forgiveness

It is lawful to do good rather than evil, to save life rather than destroy it.

In today’s Gospel scene, Jesus enters the synagogue and sees a man with a withered hand. The eyes of the Pharisees are on him to see if, yet again, Jesus will heal on the Sabbath. Jesus is clear in his mind what he is going to do. Before doing so, he calls the man up and asks the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil, to save life rather than to destroy it” (Mk 3:4)?

Jesus here is giving them a no-brainer of a question. Of course, one is to do good rather than evil on the Sabbath, to save life rather than destroy it! Yet, the Pharisees remain silent!!! Jesus expresses anger and grief. Jesus is meeting the Pharisees on the ground of Scripture that they are using against him and giving them an opportunity to soften their hearts. 1 Maccabees 2:41 records the account of the Maccabeans deciding to take up arms on the Sabbath to defend themselves against attack. With this in mind, Jesus may be appealing to those Pharisees that were challenging him to choose to see the healing of this man as a greater good. Unfortunately, “their hardness of heart” shows they were not appreciative of the scriptural assistance.

At the peak of this fifth conflict in Mark, before we continue, may we stop and imagine ourselves present in the synagogue. Witness Jesus looking at the Pharisees and the Pharisees looking back at him. Have you ever been present when tensions were very high and there was dead silence? Imagine what was going through the mind of the guy standing in between them with the withered hand?!!!

The anger rising in Jesus may have had to do with the unwillingness of the Pharisees to show any compassion at all for this man. That they would hold so tightly to their self-righteous stance and refuse to even have a discussion about the matter. Not even to say in effect, “Yes, Jesus of course, it is lawful to do good, to save a life but what you are doing is unorthodox.” No. They refuse to dialogue. Their faces are set like flint, they dig in their heels. Even though Jesus is inviting them to take just a step to consider another alternative, they instead harden their hearts. In their silence, they are choosing evil over good, choosing to destroy life rather than save it. Pride has reared its grotesque head.

Jesus breaks the silence as he says to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”

The man is healed, but instead of rejoicing, and sharing the good news as Andrew did with his brother Simon, the Pharisees leave immediately to find the Herodians and begin to plot to not only undo Jesus but “to put him to death.” Think about the massive irony! They who would refuse to see a man healed on the Sabbath, did not hesitate to plan someone’s death on the Sabbath.

We have witnessed in today’s Gospel the poison of pride. We have witnessed the mercy of God presented and rejected. As is stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit” (1864). That is what Jesus is angry about. Not only do the Pharisees resist any move in the slightest direction toward compassion, or their own repentance, they further separate themselves from the love of God. They start with a principle of defending the law, and walk out seething with a premeditated intent to kill Jesus, and on the Sabbath!

With each choice of putting self over another, pride grows. Its appetite is insatiable. Pride is known as the mother of all sins because of its disordered focus on self at the expense of all others and all else. The deadliest component of which is in direct opposition to God and separation from the very life force of our existence. Choosing to be prideful, we foster attitudes of vanity, arrogance, and a disordered self-reliance. We can think the center of universe revolves around us, and that is not only untrue, it is unhealthy.

If there are places where we see any tendrils of pride, amen! Slash them, repent, and ask Jesus to give us the antidotes to pride, humility and obedience to God. Choosing these virtues frees us from the isolating grip of pride so we may experience the healing communion of Jesus. May we reject evil and choose the good, reject pride and choose love, reject death and choose life, resist the temptation to withdraw or scowl and instead offer a smile, a hand of welcome, and/or a listening ear.

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Photo: Jesus, thank you for your light and love that reveals our sin, so we can repent, confess, heal, and be forgiven and free and who you created us to be.

Catholic Church. “Article 8: Sin,” in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2012.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, January 21, 2025

Jesus invites us to follow him, to repent, and to be healed.

Jesus gives face to the living word of God come down from heaven to transform his people as he continues to teach with authority and offer healing. In today’s account of Mark, Jesus calls his fifth disciple, Levi. The key difference with this call of Levi and the four fisherman is Levi’s occupational hazard.

