healing

May we open ourselves to the wonder of God, creation, ourselves, and each other.

“Where did this man get such wisdom and mighty deeds? Is he not the carpenter’s son?” (Mt 13:54-55).

Jesus most likely worked as a carpenter. This was rough, menial work, and as a day laborer, a position that was looked down upon. We can even see evidence of this in the Gospel accounts. Mark describes Jesus as the carpenter, the son of Mary, Matthew in today’s account portrays Jesus as the carpenter’s son, and Luke and John just refer to Jesus as Joseph’s son, leaving out any reference to carpenter altogether. Most scripture scholars believe Mark was written first and if following that understanding, we can see a progression in the biblical tradition moving away from identifying Jesus as a carpenter.

Many people wonder what Jesus did from the age of twelve until he began his ministry around the age of thirty. Today’s reading can offer some insight into that question. Most likely, Jesus did nothing extraordinary, he was just as ordinary, if that, as any other first-century Palestinian Jew living in the small town of Nazareth, with a population of about 250 to 500 people.

Jesus’ return to his hometown and his teaching was first met with astonishment. The question then arose, “Where did he get such wisdom and how did he work such mighty deeds?” That the response to change moved to judgment so quickly could lead one to think that “the astonishment is not an expression of admiration but of suspicion and anger” (Curtis and Sri, 185). Who is he? Isn’t he just the carpenter of Nazareth, no better than any of us? In effect, “Who does he think he is?” Not only does this show that Jesus probably lived a very simple peasant life, but that Jesus’ social status was not very high.

The people’s hearts and minds of his hometown were closed to Jesus. THEY KNEW who he was and there was no way someone like him could do what they had heard, so they “took offense at him… And he did not work many mighty deeds there because of their lack of faith” (Mt 13:57-58).

How many times have we judged someone? Have we said to ourselves, “I know who he or she is.” We box them in, not as they are, but as WE see them, as we define or label them. We look at another individual not as a person with dignity, but as a two-dimensional caricature to satisfy our own prejudgments and lack of vision. We also do this to ourselves by limiting our potential when we say we can’t do this or that. Husbands and wives, having been married for years, can fall into the routine of everyday and not allow themselves to be surprised by one another, to wonder at what about each other they still don’t know!

Maybe we have had a similar experience as Jesus did in returning to his hometown, in that we have sought or are seeking to move beyond our particular social status, or follow a dream or career out of the norm of familial or community expectations. No matter our age, through no fault of our own, by pursuing this path some or many may feel threatened. Thus, not willing to accept our vision, those who are not willing to grow beyond what they have always known may meet us with misunderstanding, wariness, or even disdain.

I read an account from the writer/producer Stirling Silliphant regarding how one day Bruce Lee challenged him to run five instead of his usual three miles. Into their fourth mile, Stirling said, “if I run any more I’m liable to have a heart attack and die.” [Bruce] said, “Then die.” And then he ran off. Stirling was enraged at Bruce’s statement, that he finished the five miles. Afterward, Stirling approached Bruce and asked him why he said that.

Bruce replied, “Because you might as well be dead. Seriously, if you always put limits on what you can do, physical or anything else, it’ll spread over into the rest of your life. It’ll spread into your work, your morality, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level” (p. 23).

Jesus consistently rebukes limiting attitudes and perspectives. His Father has a plan for our lives and so he invites us to open our minds and hearts, to see the potential he sees in us. Jesus, the carpenter, invites us to embrace the infinite possibilities that will arise when we participate in his life and love. With God there are no limitations. The villagers of Jesus’ hometown are said to have had a lack of faith or unbelief, and because of that limitation, Jesus “did not work many mighty deeds there” (Mt. 13:58). When Jesus challenged his disciples, he said that they had “little faith” (Mt. 14:31).

The disciples struggled to understand Jesus, but they were open to learning from Jesus. We just need a little faith to let Jesus in. If we are closed, if our hearts are hardened, Jesus will respect the boundary we have set. He will not go against our free will. If we give him just a little faith though, just as he was given and few loaves and fishes he fed thousands, Jesus will do wonders in our lives.

The Holy Spirit seeks to free us from the shackles that bind us, the limitations imposed upon us from without, as well as those we impose upon ourselves from within. Let us cooperate with the urgings of the Holy Spirit, to be free with each breath and step we take into embracing the freedom of the love of God. When willing to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit, receive and abide in the love of God, healing will begin, trust will arise, limiting attitudes can then give way to see ourselves and each other as beloved daughters and sons of our Father.
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Photo: At the end of each day, God gives us the invitation to pause, breathe, ponder the gift of his creation, and call to mind what and who we are grateful for.

