christianity

Jesus continues to proclaim the Gospel today, and is inviting us to join him.

But he said to them, “To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent” (Lk 4:43).

Jesus himself, the Son of God incarnate, fully divine and fully human, is the foretaste of heaven. His work of preaching, teaching, healing, and casting out demons, shows that the divine flow of the Father’s Love is infused into our fallen human condition. Jesus came to restore unity to that which had been divided and once he began his public ministry, he was ever on the go.

Through our Baptism, we have been conformed to and indelibly marked by Christ and for Christ. We are nourished by his Body and Blood in the Eucharist and we’re empowered through the laying on of hands by the bishop at our Confirmation. We have been divinized, grafted into the life of God through our participation in the life of Jesus the Christ. We too then are priests, prophets, and kings as we participate in his life. We also are, to preach and teach the same Gospel, to be his healing and comforting presence, to make Jesus present to those in our midst, and yes we too are called to cast out all demons, and to shine the light on negativity, dehumanization, and division in his name. As James teaches, we are to “submit [our]selves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee” (James 4:7).

Jesus did not travel very far during his three and a half years of public ministry, yet his teachings have touched the corners of the world. That is because of those who have encountered him, said yes to his invitation, submitted to the will of his Father, and continued to spread his teachings and life in each generation. We too are called to experience “a resurrected new life”, just as the mother-in-law of Peter did. And what did she do once she was healed? Out of gratitude, she immediately rose and served him. She mirrored Jesus in her willingness to serve (cf. Gadenz, 107).

Moment by moment, in each circumstance, we are invited to surrender to the will of his Father, and follow the gentle guidance of the Holy Spirit. Each yes to the guidance of the Trinity is an embrace of the gift of the unique vocation we are called to put into practice. The time of fulfillment is now because Jesus is present in our midst, he is at hand. So let us repent and believe in the Gospel, (cf. Mk 1:15), and follow the lead of Jesus that we read about each day.

These are not just nice stories. They are invitations for transformation and participation. By reading, praying, and meditating with these scriptures, we deepen our relationship with Jesus and begin to experience the love of the Holy Spirit and we are given clearer sight about what to let go of that holds us back from a more intimate union with the Father. Each day is a new opportunity to learn from Jesus, follow his guidance, and be advocates of his love and healing in the unique expression he would have us share! Let us like, Peter’s mother-in-law, arise and serve.

Painting: The Exhortation to the Apostles by James Tissot

Gardens, Pablo T.. The Gospel of Luke. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Let us believe in and entrust ourselves to Jesus.

In yesterday’s reading, Jesus’ message in his hometown of Nazareth did not end so well, with his fellow Nazoreans running him out of town (Lk 4:29). In today’s account, Jesus continues on and teaches in the synagogue at Capernaum. The initial reaction to Jesus’ teaching was similar in both accounts; the people were “amazed” and “astonished” with his teaching. But no one in either group makes the bold statement that arises today: “I know who you are – the Holy One of God” (Lk 4:34)! This phrase was professed by a demon who taunted Jesus.

From the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry opposition was present. In Nazareth, the fallen nature of our humanity reared its head. The people he grew up with were unwilling to see beyond the ordinary Jesus they always knew. Wasn’t he just the son of Joseph, just the carpenter? Jesus was safe when he merely worked a quiet life, participated in the life of the synagogue, even when he returned from surrounding territories amidst words of praise, and even stepping up to read in the synagogue from the words of Elijah: he was the hometown boy making good. But once Jesus began to equate himself in the line of the prophets and share how God was working beyond the people of Israel, with his accounts of Elijah going to the Gentile widow, and Naaman, another Gentile, going to Elisha, highlighting that God worked beyond the people of Israel, even his own had enough. Jesus had to go (Lk 4:29).

In today’s account, another source of opposition is the taunting demon. Jesus rebuked the demon immediately and called him out of the man. Jesus faced time and again the fallen nature of humanity, disbelief, lack of faith, as well as the opposition of demons, and the temptations of Satan himself in the desert. He was also opposed by most of the religious establishment of the Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes.

