healing

Will we serve ourselves or the owner of the vineyard?

“At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard” (Mark 12:1-12).

Unfortunately, not only did the tenants not offer the produce due to the true owner of the vineyard, but they also beat his servant and sent him back empty handed. This pattern repeated. The owner sent more servants. They were beaten and some killed, and then the owner sent his son, thinking that they would respect him. They killed him as well, thinking that then the inheritance would be theirs. Jesus ended the parable with an account of the swift retribution of the tenant farmers by the owner and the redistribution of the vineyard to others. The chief priests, the scribes, and the elders realized that the parable was directed at them.

The leaders were not happy about being compared to the wicked, tenant farmers. This only deepened their resolve to arrest and persecute him. Instead of digging in their heals, had they saw instead that the parable was an opportunity to see their own sinful behavior of not being faithful stewards, they could have repented and reconciled themselves to the will of God.

We who read Parable of the Tenants may be quick to judge the whole lot: the stewards, chief priests, scribes, and elders. If we do so, we do at our own peril. What does this parable say to us? How have we been good stewards of that which God has given, including our own lives? A common mantra is that this is my body and I can do whatever I want with it. Though this may be a popular cry of individualism and self-autonomy, it is not biblical.

All that we have is a gift from God, including our life and our very being. Each of us is a unique wonder, while at the same time we are not our own to do with as we please. We are God’s beloved children, daughters and sons created in his image and likeness. Our likeness has been dimmed by sin and so feeds our knee jerk and sometimes visceral reaction against the notion that we are not our own to do with as we please. This mentality is fueled by a radical individualism that seeks to be in control. We believe that we know better, that we know what will make us happy and what will fulfill us. So we give in to our pleasures, passions, and wants. 

Discipline, temperance, and self-control are shunned. This selfish posture often comes from our unhealed wounds, the whispers of the father of lies, as well as living under the influences of a fallen world. Where God is not first, someone or something will be. This is what gives rise to a cult of personality. These pedestals are often built on the weak legs of the precarious wood of our finite and fallen nature. This is why so many leaders, religious, political and familial, have time and again all fallen off and let us down. They were placed where they never ought to have been placed.

This will continue to be the pattern, just as we saw in Jesus’ parable, which will lead to our own undoing, unless we are willing to let go of our attachment to the things of this world, including our own self-aggrandizement and narcissism. “I, me, mine”, is a debilitating cry. 

The tenants in today’s parable looked for what they could get and take from what was never theirs. This grasping for immediate gratification undid the very core of their humanity and led not only to the desecration of the dignity of those the owner of the vineyard sent but lead to their own demise. In idolizing the things of the world instead of the things of heaven, they became undone. 

Will we feed on the same radical individualism, or embrace our role as good steward, acknowledging, all that we have, even our very lives, are a gift from God, the owner of the vineyard. Recognizing that God is God and we are not, and trusting in his will for our lives will truly make us happy, fulfill, and help us to embrace who we are: co-redeemers with God. God has given each of us gifts to better his kingdom. May we serve well and seek to bear fruit that will last.

When we fall short, let us acknowledge that God has sent his Son to us. He has come to lead us to all that is Good, all that is True, and all that is Beautiful. He is also the only one we can count on. We need to place our trust in Jesus first, so when others fall, we do not fall with them and/or despair, because none of us are perfect. Each of us have our strengths as well as our weaknesses. As we grow in humility, we will grow in freedom and restore our likeness with God. As Jesus redeems us, we will experience our freedom and healing. As we heal, we can serve to help others who have fallen to experience a true freedom that will last.

Photo: Blessed to serve God and my parish family here at Holy Cross!

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, June 1, 2026

Jesus has come to help us to see.

Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see” (Mark 10:51).

Bartimaeus offers his answer for all of us. “Master, I want see.” We may have physical sight, but we may suffer from spiritual blindness. We may see that the finite, the material, wealth, power, and fame, are promises or the answer to our security and happiness, but ultimately they do not. Pleasurable pursuits, even when good, offer happiness for a time but will in the end leave us wanting for more. Health and a lack of suffering are even more inviting. Although, we live in a finite and fallen world. Our health will be challenged at times and we will suffer.

