healing

We are tenants serving in the vineyard of our loving God and Father.

“Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit” (Mt 21:43).

With these words, Jesus is speaking to the leadership of Israel, those entrusted to shepherd God’s chosen. Jesus is not, as some have unfortunately suggested, advocating supersessionism: the claim that the Church has replaced Israel in God’s plan. The Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate, Declaration on the Relation of the Church and Non-Christian Religions, states clearly: “It is true that the Church is the new people of God, yet the Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from holy Scripture” (741).

There is clear evidence that there have been anti-semitic movements and supersessionist views in the Church and it has created division instead of interfaith communion, and there are traces that still support a view contrary to Nostra Aetate. There is still much to do to heal and promote better mutual understanding. We must remember that Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the Apostles were Jewish. Pope Paul VI stated that we are all spiritual Semites.

What we need to glean from Jesus’ words is that we who say we believe in God are given a sacred trust and duty to care for one another and all of creation. In the parable that Jesus shares, God is the owner of the vineyard, echoing a similar analogy from Isaiah 5:1-7 which is our first reading. The appeal of each telling is an appeal to the leaders and elders to repent.

Jesus is speaking to us as well. The Church is not our Church, just as in the parable the vineyard does not belong to the tenants. We are to serve God by following his will and bear good fruit by living our baptismal call to live holy lives dedicated to God. We cannot go through each day with blinders on to the needs of those around us. Though we cannot meet all the needs everywhere and for everyone, we can begin to approach each day with an intent of being good stewards to those we engage with.

We can begin by looking at our own home. First, on the material level, do we have more than we need? Are there material goods that could be used better elsewhere rather than just taking up space? Then, going forward, we can purchase what we need and resist what we think we need. I need to apply this to books!

“Wealth, explains Saint Basil, is like water that issues forth from the fountain: the greater the frequency with which it is drawn, the purer it is, while it becomes foul if the fountain remains unused” (Compendium, 329). We need to seek God’s discernment so to better manage the gifts and resources that God has entrusted us with. We are to free ourselves from the attachment to our material goods and seek God first. He gives us more in one loving glance than any possession we have or ever will have. We are to be people of generosity giving freely with joy, not choking on our own stagnation of excessive acquisitions.

Assessing daily how we treat one another is also important. A good practice here is to follow St. Mother Teresa’s five finger Gospel: “You did it to me.” This was an embodiment of Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus emphasized what you do to the least of my brothers, you did it to me. If we can approach each person we meet, in person as well as online, not as if they were like Jesus, but in fact Jesus, we might treat others with more dignity or respect.

The act of respecting the dignity of one person makes a big difference, certainly to that person. Respect ripples out to counter the negativity that permeates growing cynicism, distrust, division, and polarization. A waterfall begins with one drop. Helping people to feel they matter, that they have worth and dignity begins with one smile or a listening ear is just such a drop. Kindness and caring begins by listening to God tell us how much he loves us, be still long enough to rest in his healing embrace, and allow him to love us where we may not want to be loved or feel unlovable.

We can often get stressed, strained, frustrated, and angry when we consume too much of the news and allow ourselves to be saturated with the negativity of the world. Very little is within the realm of what we can have an impact on. Might be a good practice to consume less of the negativity, pray for the needs of the world, and allow the light and love of Jesus to reveal to us where we need to repent. repentance, forgiveness, healing, help us to receive more of God’s love. We are better able to resist serving ourselves but instead serve God in his vineyard in the unique way he calls us to serve.

We are called to work toward the common good of all, within our country and throughout the world. Doing so not in some abstract or utopian way, but in specific ways where we are invested in the lives of others. “Collaboration in development of the whole person and of every human being is in fact a duty of all towards all, and must be shared by the four parts of the world, East and West, North and South” (Compendium, John Paul II, 446).

We are not the owners of the vineyard, we are the tenants placed in charge by God. How we use our time, talent, and treasure matter. This is a good point of daily meditation and focus when examining our conscience each evening before we retire to the land of dreams. How have we done in the matter of being grateful to God, caring for one another, ourselves, and our environment? For those places we have fallen short, may we seek God’s forgiveness, and commit with God’s help to begin anew. Where we have done well, may we thank God for his guidance and continue to receive his love and follow his will, such that the water of generosity we draw continues to be pure so we may bear good fruit that will last.

Photo: When we remain connected to the vine of God’s love, we will bear good fruit.

Link for the readings for Sunday, October 4, 2026

Flannery, Austin. Vatican Council II. Fifth ed. Vol. 1. 2 vols. New York: Costello, 1998.

Compendium of the social doctrine of the church. Cittá del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2005.

Jesus lights our path so that with him, we may walk through the darkness of our suffering and pain.

Jesus asked his disciples about who people said that he was and Peter, through the revelation of God answered, “the Christ of God” (Lk 9:20). Jesus then responded that “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised” (Lk 9:22).

The point of who Jesus is never gets old. As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we come to a deeper understanding of Peter’s words.

Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Yet, that meant many things to many people who were awaiting the coming of the Messiah. For most, they were hoping for a military leader to come to lead them and overthrow their Roman occupiers. As soon as Peter made his statement, Jesus clarified what kind of Messiah that he would be, a suffering servant. Peter had trouble with understanding this and he represents us as well. One of the points of faith many of us struggle with is the same as Peter, why did Jesus have to suffer?

Jesus was willing to be sent by his Father to become human and to experience all of humanity, even the suffering of our humanity, because only that which Jesus assumed could he redeem. Also, in experiencing our suffering, even unto death, we can know without hesitation or doubt that Jesus understands our struggles and anguish. And that means we are never alone in our suffering.

The reality is that the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, is Jesus. He is the suffering servant, the One willing to give his life on the Cross for all of humanity and creation. Jesus did not do this in some abstract way. He died for each of us reading these words right now. He died for all who have died, are now living, or will ever live in the future. Jesus died through a radical particularity, for you because he loves you.

Jesus “died in body through a love greater than anyone had known” (St. Bernard). Are we not only willing to receive his love but also suffer and sacrifice for one another? Our discipleship will be ultimately expressed in this radical love, in our willing the good of each other no matter the cost. We must be willing to let our hearts be moved with compassion and as St. Mother Teresa taught by, “Giving until it hurts.”

To give until it hurts means allowing our hearts to be open to love. For our hearts to be open to the pain of another means we need to experience healing often. The Divine Physician seeks to remove our hearts of stone and replace them with hearts of flesh. This divine surgery happens at the Cross when we are willing to bring our suffering to Jesus whose arms are wide open and ready to embrace us.

The Suffering Servant understands and experiences our pain. He can help us to experience instead of run from our pain. There is no way to cover up, go around, sidestep, and/or to deny, our suffering. It will remain until we face and experience it head on. But we don’t have to do so alone, nor can we. For what Jesus has assumed he will redeem. When we are ready and at the pace, we are willing to go, Jesus will provide healing. As we are healing, we are then able to experience more empathy and compassion, to suffer with, to love others, and walk with them on their own journey toward healing, toward receiving the love we all have been made for.

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Photo: Evening Rosary walk. Good way to end the day before heading to the land of dreams.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 25, 2026

“Follow me.”

“While he was at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples” (MT 9:10).

We as the Church, followers of Jesus, still have much to learn from Jesus. Today’s reading provides another wonderful example. Once Jesus begins his public ministry he is constantly on the go. Going where? Meeting people in the midst of their daily lives as he did with Matthew. And what is the response to Jesus calling Matthew, a tax collector, and then partaking in table fellowship with other tax collectors and sinners?

Matthew accepts his invitation to follow. The Pharisees question the disciples about his practice and curious onlookers follow at a distance. But to those who have, maybe for the first time in their lives, been respected as fellow human beings, their response is hope. A hope that there actually may be a path leading in from the peripheries. A hope that they no longer have to be on the outside looking in. A hope that they, for the first time in their lives might finally belong.

Jesus is shown time and again encountering the person as they are in their present circumstances and the chaos of their lives. He welcomes, is present, and embraces each person as they are. Yet he doesn’t want them to stay where they are. He invites people to be part of something greater than their self-absorbed posture, their self-imposed and/or externally imposed limitations and instead to actualize their potential and embrace a life of meaning and purpose. The only requirement is that they are willing to: repent, be forgiven, be healed, be loved, be human, be free, and once experiencing this encounter with Jesus, share what they have received with others.

When we are willing to hear Jesus say, “Follow me.”, then follow, and become Jesus’ disciples as Matthew did, then we can experience the same hope for a new beginning. To follow, we must have the humility to recognize our sinfulness and our wounds. We need to recognize our need to repent, need for healing, our dependence on and need for God as well as his love, more than anyone or anything else. When we do so, healing begins. We are then able to let go of the apparent goods that we thought brought us happiness but instead led us astray. We will renounce disordered affections and false hopes so our desires may be properly ordered.

Only in God alone will we find our fulfillment, hope, and security. Jesus invites us to experience: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). This is the promise and fulfillment that no other pursuit or person can bring. God is the foundation and source of all, and at the same time he knows each and every one us better than we know ourselves. God invites us to grow in our relationship so that we can know, love, and serve him.

The Son, was sent by the Father, not to condemn, but to save us by revealing the lies and showing us the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus draws close to us as he did with Matthew, he experiences the chaos of our lives, and loves us in the range of the fullness of our humanity and invites us to experience something better. He calls us too to follow him. When willing, we will experience mercy, forgiveness, healing, and transformation as Matthew did. Jesus not only calls us be also sends us to be beacons of light, hope, and love for those in need of the Father’s forgiveness, healing, peace, and rest.

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Painting: Close up of “The Calling of St. Matthew”, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 1600. Jesus calls us to follow him as well. Will we respond as Matthew did?

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, September 21, 2026

Jesus calls each of us to accompany him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo: Br. Paul’s Seven Sorrows Rosary.

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

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

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

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

Is God a loving Father or a harsh taskmaster?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Link for the Mass readings for September 12, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jesus said, “Trust me.”

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

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

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