love

How can we have enough oil to keep our torches burning all the way to the wedding feast?

“The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves'” (Mt 25: 8-9).

The context for Jesus’ parable was the procession to the wedding feast which was the beginning of the second stage of marriage after the time of betrothal that could take up to a year. One of the roles for this procession was carrying torches to light the way to the home of the groom from the home of the bride’s family home. They needed torches as the procession began after sunset. The wise virgins were not being self-centered or stingy but truly prudent and wise. If they ran out in sharing the oil before the completion of the procession that would have been a terrible embarrassment for the bride and groom. It could also lead to injury by having to walk in the darkness.

Jesus is doing more here though in this parable than introducing prudent discipleship. The wise and foolish virgins are representative of those invited to participate in the wedding feast, an image of participating in the kingdom of heaven. They who have their lamps burning brightly do so because they are living their faith in practice and reflecting the light of Jesus as they witness their faith to others. They cannot give their oil though. Each person must receive the invitation of Jesus and decide to live their faith and put it into practice in their own lives.

No one can do this for them. The foolish virgins are those that are not prepared or ready because they lack the commitment, the discipline, and the actual living out of their life of faith. This is shown starkly when the foolish virgins come to the locked door. They are not allowed in to participate in the wedding feast because the groom, Jesus, says that he does not know them. They are members of the community but they “have offended the bridegroom by their irresponsibility and lack of preparation.” This is “a claim of disassociation, of renouncing his former ties with them” (Mitch and Sri, 192). These virgins represent those disciples that have not put their faith into practice through prayer, worship, and good works. “It is one thing to make a strong start in the Christian life, to believe in Jesus and to commit oneself to repentance (4:17). But this commitment must be sustained over time” (Mitch and Sri, 193).

We gain some insight that the wise and foolish for Jesus has a different connotation than what the world deems to be wise and foolish. St. Paul in his letter to the Church at Corinth wrote that “the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18). The cross was not only a horrific symbol of oppression, it was a sign of the finality of death. To the world the cross showed that Jesus could not be the messiah, for he could not even save himself.

The imagery of the cross was still raw for the first few centuries and was depicted rarely in early Christian art. And yet, in one of the earliest accounts of the New Testament we have Paul not just discussing but proclaiming victory in the cross: “We proclaim Christ crucified” (I Cor. 1:22). A foolish and absurd statement in the view of the world, yet one of foundational wisdom to the disciple and apostles of Christ.

This was and continues to be the banner call of the Christian. Jesus died, and yet conquered death and rose again. This is a statement of faith that we can only make an ascent to through our belief and experience of, trust in, and deepening our relationship with, the one who died, conquered death and rose again. St. John Chrysostom (349-407) wrote that: “For the Apostles themselves came in not by wisdom, but by faith, and surpassed the heathen wisemen in wisdom and loftiness, and that so much the more, as to raise disputes is less than to receive by faith the things so far” (p. 249, The Word on Fire Bible).

Our faith is not a blind faith that we dumbly believe and follow along like lemmings. It is our reason seeking understanding and allowing God’s grace to build on our nature. Our faith grows as it did with the Apostles, through our encounter and lived experience with Jesus. Just like any other relationship, we build it with Jesus through time spent being loved by him, so we come to know him, love him, persevere in serving him through good works, such as the corporeal and spiritual works of mercy.

Jesus was clear that we do not know the time or hour of his return. We do not need to be worried about the time or the hour as long as we are faithful to and trust in him with everything and follow his will and do whatever he tells us to do. When he does return, we, like the wise virgins, will be ready to be welcomed into and enter the wedding feast.

Photo: Daily prayer, weekly Mass, participating in the sacraments, quiet time with Jesus, studying and mediating with Scripture, following the will of God, loving and serving one another, will help us to have enough oil to light out torches and keep them burning.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, August 28, 2026

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

Word on Fire Bible: Acts, Letters, and Revelation. Park Ridge, IL: Word on Fire Ministries, 2022.

We are faithful and prudent servants when we receive, rest in and share God’s love.

“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time” (Mt 24:45)?

Jesus is calling us to be that “faithful and prudent servant” and the household we are to serve is our own homes, churches, places of worship, communities, states, countries, and world. For the world is our home and those we serve are our brothers and sisters. Jesus’ call is a universal call to solidarity. We are all invited to be united in this effort for and with one another because we are all created in the image of our loving God and Father.

God has created us, not as automatons or robots, or drone worker bees. He has created us as unique persons, one of a kind, distinct wonders that have never been nor ever will be again. Within our uniqueness, there is also the gift of diversity. We are not intended to be separate from one another, for God has created all of us to be interconnected, to be loved, and to love. What affects one, affects all.