Instead of looking without for our hope, help, and satisfaction, let us look within. Let us ask Jesus to reveal to us the false attachments and allure of the flash that has blinded us. If we ask Jesus to help us to see, he will heal our sight so that we are willing and able to see the source of our suffering and pain, where we are in need of healing, what finite things and who we may be allowing to lead us astray.

With new clarity, we will see and identify the dysfunctions we have grown accustomed to and the comfort zones we have surrounded ourselves with. Although comfortable because what we know, our growth is being stifled and our hearts constricted. Jesus will lead us to freedom. He has come close and reaches out and offers a hand with an invitation to lead us out of the chaos of our lives that we may not even be able to see.

Much like when I was 30 and first found out that I had need glasses all of my life because I have astigmatism. When I put on my new glasses, I was amazed at how clear things were, not knowing I had been compensating so much all my life. Living with spiritual blinders on is very similar. Jesus has come to lead us to experience healing and transformation. Each step will be a challenge, but the strength of Jesus’ hand will keep us steady and his light will guide us on the way to wholeness and freedom.

Photo: Blessed to return to SVDP Regional Seminary where Jesus brought wonderful people into my life to help me to begin to heal and see more clearly.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, May 28, 2026

With God all things are possible.

In today’s readings, we resume where we left off before Ash Wednesday interjected into the eight week of Ordinary Time. We return to the Gospel of Mark. Jesus had been teaching about the entrance into the kingdom of God as the rich man walked away sad by stating, “Children how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:24-25). The disciples were stymied, primarily because present Jewish belief held that those who had amassed wealth and riches did so because they were blessed by God. If someone who had followed the commandments of God, appeared to be blessed by God, would he or she not be a part of God’s kingdom, if not then, what was one to do?

Jesus responded to the disciples astonishment, by stating that “For human beings it is impossible.” Jesus said this because there is nothing that we can do to earn or buy our way into heaven. It is not through perseverance, dogged determination, or will power that we are saved. Our security also is not to be placed in the things of this world, our happiness and fulfillment is not to be placed in the apparent goods and glitter of the finite things that offer comfort and pleasure. For if we place our hope in the things of this world, in our own belief that we can control our own destiny, we will be building our foundation on sand. Self-sufficiency also be a dangerous slope. When we believe we can only rely on ourselves, then we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders which will be too heavy to carry.

“For human beings, it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God” (Mk 10:27).

There is only one way to enter the kingdom of God. Say yes to the invitation of Jesus. The rich man refused the invitation to come and follow Jesus. He chose his possessions over the kingdom. The disciples of Jesus chose differently. Peter summed this up when he spoke up for those, who like him, did what the rich man did not: “We have given up everything and followed you” (Mk 10:28). Jesus affirmed Peter and the other disciple’s acceptance of the invitation to come and follow him, as well as to assure those who would willingly sacrifice and voluntarily give up, house, family, or land, to follow him. He insisted that they would receive back “a hundred times more in this present age… and eternal life to come” (Mk 10:30).

Jesus is not a preaching a kind of prosperity gospel or free reigning capitalism, nor is he a proponent of socialism or communism. Each of these are human socio-political, economic constructs. Jesus instead is painting a picture of the reign of God as a new family. One that exists, not of the world’s making, but of God’s design. A kingdom not of this world, though still present in it, and the good news is that all are invited to be a part. The apostles were on the way. They had indeed given up the material and familial to follow Jesus, but they, who argued among themselves regarding who was to be the greatest in God’s kingdom, still had their mental attachments and preconceived notions to let go of.

Those who are a part of the kingdom of God are not connected through bloodline, tribe, political party, or nation, wealth, honor, pleasure, or power, but are united through a transformation of their hearts and minds. The followers of Jesus become brothers and sisters. They care for one another, provide hospitality, charity, support, access, means, and encouragement. Together, they meet the challenges and persecutions that come from those who oppose the kingdom.

Jesus offers us the same invitation that he offered the rich man and his disciples; to follow him by letting go of that which distracts, diverts, and binds us from giving our life more fully over to him and building up his kingdom. It is helpful to assess our lives. Where are our pursuits disordered from God’s will, how are our minds and spirits distorted, and where does pride and self reliance hold primacy over God? Where can we let go, be less attached, and surrender to and trust in God’s will for our lives? The solid and true foundation we will build is in developing our relationship with Jesus and his Father. Upon this foundation let us stand and allow the love of the Holy Spirit to burn. What is not of God will burn away, what remains is of God.