Where do we find our self in the scenes of Jesus’ ministry and teaching, in our own time today? Following Jesus is a day to day commitment and we must be willing to face the same challenges that his disciples did. We are faced with the challenges of living up to his teachings as well as facing our weaknesses, wounds, and  shortcomings as we seek to resist the lies of the enemy and conform our lives to the will of Jesus. By doing so, we will be confronted with the darkness and sin within ourselves. With true humility, we will be better able to resist defending and rationalizing where we fall short of the glory of God and instead repent, turn away from our sin, turn back to God, and receive forgiveness and be healed.

We also need to resist dismissing Jesus’ encounter with the demon in today’s Gospel too quickly. Demons do exist and play a role in the principalities and powers that influence us and our world. We ignore this reality to our own peril, for they will tempt and subtly attack us at our weakest and most vulnerable points. This is not a cause for anxiety and fear. The weakest Christian is stronger than the devil himself but we must be aware and vigilant. When faced with temptation by Satan or his demons, we just call on the name of Jesus and those of the dark will flee from the radiant light of Christ. This is why it is so important to regularly examine our conscience, to be aware of, and to confess our sin. In doing so, we will be free, otherwise, they can and will be used against us.

The closer we draw to Jesus, the more we experience his light and the more of our sin will be revealed. This is not a cause to run and hide but to humbly embrace the truth so that forgiveness and healing will happen. This also means that we will see more clearly the dark influences that plague our own thoughts and our world which we are blinded to when we turn in upon ourselves and feed our own selfishness, embrace our own pride, and allow ourselves to get caught up in the stream of the world.

Choosing to believe in and entrust our lives to Jesus with our first waking breaths and thoughts is an important way to begin each day. Doing so helps us to get ahead of the thoughts that will arise to distract, divert, and dissuade us from hearing the word and guidance of God. Beginning our day in quiet with Jesus is so important to do before we get up and running and return to the daily busy. When we resist moving on automatic pilot, we can realize that we can live our lives more intentionally. Moving more thoughtfully and seeking God’s guidance we can react less so to choose his will more. 

When we fall short, are distracted, fail, as did the apostles, we need to follow, not Judas, but Peter: repent, confess our love for Jesus, and begin again to hold one another accountable, support, and lift one another up in love, for Jesus is at our right hand. Even when we find ourselves in our darkest moments, we can turn to Jesus and stand firm for he is our refuge and our strength.

Photo: Following the light.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, September 2, 2025

 

Will we reject or hear Jesus’ message?

He said to them, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).

Jesus sat down after speaking these words to his hometown congregation in Nazareth who had just heard him read the passage from the prophet Isaiah. Jesus proclaimed that he was the one to whom Isaiah was talking about. Luke chose to place this event as the starting point of Jesus’ public ministry, of bringing glad tidings to the poor, proclaiming liberty to the captives, recovering sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free, and proclaiming a year acceptable to the Lord (cf. Lk 4:18-19).

This is a message of universal healing for all of humanity. Restoration and reconciliation would come and Jesus would be the vehicle to bring all the nations, all people, back into communion and relationship with his Father. The poor mentioned were not just in reference to those experiencing material poverty but to those finding themselves on the margins of society, the outcasts, those on the peripheries. The captives were not only those imprisoned for debts or crimes but those bound in the chains of their own sin and addiction. The blind were not only those who could not physically see but those who experienced the spiritual blindness of pride and arrogance. The oppressed were not just those under the iron fist of totalitarian and dictatorial regimes but those pressed down through their own self imposed anxieties and fears.

In what ways are we in need of Jesus’ healing and restorative power? What is keeping us on the peripheries, apart from communion and fellowship? What sins and addictions keep us bound, what fears and anxieties keep us oppressed? Jesus invites us in today’s Gospel to be healed and to align ourselves with his will and ministry of loving service to others. The same words he spoke to his own hometown he is speaking to each one of us today.

Even though initially moved by the words of Jesus, they could not see past the boy and humble man of Nazareth they had or thought they had known. How could he be the Messiah? They also rejected his universal message that God was inviting Gentiles into the party. Jesus held up as models of faith, the widow of Zarephath who trusted Isaiah with her last bit of flour and oil and Naaman who trusted the advice of a slave girl and the prophet Elisha. Both, Gentiles, and both blessed by God through their trust in him. His own people chose to hold tighter to their biases and prejudices instead of let go and receive the freedom and healing Jesus offered.