Jesus clearly emphasizes this distinction in his parable, often called the Judgment of the Nations, when he stated: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?” And the king will say to them in reply, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25: 37-40).

Being faithful and prudent servants means being aware of and willing to attend to the needs of the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, those ill, and/or imprisoned. This is not an exhaustive list. We are to allow our hearts to be open to have compassion upon those for whom God calls us to serve. We begin this process with prayer, for prayer is the most important thing that we can do each day. We are to make the time to spend in silence, to step away from the busyness and the noise, so we can hear God’s word and better discern his will.

Not all of us will be moved in the same way or for the same cause. It is important to remain open to the nudge of the Holy Spirit, trust his direction, and follow him regarding how and who we can serve, no matter how small of a gesture. One thing that can limit us is if we are unwilling to admit to and confess our sins, prejudices, insecurities, and/or biases. When we have the humility to confess and willingness to change and heal, God is ready to forgive, bring healing, and transform our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.

As we are forgiven and begin to heal, we experience more of the love and mercy of Jesus. He empowers and strengthens us with his love. St. Teresa of the Andes said it well, “his love for me is infinite – an eternal incomprehensible love that led him to become man, that made him to be transformed into bread in order to be with me, to suffer and console me. If you give yourself to prayer, you’ll find that God will show himself to you, and make you fall in love with him.”

We become “faithful and prudent servants” when we experience God’s love by setting aside time to receive, rest in, and savor God’s love. We will no longer feel so alone, afraid, or anxious. We will, feel heard and seen; believe that we belong, are secure, and more stable. Resting in and abiding in God’s infinite love helps us to experience more peace, freedom, and hope. Being known and loved also helps us to see each person we encounter less defensively and more lovingly. The more of God’s love we are willing to receive, the more will give, and the more love we share, the more we will receive!

Photo: Breathing, receiving, resting, and abiding in God’s love at the chapel in Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center.

Quote from St. Teresa of the Andes from pp. 384-385, Magnificat, Vol. 28, No. 6, August.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, August 27, 2026

With Jesus, may we pay a little more attention to the inside.

Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing” (Mt 23:27-28).

How many of us spend an inordinate amount of time regarding physical externals? Washing, makeup, the right clothes, the correct scents, teeth whitening, plucking, nipping, and tucking. How about time spent exercising through gym memberships, home exercise equipment, physical trainers, sports, stretching, running, or cycling. How about time spent towards a career through education, updating, professional learning, seminars, webinars, and networking. There are other categories that I can add, and the point is that there is not anything necessarily wrong with any of the above when they are properly ordered and each is in a healthy balance.

Yet, if external activities and how we define ourselves externally are all we are investing our time and energy in, then Jesus has a point. We may “appear beautiful on the outside” with great looks, a body that doesn’t quit, and a career to die for, but what is going on inside? Are we empty, unfulfilled, achieving goal after goal, yet feeling adrift or hollowed out? Do we have all the right social skills and etiquette down, know the right things to say in public, we have friends in the hundreds or thousands on our social media accounts, yet we feel alone and not a part of anything meaningful?

Worse yet, do we go to Church, say the right prayers, are active in ministry, tithe, are members of boards, involved in the community, and doing some great works of charity, but when the door is closed, and no one is looking… what kind of “hypocrisy and evil doing” are we up to? It is easy to rest in a false sense of security while Jesus chews out the scribes and the Pharisees, right now, yet, do Jesus’ words have an effect on us if we allow his light to shine also on the imperfections and shadow sides of us as well.

We can spend our time whitewashing the outside, projecting a perfect image, while chasing finite and material pursuits alone, which will more than likely leave us still feeling anxious, restless, unsatisfied, and worn out. Maintaining and protecting a false image on any level is exhausting. Instead, we can take a good look at the time we invest, where we focus our energies, examine our conscience, and assess the health of our relationship with God, family,  significant friendships, our vocation instead of occupation, and our service to those within and beyond our intimate circle.

Instead of expending energy maintaining a perfect persona, we will do better to be in touch with our weaknesses, our faults, wounds, and poverty of spirit, so that we can resist defending or rationalizing and seek healing, reconciliation, and transformation. By doing so, we may be more accepting, patient, understanding, and forgiving of others because we will come to realize that we are not all that perfect, the world does not revolve around us, and we are in need of help.

The path lit by Jesus will reveal our imperfections and sins and also will help us to distinguish between apparent goods and what is authentic and truly good. When we can step off the treadmill of chronic stress, come to a stop… breathe… press pause, we will begin to experience our vulnerabilities, insecurities, and fears. When we allow Jesus into those places and ask him for strength, forgiveness and healing, we will experience the peace, love, and rest we have been made for. We can rest in just being, just being ourselves and loved by God as we are, imperfections and all – no whitewash necessary.