Mitch, Curtis and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.

Stirling Silliphant story accessed from Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body, compiled and edited by John Little. North Clarendon, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, Co., 1998.

Parallel Gospel accounts: Mark 6:3, Matthew 13:55, Luke 4:22, and John 6:42

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, July 31, 2026

Spending time with God in quiet meditation and prayer can help us to grow in our faith and life.

“Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it” (Mt 13:7).

God wants all of us to be in relationship with him. His love for us in unconditional. He is willing to risk that we will say, “No” to his invitation of relationship rather than force us to love him, which is not love at all. God also wants the best for us, he knows the deepest desires of our hearts beyond our even knowing for he sees the fullness of time, while we only see from our finite and limited perspective and experience just a small part of the greater reality around us.

Jesus came to share the seed of his Father’s word through the teachings, healings, and exorcisms that he offered. We are recipients of each through the deposit of faith passed on generation after generation. One area that prevents us from allowing his seeds to germinate and bear fruit in our lives is when we allow the diversions, distractions, anxieties, insecurities, and worries to fill our mind such that they choke out the good that Jesus seeks to have develop within us.

On a physiological level, what we pay attention to fires neurons in our brains that form neural pathways. When we think about and then act upon them they become stronger. Each time we are attentive a new pathway is formed. After time, this is how our habits form and why when after we do something consistently and are disciplined, the act is easier to do. It is also why a habit is hard to change in the beginning because we need to rewire those pathways. This is true for vices as well as virtues.

To prevent the growth of our spiritual life from being choked out we need to practice each day stillness and focusing on God’s word. As we consistently sit in the same place each day, spend some time breathing and then focusing on reading a passage of scripture, meditating, praying, and pondering what God may be sharing with us. For that time we do so with intention, we are to focus on Jesus alone. As thoughts and diversions to the contrary arise, we just bring ourselves back to Jesus and God’s word. If the thoughts persist, we can then bring them to Jesus and talk to him about the situation to seek his guidance.

In time, with consistent, daily practice, we will begin to feel safe, we will experience God’s love and presence, his insights and guidance, healing will begin, rewiring of our neural pathways will also improve such that it becomes easier to pray than not. The thorns lose their sting, the distractions, temptations, and diversions find a better resolution, worry, anxiety, and fears are transformed, and we begin to recognize God’s voice and experienced being consoled and loved by his presence.

Turning around unhealthy, vices, disordered affections, and sinful habits is not easy. When we decide to make time to spend time with God each day, while together we are attentive only to him for that time and return to him as soon as we notice we are distracted, or bring the distraction to him to seek guidance, the weeds will whither, the thorns will be uprooted, his seed will sprout and flourish. Even when we feel like nothing is happening, God is happening, and we are growing, healing, and maturing.

Photo: From the smallest of seeds, with the proper nurturing and support, can grow the tallest of trees.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, July 24, 2026

When we trust in, follow Jesus, and repent, we will experience his Father’s love.

The root of the message offered in today’s Gospel is what is foundational to beginning and continuing as a disciple of Jesus? The foundation is the disposition of our hearts. Are we closed to receiving the message of the Gospel, or are we open to embrace the invitation Jesus shares to become more active in living out our faith in our everyday lives?

The exchange of Jesus with his disciples in today’s reading from Matthew comes after his sharing of the Parable of the Sower (Mt 13:1-9). In this parable, Jesus offers scenarios regarding the conditions of seeds sown. Some fell on a hardened path, some on rocky ground, some fell among thorns, and some fell on the rich soil. The seeds on the hardened path could not even germinate. Those in rocky ground and among thorns germinated and began to even sprout but would not come to full maturity. The seed that was sown in rich soil germinated, sprouted, matured, and bore fruit.

As disciples, we are meant to bear fruit and that means we need to prepare ourselves so that we will have rich soil. We break through the hard ground when we open our hearts and minds. If we have a desire to pray, the hardened soil has given way somewhat. The seed has penetrated, died and has begun to germinate. God is the originator of our prayer. The desire to spend time in prayer is good news. The devil has not stolen that from us.

