gospel-of-the-day

Jesus invites us to be purified and healed by receiving his love and the light of his truth.

“Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved” (Mt 9:17).

Mark, Matthew, and Luke all record the reference of pouring new wine into fresh wineskins. What Matthew adds is, “and both are preserved.” Luke adds: “[And] no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”

The Gospel authors offer this teaching of Jesus in the context of the tensions between those who would reject Jesus and those who would follow him and his new way. The new wine represents the acceptance of the Gospel, the Good News of the kingdom of God in their midst. The cost of receiving this new wine though means to change one’s mind and heart. “The tension, and often incompatibility, between the old and the new is part of every religious tradition and attends every change within that tradition. Matthew and Luke wrestled with it and adapted it to their community situation. Contemporary Christians have no less a challenge” (The Gospel of Mark, Donahue, SJ, p. 109). Matthew shared with his community that Jesus is the new Temple, the old had been destroyed in 70 AD.

Following Jesus meant that both the old and new covenants would be preserved. Jesus did not come to abolish the law and prophets, but he fulfilled the Old and in the New brought a greater depth of understanding and practice to a higher level only possible through participating in his life.

We are invited to wrestle as well. The Church is called to change, to be transformed by the Living God. Many say the Church needs to change this and that, not realizing that we are the Church, the People of God, the Body of Christ. If the Church is to mature and grow each of us is to embrace transformation, being made anew through the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit. This invitation is a call to let go of those habits, lifestyles, behaviors, mindsets, attachments, and addictions that are weighing us down or worse holding us in bondage and slavery to our sin, and ultimately keeping us separated from God.

Much of the material and finite things we hold onto prevents us from receiving the new life God wants to pour into us. Jesus is offering us something better than the merely material. He is offering us the love of the Holy Spirit that we were created to receive. In breathing, receiving, resting and abiding in God’s love, we find peace and rest that brings healing and renewal.

Jesus has come to set us free from our enslavement to sin by inviting us to try some new wine which consists of meditating and praying with, contemplating upon, and living the message of his teachings and actions as recorded in the Gospels. We do not have to be afraid of the change and transformation Jesus is calling us to experience. As St Irenaeus, the second-century bishop of Lyons is attributed to have written: “The Glory of God is man fully alive!” Jesus is inviting us to live our lives and live them to the full!

To become new wineskins then, we are called to identify and let go of those selfish and sinful inclinations that keep us constricted, rigid, and curved in upon ourselves. We are to let go of our fears so that we can be healed from them. We also must let go of what appears to be good, but in truth is not the good that God offers. We let go when we are still and allow ourselves to be loved by God. As we experience more of his love, we can see better the false truths, apparent goods, and disordered affections.

We grasp for these substitutes for God because we feel alone and empty. When we instead seek God instead of the substitutes, instead of distractions, we will feel the loneliness, true, but now we can invite God to love us there. That which is not true, good, and beautiful will be poured out. We are emptied of the false so to be filled more with the grace and love of God. We become new, fresh wineskins, capable of receiving a continual pouring in of God’s love.

The more love we allow ourselves to receive, the more purified we become from our creature comforts and the apparent safety and security of this world which is so fragile. As Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his encyclical, Spe Salve, line 42: “His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation ‘as through fire.’ But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God.”

Photo: Enjoying a quiet early evening walk, breathing, receiving, resting and abiding in God’s love, Grand Coteau, Louisianna.

Donahue, John R. S.J., and Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. The Gospel of Mark. Vol. 2 of Sacra Pagina, edited by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002.

Parallel Scriptural accounts: See Mark 2:22, Matthew 9:16-17 and Luke 5:37-39

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, July 4, 2025

“Do not be unbelieving, but believe.”

Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:27-28)!

Thomas’ acclamation “My Lord and my God!” came from his seeing the risen Jesus and his wounds. Jesus rose from the dead, conquered death, and yet he still bore the wounds of his Passion. This is a profound message to the Apostles, those Jesus sent to proclaim his Gospel, and for us who have been called to follow him today.

The Body of Christ continues to be wounded by the sin and division of our fallen nature that Jesus experienced the fullness of on the Cross. Many people doubt and do not believe today in God because they question, “How can a loving God allow such suffering and pain, especially of the innocent?” A valid question. Many examples may come to our minds, from indirect or direct experience. Pondering this question can then lead to a series of others, “Why God? Where were you? Do you care?”