Photo: Choosing to keep our eyes on Jesus, he will guide us through any storm, external or internal!

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Perfect as his Heavenly Father? When we trust Jesus, yes, he will take us to new heights!

How many times have we looked to others instead of staying focused on what we need to do or be doing? How many times do we compare ourselves, assessing what we or others have or don’t have, how others are more or less confident, more or less better looking, more or less intelligent, how others lives are altogether or a catastrophe, and even, how our faith life is worse or better?

We get a taste of these questions and what our response ought to be from Jesus in today’s Gospel. The background of today’s reading is a continuation from yesterday’s, in which the author described how Jesus forgave Peter for denying him by asking him not only if Peter loved him, but how he was to put that love into action by feeding his lambs, taking care of and feeding his sheep. Jesus also had just let Peter know that Peter was going to die in his service to him.

Today, we read that upon hearing the news of his eventual death, that Peter shifts the direction away from himself.  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? You follow me” (Jn 21:21-22). Jesus does not definitively say what is or is not going to happen to the beloved disciple. Jesus is clear with Peter that his focus is not to be on what is going to happen to the beloved or any other disciple, but to direct his attention to following him and his will.

Our orientation as disciples of Jesus is to follow Jesus, to focus on his will for our lives and to expend our energy in such a way that promotes his will. We are to slowly transform each thought, word, and action such that each is to be aligned with God’s will. A good way to start that change is to spend less time comparing ourselves to others. The temptation to compare is a slippery slope that can lead us to the devastating sins of gossip, pride, and envy. If we are to compare ourselves to anyone, let it be to Jesus.

Jesus calls us to be perfect as his heavenly Father is perfect, which is an impossible task if we seek to go it alone. Yet, we can become perfected through our participation in the life of Jesus the Christ. We begin when we ask for Jesus to help us make a commitment to resist the temptation to compare ourselves to others. Then when the first instant of a comparative thought arises, we can replace it with a prayer of blessing directed toward another and follow up with some pondering about what we are grateful for.

Moment by moment, we just need to remember that we are not alone, that we walk with Jesus. One thought, one action, one interaction at a time, we are called to surrender our will to the love of God. By taking these steps to counter the influences of a focus on self first as well as resist the comparative and/or seeking to follow a cult of personality, we can begin to shift the momentum away from increasing divisiveness, defensiveness, and mistrust, and instead strive toward supporting, encouraging, and uplifting one another.

As we allow Jesus to love us in places we feel unlovable, our thoughts, prayers, and actions will change. We will become more understanding, patient, willing to engage in conflict resolution, and dialogue. To allow Jesus to love and forgive us, and take the time to savor and experience both, helps us to begin to lessen the intensity of fear, prejudice, biases, and chronic stress. As we are able to then experience his peace, let our shoulders come out of our ears, we become less defensive and willing to see each other through God’s eyes, as beloved daughters and sons with whom he is well pleased.

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Photo: When we follow Jesus where he leads, we will be able to rise above our sins, wounds, and resistance because when we trust in Jesus forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation is possible.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, May 23, 2026

Jesus leads us to slow down so we can experience the love and presence of his Father.

“Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are one” (Jn 17:11).

Jesus is well aware of the temptations of the world, recognizes that the disciples will need the protection of his intercession, that they will remain faithful only if they remain in his love and in relationship with him. The unity that the Father and Son share is an eternal and infinite communion. Jesus, as the Son of God, continued to be one with his Father, while fully experiencing his humanity. As a human being, Jesus faced the same temptations present in this world that we face. The difference is that with each choice that he made, as a human being with a free human will, he chose to be faithful to his Father. The unity of his humanity and divinity remained intact and deepened.

Jesus sought the same unity that he shares with his Father for his disciples, and he seeks the same for us today. His hope is that we may be one as he and the Father are one. Yet, he is not going to pull us out of the world for that to happen. “I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One” (Jn 17:15). The disciples then and us today, are to do as Jesus did. We are to welcome the invitation to be in a relationship with God, grow in relationship with him so that we come to know his voice and will, and share it with those we encounter in our realm of influence. We are not to be transformed by the world, but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds and hearts by the love of the Holy Spirit. Through our transformation, we can then bring Jesus’ light into the darkness as God works through us one person at a time.