Photo: Sending some quiet time while the sun was setting to reflect on where I can improve and need God’s help and healing, and thanking him for what I did well with his help.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, August 26, 2026

As we give of ourselves in service, we experience humility and love.

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23:11-12).

Jesus warns us to resist the sin of pride, and hubris, where we place ourselves as the focal point instead of God. This happens when we seek to be the center of the gravitational pull within our realm of influence. Through our subtle and not so subtle actions, we can embrace this temptation to live a life of, “Look at me, look at me!” Desiring to be affirmed is not a bad thing but that ought not to be our primary motivation for our actions. Ultimately, we will be better served when we seek our affirmation from God.

Choosing our own self-determination free of God’s guidance is the height of pride. God does not seek to limit us but to inspire us so that we may actualize the fullness of who he has created us to be. St Mother Teresa often guided her sisters not to seek to do great things but to do little things with great love. I came across a cassette tape of one of her talks during my freshman year of college. Her words, such as, “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”, started to plant a seed in my soul that urged me to look out beyond myself toward others.

Growing up with an introverted and shy nature, I spent much of my youth in my own world and spent more time with myself than others. The invitation to change that perspective would happen during my second semester of that same year. I took a psychology course and thought it would be interesting to work in a hospital. A close friend of mine, Steve, shared with me that his mother was a nurse in a nursing home in our hometown. That summer, when the semester ended, I applied for the job as a certified nursing assistant and was hired.

The first resident I assisted was named Margaret, age somewhere in her 90’s. She rolled passed me in her wheelchair and a particular odor followed. The aide I was training with caught my eye and I realized this would be my first solo attempt of service. I redirected and guided her to the toilet, which was in a small closet-sized area in between two adjoining bedrooms. It was a particularly hot day, and as I removed Margaret’s depends, I found quite the surprise. For the next fifteen minutes as I cleaned her up, I sweat, teared up, and repeatedly fought back the urge to gag, all the while Margaret – sang. Once finished and in a fresh nightgown, I helped her into her bed, tucked her in, and then Margaret said, “Give me a kiss lover.”

Others may have run for the door and never looked back. I stayed, and for the next four or five years, I experienced the wonderful gift of building relationships with the many residents and coworkers who drew me out of myself. What started out as a job became an extended family, and I served them with great joy.

God presents us with opportunities daily. We can choose to curve in upon ourselves or we can risk being present for and give of ourselves to others. Let us resist the urge to be led by anxiety or fear and instead pray for the courage to be open to the opportunities to extend the grace God offers us to serve in little ways with great love, one person, one encounter at a time. I pray that you may encounter your Margaret! For Margaret helped me to live what St Mother Teresa taught me: “Love only can become our light and joy in cheerful service of each other” (Teresa 2010, 355).

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Photo: The model of humility! Mary our queen and mother, please pray for us!

Mother Teresa. Where There Is Love, There is God. Edited by Brian Kolodiejchuck, M.C. NY: Doubleday, 2010.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, August 22, 2026

Let us open our hearts and minds to receive and enter into the dance of God’s love!

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Mt 22:34-40).

Jesus, in response, was not just throwing up a cloud of theological dust into the eyes of the Pharisees. His answer to, “which commandment in the law is the greatest?” was drawn directly from the Torah. Showing again his knowledge of the Torah. Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18 and merged the two verses together as one unit. His purpose was to emphasize the point that what is to be the greatest aspiration for humanity is to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves, not either/or. Jesus again was showing that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but that he came to fulfill them (cf. Mt 5:17).

In this statement, Jesus also revealed the foundation of reality, the Trinitarian communion of love. For the immanence of God – God within himself – has always been, always is, and always will be a communion of love. God the Father loves the Son, God the Son receives the Father’s love and in return loves God the Father holding nothing back, and God the Holy Spirit is the love expressed and shared between God the Father and God the Son. The overflow and abundance of this perichoresis, or divine dance of trinitarian communion, has been the loving of creation into existence.

This means that we as God’s created beings, his children, have been loved into existence too! We are willed into existence and loved by God our Father and so capable of loving God and one another in return. This love mirrors on earth the love that is shared in Heaven. It is through our participation in the life of Jesus that we can live up to his command to love our enemies, wonderfully expressed in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:29-37).

This is why prayer is so important. If we don’t get our relationship with God right, if we don’t spend time with and allow ourselves to rest, receive, and abide in his love, we will not be able to return the love we have received, and then how can we truly love ourselves and each other? When we do get the love of God right, we and our realm of influence changes. We can experience that peace that surpasses all understanding, and we can find the rest, that rest within the depths of our souls that we all seek. This peace, love, and rest we can then share with God and one another.