Some suffering we can bring upon ourselves by removing ourselves from God’s protection, our own selfish choices can lead to pain that God allows us to experience. We can turn away from him because of suffering that has happened in our lives. We can choose disordered affections and false goods seeking to fill the deep loneliness that we feel. There is evil in the world and selfish acts that ripples our and affects us. The enemy of God seeks to divide, destroy, and kill.

Through it all, God is present, God cares, though again we are limited in what we can see and understand. God allows suffering which can reveal our weaknesses, our attachments and our sins. He allows us to see our lives without him and what the promise if of our life with him. Choosing to turn to him and receive his love, may not change a particular suffering we may be experiencing but we will feel his presence and consolation, and receive the strength to endure and overcome.

Even in the case of death, God reveals a deeper truth that death does not have the final answer. His Son does. That is what Jesus showed Thomas in bringing him close to touch his wounded side. Jesus rose from the dead and conquered it, but the scarring of his wounds remained. Jesus calls us to draw close and to touch his wounds so we can embrace our own, those we can and cannot see. As we allow Jesus to come close to those areas we have not wanted anyone else to see, those sins we never thought would be forgiven, and when we trust and open our hearts and minds to Jesus, we experience his healing.

Though the temptation is strong to deny, rationalize, or flee from the conflict, challenges, hurt, and pain that we and others experience, we must resist. If we don’t embrace our or another’s trials we will not come to the root cause of them. Jesus understands the suffering of the innocent, for he himself was innocent and sinless and was crucified on the Cross. Fair? No. He was willing to do so to free us from our sin, to be present now in this particular time and moment to show us a way out of our darkness, pain, and suffering.

We can be easily overwhelmed with the suffering in our country, our world, or the personal challenges right before us. Denial or indifference is not the answer. There is an act of balancing that Jesus calls us to participate in as we allow ourselves to be loved by and learn to love God, love others, and love our neighbors as ourselves. The answer is found when we are willing to encounter Jesus, grow in our relationship with him, and follow his lead.

We do not know where Thomas was when the Apostles first encountered Jesus after the Resurrection, but we do know he was not with Jesus. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing, yet with Jesus, the one who conquered death, all things are possible! When we feel overwhelmed, helpless, or indecisive, return to Jesus and acclaim with Thomas, “My Lord and my God!” and begin again with him.

Jesus is present, just as he was with Thomas and the other apostles. He invites us to be engaged in the unique way he calls us to make our corner of the world a little better. As Jesus enters the chaos of our lives, he prompts us to enter into the chaos of another’s, to hear their story, their experience, be present, and allow the Holy Spirit to happen.

St. Thomas, pray for us!

Painting from Caravaggio: Incredulity of St Thomas, 1601-1602

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, July 3, 2026

Let us not demean but embrace our humanity as well as those in need.

And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven”(Mt 9:2).

Matthew’s account of this scene is much simpler than Mark and Luke’s, but the point is the same. The person paralyzed received healing because some people were willing to bear his weight and creatively bring him to Jesus. In neither of the three Gospel accounts do we know who the people are that bring this man to Jesus for healing. Were they family, friends, or neighbors, combination? It does not matter. They were aware of someone in need, they believed Jesus could heal him, and they put forth the effort to bring this man to Jesus.

Are we like the people in today’s Gospel; are we aware, do we care? St. Mother Teresa often said that people are “not only hungry for bread – but hungry for love, naked not only for clothing – but naked for human dignity and respect, homeless not only for want of home and bricks, – but homeless because of rejection.” If we are living our faith, indifference to the needs of others is not an option. Rationalizing why we ought not to care, or worse giving in to our fears and prejudices so as to dehumanize and reject others in need are counter to the call of Jesus.

When we may be closed off to helping others, a bit impatient or short, less than forgiving or merciful, it could be that we have been curving in upon ourselves and not allowing God to love us in areas we may not feel all that lovable. Yet, it is exactly there that Jesus yearns to enter. He seeks to love us in our most wounded places and where we feel shame. All sin is a curving in upon ourselves and away from God. Doing so also distorts reality and keeps us distant from the antidote. When we allow Jesus into our poverty, sin, and shame, we can be loved, forgiven, and consoled. Then we can embrace a disposition that is more open to sharing mercy, forgiveness, love, and care for others.