Tax collectors were disliked, even despised by many in ancient Palestine because they were considered unclean, and categorized along with lepers and sinners. They were cast in this net because the tax collector had a responsibility to pay a fixed amount to the occupying power of Rome. This in itself was bad enough because their own countrymen were colluding with the enemy. What made matters worse was that too many kept as a commission anything collected over and above that fixed amount. The majority of the population, barely getting by, paying a temple tax, and the Roman tax, then finding out their local tax collector was taking more than their fair share, did not make for feelings of endearment.

Jesus surprises all who had come to hear him teach when he not only invites Levi, also known as Matthew, to follow him but then they have dinner together. We are witnessing yet again another healing miracle. Jesus provides an opportunity of bridging divides by inviting someone to his inner circle, to turn away from one way of life to begin anew, to: “Repent and believe in the gospel” (cf. Mk 1:15). The Pharisees question his choice of table fellowship, not to Jesus directly but by seeking an answer from his disciples. The location of both the Pharisees and disciples is not clear. Are they a part of this gathering of the meal or both at a distance, observing?

They could not have been at too great a distance though because Jesus could hear their concerns and responded to them: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mk 2:17). The Pharisees, and possibly some of his disciples, were not a part of the intimacy of this communion because of their own unwillingness to accept those that Jesus invited to share a meal, to accept that they too were sinners also in need of healing.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus forgives and offers mercy to all who are willing to be aware of his invitation to fellowship. In our humility to recognize our sins and repent, we receive healing and transformation, and are like Levi and his friends offered the opportunity to grow in relationship and participate in communion with the one who is ushering in the kingdom of God. This is a foreshadowing of the last supper and the celebration of the Mass.

We too are invited as sinners to join the banquet, to be in fellowship with Jesus. As Levi was called, we are given an opportunity to begin again, to leave behind anything that separates us from God and one another and follow Jesus, who came that we might be forgiven and healed.

As with many Gospel passages, today’s offers a wonderful opportunity to place ourselves in the scene. Mark presents Jesus teaching the people though he again does not tell us anything about what he shared. Knowing what follows, we might think about and ask ourselves, “What might Jesus have taught before going to Levi at the custom’s post?” Could he have been talking, as in his parallel account of Matthew (Levi), about how Amos preached that God desires mercy and not sacrifice (Mt 9:12)?

Let us read this passage slowly a few times (Mark 2:13-17) and meditate upon these words of God that are “living and effective.” Then as Jesus moves to the custom post, follow him, and the others in our imagination. What is our honest reaction to Jesus calling the tax collector, Levi? Are there sins that others commit that we find easy to forgive, others that we find hard to forgive? As the scene shifts to the breaking of the bread at this dinner, do we dive in with this motley crew, stay at a distance, or walk away?

God’s words are living. May we not only read them, but also meditate upon and pray with them so that we may be transformed by them. May we also encounter Jesus in this passage, be willing to listen to him speak to us in the silence of our hearts, and become one of or deepen our commitment as his disciples. This is a wonderful spiritual practice that can bring us much joy, forgiveness, healing, and deeper communion with the Divine Physician and healer of our souls. No RSVP needed, just come, open up your Bible, and join the feast!

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Painting: Jesus’ “mission is not to vindicate those who keep the law, and condemn the rest; rather, it is to offer the healing of which all people are in need” (Healy, 61).

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

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, January 16, 2025

When we believe and trust in Jesus we will be free.

In a time when word of mouth is the way to get news out, the momentum still moved quickly. Jesus has preached with authority and moved people with his words, he has healed people and exorcised unclean spirits. So when it was known that Jesus was in the vicinity, in his present home of Caparnaum, people came. Jesus came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it. That meant that he did not water down the message of God, but raised the standards even higher than they had been under the leadership and legacy of Moses. Unlike some of the Pharisees though, Jesus did not just add heavy burdens to leave the people to carry on their own, Jesus accompanied those he challenged, he carried the weight of their sin, all the way to Calvary.