We can do so in simple but powerful ways. When we catch the eye of another – smile. This small gift can make such difference in another’s life. If someone says, “How are you today?” say, “Better that you asked.” When you are with someone be there as if they were the only person in the world. Go out of your way to do some random acts of kindness, especially for that someone who ordinarily and regularly gets under your skin.

Picture: Today – Perichoresis! Let us breathe, rest, receive, and abide in and participate in the dance of God’s trinitarian love, and let his love reign free in our lives to overflowing.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, August 21, 2026

God offers his saving grace to all who are willing to accept his love.

“Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Mt 19:25-26).

The disciples are “greatly astonished” about Jesus’ comments about how difficult it would be for the rich to enter heaven. Their astonishment came from the belief system that those who had wealth did so because they had been blessed by God for following his commandments. Just remember the rich young man’s attitude from yesterday. He had followed God’s commands and was blessed with riches and had many possessions, but Jesus turned his world upside down when he asked the man to give up all he had, give it to the poor, to follow him.

Jesus attempted to help the man and his disciples to understand that what we have, all that we have, is a gift from God, starting with our very existence. He is the ground, the source, and sustenance of our life as well as our ultimate fulfillment. A problem arises when we place our security in material things and that is our possessions can possess us. We instead to place our focus on God who provides for our needs.

When we place our security in and become dependent upon that which is finite, we are always going to be left unfulfilled, attached, and/or at worst addicted, and so like the rich man, unwilling to give of ourselves to those in need, because we are afraid that we won’t have enough. Also, when we look to our own effort and work ethic, we can build an unhealthy self-reliance on our self alone. We can place ourselves as the supplier of our security instead of God. Pride then becomes a dangerous and corruptive idol. We think and start to believe that we don’t need God because we can do well enough on our own, thank you very much.

There is another side of self-reliance. Because of past wounds, because we may have been hurt by those we trust, we may have trouble not only trusting people but also trusting God. We may even believe in God and seek to follow him, but unconsciously keep him at a safe distance because we don’t want to be hurt. The enemy preys on our wounds and attempts to sew untrusting thoughts in our minds and hearts because he seeks to keep us isolated. We can always trust God no matter what and he will not let us down. We may not understand at times and we can even let him know when we are angry at him, because that is honest prayer. Once we give him an earful, though, let us take a few deep breaths, and trust him.

“Who then can be saved?” The disciple’s question appeared to be agreed upon by all, since Matthew infers that all of them were asking the same question. This can be our question as well. If we can’t buy, earn, or achieve our way into heaven, how will we get in? Jesus is clear. For men, this is impossible because there is no means for us to get there on our own merit. But for God, all things are possible because our salvation is a gift freely given by him.

As with any gift though, we need to be willing to receive, accept, and open it. One way is to be grateful for what we have and recognize that the source of all we have comes to us from God. In this way, we can share freely from what we have, because God, who is our source, is unlimited. As we give from what God has given, God will continue to supply. What is primary then is allowing ourselves to receive, rest, and abide in the greatest gift we can receive, God’s love. We hunger and thirst for intimacy with God and only he can satisfy our deepest yearning.

What is essential in our life is not the material things, not even the gift of God’s blessings and consolations. What is essential is to experience the love and intimacy of the gift giver. Time goes fast. Even when life is a bumpy or downright challenging, when we rest in the truth that we are God’s beloved daughter or son, not in the things that he gives us, we will know God, his love, and experience his peace which is beyond price. Let us not take time, nor each other, for granted. Let us place our trust in Jesus who is our true foundation and with him we will experience that “all things are possible.“

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Photo: Resting in and receiving a moment of quiet to be with and thank God.

Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, August 18, 2026

“O woman, great is your faith.”

[A] Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon” (Mt 15:22).

In Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, Jesus revealed through three responses, some of the darker sides of our fallen, human nature. In his fourth response, he also identified the way to resist these three sinful tendencies.

When the Canaanite woman called out to the Son of David to have pity on her, Jesus first responded with silence. His silence can represent the indifference we feel toward those not like us. We ignore their very presence as if they don’t exist. In the early nineties, while I was in the novitiate with the Franciscans of Holy Name Province, we toured an impoverished inner-city area in Philadelphia. One of the local friars pointed up to the elevated tracks as the commuter train headed past us toward the heart of the city. He shared how the majority of those commuting had no idea of the need, pain, and struggles of those down here below, like the homeless mother and her three young children that I had met that day. Are we aware of those in need around us, or do we ride our own Elevated Train of Indifference?

We can look upon or past people with indifference, but we can also look upon them with disdain or fear. This woman was in dire need and seeking healing for her daughter. She was also a Canaanite. To the ancient Jews she was not only one of the people they considered an enemy in war, but in cultural practices. Canaanites were believed to be immersed in idolatry, immorality, and even committing egregious acts of sacrificing their children.