How is God speaking to and moving our hearts? There are so many who are hurting and suffering. May we not see people as interruptions but invitations to experience God’s grace. We just need to be honest about where God is leading us and act as the four in our Gospel reading did. When we are aware, willing to come close to those in need, access our personal gifts of creativity, and collaborate with Jesus, miracles can and still do happen. Structures of inhumanity and injustice can be turned around when we are willing to be loved by God and love others in return.

Pope Francis has been consistent and clear about the dignity of all life. He tweeted (do we still say tweet?) back in 2013: “It is God who gives life. Let us respect and love human life, especially vulnerable life in a mother’s womb.” During Mass on Sunday, January 14, 2018 he shared: “Migrants and refugees don’t represent just a problem to be solved, but are brothers and sisters to be welcomed, respected and loved.” On June 3, 2020, Pope Francis said, “My friends, we cannot tolerate or turn a blind eye to racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life”.

Painting: The Lord hears the cry of not just a select few but all of us in need. Are we willing to share our need, receive God’s love and so help others?

See also Mark 2:1-12, Matthew 9:1-8 and Luke 5:17-26

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, June 30, 2022

Peter and Paul acknowledged Jesus as the Christ the Son of the living God, do we?

Jesus said to his Apostles, “But who do you say that I am” (Mt 16:15)?

Have we answered the same question that Jesus posed to his apostles for ourselves? Too often we move from this to that, one situation to another, putting out fires and moving from one crisis to another, distracted and diverted, or we are just seeking to make it through another day. Have you ever felt like you are walking in a fog, you began the day with a list and then half the day has gone by and you wondered what happened to the time?

To be a Christian is not a call to stop living our lives, but it is an invitation to live our lives in, with, and for Jesus. We have been described as a People of the Book, along with Jews and Muslims. This is true, yet, more so for us as Christians, we are a people of encounter; we encounter the Living Word, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ.

Peter and Paul encountered Jesus in their lives and were changed forever. We can encounter the same Jesus when we slow down enough to pray and meditate with the Word proclaimed in the Liturgy of the Mass or read in personal prayer. We will find our lives drifting less if we have something, someone we are anchored to.

As a very simple example: except for the first Office of the day, in praying the Liturgy of the Hours, the opening prayer is, “God come to my assistance, Lord make haste to help me.” To embrace the depth of these words and resist the temptation to mindlessly state them, to not take in the request that I am asking, will help us to begin the day with more intention. Also, how many times do we make the Sign of the Cross without being attentive to the profound act we have just engaged ourselves in?

Through invoking a prayer of asking for God’s assistance and making the sacramental gesture of the Sign of the Cross, we are acknowledging that the Creator of all that exists is a part of our lives. While at the same time, as St. Augustine taught, closer to us than we are to ourselves. We may lean on both prayers when tempted, stressed, or anxious. Each one is an affirmation of a commitment to resist giving in to a mindset of minimalism and self-centeredness. All things are possible when we intentionally choose to align ourselves with Jesus, participate in the communion of the Holy Trinity, and welcome the invitation to love others as God loves us.

Peter and Paul both answered the question that Jesus posed. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16), and Paul “proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God” (Acts 9:20)! They were willing to give their lives intentionally and totally to Jesus and his mission. They allowed themselves to be steadily conformed to the life of Jesus, holding nothing back even in their willingness to be martyred in Rome.

I invite you to read today’s Gospel account from Matthew a few times. Imagine being present in the scene, and then as Jesus approaches and asks, “Who do you say that I am?” Take a moment to think, pray, and then answer. How we answer this question makes a difference. The next question to entertain is, are we willing to follow Jesus with each thought, word, and deed each moment of the day?

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us!

Icon of St. Peter and St. Paul recently given to me by one of my OCIA students.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, June 29, 2026

God first, helps us to experience his love and healing that we can share.

Uncertainty, upheaval, and unrest in our country and world appear to be the water we are all swimming in right now. Our readings give us some guideposts for hope and light to help us to see through the haze to what and who truly matters.

In our first reading from the Second Book of Kings, we are introduced to the Shunammite woman and the prophet Elisha. Upon their first meeting, the Shunammite woman invites Elisha to have dinner with her. There is no evidence that they knew each other at that point. She recognized his need after traveling and offered him hospitality. Their time together must have been positive because Elisha continued to visit with this woman and her husband each time he came through the area. Their friendship grew to such a point that she was even willing to have a room built for him to stay. What began with a simple gesture of empathy and hospitality would be blessed with new life.