If Jesus had a business card to hand out as people gathered around him, it may have had written on it his first words recorded by Mark in his Gospel: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). The time of fulfillment is indeed at hand in the presence of the Son of God made flesh. The entrance to that kingdom is measured by a willingness to turn away from sin and turn back to God. Those who are open to the love of God, willing to be shaped and transformed by his love, who are in touch with their hunger and yearning to be one with the Father, recognizing that there is more to life than the false promises, apparent goods, and even the finite goods of this world, are drawn to Jesus.

When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them (Mk 2:1-2).

It is clear that there is a movement afoot in just these first two chapters of Mark. Another key verse from Mark is the very first line of his Gospel: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ [the Son of God]” (Mk 1:1). This is an amazing line, unless we read the words only, missing its proper contextual background. Those reading or hearing these words in the first and early second century would have grasped Mark’s intent immediately. There are two words in that verse that would have leapt off the pages or the lips of the reader; gospel and Christ.

The geopolitical powerhouse lording over Israel at the time of the life of Jesus was Rome. The house of Caesar was its head. Augustus Caesar was emperor at the time of the birth of Jesus. Tiberius Caesar reigned during most of the adolescence and adult life of Jesus. The term gospel, euangelion in Greek, meant good news. This gospel was spread throughout the Roman empire by messengers especially on two occasions, at the behest of the emperor; on his birthday and after great military victories. Christ, or Christos in Greek, meant the anointed one. The only ones who were anointed were emperors, kings, and priests.

Mark was making a vivid point with this opening verse, the proclamation of the good news: Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, not Caesar. It is not Kaiser Kyrios, Caesar is Lord, but Iēsous Kyrios, Jesus is Lord! This verse is treasonous in the face of Caesar and a subversive rallying cry for the followers of Jesus then and today. Yet Mark was not calling for a military coup, or a power play, but inner transformation.

Mark revealed that the first opposition against Jesus was not by the Roman occupiers. The push back arose from the scribes of his own people. Instead of being amazed that Jesus had forgiven the man’s sins and was about to heal him of his paralysis, they seek to label him as a blasphemer.

Imagine what the paralyzed man felt. His friends were not swayed by the unyielding crowd that was unwilling to let them in, they tore through Peter’s roof to let him down, all eyes had been on him until Jesus began to speak, and in this moment when he was so close, would he be denied by the scribes, could they sway Jesus? Before these doubts could take hold, Jesus spoke: “I say to you rise, pick up your mat and go home” (Mark 2:11).

Jesus freed this man from his sin and paralysis. Not all suffering is caused by our sins, but in this case it was and the man was freed because of the faith of his friends. Unfortunately, the scribes remained paralyzed. How about us? Do we believe that Jesus is a blasphemer or Iēsous Kyrios? The Son of Man is the Christ, the Son of the living God, our healer, and Lord. He will free us and heal us when we are willing to surrender our ego, our self sufficiency, our imposed limitations, and sins. There is no obstacle that can prevent us from getting to Jesus as long as we believe and trust in him. Let us have the courage to encounter Jesus and invite others to join us.

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Photo: Jesus the High Priest, Iēsous Kyrios.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, January 16, 2025

Jesus is close, and when we repent, we will experience how close he is!

“This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).

With these words as recorded by Mark, Jesus begins his public ministry in time and space and we in 2026 begin the first week of Ordinary Time together. Whether we are in the season of Christmas, Easter, or Ordinary Time, each day is an opportunity to be thankful and celebrate our lives for this continues to be “the time of fulfillment”. The Kingdom of God is still at hand because Jesus is still present with us.