The disciples approached Jesus and asked that he send the woman away. Was it because they considered her a pest, unclean, a pagan, not one of them… Yet, Jesus did not dismiss her. He replied: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24). Jesus’ response can represent the dangers of tribalism and nationalism, and how it can taint our perception regarding how we perceive those that are outside of our group. Those we consider as not one of us. The danger is that this perspective can grow such that we see others as less than human.

A Lakota elder, Fire Hawk, who became family to me in my early twenties shared how in his youth, he thought about being a priest. He voiced his interest and was told that it was not possible because he was Indian, and after receiving one too many baths in which he was scrubbed down in bleach and water, to wash the red out, he gave up on the idea. Do we dismiss those in need around us, do we not help, or worse crush their dreams because someone has a different national, religious, political, racial, ethnic, or gender identity?

The woman was not deterred, increased her boldness, and walked directly up to Jesus and did him homage. She may have at that point knelt or prostrated herself before and asked him directly for help. Jesus still not only appeared unmoved, but appeared to ratchet up his own uncharacteristic response: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” (Mt 15:26). This derogatory statement has been hurled at people who have been different for eons. Jesus’ third response can reveal the power of our words and symbols that we use to belittle, demean, and dehumanize. When we place labels on others and begin to believe them, when we think we are superior, we begin to see others as caricatures, as less than human.

Not only do we refuse to help but we also make people, fellow human beings, into an enemy that must be put in their place. On April 18, 2015, I was living in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In the next town north of us in Jupiter, three white teens were out “Guat-hunting”, their phrase, looking for Guatemalans to rob. That night they found a Guatemalan young man, 18-year-old Onesimo Marcelino Lopez-Ramos, a son and brother. After their encounter, Onesimo was bludgeoned to death with a rock. Onesimo was heading home from working extra hours. When we allow our thoughts to be poisoned, our words will then be laced with venom, and then our actions can become deadly. Are we aware that our attitudes, our words, and our actions matter?

The Canaanite woman retorted, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Jesus’ responded: “O Woman, great is your faith” (Mt 15:28)! This final statement can reveal to us that there is an antidote to indifference, fear, disdain, tribalism, and dehumanization and that is the love expressed by the Canaanite woman for her daughter. She crossed social boundaries, side-stepped indifference, refused to be sent away, risked ridicule, and possible abuse and death because she would not be denied until her daughter was healed. She did not get defensive, did not fight back, because she did not think of herself. She thought only of the welfare of her daughter.

Jesus in his interaction with the Canaanite woman was teaching his disciples and us today a profound lesson by allowing himself to be a mirror. His first response was silence. Those around him were given the opportunity to experience their thoughts about who this woman was to them. When the disciples asked Jesus to send her away, they were revealing something of what they were thinking.

His second response that he was sent “to the lost sheep of Israel” was true. Jesus truly was sent to unite the lost tribes of Israel and unite his people, which was one of the roles of the Messiah. He also knew about the first reading for today about how foreigners who became faithful to God and were willing to follow him would be received in love and welcomed to stay in God’s “house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7). Jesus provides the foretaste of that universal fulfillment in this and other encounters with those outside the house of Israel.

His third and most derogatory statement toward this woman who was now honoring him as her Lord, even when Jesus called her a dog, revealed the worst of our fallen natures. Could the disciples, who he had hand picked, who he had been modeling ways of love and compassion, the same ones who were asking to send her away, now be turning into a hurtful mob at these words? If so, they would receive an incredible whip lash. She was not deterred by the degrading, she remained resolute, and replied not in kind, but with one of the greatest one liners of the Bible. “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

Were the disciples ready to pick up rocks or were their hearts finally moved to compassion? Jesus responded: “O Woman, great is your faith” (Mt 15:28). This Canaanite woman full of courage from the love of her daughter stood toe to toe with Jesus and represented the height of the faith that Isaiah was prophesying. Jesus mirrored the fallen and dark side of our human nature. Who modeled love in the face of silence, determent, and degradation? The Canaanite woman.

What does this encounter between this woman and Jesus say to us today? We are to see each other as interconnected, as human beings. What befalls one of us befalls us all. We are sacred beings created in God’s image and likeness, we are all created by the same loving God and Father. Jesus demands that we meet darkness with light, hate with love, and that in everyone we encounter, we engage them with that same love and mercy he bestows upon us. We are to will the good of the other as other, no matter who they are. We are to choose faith, hope, and the greatest of these, love, as the light that guides how we experience one another, especially those who are hurting in our midst.