There is an echo here of the Genesis account where three men come to visit Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15). Abraham immediately invites the men to stay with them and appeals to Sarah to make bread and he would go and he would fetch a calf. Their welcome and hospitality are met with the praise that when they return the following year, Sarah would be with child.

We may not have the opportunity to invite a three Persons of the Trinity or a prophet to dine or live with us in our homes, but we can start with some smaller acts of interaction. When our kids, no longer kids anymore but adults, returned home from California to visit on holidays, my wife, JoAnn, would take them to Publix to stock up on food for their stay. They were constantly amazed at how many of the workers there knew their mom.

The reason was that JoAnn took small moments during each visit to interact with them. Initially, she would say hello and ask how they were doing, then slowly on subsequent visits got to know a little more about their families and their lives. Instead of rushing through the store and taking the presence of the workers for granted, JoAnn saw real people with real lives and built real relationships through small gestures of empathy.

In our Gospel reading, Matthew records Jesus saying to his apostles: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37). This may seem the exact opposite of the hospitality that we just encountered! These words would have been abhorrent to the people of his time. Family ties meant everything. Jesus is sounding more like a gang leader than a messiah. They need to be loyal to him first and foremost even before their own parents or children.

Jesus was making two key points. First, he is restating the Ten Commandments in that our most important relationship, even more than our family, is to be with God. You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, your mind, and your strength. We are to put God first before all things and all people, even family. Second, and even more startling, Jesus is equating himself with God which is the only way this statement makes any sense. Jesus is no mere rabbi, teacher, or prophet. Jesus is the Son of God incarnate. As we deepen our relationship with Jesus and follow him first before all, we will not only grow closer to God, our relationships, our activities, our very thoughts, words, and actions will be more properly ordered.

To enter the diaconate program, the wife of the applicant must sign that she is in agreement with the process and that goes right up until the day of ordination. If she is not on board, she can pull the plug at any time. Initially, JoAnn was not fully behind the idea. With the challenges to my time already high because of the demands of my teaching schedule, formation would add more challenges. I was taking a risk even presenting the idea to JoAnn. Yet, I believed Jesus was calling me forward. We both trusted that this was God’s will and we followed through with formation, to ordination, and beyond.

There were indeed challenges and tensions because of this decision and we learned to lean on Jesus through each ebb and flow. God first in our lives, meant changes and sacrifices made for each other, and fortunately, we didn’t grow apart but together. And growing not only closer to God and each other but we grew closer in our relationships at our parish of St Peter and Cardinal Newman HS where I taught then as well.

Not to be left in the lectionary gathering dust, in our second reading, St Paul helps us to understand that our relationships even transcend death. For those of us who have been “baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death” (Romans 6:3). Jesus has conquered death and he has risen and will die no more. This he promises for us as well. Those who have died with Christ shall rise with him. Death does not have the final say, Jesus does.

In three months, it will be seven years since JoAnn died. We shared twenty-three wonderful years together. She taught me how to be less selfish, less contemptuous and judgmental, she taught me how to come out of myself and how to love. In the first few months after her passing, I was having trouble recalling memories of our time together and began to fear that I would forget her. Over those first months and first two years, I realized that the sorrow and grief of loss was strong and I had been holding on too tightly to who I lost.

The past five years has been a time of healing and letting go of my grip. I have started not only to experience some spontaneous memories like her laugh while doing the dishes one night, her presence when I made time for walks, and activity we did almost nightly, but even more wonderful, feeling brief moments of her being close in unexpected moments, especially during Mass. 

JoAnn had often tried to think of a business idea that we could all do as a family. Our youngest daughter, Christy, came up with a creative business idea a few years back and shared it with me. I was still living in our home then, and after our discussion went out to mow. As I was thinking about Christy’s idea, and after a few circles around the lawn, I felt this deep feeling of joy and warmth in my chest, and tears welled up in my eyes. I knew it was JoAnn’s joy that Christy was adopting JoAnn’s entrepreneurial spirit. 

So yes, we are continuing to experience times of uncertainty, upheaval, and unrest. What has helped me is to not focus on what is beyond my control but what is in my sphere of influence. What has helped me tremendously has been setting non-negotiable practices to spend with God throughout the day. I am just as busy now if not more than I have ever been, but find myself less defined by my external circumstances. I feel much less anxious and stressed, even when the external wave of activity and demands become overwhelming.

