know Jesus, his voice, and his teaching, know and follow his will, love others as he loves us, and live our lives respecting, encouraging, and supporting one another with the gifts and guidance that God has given us.

When we choose the better part of sitting at Jesus’ feet before making a decision, we can experience less chaos and more of his peace and guidance. Instead of living in a perpetual state of chronic stress and anxiety, being “worried and anxious about many things”,we can instead choose to breathe, rest, receive and abide in God’s love. Then from that place of stillness, like Mary, and I believe Martha, instead of reacting, we can make a choice based on God’s guidance.

Photo: Mary, Jesus’ mother, was the premier disciple for she “pondered” the mysteries she experienced with Jesus “in her heart” (Luke 2:19) and “heard the word of God and observed it” (Luke 11:28).

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, October 6, 2026