One of the most important things we can do each day is to breathe, receive, rest, and abide in God’s love. Spending time intentionally breathing slowly and deeply not just into the chest but also activating the diaphragm, slows our heart rate down and sends the message to our brains that we are safe. Our muscles will then release pent up tensions. Three such breaths can make a difference. Then making the Sign of the Cross, we invite each Person of the Trinity to dwell within us. Continuing then to breathe, we can begin to receive and rest in God’s love for us. A few minutes of recollection in the bank, we are now ready to meditate and pray. Doing so with the readings of the day can be very powerful and transformative.

Now if we do not follow through on the inspiration of nor follow the nudging of the Holy Spirit, when we aren’t even able to allow ourselves time to make the Sign of the Cross or take three, deep breaths, means we have some tilling to do. We need to remove some clay and rocks of resistance, distraction, and diversion so that we can get deeper. Satan knows how important it is for us to pray everyday and he will subtly seek to lead us astray in the smallest of ways. If not able to dissuade us, he will attempt to make our time functional and anemic, something we do and check the box. We may begin to pray daily for a time, but without any deeper root or experiencing any living water of the Holy Spirit, we may be led away, skip a day, or two, then a few more, then walk away.

If we commit to showing up each day seeking to experience the love of God, coming to a place that we have created and set aside for ourselves to breathe and be still will help us to begin the work of facing those internal resistances and diversions. We can begin the process of uprooting the thorns of anxiety and worry. We can begin to see where our hearts and minds may have been hardened. By breathing and slowing down, we get in touch with our body and may be surprised by how tense we are. With just a few breathes we may notice that our shoulders come to a more peaceful place of rest. Our neck and our hips can begin to let go.

Richer soil will allow growth. Among good soil grows what has been planted, the seeds of the enemy as well as the seeds of God.

As we continue to return each day and allow God to happen, in reading, meditating, praying with God’s word, or also sitting with God in the same silence and bringing to him our struggles and challenges, as well as our successes and triumphs in thanksgiving, to acknowledge his presence and closeness and just rest with him, we can continue to allow his light to reveal other areas where thorns and other weeds that seek to choke the growth that has begun.

Anxieties, worries, frustration, and reactions all choke out the peace, faith, confidence, and love that God seeks to sow and grow within us. Past unrealized and unhealed wounds may also come to the four in holy tears. Being diligent and disciplined in showing up, allows us to begin to feel safe in the place we have set aside. In encountering God each day, we begin to know him. In this place of stability, we come to know that God is our refuge and strength, and we begin to feel safe. From this place of safety and trusting in the Jesus, we can allow him into places where we seek to be healed and receive his consolation and healing, we can also admit to ourselves where we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and God will forgive us. Where we uncover more habitually hardened and mortal sins, we can go to the priest for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and be forgiven there as well.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God if we are willing to allow the fertilizer of God’s love to penetrate. God helps us to tend the gardens of our souls patiently and gently. Thoughts of condemnation and shame are the poison of the enemy that seek to stunt our healing, growth, and spiritual maturity. The gentle light of Jesus is that light that brings warmth and safety. The conviction he brings is the light that helps us to identify that which needs to be weeded and pruned so that our soil becomes richer and our growth can continue unimpeded. In time and with disciplined attention, daily coming to our places of quiet with the Lord, spending time in his word, we will be forgiven, healed, and freed from that which seeks to stifle our growth and we will continue to mature and begin to bear good fruit, the gifts and charisms that the Holy Spirit has sown within our good soil at Baptism.

Whatever the state of the soil of our soul that we bring to this reading whether it be a hardened and worn path, rocky ground, weeds and thorns, know that there is some soil to work with. Like any garden that is to grow, mature plants that bear good fruit will take time, energy, and work. The most difficult state and the one Jesus addressed in today’s Gospel is the heart of indifference that is closed, the seed falling on the well-trod path, that is hard and packed so nothing gets through. For these people, “they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand” (Mt 13:13). Yet, even this soil can be turned and tilled. Even the hardest heart can be softened if one is willing to stop and be still long enough to experience the loving embrace of God.

Jesus, in his explanation of why he spoke in parables, is an echo of his inaugural message from when he began his ministry: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15). Before we may be willing to repent, we may need to first acknowledge the places in our hearts and minds that are closed, those areas that are hardened from real or perceived past pain or trauma, those situations in which we chose to shut down and separate ourselves from receiving the love of God and others.

When we allow Jesus to come close, we can experience his healing touch. When we take the risk to accept his help, we will be willing to turn back to him, to repent, even in small ways at first, and so receive his forgiveness and healing. When we trust Jesus, are willing to take his hand, and follow his lead daily, we will learn from our mistakes, we will turn away from more deeply rooted habitual sins, return to him for confession, our hearts will soften and our minds will open even more.