What was true during the time of our biblical readings is still true for us today. God must be first in our lives, he calls us to be in a relationship with him and each other, and the more we attend to both, the better we will weather the storms, even death, and the more joyful we will be even as we go through trials together. 

We can’t change the country and the world, but we can change ourselves. We can reach out to others in our realm of influence. Wherever and whenever we interact, we can make an extra effort to be understanding, kind, respectful, and hospitable. We can resist taking each other for granted and be more present and listen to one another and our stories. We can choose to resist reacting to and instead see each other as God sees us. 

Then as we begin to change, and those around us change that can begin to ripple out to begin to bring healing and reconciliation to the many who need to experience it. Life is short, even in the best of circumstances. God loves us more than we can ever imagine with a love that even transcends death. When we experience God’s love, we will seek him more. Let us make a deeper commitment today to love God first so to better love ourselves and one another as God loves us. 

Photo: Taking up our cross as Jesus did will help us to keep our eyes fixed on him, who is our light through the darkness.

Mass readings for Sunday, June 28, 2026

“I will come and cure”.

The centurion said in reply, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed” (Mt 8:8).

After Jesus finishes his Sermon on the Mount, he comes down from the mountain. In the opening of chapter eight, we see two hearts open to God, a leper and a centurion. The centurion may or may not have been a Roman but he certainly was a Gentile. He, a member of an occupying army, was aware of the animosity many Jews felt toward him. Yet he, like the leper, approached Jesus.

Unlike the leper, the centurion came for another. He did not seek to come because of his family members or his soldiers was suffering, he came for his servant. He, like the leper, showed boldness and faith. He might have even a few days before thought this Jewish man was beneath him, and yet, he approached Jesus because he believed that he could heal his servant. It is also curious that the centurion who is used to giving orders does not order Jesus to heal his servant, he doesn’t even ask him to heal his servant. He just states the fact that his servant is suffering, which shows even more trust that Jesus will do something about it, but Jesus’ terms not the centurion’s own terms.

“I will come and cure him.” Jesus’ response is a little lost in the translation. “Jesus acknowledges the boldness of the centurion’s request in his response, which is better translated as an exclamatory question: ‘Shall I come and cure him?’ With the emphatic ‘I,’ it is as if Jesus is saying, ‘Shall I, a Jew, come to your home?'” (Mitch and Sri, 126). The centurion acknowledges then his unworthiness to have Jesus enter his home. He who has been used to ordering others has the humility to say that he is not even worthy to have Jesus come, he can just speak and he believed that his servant would be healed.

Jesus saw in the leper, not revulsion, and in the centurion, not an enemy, but first and foremost, human beings in need, two persons with boldness, belief, and deep faith. Jesus also healed the mother-in-law of Peter, who did not ask to be healed. He saw her need, her illness, and again was willing to come close to touch her. Many who were possessed also came and Jesus reached out to them with a simple touch of his hand or authority in his words. The kingdom of his Father is open to all who have faith and believe.

We, like the leper, are wounded and in need of the healing words and touch of Jesus in our lives. Jesus draws close to us as well and is only waiting for us to ask to be healed and transformed by his love and mercy. We, like the centurion, can approach Jesus on behalf of others in need of healing. We can even assume the posture of Peter’s mother-in-law and be open with our hearts and minds to receive Jesus’ healing invitation.

Jesus has come to remind us of the truth of who we are – daughters and sons of our Father, and our inheritance is to receive the love of the Holy Spirit. From a new posture of abiding in God’s love we will better resist the temptation to judge anyone as unworthy to receive the same grace, love, and mercy we have received. We are all unworthy of God’s love which he offers as a gift. God loves us not by anything we do but because we are his children. This is why we state the words of the centurion just before we receive Jesus in the gift of his true presence in the Eucharist. As we acknowledge our unworthiness, Jesus comes close to us in such an intimate way, to be consumed, so that we will be healed.

Drawing: Rembrandt’s The Healing of the Mother-in-Law of Saint Peter

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, June 27, 2026

Jesus has come close not to fix us or solve our problems but to love us.

“Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I will do it.  Be made clean” (Mt 8:2-3).