It is not enough to believe in and receive Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist. If we truly believe we receive him then we need to allow him into the darkest, most wounded areas of our souls where our biases and prejudices dwell.  We also must have eyes that are willing to see him present in others. May we allow our thoughts, words, and actions go through the filter of the love of the Holy Spirit. Before we think, speak, or act, let us breathe, receive, rest, and abide in God’s love and then choose to dismiss or continue that thought, word, or action. From this posture, our places of worship, gathering, and homes, in the words of Isaiah, will “be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Painting: “Christ and the Canaanite Woman” by Jean-Germaine Drouais

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, August, 16, 2026

Even with a little faith, when we trust in Jesus and allow him to love us our faith will grow.

Then the disciples approached Jesus in private and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” He said to them, “Because of your little faith.” (Mt 17:19-20).

How do the disciples get from this recurring theme of having little faith in the Gospel accounts to Peter healing a crippled beggar by saying with boldness, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk” (Acts 3:6)? And the man did just that!

A helpful definition “is to say that faith always entails a relationship between persons which stands or falls with the credibility of the person who is believed” (Rahner and Vorgrimler 1965, 164). Faith is not just an intellectual exercise, it is a lived experience. Christian faith is not an impressive idea or ideology, philosophy, or theology. Christian faith is the conviction, belief, and relationship experienced with Jesus the Christ.

The disciples learned from Jesus but more importantly developed an intimate relationship with him, such that the love they received and shared became so strong that there was no more room for doubt, distraction and/or fear, such that they would align themselves with the will of God and do what Jesus did. Jesus referred to the disciples as having “little faith” which is different than them having no faith at all. This faith would grow as the disciples continued to be faithful to Jesus and continued to follow him, even when others walked away.

The disciples did have some moments of doing as Jesus had done, but it was not until Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit descended upon them at Pentecost that everything changed. Jesus had tilled the soil, he helped to unearth the rocks of the hardness of their hearts, he forgave them, and healed them. But it was not until they let him go after his Ascension that they were able to receive the Holy Spirit and by his power working through them they would do even greater deeds than he (cf. Jn 14:12-14)!

We are invited to do the same. If we only read the Gospels or hear them read we may know something about Jesus, but our life will for the most part remain unchanged. When we read, meditate, and pray with the Gospels and put into practice what we read, we will encounter Jesus as did his disciples. We too will come to know and develop a relationship with Jesus, we will experience his love, and our hearts and minds will be transformed. In this way, we are not just reading a dead letter but encountering the living Word, the Son of God, who invites us to share in the infinite dance of Love that he participates in with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

The enemy will do everything in his power to distract, divert, and tempt us from setting aside time to pray with God each day. And when we actually begin to discipline ourselves, enter into quiet time daily, we are invited not to stay there but to go deeper, to move beyond only reading, meditating, and praying. There will be times Jesus invites us to set aside our Bible, notes, journal, prayer cards, and/or vocal prayers of petition, and to just be still, to listen, and receive the love that Jesus and the Father experience, the Holy Spirit.

The same Holy Spirit who empowered the Apostles to fulfill what Jesus had begun with them is quietly nudging us on each day. Please listen! He is inviting us to see more clearly those subtle ways we are being distracted, tempted, and diverted from his guidance and what has been inhibiting the growth of our relationship with God. The love and light of the Holy Spirit will reveal, when we are willing to remain still, where and how, in minute and massive ways, we are refusing to follow the will of God.

One of the reasons that we have also “little faith” is that we rely too much on ourselves. We are invited to stand in the presence of the Holy Spirit and let his fire burn, to purify us from our own misguided thoughts of self-sufficiency. As gold and silver are placed in a crucible and heated, the dross is purified. We are purified in the crucible of our meditation, prayer, and contemplation by the love of the Holy Spirit. Through the purifying love of the Holy Spirit we will see that we cannot save ourselves, that we need a savior, Jesus, with his arms wide open ready, willing, and able to embrace, forgive, and love us unconditionally and continually.

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Photo:  A reminder from a mama sandhill crane and her young one to slow down and breathe.

Rahner, Karl and Vorgrimler, Herbert. Theological Dictionary. New York: Herder and Herder, 1965.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, August 8, 2026

Jesus took up his cross for us, are we willing to take up ours for him?

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24).

Jesus invites us to deny our self-centered default position which places I, me, mine (As George Harrison sang) at the center of each of our decisions. We can deny ourselves when we resist making excuses for our sins and come to a genuine place of sorrow for the pain we have caused God, ourselves, and others. By acknowledging our sins and confessing them, we die to our selfish ways, and then we rise again through the power of Christ. Empowered by our humility and the strength of Jesus we are better equipped to resist those temptations in the future.

The key in following Jesus is that as we identify and confess our sins, we are also given the opportunity to slow down and see what is at the root of our sins. In most cases, there are unhealed wounds that are activated when we are triggered or tempted. Jesus leads us with his tender chords of love to experience the wounds, pains, and traumas of the past and when we allow ourselves to be loved in those places that maybe for years and decades we have felt unlovable, then healing and transformation can begin.