Jesus wants to help us to turn over the rocks we have been hiding our pain under so that we can experience those deeper wounds. This will only happen when we trust Jesus and feel safe. Spending quiet time each day, surrendering and being docile to the Holy Spirit, helps us to do just that. In time, we will feel safer and more confident to pull up the weeds, turn over those stones, and begin to till the fertile soil underneath. Through experiencing our pain, our emotions, and facing our fears, we help to further cultivate fertile soil, in which the seed of God can thrive, be nourished by his unending love, and in which we will mature to bear good fruit that will last.

Photo: Enjoying a quiet evening walk.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, July 23, 2026

Jesus comes to us in our sorrow.

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he told her (John 20:18).

Mary is the Apostle to the Apostles! Though before she announces this proclamation, the foundation of our faith that Jesus has risen, we find Mary weeping outside the tomb. She is crushed by the death of her teacher and his body appeared to have been taken away. Peter and John, following Mary’s initial lead, ran to the tomb, saw it empty, and “then the disciples returned home” (Jn 20:10).

Mary stayed, she remained still, experiencing her doubt and growing despair.

How many times have our hopes been obliterated, what pain have we or do we endure, what horrors do we continue to witness in our personal lives, throughout our communities, country, and the world? When Jesus first speaks to Mary, she does not recognize his voice, thinking him to be the gardener. Are we like Mary, that we are so weighed down by our sorrow that we are unable to recognize Jesus in our midst?

Mary’s courage gives us a gift. She was willing to weep, to experience and not run from her sorrow, and deep down held on to hope. Even after seeing the tomb empty, even after Peter and John had left, she still looked in the tomb again. Despite a growing doubt and despair, even after encountering two angels, she did not leave the empty tomb. She remained. She was alone. Jesus came to her in her pain and sorrow. Then, when he called her by name, she recognized Jesus!

May we also not lose the ability to weep and to also hold on to hope. Both are part of our humanity. To lose our capacity to weep is to risk the slide into the temptation of callousness to our own pain and the agony of others. Hope is one of the foundational stones of our faith. Jesus is present in the midst of our pain, suffering, and sin. When we are willing to be still and experience our emotions, resist the temptation to run away from or cover over them with diversions, and instead breathe into them, while at the same time embracing hope, we too will encounter Jesus ready to embrace us.

Jesus is willing to come as close to us as he did with Mary in our trials and/or sorrows no matter what they are. While at the same time, Jesus is also present in our joys and successes, as he is with the full range of our emotions. After we encounter Jesus, like Mary, may we go boldly forth with joy, to proclaim what he tells us! May we share the stories of our encounters with Jesus so to be a living Bible to others. Our stories shared may be the only Bible someone else ever reads.

Mary of Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles, pray for us!!!

Painting: “Mary Magdalene at the Empty Tomb” by Harold Copping

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, July 22, 2026

“Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

What Jesus proposes is not an either/or statement, but is meant to be both/and. The end goal of our life is to be in communion with God. To attain that goal, we need to not only acknowledge that God exists but also come to know God, love God, and follow God’s will. As Jesus said, “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt 12:50). The challenge is that there is so much that pulls at us for our attention, so much that reaches out to divert us. People, activities, and material pursuits, internal anxieties, wounds, and insecurities, are all vying for first place for our minds, hearts, and souls.

The challenge and demands of family life are tremendous even when all is going well. We often read, hear, and experience ourselves, how much the family is being challenged in our modern age. Many of us strive to put family first in our lives. That ought to and needs to be a priority as healthy relationships require commitment, love, sacrifice, and persistence. What Jesus offers then seems to be counter-intuitive to that reality.

Jesus is approached, in the midst of his teaching, and told that his mother and brothers were wanting to see him. We would think he would say, “Great! Bring them right in, I have a place reserved for them here, front and center!” He instead replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers” (Mt 12:49), which I am sure raised a few eyebrows and hackles.

Jesus was not choosing his disciples over his family, he was clarifying that the primacy of place of God his Father is to be first and foremost. “For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Mt 12:50). Families come in many different shapes and sizes, one size indeed does not fit all. Building our relationship with our heavenly Father is the foundation toward striving toward healthier relationships. Life will go sideways, and sometimes without a moment’s notice. It is then that we need to turn to and lean on God the most. Each family doing so will make a huge difference on who to wade through the crashing waves.