Jesus could have healed the man with a word from a distance. Instead, he chose to come close, to reach out, and touch the leper. In doing so, he risked contamination, risked being deemed ritually unclean. Jesus came close anyway and touched the man. Jesus was not contaminated nor did he become unclean, the man was healed. The Son of God, consubstantial with his Father, beyond all space and time, was sent by his Father in a certain time and place, to come close. While remaining fully divine, he took on flesh in the womb of Mary and became fully human. He became one with us in our humanity so we could and can become one with him in his divinity.

God did not make us machines nor are we mathematical formulas. God created us to be human beings with emotions, senses, dreams, desires, and souls. He created us physical and spiritual. So when life gets bumpy and we suffer, we want an answer. We have to be careful where we seek though. We are not machines to be fixed, nor problems to be solved. We are human beings created in God’s image to be loved. The healing that Jesus offers the leper is not a fixing or a solving, but a loving of his brother. He was willing to come close, touch the man, love him. Do we seek only a physical solution or a deeper communion?

Much of our suffering in our world today is a result of our not willing to come or allow another to come close. By keeping others away, we keep Jesus away. We may not say it in the same words, but aren’t there those we consider unclean and so deemed to be kept at arm’s length? When we do so, we cut others and ourselves off from intimacy with one another AND God. We then believe the stirring negative thoughts swirling around in our minds about the other person or persons. Instead of getting to know some-one, a human person, with their imperfections yes, but also their gifts, we judge. We keep others as other, at a distance and in doing so reduce people to two dimensional caricatures.

Getting to know someone beyond first appearances or prejudgements happens when we spend time together. There is a lot more to who we are than the caricatures we may have had imposed upon us or we have imposed upon others. This is also true regarding our relationship with God. We so often attempt to reduce God to what we can understand, to attempt to understand him as a problem to be solved. God is not going to be solved and is not about limitation but expansion. He comes close to us in his Son so through Jesus we can get to know the love of the Holy Spirit shared between them and once we have experienced this love we can begin to heal and expand beyond our finite limitations.

Jesus continues to come close, to touch and heal us as he did the leper in today’s Gospel. If we are willing, he seeks to be intimately a part of every aspect of our lives. He seeks to accompany us in our fears, struggles, suffering, and pain. He also celebrates with us when we overcome, repent, experience joy, and especially when we love one another. When we close the gap and draw close, willing to be a conduit of accompaniment and reconciliation, we will begin to see healing in ourselves, our families, communities, and beyond our bubble wrap of comfort. The question is: Are we, like the leper, willing to allow Jesus to come close and like Jesus, willing to draw near?

Photo: “Jesus has to enter into the drama of human existence, for that belongs to the core of his mission; he has to penetrate it completely, down to its uttermost depths, in order to find the ‘lost sheep,’ to bear it on his shoulders, and to bring it home” (Pope Benedict XVI, p. 26).

Ratzinger, Joseph: Pope Benedict XVI. Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration. New York: Double Day, 2007.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, June 26, 2026

“No. He will be called John” (Lk 1:60).

With these simple words, three inter-related points arise. First, Elizabeth is beginning to shift the momentum of original sin. Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the fruit that God had told her and Adam not to eat of, yet she did. Adam did not support her nor step in to protect Eve during her dialogue but remained silent in the face of the temptation Eve was experiencing. Both of them slipped into sin by disobeying the will of God and grasping for what God would have given to them freely if they were willing to receive their fulfillment of participating in his divinity.

At the time of the birth of Elizabeth’s son, there was even more cause for celebration, for Elizabeth had not born a child and was past child-bearing years. The eighth day had come in which following the Abrahamic law the boy was to be circumcised and named. Her relatives and neighbors gathered around with great excitement and there appeared to be a unanimous decision to name the boy after his father. Elizabeth chose not to. Nor did she, like Eve, cave to the pressure and temptation surrounding her. Unlike Adam who lost his voice at the time he needed to speak up, Zechariah found his voice, and had Elizabeth’s back. Both Elizabeth and Zechariah knew what God wanted them to do and were faithful to follow through.

Elizabeth and Zechariah were faithful to God even while facing the familial and social pressure placed upon them. Some today may be removed by such familial pressure when naming a child, but for this time, names were important ways to continue family continuity. Elizabeth, despite the pressure, held her ground and stood firm to the will of God that the boy would be named John. John was a common name during the time of Elisabeth which from the Hebrew, Yochanan, which means God is gracious.