Following the will of God is simple but not easy and hard work to undo dysfunctional neural pathways, habits, that we have built over years and decades. We are bombarded by distractions, diversions, and temptations that attempt to wear us down and draw us away from being faithful and true to God, ourselves, and who God calls us to be. Many times, these distractions not only appear to be, but are good. The challenge is not whether we are good or evil, even are we being good or doing good, but are we doing God’s will, what God is calling us to do?

Being able to stop, be still, quiet our mind, and just breathe for a sustained period can help us to learn to recollect. Often when we attempt to spend time in prayer, we finish at the moment we are just getting ready to begin, and, then wonder why nothing is happening! Making time to recollect grants us the opportunity to transition from the busy to making friends with silence.

We can deepen our relationship with Jesus and his Father and experience the love of the Holy Spirit when we slow down our pace and become still. We are also in a better place to receive the gifts that the Holy Spirit seeks to impart, his guidance to discern his direction, as well as the courage to follow his will. Resting in silence, we may also experience emotions, some that have been buried. And that is good, because we are now feeling safe enough to experience them and with God release them and begin to heal. 

St. Mother Teresa taught that, “in the silence of the heart, God speaks.” We are better able to recognize God’s voice, experience his healing, and guidance when we embrace daily moments of stillness. We are better able to identify the temptations and pitfalls, dysfunctional patterns, and sins that prevent us from healing when we go slower. We grow in discipline, persistence, and dedication when we allow ourselves to be nourished by God’s love and affirmation. 

A new way of life is available for us when we are willing to change, to be transformed, and grow beyond the comfort zone of the dysfunction we know. We can trust Jesus, such that even through the growing pains, we will experience the love and oneness Jesus shares with his Father. We are not alone.

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Photo: “Peace, be still” (Mark 4:39). When we are willing to slow down, Jesus offers us his peace.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, May 20, 2026

In knowing Jesus, we will know God and experience the love of the Holy Spirit.

“Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn 17:3).

This is our goal, to know God. Eternal life, or heaven, is not only experienced when we die. Through experiencing the life of Jesus, we can have a foretaste of heaven now. We can experience this as the joy that rises from within, that is not merely pleasure, which is a response from the stimulation of our senses, and which dissipates once the experience ends. Nor is joy even happiness which comes from the lasting memories of these pleasurable experiences. The experience of joy is not based on external situations and sensations. Joy comes from an encounter with the living God who is present to us, closer to us than we are to ourselves.

We often first experience this joy, this closeness to God, when we experience love exchanged between ourselves and another. Even a love that begins in infatuation is a drawing out of ourselves toward another. The hope is that this love matures and develops into a friendship.

This maturation happens when we spend time getting to know each other’s interests, goals, and dreams. We experience another as a person, and with time and continued trust, we begin to risk and allow our masks to be taken off. Inevitably, when relationships begin to mature, they will go through times of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and conflict. The relationship will come to a crossroads, but this does not mean that the relationship will come to an end. If the relationship devolves into abuse, dehumanization, and self-gratification alone, the relationship will or ought to end. But if there is a mutual willingness to forgive, to work together, to meet each other with humility and seek mutual understanding, relationships will grow stronger and deeper. This is the fertile soil where love grows.

Our first experience of developing relationships is in our families. None of us are perfect, so none of us have had a perfect family life. Familial relationships develop in a similar fashion as listed above. We all go through ups and downs. The more that we can be present to one another, support one another, communicate and love one another, the more likely our familial relationships and friendships will also mature and grow. 

Where there are deep wounds that have not been healed though, and there is not yet a willingness to seek healing, hurt people can hurt people. Where there is not a willingness to heal, this will be more of a challenge. Healing begins one person at a time. We can still begin with ourselves. We can go to Jesus and allow him to love us where we are and as we experience his love we can begin to trust him. As we trust and experience the love of Jesus, we will begin to be able to face areas in our past, wounds, as well as sins, and be forgiven, healed, and transformed. “Maturing in Christ is part and parcel to a rich understanding of healing the whole person” (Fr. John Horn, S.J.).