For our relationship with God to deepen, we must be willing to let go of our ego, self-centeredness, and self-sufficiency. This is no overnight or easy process, but as we do so each day, we will begin to experience God’s love a little more, and as we trust him a little more. When we entrust our family members to God and relinquish that we have to have all the answers and be everywhere and for everyone at once, we can experience God’s guidance a little more. Allowing ourselves to decrease and Jesus to increase leads to change and balance. We will become more patient, understanding, less reactive, and more present. These qualities are very helpful in improving our relationships.

As we continue to mature in our spiritual life, we will also begin to experience the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). By putting these gifts into practice, we will be more available to others and better able to foster deeper relationships with our own family members, while at the same time coming to experience a larger extended family, those beyond blood.

Who was the closest human relationship Jesus experienced? Mary. Not because she gave birth to him, but because who better than Mary followed the will of his Father? If life with some family members is a little bumpy right now and/or you just want to deepen your familial bonds, might I suggest that we assume the posture of Mary and say often, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).

Photo: Spending quiet time with Mary leads to more peace, rest, and knowing better her Son and the will of our Father.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, July 21, 2026

Abiding in God’s love we will flourish and thrive.

The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a man who sowed good seed in his field. While everyone was asleep his enemy came and sowed weeds all through the wheat, and then went off” (Mt 13:24-26). 

The enemy in the parable we attribute to being Satan. In Hebrew, śā-țān means adversary or one who opposes. Satan is not a god or Demi-god, nor did God create Satan. He created a high arch-angel named Lucifer, just as he created the arch-angels, Michael, Gabriel, and Rafael. Lucifer opposed the will of God and took the stance of being his adversary. Satan seeks to bring about division, isolation, despair, and death. 

God seeks to bring about communion, expansion, hope, and life.

God did not nor does he create evil. Evil is not a thing but a deprivation of the good. God did not create but he does allow evil. God allows distortions of the good he promotes and invites us to participate in all that is good true and beautiful. Our Father loves us so much, angels and humans alike, that he is willing to risk that we will reject him. God is not a tyrant nor dictator. God loves us and wants us to choose him freely. Even when evil and the wicked may seem to flourish, God can still bring about a greater good.

There are times when we have turned away from God because of the pain we have witnessed and/or suffered. In our sin, we seek an apparent or disordered good, but miss the mark of intimate union with God. There are also times we say yes to our Father and his will, will follow those little nudges of the Holy Spirit, and allow Jesus to forgive us and love us in places where we feel unlovable and alone. The hope is that over time we will say no less and yes more.

Jesus shares the parable of the wheat and the weeds with the intention of helping us to see this reality of living in a fallen world where God has created all that is good and yet, in so many ways, bad things happen. God allows the wheat and the weeds to coexist. Jesus is relating a common agricultural application of his time. “The weed here is darnel, a poisonous plant whose roots would become intertwined with the rest of the wheat crop” (Mitch and Sri, 180).  

As humans, unlike wheat and weeds, we can change, we can mature, we can repent from our times of saying no and choose to say yes and walk a little closer with our God. The wicked are allowed to exist along the good until the final judgment. Disciples are to “watch and pray that [we] may not enter into temptation; the spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak” (Mt. 26:41).

Prayer is the most important thing that we can do every day and the enemy knows this. He will do whatever he can to divert, distract, or dissuade us from praying. If that doesn’t work then he is going to tempt us to pray in as functional or anemic a way as possible. For if he can keep us curved in upon ourselves, isolated, shaming or shoulding all over ourselves, then we are separated from our Father’s forgiveness, mercy, consolation, compassion, and love. I have been led astray in my life and earlier years walked away from God, but he never left me. 

Through small ways, God continually reached out and during my late teens, I started to say yes to his invitations. Building on the early stability from my mother and her parents, a moment of prayer with my father, following the nudge of the Holy Spirit to purchase a Bible, to read and pray with the Bible, to return to church and teach Sunday School, when I hadn’t a clue about what I was doing. God led me with his tender chords of love, gently and slowly, and with each successive yes, I experienced his love and our relationship was strengthened.

God encourages and invites each of us, just like a parent invites his or her child to walk. A mother or father encourages their small child to come to a wobbly stand and then encourages them to begin to take those first steps. If the child resumes to a crawl and then crawls away, the parent will go around and again meet the child, help to lift he or she up and then encourage them to walk again. In this intimate dance of love between the two, the child will eventually learn to walk. Sometimes, they will walk away and sometimes walk into their parent’s loving embrace. The parent is always close, to pick their child up when they fall as well.