How will we respond to Jesus? Will we follow the hometown crowd or ponder his words? Life is too short to allow our pride to get in the way. Examining our conscience and coming to Jesus with a contrite, sorrowful heart for what we have done and what we have failed to do helps us to be more open. Instead of rejecting, let us welcome Jesus and experience his healing hands on our bowed heads and the warmth of his love pouring through and purging us of our sin and pride so that we may participate with him in bringing the invitation of healing, reconciliation, and love to others and help to bring about an “acceptable year of the Lord” (Lk 4:19).

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Photo from freebibleimages.org

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, September 1, 2025

When we pray, we are loved by God, and the love of God casts out our fear.

“Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back'” (Mt 25: 24-25).

I used to struggle with this verse of Jesus’ Parable of the Talents, not because I didn’t relate to it, but because I did. The problem was that I sided with the servant who buried his talent in the ground. What the servant did made sense to me, he kept his master’s talent safe and returned what he had been given. Historically, burying was considered a safe and acceptable practice in ancient Palestine when protecting someone else’s money. Even in reading carefully back to the beginning of the parable, I could see no reference to investing the talents. Though in the Gospel of Luke, there is an explicit demand to “trade with these until I come” (Lk 19:13). What is Jesus saying?

Actually, Jesus in this parable offers a microcosm of salvation history, the thread of which has been woven through all of Sacred Scripture from Genesis to Revelation. God, through his sovereign will, has consistently called, calls today, and will continue to call into the future a people to himself. In each age, God has bestowed upon humanity the generous gift of his grace, inviting us to receive and share in his very life, which is what we have been created for. This is a free gift, to be freely accepted or rejected. Once received though – no matter how little we choose to receive, five, two or one talent, we are directed to share what we have been given. Through a life lived of accepting, receiving, giving back to God and to one another, we are given even “greater responsibilities”.

In receiving the gift of God, himself, and sharing what he has given, ultimately his love, for God is Love, we not only mirror on earth, albeit dimly, but share in the divine communion of the love between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To reject this gift outright, or to receive some of the benefits and not to share, we cut ourselves off from the very life force and source of our being.

The message of The Parable of the Talents is as clear as it is challenging. John P. Meier summarizes that “Jesus is insistent; along with sovereign grace, serious demand, and superabundant reward comes the possibility of being condemned for refusing the demand contained in the gift. Indeed, one might argue that no aspect of Jesus’ teaching is more pervasive in the many different streams of the Gospel tradition, and no aspect is more passed over in silence today” (Meier 2016, 309).

God has created us and all of creation from the abundant outpouring of his love. Will we reject the gift of his love and invitation of communion? Will we receive, yet not actualize who we are called to be for our self and others because we would rather merely just exist, willing to be lured and entrapped by the temptations of anxiety, fear, apparent goods, and half-truths? Will we give in to the fear, too afraid to risk, to go out from ourselves to serve others? Or, will we appreciate the gift of our life and say thank you for the breath that we breathe? Are we willing to expand the love we have received by being willing to share, to multiply our talents, to embrace who God calls us to be, to love in kind, to will the good of others in the unique way God calls us to serve, whoever they may be?

I have lived the life of the wicked servant who buried his talent out of fear. I have embraced the sin of sloth by overworking and thinking I was doing good, but was it really the good God wanted me to do? As I have recognized the importance of placing prayer front and center, so that I have grown in my relationship with God, my life has become more properly ordered. I do better when I reach out and seek the hand of Jesus and accept to be led by him. I have risked and fallen, made mistakes and duffed up time and again, but have learned and persevered.

When we learn who the enemy is, are able to identify his lies, renounce and turn away from them and back to God; when we slow down instead of run from what we are afraid of and invite the Lord into these areas we will be purified, we will heal; and when we realize that the most important thing that we can do each day is pray, then we will come to know in our core, that we are not human-doings, we are human beings. God loves us as we are. As we are loved, we will then act from being loved and share the love we have received.

We are not alone. What Jesus invites, gives, and yes, demands of us, he will at the same time provide the courage, guidance, support and strength we need to carry out the task given and to bring it to fulfillment. God has a talent or two to invest. We need not fear to invest what God has given. This morning, let us breathe deep and entrust ourselves to the words of Jesus and St John Paul II who echoed them as he began his pontificate:

“Be not afraid” (Mt 14:27).