We are not alone on our journey. The Son of God became human, as we just celebrated this Christmas season, and as we will celebrate in Easter, he died and rose again. This was no mere resuscitation like with Lazarus who rose and died again. Jesus conquered death and became the firstborn of the new creation. Ordinary Time is the season in which we not only study the life and teachings of Jesus but hopefully continue to be willing to be more conformed to his Body and the will of his Father and experience the love of the Holy Spirit.

One of the things that may hold us back from embracing the gift of the Kingdom of God in our midst is that we have often chosen to place our focus on other distractions or diversions or placed ourselves others first before God. Jesus calls us to reorient our lives in urging us to repent. This is an invitation to see what our lives are like apart from him and how they are with him. With a clearer choice, we can then choose to turn away from the false reality that we are the center and author of our own lives. When we do so, we come to realize the truth that God is our true author and director. To repent also means to open ourselves to his love, to place our trust in him, and to be assured that God accepts us as we are, right now at this very moment.

We do not repent so that God will love us. We do not have to do anything or act perfectly or say the right prayer for God to love us. We just need to “move the Lord out of the category of ‘polite company’ and into that of intimate friend to whom one can tell everything” (Barry 1987, 55). To repent means to turn back to the God whose arms are wide open ready to embrace us. We are given the opportunity to see where we have turned away from God. Let us run into his waiting embrace and receive the forgiveness, mercy, and love that he offers us. Experiencing the love of God we can then begin again and walk in communion with God.

The call to repent that Jesus accentuates is a continuation of the preaching of the prophets and John. What he adds to repentance is to believe. To believe is to “trustingly accept and yield to what God is doing in him. The kingdom is near enough that anyone who so chooses can reach out and lay hold of it through faith” (Healy 2008, 42). As we turn back to God, reorient our minds to his guidance and direction, reflect on how much he has blessed us, we will better make an ascent to believe.

To “repent and believe” is a good way to begin our journey into Ordinary Time together. May we resist the temptation to hold anything back and share more with our Father and grow closer to God as a person, each day. Let us trust in Jesus who encourages us to resist limiting God and the possibilities he places before us. Instead of attempting to bend his will toward ours, may we allow the love of the Holy Spirit to expand our hearts and minds such that we will believe in and trust God more so to be like a pencil in his hand.

Photo: A good way to reorient our minds and hearts to the will of God and to believe is to slow down, examine our interior life, and pray. Doing so in the chapel at the community center of USML last week.

Barry, S.J, William A. God and You: Prayer as a Personal Relationship. NY: Paulist Press, 1987.

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

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

The baptism of Jesus, not for his sins but ours.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the ending of the Christmas Season. From the timeline of each of the Gospels, even though they emphasize different points, Jesus’ baptism is a significant step in the life of Jesus.

It is good to occasionally reflect on our own baptism and the vows made on our behalf if we were baptized during our infancy or if older, we actually may remember our pronouncing our own vows. Each time Catholics enter church, we dip our fingers into the Holy Water. We then bless ourselves with the signing of the Cross. We participate in this act to affirm that we choose again to live by the baptismal vows we or others made on our behalf. What are those vows? That we renounce Satan, all his works, and empty promises, sin, and the lure of evil. We then pronounce that we believe in God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.

Reflecting on what the Church in her wisdom, which has been preserved and passed on through the ages, we may see this feast as important to us as well. But we might ask, why is Jesus being baptized? He is the Son of God and haven’t we been taught that Jesus is like us in all things but sin? Yes and yes. And this is the wonderful gift of the Bible that the words of Scripture invites us to enter into the tension of humanity and spirit.

Jesus was not participating in baptism as an act of repentance, he was joining in solidarity with us in our fallen and sinful nature, while at the same time affirming that we are not destroyed by sin but only wounded by it. Jesus came to redeem us, to save us, to help to reconcile our fractured relationship with his Father. In the words of St. Irenaeus, “Jesus opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.” The waters of baptism, the baptism of John did not cleanse Jesus, he cleansed the water. Just as Jesus placed his hands on the leper, he did not contract leprosy, he healed the leper.