So, it is with our relationship with God. He has sent his Son to be one with us in our humanity so that we can become one with him in his divinity. Slowly and steadily, Jesus guides us, to crawl, take baby steps, and walk into the loving embrace of the Father to share the infinite love between them who is the Holy Spirit. God is ever patient and ever-present. Yet, we often do not experience him in our lives, because we are preoccupied. We are distracted and diverted by so many other things or we are let down and disillusioned. Instead of bringing our pain, struggles, and sufferings to God, we believe the lie of the enemy that we have to be self-sufficient and stand on our own or we are weak.

God invites us to bring our worst to him. When we first received the diagnosis that JoAnn, my wife, not only had pancreatic cancer but that it had spread throughout her abdominal region. The prognosis was not good. There was a flashback to the earlier days of turning away from God. Not this time.

This time I turned to God and trusted in whatever was coming. JoAnn and I both received the grace of his peace and the closeness of his presence because we did not turn away from him, even though the outcome was not what either of us wanted or prayed for. Even though this was not fair any way you looked at it, no matter JoAnn was in perfect health except for the cancer… We accepted the devastating reality and decided not to take the time we were given for granted. Knowing our time was limited we decided to get things in order and make the best of the time we had left.

From this experience and others, I have realized that there is very little that we are truly in control of. But we can decide how we are going to live no matter the internal resistance or external circumstances. “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.” God has created us good. We are invited to grow where we have been planted, to mature, and to bear fruit that will become the seed to be sown in the lives of others. By our willingness to will the good of each other, we love as God loves us. 

There is evil and those who live wicked lives among us. We can choose to react in kind and be weakened by the poison of evil and other’s wickedness, we can give into despair, and we can curve in upon ourselves and/or bury our head in the sand. Jesus invites us to choose another way. We can be more intentional with the time we have been given. We can allow ourselves a prayerful breathe and pause before we choose to entertain each thought, before we speak each word, and choose instead of reacting, to act in ways that promote a patience and peace that surpasses all understanding.

Healing for ourselves and those we hold close to our hearts is possible, even in situations that appear to be hopeless. When we choose to abide in God’s love, the Holy Spirit will help us despite our wounds and weaknesses to heal and become whole again. Abiding in God’s love we will flourish where we have been planted, we will overcome the temptations that seek to undo us, and we will experience hope and joy.

Photo: On Rosary walk and then stopping to pause and breathe.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, July 19, 2026

There are times to take a stand as well as withdraw.

In today’s Gospel from Matthew, Jesus realized that: “The Pharisees went out and took counsel against Jesus to put him to death” (Mt 12:14). Jesus did not then start to plan how he would defend himself against their plot, he did not arm his supporters, nor is there any indication that Jesus let the fact that he was a marked man bother him. What did Jesus do with this bit of news?

“He withdrew from that place” (Mt. 12:15) and cured those who followed him. Was Jesus being a coward by withdrawing? No. Jesus refused to engage or give any of his time or energy to their negativity or threat. He focused on who he is and what he was about: continuing the mission that his Father had sent him to accomplish. Jesus as Son of God became human to help bring about the salvation of humanity and the world and to call those who would work with him to participate in his mission.

Many of us will hopefully not receive death threats, but many of us may witness and/or receive critical, negative, belittling, demeaning, or dehumanizing looks, words, and outright actions that cause physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm. For those of us who choose to practice the teachings of Jesus, we may receive even more, even from those in our own families!

Our common response to the many forms of perceived or actual animosity directed toward us is to react. Our reactions generally are based on learned defense or coping mechanisms that we have adopted to survive. When we react, we have slipped into survival mode, experience increased anxiety, defensiveness, anger as well as a myriad of other emotions. Reactions will continue until we learn to feel safe. Intentional breathing, slow and deep, is a good first redirection. Then we are more open to call upon God’s guidance and hear his direction.

Breathing and praying daily when we are not overtly feeling stressed is a good practice to build up our reservoir, so when we are triggered, we have some muscle memory already wired to breathe and pray. Life is short, let us not take a day or moment for granted, nor give away our precious time by engaging in unneeded drama or negativity. There are times that we do need to stand and speak up. Other times, as Jesus did today, we need to walk away and focus on what Jesus has before us. With each challenge or conflict, may we call on Jesus for his discernment on how best to act in each situation.