Experiencing our Father’s love, mercy, and forgiveness, his healing, we are then in a better position to take up our cross daily, which is to follow the will of God. Jesus showed us the proper orientation of surrender when he said at Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42). Jesus followed his Father’s will to the cross and endured horrific suffering, excruciating pain, humiliation, and abandonment, unto death… and in doing so, gave him the opportunity through the love of the Holy Spirit to conquer death and become the first born of the new creation!

Many a mother I have talked with has shared the struggles of labor, but also expressed the joy of giving birth; many students who I taught were exasperated by the time and effort expended for an examination, a sporting event, art show, musical or theatrical performance and yet experienced the joy from the feat they accomplished; and how many times have we faced a challenge, trial, or cleared some obstacle and felt the exhilaration of overcoming the hurdle?

Taking up our cross and following the will of God means accepting a disciplined approach to our lives. When we are more intentional about spending time with God each day, we will know him, love him, will better know and will be better able to follow God’s will. The enemy seeks to isolate us and tempt us to be more constricted. From there we feel more isolated and alone and are more vulnerable to seek out disordered affections and apparent goods. Resisting self-sufficiency and curving in upon ourselves and in trusting Jesus with everything that comes, we will experience instead communion and expansion and grow in his love for us.

When I was twenty-four, I entered the Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province to study for the priesthood. In the year and a half of discernment, from time to time I would imagine my ordination day. To my surprise, I did not feel any joy. I enjoyed every aspect of my experience with the friars and the ministries but there was something or someone missing. I took a leave of absence and about a year and a half later, I realized what was missing was a family.

Three years since I discerned out of the Friars, I met JoAnn, and her three children, Melissa, Jack, and Christy. Six months after that we were married and seventeen years later, I was ordained to the permanent diaconate. This is the short version of the story. There were bumpy moments as we learned to grow together by being willing to see each other’s point of view, some perspectives took a little longer than others, and we were at our best when we were willing to sacrifice for and serve one another.

A greater challenge came almost seven years ago when we experienced JoAnn’s final weeks this side of heaven. JoAnn’s diagnosis of pancreatic cancer became the cross that was the heaviest to bear, yet Jesus shouldered it with us and blessed us richly in our surrender. I am truly grateful for those final months that we had together.

When the realization that JoAnn wasn’t coming back finally sank in about a year and a half after her death, I decided I needed to learn how to live again without her. I followed JoAnn’s advice to put all options on the table and over some months whittled eight choices down to two. Standing in our bedroom, I pondered whether to leave teaching for a year and collapse or pursue the priesthood.  I then asked God, “What do you want me to do?” A quiet voice within confirmed, priesthood. My body sank but my spirit soared.

I would be accepted into the seminary to study for the priesthood and with the support of some great people and the strength of the Holy Spirit guiding and carrying me, I made it through to my ordination day. This time I anticipated ordination with joy, but there was a lingering feeling that I was betraying JoAnn by going ahead and living my life without her. We need to be careful what voices we listen to! The Father of lies seeks to wreak havoc but the Holy Spirit invites us to experience freedom, healing, and wholeness.

Some of the doubt lingered into my ordination Mass, until the moment when each priest walked by, placed their hands on our heads while each remained silent. About half way through the progress, one priest leaned close and whispered, “Your wife has the best seat in the house.” The tears began to flow and purify the lies. During the Eucharistic Rite, for a moment, I felt JoAnn with me, helping to realize that I was actually celebrating my first Mass as a priest, concelebrating with our bishop.

A few months later, I realized that I could be happy again. I was not happy JoAnn had died (which the enemy fed me), I was happy because I was following the will of God. JoAnn told me that I would be sad but not to stay there and that she would be closest to me when I was doing that which made me happy. I have also come to realize that during the Mass, because of the presence with Jesus in the Eucharist, the veil between heaven and earth is so thin.

When Jesus calls us to “deny ourselves”, he is talking about denying those attachments and disordered affections, anything and anyone that we place before God. When we are willing to surrender all and follow Jesus, allow the purifying fire of the love of Holy Spirit to burn the dross of our sin, attachments, apparent goods, and disordered affections away, we will experience a deeper love and intimacy with God that we have been created for, as well as a freedom and consolation we never thought possible.

Jesus never calls us to do anything that he is not willing to do. He also calls us to, take up our cross. To take up our cross and follow him is possible because Jesus did just that. He was willing to give all out of love for us. He was willing to suffer, carry his cross beam, fall and get up three times, to be crucified and die that we might have a way to break free of anything attempting to keep us from growing in our communion with God. Jesus, speaking to his first apostles, was even asking them to be willing to give their lives as he did.