We recall and celebrate this reality that the Son of God, non-being, Infinite Act of Existence, became a finite, human being and then even assumed our sinfulness, while remaining sinless himself. The pure, unblemished, Lamb of God would be the sacrificial offering on the cross. Just as in his birth there were images of his death; the cave foreshadowed his tomb, the swaddling cloths his shroud, and being laid in a trough that was to feed animals, by his death he would become the bread of life to feed us at each Mass. His baptism also reveals signs of his death.

Jesus was willing to participate in John’s baptism, which was a foreshadowing of his crucifixion, because he loved his Father and was willing to follow his Father’s will all the way. He was willing to show unconditional love for us, by his willingness to walk among sinners coming to John for a baptism of repentance, he entered into solidarity with fallen humanity. He was showing that not only in his baptism but also in willingness to die for us, that he would take upon the sins of the world on the Cross. He came among us as a human being so that what he assumed, he would redeem. The muddy waters of the Jordan he would be baptized in would also be made pure such that in our baptism we would be made clean, we would be cleansed of all stain of sin.

We have choices each and every day, each and every moment to make. We can turn our back on our God and Father and his love for us, and instead listen to false promises, seek after apparent goods, and give in to temptations and diversions that may satisfy for the moment but leave us empty in the end. Even if they do satisfy for the moment, we will not only be hungry and thirst again, we will never be satisfied and only want more. We can live a life for our selves alone working toward an eternity of eternal separation from the one who loves us more than we can ever know.

We can also choose another path, to allow God to love us, to receive his love and his guidance, to accept his invitation to be in relationship with him, to participate in the plan that God has for us, and to follow his beloved Son. By our baptism into the life of Jesus, we become adopted children of the Father so that we can hear each day, “You are my beloved daughter, you are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased.” We can truly be forgiven of our sins and experience the joy and meaning of a life of fulfillment as we collaborate with God and strive to live out the grace he has given us toward a life of eternity with God while at the same time helping others to do the same.

How come Jesus never sinned? Because he never said no to his Father. Jesus always said, “yes.” Jesus’ baptism also revealed the Trinity into whom we are baptized in. When Jesus prayed after his baptism, he did so as the Son of God, fully human and fully divine. As he was praying the Holy Spirit came down upon him like a dove and the Father spoke of him saying, “You are my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.”

During our Baptism we were indelibly marked, eternally conformed to Jesus and became adopted daughters and sons of the Father, with whom he is well pleased! Such that our Baptism, our being born again, born from above, is just the beginning. God the Father has a part for us to play in bringing about his kingdom. It does not matter how small. We are called to be holy, we are called to be saints. Each and every one of us, each and every day, are invited to say, “yes” to God’s will, to live out our baptismal vows to commit to playing our part in salvation history.

We are not alone in this endeavor. The saints represented in stained glassed windows, with the light shining through, are not just there for adornment. They are examples and reminders of those, who though sinners, and imperfect like us, made a decision one day that their baptism mattered, that they were going to say, “yes” to God. That day, and each day that followed, they allowed the light of Christ to shine through them to others. We can do the same, as the saints cheer us on.

The Father and the Son have also sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to empower us through his love, to give us the guidance, the ears to hear, and the courage to act. All that needs to happen for us to begin and continue to live out our baptismal call is to say, “yes,” as Mary did, today, tomorrow, and the next day, and in each moment, to the will of our Loving God and Father.

Painting: Baptism of Christ by Battistello Caracciollo

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, January 11, 2025

The Son of God came and continues to come close to forgive, heal, and transform us.

The man in today’s Gospel scene takes a tremendous risk by approaching Jesus. He is a leper and so considered unclean. The appropriate response when someone was coming into his general vicinity would have been to give as wide a berth as possible, if not remove themselves from view entirely, or to make themselves known to be unclean to any passerby.