The words of Teresa of Avila, Spanish saint and doctor of the Church (1514-1582), are good ones to repeat and meditate upon often: “Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”

Photo: Making time to withdraw from the world each day, to breathe, be still, receive, rest, and abide in God’s love, helps us to feel safe, renew, and be clearer about God’s guidance. We can proceed from there.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, July 18, 2026

The Lord of the sabbath is the Lord of mercy.

I say to you, something greater than the temple is here. If you knew what this meant, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, you would not have condemned these innocent men. For the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath.” (Mt 12:6-8).

Jesus continues to rock established regulations and practices. Here he is challenging the understanding of the Sabbath itself when justifying the accusations leveled toward his disciples who were picking and eating grain on the Sabbath, and he does so in a profound way by saying that, “something greater than the temple is here.” Present in the heart of the temple, the area called the Holy of Holies, was the ark of the covenant. Atop the ark was the lid called the mercy seat of God. Jews believed that this was where God sat and when the blood of atonement was offered from sacrifices, God’s mercy was offered to the people. In the temple then, was the mercy seat, the very presence of God.

Jesus’ claim that he is greater than the temple is putting him on the same level as God. A blasphemous statement to say the least, unless of course, he is God. Jesus even doubles down by claiming that he is the Lord of the sabbath; Jesus is God! “As such, he has authority over how the Sabbath law is to be observed” (Mitch and Sri, 165).

In quoting Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice”, Jesus not only said that he is the something greater, but that his Way is something greater. One of the foundational points of the Way of Jesus is mercy. Through the incarnation, the Son of God dwelt among us and became one with us in our humanity. He provides a way to restore the glory lost at the fall. What Jesus said, in defending his disciples eating from the grains of wheat on the Sabbath, he is saying to us today: “What is owed to every human being on the basis of his or her human dignity is personal respect, personal acceptance, and personal care” (Kasper 2014, 202).

Each one of us strengthens our unity in the Body of Christ when we, with Jesus, bestow works of mercy on our neighbor, which are “are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his [or her] spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. 2447).

Will we judge others without mercy and keep them at arm’s length? Or rather, respect the dignity of each person, interact with and care for people, even when different, journey together, and offer God’s love as he loves us? Reviewing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy above is a good place to start. Praying about and deciding which one(s) to put into practice would be a good next step. We can write a broader and brighter chapter in the coming weeks and months ahead if we are willing to follow Jesus and lead with mercy, which is “the willingness to enter the chaos of another” (Keenan, 2015).

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Photo: We will be more merciful when we allow our heartbeat to beat in time with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Whose heart beat, in the womb of Mary, beat in time with the Immaculate Heart of his mother Mary.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, July 17, 2026

Kasper, Walter. Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life. NY: Paulist Press, 2004.

Catholic Church. Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997.

Keenan SJ, James. “The Scandal of Mercy Excludes No One.” Thinking Faith. December 4, 2015.

Mitch, Curtis and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010.

When allow ourselves to breathe and rest with Jesus our burdens will be lighter.

Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).

Scripture scholar, Fr. Daniel J. Harrington, SJ, stated that in this passage Jesus’ invitation was given to those who are not yet his disciples, those Jews who did not yet believe in him and the way that he was proposing. Jesus called them from the heavy burdens laid upon them by the scribes and Pharisees and invited them to accept his burden which is lighter (cf. Harrington, 167). “They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them” (Matthew 23:4).

The charge Jesus leveled against the Pharisees came from those who experienced the laws without any assistance and support. The demands of Jesus are even more challenging than those of the Pharisees, Sadducees, or the scribes! I shared yesterday one of the six antitheses, here is another: “You have heard that it was said… whoever kills will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to the judgment, and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna” (Mt 5:21-22). Jesus is equating calling someone Raqa – an airhead or calling someone a fool akin to murder. Our words can destroy or empower! We need to choose our words wisely.

The difference between Jesus and many of the religious leaders of his time is that Jesus, the Son of God, in the fullness of his divinity, was willing to enter into the chaos of our humanity. He experiences and suffers along with us. He invites us to yoke ourselves to himself. This will lighten the load that we carry. Many impose burdens on us, and we can impose burdens on others. We also impose them on ourselves and turn away from the invitation of Jesus’ help because of the temptation of self-sufficiency.

A handful of injuries I have suffered through the years were because I attempted to lift or carry something beyond my strength, instead of seeking assistance. I would think, “I can do it, I don’t want to bother anyone.” That is just the physical; there are also the mental and emotional burdens of anxiety, doubt, pride, fear, and worry that we burden ourselves with. This is not Jesus’ way.