Sounds like a pretty good name to name a son to me! Yet, Elisabeth’s family was exasperated with her and deferred to Zechariah, the boy’s father, thinking he would have more sense. Without hesitation Zechariah supported Elizabeth. The point here is not so much the name, but the following of God’s will in the face of pressure to do the opposite.

We can see in this short account a powerful lesson: when we trust in God, we grow. We begin to feel safe and secure and so begin to the mature and are able to move from finding our security in our identity to instead finding it in our faithfulness to God. Culture and traditions are not sacred, but God is. Elizabeth and Zechariah faced a lot of familial and social pressure to conform, yet they chose to be true to God, to be true to themselves, and they chose integrity over their identity.

The very simple account of Elizabeth and Zechariah naming their child John in opposition to the pressure offers for us a way to counteract the rising tide of polarization and conflicts that we face in our families, communities, and country today. Identity provides safety, support, and security and when properly ordered, health and good. It fuels one of our deepest pangs of hunger to belong, to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We can find our identity in family, friendships, our religious traditions, culture, political affiliations, common interests, clubs, activities, hobbies, and sports. watch a World Cup game of soccer and you will see national identity and pride on full display!

Our identity when tied to these cultural norms, provides us with security and stability, which is good, but doing so can also be a trap. We want to belong so much, the drive is so strong, that we may feel the pressure to make decisions, act in certain ways, and support others who go against who we are, just so that we can belong. We may have known what God wants from us in a particular situation, heard the whispers of his voice in our conscience, yet were pulled by the louder voices of the group. We are sometimes so ingrained by our identity that we can be strangled and suffocated by it.

Elizabeth and Zechariah were true to the will of God and won over those placing pressure on them by their family and neighbors. “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him (Luke 1:66). Often though, being faithful to God, being a person of integrity, does not go so well. Their own son who would grow up to be John the Baptist, would lose his life by speaking truth to power.

John also showed his faithfulness and humility as his own popularity grew and people looked to him as the messiah. He could have easily donned the mantle, and yet his response to the popular acclaim was, “He must increase; I must decrease” (cf. John 3:30). John, like his parents, knew the role God had called him to play. He was the forerunner to prepare the way for Jesus. John embodied the moral courage that we all need today and he points us as he did two of his own disciples to behold the Lamb of God.

More than another wonderful role model, more than words on the page, Jesus is the Word of God incarnate. Allowing ourselves, like John the Baptist did, to become less so that Jesus can become more in our lives is the way of discipleship. We can also have the courage to even face familial pressures against our faith when we daily read, meditate, and pray with Jesus’ teachings and put them into practice. As we are more intentional with our choices and align them to God’s will, our relationship with Jesus will grow. Slowly we will resist internal as well as the external temptations and like Elizabeth and Zechariah, stand up for the truth no matter the pressure.

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Painting: “The naming of John the Baptist” by Fra. Angelico

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, June 24, 2026

As we walk with Jesus through the narrow gate, we heal and remember who we are.

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are true” (Mt 7:13-14).

Jesus meets us where we are in our present state of life. He accepts us as we are at this very moment. At the same time, Jesus does not want us to just settle and to merely get by, surviving day by day. Instead, he encourages and guides us to be fully actualized. He calls us to perfection, to holiness, to be saints! He sees in us, as he did in his disciples and apostles, the promise that God has placed in our souls and knows the heights to which his Father calls us to ascend. We each have a unique gift or gifts to offer to the world, each and every one of us.

One way of interpreting entering the narrow gate is that we need to say no to everything. When, in fact, Jesus invites us to a no to anything or anyone that leads us away from fulfilling our promise and who we are as God’s beloved daughter or son. He invites us to say a firm no to those apparent goods that we find initially inviting but soon realize that they are empty promises, can burden us, weigh us down, and worse lead us to attachment, addiction, and enslavement.

To pass through the narrow gate, is a yes to that which is truly good, will bring us happiness, fulfillment, and authentic freedom. Each yes to God is a moment of growth and grace. It is also a death to supporting our false ego, turning the focus away from turning in upon ourselves, constricting, and instead receiving God’s love and his expanding our hearts and minds draws us to will the good of and accompany others.