Many of us hope to attain this healing and a place within where we can accept and love ourselves and develop mature relationships with a core group of family and friends. Many of us could be quite happy with that. Even as Jesus invites and guides us to reach this point of development, he continues to press us to strive to love beyond family, friends, and tribe. All of us are ultimately called to an unconditional love that sees in others a brother and sister seeking to be better, healed, and whole. This is not some utopian philosophy. Love happens through one concrete encounter, one person at a time. As we love God and one another, we lift all of humanity and creation up.

This will not happen through our own will power or discipline. Placing self over God and others, isolates and disconnects us from the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. God is not some transcendent, impersonal force, nor is God an omnipotent, tyrannical overlord. The God of Jesus Christ is a God of love, for “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1 John 4:16). Jesus invites us into a relationship with him and his Father to experience the love of the Holy Spirit. When we assent to this invitation, we come to know and experience a foretaste of heaven on earth, a loving relationship with God.

Jesus, please help us to experience the love of God our Father by coming to know and trust you, and in truly knowing you come to better know each other. May we see each other as our loving God and Father sees us, as a unique gift that has never been nor ever will be again. Help us resist reacting to the rough edges and exterior projections of our inner wounds and instead guide us to be more compassionate and understanding, and willing to see the truth and fullness of the wonder of each person. Help us to allow the Holy Spirit to love others through us today, one person and one encounter at a time.

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“The Father does not love us any less than he loves his only-begotten Son. In other words, with an infinite love” – Pope Leo from his homily Sunday, June 1, 2025. Photo during Lent 2026.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Jesus invites us to share in the dance of trinitarian love.

“I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” (Jn 16:28).

This phrase, in one form or another, has been a consistent message in John’s recording of Jesus’ farewell discourse. These words not only show Jesus’ connection to the Father through his coming from and returning to the Father and then his sending of the Holy Spirit, but these statements help to prepare the way for our understanding of the Trinitarian Communion.

Theologians have termed this reality the Immanent Trinity, God within himself. Which is expressed by the divine communion of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All that God the Father is, he gives all, holding nothing back, to God the Son perfectly. God the Son receives all that God the Father has given perfectly, and returns all that he has received, perfectly, holding nothing back, to God the Father. This giving and receiving, this going out from and returning to, this perfect willing of each other’s good, is the purest expression of Love. This Love shared infinitely and perfectly between God the Father and God the Son is God the Holy Spirit.

The Son of God became one with us, sharing in our humanity, so we can also share in his divinity. His ascent and return back to the Father makes this even more possible. Now his divine nature, as the Son, always remained in full communion with the Father. Jesus is one divine Person as the Son, yet he subsists in two natures the divine and the human. The Ascension of Jesus was a point in salvation history, in which the human nature of Jesus transcended our three-dimensional reality and realm, so to enter the eternal present, the immanence of the Trinitarian communion. Because God created all humanity and creation as interconnected with one another, we are now able to share in the intimate, divine dance, or perichoresis, of the Love, shared between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

We are all invited, 24/7/365, with every breath, thought, word, and action, to experience the Holy Spirit, the communion of Trinitarian Love. But this is not an imposition, it is an invitation, meaning no matter how wonderful, no matter that this is what we have been created for and will truly bring us fulfillment and joy, we can reject or accept this offer.

Thankfully, because of the Divine Mercy of God this is an open invitation. Even if we have said no for years, we can say yes at this moment. Once we say yes, even just a little, the love of God grows within us, just like the image of the mustard seed. As we experience the love of God in our own lives, we begin to realize how God is the foundation of our being and all of creation. We realize we are not the center of the universe, that the world does not revolve around us, and that it is not all about us. 

We come to see how God is the foundation of all things, how he is present to us in our everyday actions when we participate in the very being and life of Jesus. We do so most intimately when we participate in the sacraments. Jesus is even more present to us in the sacraments than when he was present to the Apostles in person. 

We also experience and encounter God through our participation in the three transcendentals, the ways of our being that God has imparted to us to experience him, which are the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. It is through the expression of our creativity in music, dance, and the arts that we come to experience the Beautiful. By embracing our gift of reason and intellect, through prayer, study, and sharing of ideas, we come to know the True. In recognizing the gift of others as human, through our fellowship, loving and engaging one another in the corporeal and spiritual works of mercy we come to experience Love which leads us to the Good.