Jesus offers us a path to follow that leads us to experience joy, peace, and tranquility in this life and fulfillment and union with God in the next. No matter what pain, suffering, conflict, and/or challenge we are facing right now, we do not have to go through it alone. We just need to remember to reach out our hand to Jesus and when we do, we will find that his hand is already extended ready to lead us to a better way.

In aligning ourselves with God’s will, life isn’t necessarily going to be easier. God’s commandments, and Jesus’ teachings aren’t any easier! The difference is that the Holy Spirit will give us the strength and peace of mind not only to endure but to experience a peace that surpasses all understanding while doing so. Let us take our first step together today, hand in hand with Jesus, and so find rest in knowing that we are not alone!

While walking with Jesus, we will learn to be patient and kinder with ourselves, and so kinder, patient, and more understanding with our words, actions, and faces. When receiving those who may be abrupt, rude, or reactive, resist the temptation of reacting in kind, and instead listen and love; for we are not aware of the burdens others are carrying consciously, and they may not be aware of their unconscious burdens. Offer instead a genuine smile, listen, not with an intention to defend, fix the person or solve their problem. Simply listen, breathe, and ask the Holy Spirit to give you the ears to be silent or the words to speak at the appropriate time.
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Photo: Evening rosary walk with Jesus and Mary for some quiet time.

Harrington, S.J. Daniel J. The Gospel of Matthew. Vol. 1 of Sacra Pagina, edited by Daniel J. Harrington, S.J. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, July 16, 2026

Repentance is not punishment, but an invitation to freedom.

“Jesus began to reproach the towns where most of his mighty deeds had been done, since they had not repented.” (Mt 11:20).

Anyone who encounters Jesus is invited to change. Jesus shines the light of his love and mercy into the darkness of our own fallen nature, where we are wounded, sinful, and misled. He invites us to repentance, healing, and reconciliation. He seeks to help us to understand who we are, the daughters and sons of his Father. A wonderful invitation, but why would we turn away? The darkness may be too dark, or the light may be too bright.

Facing our own darkness and pain is not easy and can be frightening as well as intimidating. We are vulnerable to temptations, distractions, and diversions when we don’t trust Jesus to come into the places where we feel unlovable. He loves us there, because he loves us in our totality. If we don’t allow him in those places of darkness and shame though, we will not experience his love, forgiveness of healing.

Yet the hunger for his intimacy we still seek, so will continue to be tempted by disordered affections to fill the void. We may not be able to sit still and breathe because we want to keep moving so as not to face our fears and the root causes of our suffering, nor let go of our false senses of security, control, and the glitter of apparent goods. The disfunction we know and have become accustomed to, is more comfortable than the promise of new life Jesus offers. We also may not be able to accept the fullness of our goodness, of who God calls us to be, and the realization of who we really are.

Jesus invites us to stop, to breathe, to enter into his stillness and silence where we can hear the word of his Father and experience the love of the Holy Spirit. In this experience of silence, we come to encounter what our lives look like without God and what our lives are with God. The choice to change our hearts and minds becomes clearer when we experience the light and love of Jesus. When we become aware of our sin, our turning in upon ourselves and away from God, Jesus does not condemn us. He inside invites us to repent: to turn away from anything and anyone that is not of God and to turn back and receive his loving embrace and welcome.

God loves us more than we can ever mess up, more than we can ever imagine, and he does not define us by our sins, failings, or worst mistakes. Jesus’ arms are wide open to receive us in the midst of our deepest wounds, fears, pain, sin, and suffering but we must be willing to stop running. We need to be still long enough to experience and feel the pain of our turning away from him. We repent when we allow Jesus to love us in our poverty and pain and then we experience being seen and heard. We are no longer isolated and alone.

The call of Jesus to repent is not a punishment but an invitation to freedom from punishing ourselves in self-criticism and judgment, from the lies that separate from the one who made us to be loved and to love in return. All the saints experienced the freedom for the excellence. The light of Christ revealed their sin, which they renounced, and so saw more clearly their unique charism. Trusting in and following Jesus they were transformed.

With confidence in being seen and loved, they cut the chords and strings that bound them. For a bird tied by even the smallest of strings will not be able to fly until the last string is cut. Let us repent and allow Jesus to reveal the chords and strings that bind us so that he can help us cut them and be set free from the fowler’s snare while there is still time!

Photo: Jesus will let us know what we need to repent from if we are willing to make the time to be still and listen.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, July 14, 2026