Jesus will help us in seeking and discerning his will. Spending time in silence and prayer can often reveal the sources of our worry, anxiety, or fear; pride, judgment, or prejudice; sinful actions, harmful habits, and/or addictions. We need not deny or run from them. Instead, acknowledge whatever arises with Jesus, and then allow him to provide healing and transformation. Jesus offers us a clearer vision so that we can choose with more freedom. This will not be a one-time, done now for all activity, but a daily, disciplined commitment and practice of discernment and examination of our conscience.

We need to continually welcome the Holy Spirit and he will give us the courage to discern between apparent and authentic goods. A good meditation is to imagine placing our hand in Jesus’ hand as if we were a small child and allow him to lead us through the narrow gate. As we go through all that is not of him, all the excess that we carry, will fall away, and in passing through we come face to face with who we always have been, a beloved daughter or son of our loving God and Father. What has fallen away, let us resist picking up again.

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Photo: As we grow closer to Jesus, as we heal, as we are restored and redeemed, we return to and experience our original innocence.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, June 23 2026

Jesus will help us to remove the log from our own eyes so we can help others to remove their splinter.

For many of us, judging one another is almost as automatic as breathing. As we encounter someone we have instant internal judgments. We judge looks, clothes, actions, inactions, homes, cars, and material items. We judge our family, spouses, friends, colleagues, classmates, leaders, enemies, celebrities, as well as those we consider different as well as those we determine to keep at arm’s length. Much of what gets our attention is what Jesus is addressing in today’s Gospel, negative judgments.

Jesus said to his disciples: “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye” (Mt 7:4-5).

There are positive judgments that bring about effective change for the good. In a court case, our hope is that the judge is learned in the law and guides the lawyers and jury in ways of sound judgment such that justice with mercy is served. For us to do likewise in our everyday interactions with one another, Jesus shares that we need to remove the wooden beam from our eye first before we are able to remove the splinter in another’s.

Jesus presents this hyperbolic image, a common rhetorical device for rabbis, of someone attempting to remove a splinter in someone else’s eye all the while the wooden beam protruding out of his or her own eye. This beam prevents the person from even being able to get close enough to actually be of any help! That is the point. Often in our rash judgements, we distance ourselves from our brother and sister, we not only judge them but condemn them. We don’t see the heart and mind of the person, we do not know what people are struggling with at any moment, and yet we allow ourselves to play judge and jury and so create further distance and so worse, separation.

Jesus is inviting us to remove the beam. We do so when we are willing to change our hearts and minds such that we are no longer callused and hardened by negative and condemning judgments toward others based on our own unbridled biases and prejudices. Softening happens when we take the risk and trust Jesus with those places in ourselves where we are believing the lies of the enemy, when we are judging and allowing ourselves to be poisoned by shame and self criticism. When we allow Jesus in to love us, we can then confess because we feel accepted and affirmed for who we are despite what we have allowed ourselves to do and not do.

Jesus is willing to lovingly enter our chaos, to embrace any and all of us who will receive the invitation of his healing embrace. Jesus walks with us, convicts us, and shines his light to reveal to us our where we are addicted, giving in to disordered affections and enslaved by sin. When we repent, allow ourselves to be loved at our worst, we experience God’s forgiveness, mercy, and grace.

We are then healed from our own limitations, weaknesses, self-centered perceptions, insecurities, denial and suppression of our anxieties and wounds that so often fueled our biases and prejudices. As we experience God’s forgiveness and love, we begin to heal, and that wooden beam shrinks. We are able to see others as God sees them, as human beings endowed with dignity because we have been created in the image and likeness of God. We come close as our hearts open wider to compassion and empathy.

Repentance, forgiveness, and growing in love helps us to collaborate and participate in Jesus’ work of redemption. Having removed the log from our own eyes, we can better assist others in removing their splinters. Admitting to our own shortcomings, weaknesses, and failures, and opening ourselves to healing, learning, and growing from those experiences, we are then in a better position to meet others in their own moments of chaos, to journey side by side, help others to repent, heal, and to be transformed by the love of God we have received.

Jesus helps us to remove our beams of judgment so that we can be more understanding, merciful, and forgiving. We will be blessed in doing so, for Jesus also taught us that as we judge, so will God judge us. As we repent and are forgiven, so may we forgive and show mercy. In receiving forgiveness and forgiving, in repenting from sin and judgmentalism, our souls will find rest and from that place of peace, we are better able to come close to help others as Jesus has done for us.

Photo: Allowing the light of Christ to shine within our hearts helps the logs in our eyes to dissolve.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, June 22, 2026