This state of uncleanness was not a mere sense of hygiene. This was considered ritual impurity. So anyone touching or being touched by a leper would be considered ritually impure. For this reason, lepers were ostracized from family, friends, and the larger community socially as well as being forbidden access to public worship. This is a horrific state to find oneself in, for as human beings we are social beings who want to belong, to be a part of, and to be loved.

The leper cast aside all social norms and fell prostrate before Jesus and said, “Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean” (Lk 5:12). Jesus knew full well the social norms, and it is very telling that not only did Jesus heal the man, but he did so by placing his hand on him. He could have easily said, “I do will it. Be made clean” (Lk 5:13), without touching him and the man would have been healed. There are Gospel accounts of Jesus not only healing with his word but also with his word from afar.

Jesus says more in his willingness to touch the leper than he does even with his words of healing. He does not keep the man at a distance but instead places himself on the same level as the man. In Jesus’ touch he is not made unclean, but the man becomes clean. The tremendous stigma of this man having to be separated from something as simple, yet as significant, as a human embrace is removed. With that simple touch, Jesus comes close and in doing so, the man will no longer be kept at arm’s length but restored to his community and the opportunity for fellowship.

This is what the Son of God has come to do. He has come close to all of us. He has become human so we can see the face of God. We can experience the tenderness of his touch, his closeness, and being understood when no one else can or is willing to do so. Jesus has come close so that we know that we are not alone, that we are loved more than we can ever imagine, more than we can ever mess up, more than our worst mistakes, or even our gravest sins. Jesus has come close so we can experience how it feels to forgiven, healed, restored, so to belong, cared for and loved.

Having received this wonderful gift of his love, we are invited to also come close and be willing to love one another. In doing so, we can move a bit closer to actualizing the words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, “Someday after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides, and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love; and then for the second time in the history of the world, humanity will have discovered fire.”

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Photo: A few minutes before Mass this morning and preparing for Jesus to come close again in his glorified Body.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, January 9, 2025

Jesus is the light that will lead us out of our darkness.

Yesterday, we celebrated the Epiphany, in which the three magi encountered Jesus. They left changed, no longer following a star to find a king, but bearing the light of Christ from their encounter. Next Sunday we will recall the Baptism of Jesus by John. Today the daily readings jump ahead to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. John the Baptist has been arrested. He must decrease as Jesus increases.

Jesus inaugurates his ministry echoing the words of John’s ministry: “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). John prepared the way for the Kingdom to come, Jesus himself, in his person, is the Kingdom of heaven. Heaven is not so much a place but a state of communion with God, and who better to embody the reality of heaven than the Son of God in our midst. He who remained fully divine, in communion with his Father, while becoming human and living among us.

Jesus proclaimed his promise of the Kingdom to his people who were suffering. He is the one who has been promised. Jesus is the fulfillment of their greatest hope. Matthew summarized the ministry of Jesus thus: “He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people” (Mt 4:23).

Jesus provided hope and healing to those who were losing hope, struggling, and in pain. Jesus taught with authority, providing light that if they were willing to follow would lead them out of their darkness. He did so through not only being the Kingdom in their midst, not only being their light to guide their way, but also being the way, the truth, and the life embodied. He empowered and freed them from their slavery to the sin that kept them bound. He helped them to see that they could not be enslaved by anyone or anything. Jesus helped the people to see that what kept them bound was their separation from God.

Jesus did not only come to the people of Galilee two thousand years ago. His message is offered for everyone. Jesus proclaims his message again to us today, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). There is no better new year’s resolution to begin with than this! Jesus is still present to us, providing hope and healing, providing his presence of love and mercy, providing his teaching which shines a light in our darkness. We too can rise up a follow his light and be freed from our slavery to our own selfishness and sin. As we decrease and allow Jesus to increase, we too like the wise men will be changed. We too can share Christ as we live our lives differently this year.  A life that expresses love, understanding, patience, mercy, and forgiveness.

Photo: Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein, IL.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, January 5, 2025

“Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.”

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).