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Photo credit: dpa Picture-Alliance via AFP accessed from Aleteia

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

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, August 28, 2021

Daily prayer with Jesus helps us to be better and more prudent stewards.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time” (Mt 24:45)?

Jesus is calling us to be that “faithful and prudent steward” and the household we are to serve is our own homes, churches, communities, states, countries, and world. For the world is our home and those we serve are our brothers and sisters. Jesus’ call is a universal call to solidarity. We are all invited to be united in this effort for and with one another because we are all created in the image of our loving God and Father.

God has created us, not as automatons or robots, or drone worker bees. He has created us as unique persons, one of a kind, distinct wonders that have never been nor ever will be again. Within our uniqueness, there is also the gift of diversity. We are not intended to be separate from one another, for God has created all of us to be interconnected, to be loved, and to love. What affects one, affects all.

Jesus clearly emphasizes this distinction in his parable, often called the Judgment of the Nations, when he stated: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?” And the king will say to them in reply, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25: 37-40).

Being faithful and prudent stewards means being aware of and willing to attend to the needs of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, those ill, and/or imprisoned. This is not an exhaustive list. We are to allow our hearts to be open to have compassion upon those for whom God calls us to serve. We begin this process with prayer, for prayer is the most important thing that we can do each day. We are to make the time to spend in silence to discern the will of God for each our thoughts, words, and actions.

Not all of us will be moved in the same way or for the same cause. We just need to remain open to the nudge of the Holy Spirit, trust his direction, and follow him regarding how and who best we can serve, no matter how small of a gesture. One thing that can limit us is if we are unwilling to admit to and confess our prejudices, insecurities, or biases, as well as toward whom we have been unaware or indifferent. When we have the humility to confess, God is ready to forgive, heal, and transform our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

As we are forgiven and begin to heal, as we experience the love and mercy of Jesus, we can draw strength from him, begin to see the dignity present in ourselves, and one another, begin to see each person we encounter as God sees them and begin to take steps to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit to love, to will each other’s good, in each thought, word, and deed.

Photo by Jay Mather, The Courier Journal, of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta at Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY, June 22, 1982. “Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear him saying, ‘I thirst’ in the hearts of the poor.” – St. Mother Teresa

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, August 28, 2025

Press pause and breathe for a while.

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing” (Mt 23:27-28).

How many of us spend an inordinate amount of time regarding physical externals? Washing, makeup, the right clothes, the correct scents, teeth whitening, plucking, nipping, and tucking. How about time spent exercising through gym memberships, home exercise equipment, physical trainers, sports, stretching, running, or cycling. How about time spent towards a career through education, updating, professional learning, seminars, webinars, and networking. There are other categories that I can add, and the point is that there is not anything necessarily wrong with any of the above when they are properly ordered and each is in a healthy balance.

Yet, if external activities are all we are investing our time and energy in, then Jesus has a point. We may “appear beautiful on the outside” with great looks, a body that doesn’t quit, and a career to die for, but what is going on inside? Are we empty, unfulfilled, achieving goal after goal, yet feeling adrift or hollowed out? Do we have all the right social skills and etiquette down, know the right things to say in public, we have friends in the hundreds or thousands on our social media accounts, yet we feel alone and not a part of anything meaningful?

Worse yet, do we go to Church, say the right prayers, are active in ministry, tithe, are members of boards, involved in the community, and doing some great works of charity, but when the door is closed, and no one is looking… what kind of “hypocrisy and evil doing” are we up to? It is easy to rest in a false sense of security while Jesus chews out the Pharisees, right now, yet, do Jesus’ words have an effect on us if we allow his light to shine also on the imperfections and shadow sides of us as well.

We can spend our time whitewashing the outside, projecting a perfect image, while chasing the finite and material pursuits alone, which will more than likely leave us still feeling anxious, restless, unsatisfied, and worn out. Maintaining and protecting a false image on any level is exhausting. Instead, we can take a good look at the time we invest, where we focus our energies, examine our conscience, and assess the health of our relationship with God, family,  significant friendships, our vocation instead of occupation, and our service to those within and beyond our intimate circle.