God has given us the wonderful gift of life not just to endure but to experience fully, even in the midst of our trials, tribulations, and sufferings we are invited to experience joy and love. We just need to remember who we are and open our hearts, minds, and souls to receive the gift of God working in and through us. Just as the Son has been, we are sent to risk, to give our love away, by sharing his love with others. Our offer can be turned down or rejected. Even so, we must resist the temptation to judge or to take offense, but instead to assume a posture of understanding, of being present, and being available to witness and to allow God to reach others through us.

We never truly know the pain and suffering of another, nor what they may be dealing with. Instead of a knee-jerk reaction or adding fuel to the fire, we can instead take a deep breath, seek to be more understanding, and ask God to be present. Ask the Holy Spirit to love us and the person with us. In that simple choice to receive the love of God in a conflict or disagreement, we might become a healing presence that can make a difference.

Each one of us is on a journey. We are invited to open ourselves to the will of God, so that we can experience the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, as well as, perichoresis, the infinite dance of the Love shared between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Our fundamental option, our end goal, is to enter the fullness of the divine dance and communion of the Trinity. What Jesus has brought to us through his Paschal Mystery; his life, suffering, and death, as well as his resurrection and ascension into heaven, is the reality of how we can experience heaven on earth right now.

Fr. John Horn, SJ, teaches that, “The most fruitful human activity that we can experience is to receive God.” Our vocation is to say yes to God’s invitation and to breathe, receive, rest, and abide in the love of the Trinity. So having received, we now have something to give. We can now love others as we have been loved. This is the regenerating and transformative power of the Holy Spirit first activated in our Baptism that can continue to flourish and expand. As our prayer and activity in life becomes more trinitarian and thus more loving, we experience freedom, healing, and spiritual maturity.

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Photo: When we allow ourselves to receive moments to be still to breathe, receive, rest, and abide in God’s love, our minds, hearts, and souls experience healing and transformation!

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, May 16, 2026

Our response to the darkness is the light, love, and joy of Jesus.

“But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you” (Jn 16:22). 

Jesus continues to prepare his disciples for his horrific death by offering hope that he will see them again. That he will see them again is not a typo. We can read about the exchanges between Jesus and his risen disciples. Jesus appeared to Mary of Magdalene at the tomb, he appeared to Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus, and he appeared to the ten and then the eleven with Thomas. Jesus sought out those he commissioned to proclaim his Gospel message after his Resurrection, just as he had done during his ministry before his crucifixion.

When Jesus did appear to them again, at the moment of recognition, there was wonder and great joy! It is hard for us to even imagine these early Resurrection accounts. Although, this is a wonderful meditative practice! The disciples witnessed his brutal death, lived in fear because of the very real possibility of their own persecution and similar death, and then, they encountered the risen Jesus. St Paul would also shortly thereafter encounter Jesus on a different road, the one to Damascus en route to continue his persecution of the followers of Jesus. 

All of their hearts rejoiced when they experienced the risen Jesus, and it was this joy that they proclaimed with boldness. The Apostles, like Jesus, led with joy and love to embark on their evangelical mission. They lived a difficult and challenging life that for many ended in their own brutal deaths, yet their joy carried them through and into eternity.

Life is hard, even in the best of circumstances. There is evil present in this world, not of God’s creation, because all that he has created is good. Through the corruption of the good that God has created, bad things happen to good people, and good people do bad things. Suffering, disease, violence, natural disasters, division, corruption, hatred, and dehumanization abound. It can be easy to succumb to the overwhelming tide of negativity and assume a stance of cynicism, detachment, denial, defensiveness, and/or indifference. Yet this is not the response Jesus modeled nor has infused his followers through the ages with.

Our response to the evil and darkness of this world is to be bearers of the joy of Jesus! We are to be as lights shining in the darkness, providing hope for those in despair, accompanying those in their struggles, and being willing to receive help when we are ourselves are in need. We cannot do any of this alone and on our own, but it can be done in participation with Jesus and each other. The Apostles, disciples, and saints, those who have gone before us, have shown us that it is possible to be beacons of hope in very dark places.