The only one who can take away sins is God. The unblemished lamb is the animal that is sacrificed at the Passover meal, commemorating when the angel of death passed over the Hebrews whose doorposts were marked with the blood of the lamb. The next day they were freed from their slavery under pharaoh, and the Exodus event began culminating in their passing through the Red Sea to freedom.

The Son of God became human to become the Lamb of God. He experienced laughter, pain, suffering, love, tears, and all of our human condition even temptation, but he did not sin. The Son of God became human so that what he assumed in his human condition, he could redeem. As the Lamb of God, Jesus approached John for baptism, he took upon himself the sin of the world and submitted his divinity to his human condition and was willing to be baptized for repentance not because he sinned, but so that he entered into solidarity with us in our sin. He was then and is not afraid now to come close. This act also foreshadowed his crucifixion.

The Incarnation, the Son becoming fully human while remaining fully divine, was the premiere act of mercy, in that miracle, Jesus entered the chaos and woundedness of our lives. His willingness to die on the cross is the greatest expression of his love. The same love that he has, continued to and always will share with his Father, in holding nothing back, we can see him doing so visibly when we look upon a crucifix. He was born and died, he gave everything, including his life for each and every one of us.

We cannot redeem ourselves, heal by our own willing it, escape from our own sins alone, nor be restored to who we have been created to be. We need a savior. Jesus is a model to follow and teacher to guide us, while at the same time he so much more. He who is divine, became one with us in our humanity to lead us and free us from our slavery to sin. Each Christmas is a reminder of the gift of the incarnation, that we can be blessed by every day. As we receive his invitation to grow in our relationship with Jesus daily, he grants us the grace to access and share in the divine Love experienced between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Jesus holds his hand out to each one of us today. May we receive his hand, and as our fingers touch his palm may we feel the wound there, touch, as did Thomas, the imprint of the nail that pierced his flesh, and realize he allowed this to happen so that we could have this very moment with him. Even in our wounds, anxiety, insecurities, confusion, fear, and sin, may we resist pulling away. May we feel the warmth of his hand grip ours. Let our gaze be drawn up to see his face, his smile, and so experience his forgiveness, healing, and his infinite love.

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Photo: Blessed at each Mass and second Advent as a priest, to hold up the Body of Christ and say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sin of the world.” May we who behold him and receive his Body and Blood or spiritual communion, believe in him.

Link for the readings of the Mass for Saturday, January 3, 2026

Forgiveness helps us to walk the path that leads to our healing.

“If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him” (Lk 17:3-4).

Forgiveness is one of the foundational principles of our faith tradition as Christians. If we question or struggle with the degree of forgiveness we engage in, we are in good company with Peter. Thinking he was being generous, Peter asked Jesus how many times should he forgive, seven times? Jesus responded, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times” (cf. Mt 18:21-22).

Luke records the exchange of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray. He taught them the Our Father or Lord’s Prayer. While reciting this prayer often each day or multiple times each day, we say, “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” or “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors” (Mt 6:11-12).

One of the barometers of being a faithful disciple of Jesus is that we are people who practice the sacred art of forgiveness. To forgive does not mean in any way that we condone or justify the offense or even necessarily forget about it. We are to hold people accountable, as Jesus said, we are to “rebuke them” in the hope that they will repent and come to a greater appreciation and respect of our dignity and the dignity of others. When they do repent, we are to then forgive them.

Holding on to grudges, seeking revenge, being unwilling to forgive, can be incapacitating, debilitating, and can lead to a premature as well as eternal death. What can be of help is if we can choose to be more mindful of our thoughts and actions. At the moment we experience discomfort from what someone says or does, instead of giving in to the temptation to react or to let our mind run with the offense, it is very helpful to take some deep breaths, relax our shoulders, and/or loosen our grip. As the negative thoughts attempt to rise again, don’t fight or feed the thoughts, just return to being aware of our breath and ask Jesus to help us be more understanding and forgiving. This will also help our body to discharge the stress and experience God’s peace.