Instead of expending energy maintaining a perfect persona, we will do better to be in touch with our weaknesses, our faults, and wounds, so we can resist defending or rationalizing them and seek healing, reconciliation, and transformation. By doing so, we may be more accepting, patient, understanding, and forgiving of others because we will come to realize that we are not all that perfect and we come to accept that the world does not revolve around us.

The path lit by Jesus will reveal our imperfections and sins and also will help us to distinguish between apparent goods and what is authentic and truly good. When we can step off the treadmill of chronic stress, come to a stop and breathe, and press pause, we will begin to experience the peace and love of God. We can rest in just being, just being ourselves and be ok with that.

Photo: Some quiet time with Jesus.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Are we locking the doors to the Kingdom of heaven or helping to open them?

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men” (Mt 23: 13).

Context, in any reading of the Gospels, or any scriptural text, is important, but certainly with today’s reading. Our country is already experiencing enough division, polarization, and racial unrest as it is. These comments have too often been used to fuel anti-Semitic rhetoric. We need to remember that Jesus is Jewish. “The criticisms are leveled with those of power and/or influence as in the prophetic denunciations, not against the whole people of Israel. The aberrations denounced by Jesus were also denounced by other Jewish teachers in the rabbinic tradition. The goal of the denunciations is to highlight the error, to preserve others from it, and perhaps to bring those who err to the way of righteousness” (Harrington 2007, 327).

Those who would use these verses to denounce people of the Jewish faith tradition, just for being Jewish, would be acting in the same way as those for whom Jesus was convicting. Jesus spoke to the specific actions of specific leaders he had encountered who were using their power and influence for their own means and agendas. The hypocritical behavior that Jesus brought to light unfortunately still exists in some of our civil and religious leadership. This is one of the reasons many are disillusioned with authority and institutions. Jesus saw the danger of hypocrisy especially from the perspective of how it can alienate people such they turn away from his Father.

We seek truth, authenticity, and transparency because these qualities are foundational for building trust and relationships. St. Augustine, whose feast we celebrate this coming Thursday, wrote in his Introduction to his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and we are restless until we rest in you.” He experienced a life without God and with him, and regretted the days he had resisted accepting Jesus’ invitation. It is unfortunate how many today have not come to embrace the words of Augustine, because of their experiences with those, who in the name of Christ, have “locked the kingdom of heaven” before them.

It is easy to point out the hypocrisy of others, but Jesus is convicting each of us as well. How have we erred, sinned, and been hypocritical? When have we allowed past hurts and wounds, anxieties and fears, prejudicial and judgmental attitudes, to limit us from living a life more aligned with his life and teachings? We all fall short in living the “Way, the Truth, and the Life” (cf Jn 14:6), but when we are willing to have the humility to be contrite, to recognize and to be sorry for the harm we have done, we have a loving Father with his arms wide open ready to embrace and comfort us, as well as offer us forgiveness and healing.

As we are more conformed to living and loving like Jesus, we have more credibility when we speak up, out, and against any act that diminishes or denounces the dignity of another, while at the same time resisting the temptation to do so in a way that diminishes even those who inflict division and hate. Jesus invites us to convict others and hold them accountable as he did with love and mercy but we need to begin with ourselves.

When we align our thoughts, words, and actions and are willing to be held accountable, we will have more credibility in guiding others. Our goal is not to humiliate, condemn, and/or shame, but to lead others to a place of contrition and reconciliation, such that each of us can be people of integrity, transparency, and holiness. Our hope is to win back a brother and sister and lead them toward the doors of heaven that Jesus opened for us in the humanity he assumed.

Photo: Pope Francis opening the Holy Door at St. Peter back in 2015 for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Photo credit, Vatican News file.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, August, 25, 2025

Harrington, S.J., Daniel J. The Gospel of Matthew, vol. 1, in Sacra Pagina, Ed. Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007.

“Whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:11-12).

Jesus warns us to resist the sin of pride, and hubris, where we place ourselves as the focal point instead of God. This happens when we seek to be the center of the gravitational pull within our realm of influence. Through our subtle and not so subtle actions, we can embrace this temptation to live a life of, “Look at me, look at me!” Desiring to be affirmed is not a bad thing but that ought not to be our primary motivation for our actions. Ultimately, we will be better served when we seek our affirmation from God.