Jesus “demands a commitment of faith that is ready to embrace the will of God wherever it leads, even unto death” (Mitch and Sri, 212). He meets us where we are. Maybe before answering the question of whether or not we are willing to give our lives to Jesus as he gave his life for us, we might start with, are we willing to slow down enough to let him love us in our wounds, sins, and failures. As we do so, we will come to know and love Jesus in return and then have a better idea of how to serve him “wherever it leads.”

Photo: Prayerful pause with Jesus who loved us this much!

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

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, August 7, 2026

“Prayer helps us to see.”

He took Peter, John, and James, and went up the mountain to pray (Luke 9:28).

Peter, John, and James experienced Jesus’ profound teachings, his powerful signs, his wonders, and they also witnessed his healings, casting out demons, and forgiving of sins, which, alluded to the reality that he was the Son of God. Peter, James, and John, although acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah, still pretty much looked at Jesus as a human being. In the encounter of Jesus transfigured, Jesus revealed to his inner circle of Apostles not only a foretaste of what was to come in heaven but a glimpse of his actual divinity, and the miracle of miracles, the Resurrection.

Jesus is not 50% God and 50% human. He is fully God and fully man. This is the Mystery of the Incarnation; the reality that the second Person of the Trinity took on flesh and became human. This is an important reality, because in this very act of Infinite Grace, the Son of God assuming humanity, Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, as St. Irenaeus wrote, “opened up heaven for us in the humanity he assumed.” The Son of God became one with us in our fallen and sinful state so that we can become one with him.

Through participation in the life of Jesus Christ, we can be restored and deepen our relationship with his Father, and we too can be transformed. We can do more in this life than to survive and just get by. We can live beyond just recovery from healing from our wounds, beyond merely functioning and keeping our head above water. Jesus came to reveal to us that we are to live in the consolation and joy of being in relationship with his Father and so we can with St. Paul, “rejoice always!” With Jesus not only is recovery from wounds, addictions, sin, disordered affections possible; forgiveness, healing, reconciliation, wholeness, and a peace that surpasses all understanding possible.

“By revealing himself God wishes to make [us] capable of responding to him, and of knowing him, and of loving him far beyond [our] own natural capacity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1997, 52). This reality of the invitation of communion with the Loving God and Father of all creation is for all. Authentic joy and fulfillment are achieved through developing a relationship with the God of Jesus Christ.

Many may say they are happy and living a good life without having a relationship with Jesus Christ, they do not need God or his Church, and I would not disagree with them. I would only add that if we are honest with ourselves, there is more to life than the mere material and finite reality we see and what we experience with our senses. When we slow down enough, when we are actually still enough, we can experience a deeper yearning for more, and begin to see what is keeping us from the deeper reality Jesus is offering.

Even with great achievement, mastery, honor, and accumulation, there is still a lingering question, “Is this all there is?” We experience consciously or unconsciously a restlessness, we continually search to fill this unease, feeling satisfied for the moment, but eventually in short order, we are left empty, time and time again. This unease is our soul’s yearning, our transcendent nature longing for more, and that longing is for the infinite that the finite cannot provide or satisfy. St Augustine of Hippo articulated this desire and yearning so well in the opening chapter of his autobiography, Confessions: “You move us to delight in praising You; for You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You.”

The Feast of the Transfiguration is an invitation to embrace the fullness of what it means to be human, as the Son of God did through the Mystery of his becoming one with us, all of us, all of humanity, not just a select few. We are invited to embrace the fullness and rich diversity of our humanity; the reality that we are physical, emotional, intellectual, while at the same time, spiritual beings. Our fulfillment and joy come from a balance of nurturing the reality that each and every one of us have been created in the image and likeness of God and are to identify ourselves foundational as his beloved daughters and sons.

Peter, John, and James, as well as each of the saints, embraced the invitation of Jesus and were healed, experienced wholeness, and communion. The likeness to God that was lost in the fall of Adam and Eve was restored as they dedicated themselves to lives of prayer, repentance, service, allowing themselves to be loved by Jesus and to love in return. We can see the restoration of the likeness through such biblical imagery of Moses’ face that radiated after his intimate encounters with God and in the transfiguration of Jesus with not just his face but his whole being.

“The person who prays begins to see” (Pope Benedict). Setting time to be alone with God daily to speak with him, listen, simply rest and be still, as well as receive, hear, and follow the guidance of God will, and above all to receive his love, help us to see and experience reality, grow in holiness, and restore the glory he made us for. We embrace the gift of our common dignity when we love God, ourselves, and our neighbors as ourselves.
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Photo: Jesus transfigured reveals the fullness of our humanity as physical and spiritual.

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, August 6, 2025