We may struggle with being forgiving because we may not have sought or received much forgiveness ourselves. Advent is coming. It is a season to prepare to celebrate the coming of Jesus into our lives. This season provides a wonderful opportunity to prepare and participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Forgiveness is a healing gift of God’s grace. Once we have felt the healing balm of forgiveness, we might be more willing to forgive others.

A good practice to engage in is to go to a place of quiet and ask God to help you to forgive someone or a few people. Even if your prayer begins, “God, I cannot forgive, I hurt too much, but help me to let go, please help me to forgive, (insert name).” Return each day until you can bring yourself to say, “I forgive, (insert name).” Visualize yourself saying that you forgive the person face to face and imagine a healing between each of you. If the opportunity presents itself you may want to say that you forgive the person directly, send an email, or write a letter – even if you do not press send or mail it.

With the intent to forgive and asking for the help of Jesus, who has forgiven us, even if in the beginning we are unwilling, with time, reconciliation is possible. Depending on the hurt that has been inflicted, you may not reach out to the other person as it may be healthier to stay apart. Forgiveness will help you to heal and not allow the person who has hurt you to continue to do so. Forgiveness is an act of love, for to love is to will the good of the other. In our willingness to forgive, there is freedom. Let us remember: “Forgive and you will be forgiven”.

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Photo: Our willingness to love will help us to walk the path of forgiveness.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, November 10. 2025

Acknowledging our sins is the antidote to our pride.

“…whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 18:14).

From the Christian perspective, humility is not false modesty. Where someone thanks us for doing something and we say something like, “Oh, it was nothing.” This response is often a conditioned response that, consciously or unconsciously, is given to elicit more praise and to keep the focus on ourselves and what we have done. “Sure it was something, you did all that work…” The more appropriate response would be, “You are welcome.” Then the topic of conversation can move on to other matters.

Humility has to do with our primary focus. Are we focused first and foremost on ourselves and placing the focus and energy in boosting our ego, jockeying for a position that is front and center? Or are we focused first and foremost on establishing that God is the core and foundation of our every thought, word, and deed and we are thankful to him for each breath we take?

We are nothing without God. Without him, we would cease to exist. We may bristle at such statements because our cultural influences often promote that what we have and achieved has come because of our own hard work and merit. There is some truth to the effort and energy we may have expended to achieve what we have, but if we think back, many others also had a part to play in where we are today, including God.

From a heightened sense of self-exaltation, we also tend to have less empathy or mercy for those who may have less or are struggling financially, emotionally, psychologically, morally, or spiritually. We might look down our nose at others thinking or saying outright, “What is wrong with them and why don’t they get their act together?”

Where in point of fact, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” Situations in life, whether we are up or down, can change quickly. The point Jesus is making clear in today’s Gospel is that we are far from how perfect we think we are. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Recognizing this reality is a good place to be, as Jesus points out. Being willing to recognize our sinfulness is the first step to freedom.

The contrite tax collector “went home justified” because he came to terms with his sinfulness and confessed it so he could be forgiven, healed, and restored by God. The Pharisee who felt he needed no help because he “was not like the rest of humanity” closed himself off from the healing balm and reconciliation that he truly needed. His prayer was actually to himself and not to God. He did not see himself as a sinner, because of his own pride and arrogance, and so cut himself off from the love and mercy of God.

Our spiritual life does not begin to mature until we utter the prayer of the tax collector. “O God, be merciful to me a sinner”. If we don’t believe we need God, we keep ourselves at a distance. Until we acknowledge our dependence upon God and allow his light to shine in us to reveal our sins, we are in danger. Our own self sufficiency and reliance skews the view that we are sinners and are in need of forgiveness. “The antidote to pride is the total abandonment to the mercy of God and total trust in his grace to empower us to turn from sin and live charity” (Bergsma, 263).

Photo credit: The light of Jesus shines in our darkness when we are willing to receive him.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, October 26, 2025

Bergsma, John. The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year C. Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2024.