Choosing our own self-determination free of God’s guidance is the height of pride. God does not seek to limit us but to inspire us so that we may actualize the fullness of who he has created us to be. St Mother Teresa often guided her sisters not to seek to do great things but to do little things with great love. I came across a cassette tape of one of her talks during my freshman year of college. Her words started to plant a seed in my soul that urged me to look out beyond myself toward others.

Growing up with an introverted and shy nature, I spent much of my youth in my own world and spent more time with myself than others. The invitation to change that perspective would happen during my second semester of that same year. I took a psychology course and thought it would be interesting to work in a hospital. A close friend of mine, Steve, shared with me that his mother was a nurse in a nursing home in our hometown. That summer, when the semester ended, I applied for the job as a certified nursing assistant and was hired.

The first resident I assisted was named Margaret, age somewhere in her 90’s. She rolled passed me in her wheelchair and a particular odor followed. The aide I was training with caught my eye and I realized this would be my first solo attempt of service. I redirected and guided her to the toilet, which was in a small closet-sized area in between two adjoining bedrooms. It was a particularly hot day, and as I removed Margaret’s depends, I found quite the surprise. For the next fifteen minutes as I cleaned her up, I sweat, teared up, and repeatedly fought back the urge to gag, all the while Margaret – sang. Once finished and in a fresh nightgown, I helped her into her bed, tucked her in, and then Margaret said, “Give me a kiss lover.”

Others may have run for the door and never looked back. I stayed, and for the next four or five years, I experienced the wonderful gift of building relationships with the many residents and coworkers who drew me out of myself. What started out as a job became an extended family, and I served them with great joy.

God presents us with opportunities daily. We can choose to curve in upon ourselves or we can risk being present for and give of ourselves to others. Let us resist the urge to be led by anxiety or fear and instead pray for the courage to be open to the opportunities to extend the grace God offers us to serve in little ways with great love, one person, one encounter at a time. I pray that you may encounter your Margaret! For Margaret helped me to live what St Mother Teresa taught me: “Love only can become our light and joy in cheerful service of each other” (Teresa 2010, 355).

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Photo: Let us serve one another with joy as St. Mother Teresa did.

Mother Teresa. Where There Is Love, There is God. Edited by Brian Kolodiejchuck, M.C. NY: Doubleday, 2010.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, August 23, 2025

When we allow ourselves to be loved by God we can love in return.

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:34-40).

Jesus, in response, was not just throwing up a cloud of theological dust into the eyes of the Pharisees. His answer to, “which commandment in the law is the greatest?” was drawn directly from the Torah. Showing again his knowledge of the Torah. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 and merged the two verses together as one unit. His purpose was to emphasize the point that what is to be the greatest aspiration for humanity is to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves, not either/or. Jesus again was showing that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but that he came to fulfill them (cf. Mt 5:17).

In this statement, Jesus also revealed the foundation of reality, the Trinitarian communion of love. For the immanence of God – God within himself – has always been, always is, and always will be a communion of love. God the Father loves the Son, God the Son receives the Father’s love and in return loves God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit is the love expressed and shared between God the Father and God the Son. The overflow and abundance of this perichoresis, or divine dance of trinitarian communion, has been the loving of creation into existence.

This means that we as God’s created beings, his children, have been loved into existence too! We are loved by and capable of loving God and one another in return mirroring on earth the love that is shared in Heaven. It is through our participation in the life of Jesus that we can live up to his command to love our enemies, best expressed in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:29-37).

This is why prayer is so important. If we don’t get our relationship with God right, if we don’t spend time with and allow ourselves to rest, receive, and abide in his love, we will not be able to return the love we have received, and then how can we truly love ourselves and each other? When we do get the love of God right, we and our realm of influence changes. We can experience that peace that surpasses all understanding, and we can find the rest, that rest within the depths of our souls that we all seek. This peace, love, and rest we can then share with God and one another.

We can do so in simple but powerful ways. When we catch the eye of another smile. This small gift can make such difference in another’s life. If someone says, “How are you today?” say, “Better that you asked.” When you are with someone be there as if they were the only person in the world. Go out of your way to do some random acts of kindness, especially for that someone who ordinarily and regularly gets under your skin.