Pope Francis reminded us about our mission in The Joy of the Gospel (276): “However dark things are, goodness always re-emerges and spreads. Each day in our world beauty is born anew, it rises transformed through the storms of history. Values always tend to reappear under new guises, and human beings have arisen time after time from situations that seemed doomed. Such is the power of the resurrection, and all who evangelize are instruments of that power.”

No matter how bumpy our lives get or how much we are tossed about, we can trust that Jesus is with us, closer than we can ever imagine. He readily offers us his love and joy. Are we willing to receive each? May seem like a silly question, but we can refuse to receive the joy and love of Jesus when our hearts are constricted or closed. 

When we choose to allow his light to enter and dwell within us, even though the light may reveal some darkness and deep suffering, we can experience forgiveness and healing. Once experiencing his healing and love — joy! And when the joy wells up and radiates through us and outward, no matter how small or insignificant, the darkness in our realm of influence will begin to fade away. For, within or without, darkness cannot remain in the presence of the light of Christ.

Photo: May the light of Jesus shine through us for others to see!

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, May 15, 2026

Allowing God to love us in our suffering helps us to heal and love others.

“I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete” (John 15:11).

What is this referring too? “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.”

And what is his commandment? “This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”

Even when life appears pretty dark and division and suffering seem to be waiting around every corner, we need not give up or fall into despair. God wants us to experience fulfillment, meaning, and joy despite our experiences and not through being lemmings or slaves but as Jesus said, his “friends”. The friends of Jesus are those who hear the word he has received and shared from his Father which are his commandments, the greatest of these is the commandment to love as Jesus and the Father have loved us.

If we truly want to be happy, fulfilled, if we want to heal, experience a path to wholeness and the glory we have been created for, and have meaning in our lives, Jesus invites us to align our wills with the will of God who is Love. St. Irenaeus taught that the joy of God is the human being fully alive. For us to be fully alive, not just surviving and existing, we need to allow ourselves to be loved by and then love as God loves us.

God knows what will fulfill us, give us meaning, and great joy. Many of us do not experience the fullness of this joy because we are distracted and diverted by apparent goods, instead of striving for what actually is good. Time and discernment with the guidance of the Holy Spirit can help us to distinguish the difference. Spending quiet time with God in his word and just being still with him, will also help us to experience God and his love. Once we do, the things of this world will have less of a draw.

A false path to fulfillment and joy is denying, covering over, or being so busy that we don’t face the sufferings or conflicts in our lives. We experience healing when we are willing to experience our pain, breathe into that reality, identify its cause, and offer our suffering to Jesus. Jesus receives what we have shared and offers us his mercy and love, and experience healing at the root. As we allow God into those places of pain and sin, as we experience God’s love, in allowing ourselves to be loved in places we would rather not go ourselves, we find clarity and healing. As we heal, we can help to alleviate some of the sufferings of those around us.

“To love as God does, we must be constantly dying to our own sinfulness and selfishness and living for God. And we live for God by obeying the Father’s will and loving one another” (Martin and Wright, 260). Each day we are invited to choose to curl up in our shell of selfish concern or allow ourselves to be loved and to love in return, to come out of our shell, to risk, and become agents of healing and love. As agents of God’s love and mercy we can help to make our corner of the world a little better.

Photo: The light of Jesus leads us through the darkness to healing, fulfillment, and newness of life.

Martin, Francis and Wright IV, William M. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, May 14, 2026

When we allow our grieving heart to touch Jesus’ Sacred Heart, we will experience healing.

At some point in our lives, we experience the death of someone we love. If we live a long life, we will experience even more of the pain of losing those close to us. I remember my maternal grandfather sharing with me when he was around ninety that he had outlived most of his siblings and friends. Unfortunately, for too many in our world, death is a daily event through violence in all its forms. Grief during time of loss is a natural human response. It is certainly not an emotion to be suppressed.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus shared: “But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts” (Jn 16:6). Jesus was preparing his disciples for his suffering and death on the cross while at the same time also letting them know that they would not be left alone. Even after his death, his resurrection and again time with his disciples, he would then at his ascension return to the Father. And better for his disciples that he would return to his Father. The Father will transform Jesus through his suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus will assume his glorified body and the Holy Spirit will proceed from the Father and the Son to empower the apostles. They too will be transformed. No longer afraid, no more falling short of the glory of God but fulfilling and actualizing who Jesus called them to be from the beginning. 