Today – Perichoresis! Let us rest, receive, and abide in God’s love, participate in the dance of God’s trinitarian Love and let his Love reign free in your life to overflowing.

Picture: When we embrace the vertical of loving God with all our heart, mind, and soul, we can share the horizontal, loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, August 22, 2025

Are we willing to accept the invitation and then show up for the wedding feast?

“The Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son” (Mt 22:2).

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus not only talked about feasts but he is recorded as often celebrating table fellowship with others. Those he ate with ranged from people who were considered sinners to the religious elite among the Pharisees.

In the parable from today’s Gospel, Jesus presented a range of reactions to the invitation already supposed to have been accepted to a great, wedding banquet offered by the king for his son. The custom of the time for a wedding feast, which often was a celebration that would not last just a day but often a week. A first invitation would be sent out, and when accepted, at the time to begin the banquet, a second invitation would be sent for those to now come to enjoy the festivities.

In Jesus’ parable, the first group are so caught up in their own lives, that they are not willing to break away from their daily activities. The second group rejects the invitation outright and does so violently, by mistreating and even killing the servants of the king. The retribution of the king is swift and punitive. Then he sent his servants out into the streets, “and gathered all they found, bad and good alike,” and they welcomed the invitation and said yes to the invitation “and the hall was filled with guests” (Matthew 22:10).

God invites us into a relationship with him, but we must be willing to repent, to change our hearts and minds to see the invitation for what it is, then decide to receive an eternal gift. Those who refused were unwilling to change their plans, as well as others who, with hearts of stone, were outright hostile, willing to abuse and even kill the servants. Are we willing to choose our busyness over time with God each day or will we stubbornly hold on to our own self-reliance and pride and refuse God’s gift?

Near the end of the parable, Jesus presents a curious fellow that the king found present without the proper attire. This is not a literal indictment of not having the proper clothes, but the wedding garment imagery may be a recognition of a willingness to receive the benefits of the invitation without a yes to the responsibility involved. A desiring to reap the gift with accepting the responsibility. We need to be willing to take off the clothes of our old way of life, our ways of sin, self-indulgence and reliance, and receive the wedding garments offered to us by the king who seeks to clothe us “with the garments of salvation;” and cover us “with the robe of righteousness” (see Isaiah 61:10).

We are invited to participate in the banquet of eternal life with God. The invitation is freely given, yet it requires that we dress for the occasion. Again, this dress is no material garment of fine linen and gold embroidery, but our willingness to repent, to turn away from those idols, that which we have placed or put before God, to have our hearts and spirits renewed. We are invited to be a part of God’s new creation by participating in the life of his Son, the firstborn of the new creation.

We see this played out in salvation history as well. God the Father offered this invitation of the eternal banquet to the patriarchs, judges, prophets, and the people of Israel, to be one with him that they might shine brightly before all so to make his will and glory known to the world. In God’s timing, he sent his Son to fulfill that mission of invitation and to be with us in our present moment and in our present condition in life. Jesus meets us where we are right now in our everyday experiences and tells us that “the feast is ready.”

We are invited each day to begin again, to pray, to turn away from our selfish ways, to receive a new heart and a renewed spirit. God invites us but we need to be willing to let go of our idols, our disordered affections, and attachments. We are called to be transformed and perfected through our participation in the life of Jesus and through the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit.

Our yes demands accountability. We can’t just show up dressed for the part and take up space. Our ultimate attire is the transformation from within, in which our posture changes from a curving in upon ourselves to an opening and willingness to praying with and being guided by God, to devote our time, discipline, talent, and treasure to serving at the banquet and inviting others to attend.

“Many are invited, but few are chosen” (Mt 22:14). The first step is saying yes to the invitation. The second step is to be prepared for and be ready to come when the time for the wedding feast is announced. We need to be willing to allow the Holy Spirit to renew our hearts and minds, to take up our cross, to know and follow the Father’s will, serve and sacrifice by the giving up of ourselves in love. The way to the banquet is no easy path, but we can take comfort in the truth that we do not walk alone. Jesus guides and empowers us when we are willing to follow.

Painting: The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, the central painting from the Ghent Altarpiece painted by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck in the 15th century.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, August 21, 2025