We can see the apostles living out who Jesus had chosen them to be on full display in our reading of the Book of Acts during the Easter Season. 

Of course, the Apostles could not understand what Jesus was talking about at the moment. Who can blame them? They had no point of reference for someone dying and rising again, let alone that he would ascend to the Father and send the Third Person of the Holy Trinity to be with them. The Apostles would not only feel the grief of the loss of Jesus they would also experience the fear that the same persecution that took him would take them. Jesus predicted no less. To be his follower, they would need to be willing to give their own lives, as Jesus was about to do.

They did not get off to a great start. Even though Jesus foretold them of what was to happen, in Jesus’ final hour, they betrayed and abandoned him. And yet, except for Judas, because he had taken his own life, Jesus came to them again after his resurrection. He did not condemn but forgave them. Jesus would in a short time ascend back to the Father as we will celebrate this Sunday, and the disciples, with Mary, would experience the love and grace of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which we will celebrate a week from Sunday.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they faced what was before them head-on, even to experience their own violent deaths, except for John. The fear of death had no more power over them, their grief and their fear were turned into joy from their encounter with the Risen Jesus and the love of the Holy Spirit they experienced first-hand.

For us, as with the Apostles, grief is real, because death is a loss, it is a change in our present reality. Yet, we celebrate the Easter Season for fifty days for a reason. Death has lost its sting because Jesus has died, entered into the fullness of everything that death threw at him, and he conquered it. Jesus died for each and every one of us so that we can also rise with him, and be with him and our loved ones again for all eternity.

We can believe in our minds that death does not have the final answer, yet we will still feel the grief, the pain of loss. We need to be honest with our emotions, and not stifle them, thinking by showing grief that we are in some way less a person of faith. Jesus himself wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. In allowing ourselves to experience our pain, we will experience the Risen Christ who is waiting to embrace us and help us to heal. 

The key is to allow ourselves to experience and feel our grief, to allow our hearts to expand with the pain we are able to feel. As our heart expands with pain, Jesus’ heart expands with his love and comfort. At the point where we have felt enough, Jesus receives our pain there. We, in experiencing, instead of denying our pain, can offer our suffering to Jesus. In receiving our grief, we can then receive his compassion, his consolation, healing, and love. Heart speaks to heart.

To experience our grief and allow it to expand in our hearts when it comes is healthy and necessary, but we do need to be careful that it does not define and overwhelm us. We just enter the ebb and flow as outlined above. 

After seven months of caring and accompanying JoAnn to her death, visiting with family and friends through Thanksgiving and Christmas, I returned home to Florida, and for the first time, had some time alone. I had a two-day period where I was able to experience the weight of my grief and my heart was pierced with the suppressed grief. Fortunately, I received a phone call from my friend, Theresa Frettered, and she invited me to a diocesan event. I didn’t want to go but said yes. Terry was a messenger of the Holy Spirit. She invited me to leave the despair and come up for some air. Experiencing the grief, but then not staying there, was the first steps that led to years of healing, that still continue.

The time of grief is different for each person. “There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). When we experience the full range of our emotions and bring them to Jesus, the first born of the new creation, and pray for all those who have died that we hold close to our pierced hearts in this moment, those who have no one to pray for them, as well as those who are in purgatory, we heal a little more. We also with these moments of heart to heart with Jesus, begin to realize we too will die.

This is not morbid. Pondering our own death helps us to resist taking the time we have left for granted and choose to live our lives more intentionally, with greater purpose. Just as the jailer in today’s first reading turned from committing suicide to asking Paul and Silas: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved” (Acts 16:30-31).

As we experience the ebb and flow of grief with Jesus, as we entrust our lives more to him, we will experience his tender care for us. We will begin to heal and so help others to heal. When we believe in Jesus, we and our household will be saved. Maybe not in this instant and moment, but in God’s gentle pace and timing. Death really does not have the final answer. The loving embrace of Jesus does.

Photo: As I learned from CS Lewis, losing someone we love is like experiencing an amputation. We will live, but it will never be the same. What I learned from Jesus is that we can also experience healing and joy again.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, May 12, 2026