love

When we align our will with God’s, we experience freedom.

Jesus continues to call out those Pharisees who follow their own will and put themselves in places of honor instead of God, and then one of the scholars of the law interjects: “Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too.”

Jesus did not soften his words or hold back. He went right at the scholar and convicted him as well, “Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them” (Lk 11;45-46).

Jesus is clear about his mission, about what the kingdom of God is not and what it is. Jesus is shining a light on the practices of those Pharisees and the scholars of the law that are not fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. I believe that there were those who were. Yet, for those he challenged, he did so in the hope that they would see the darkness that was blinding them. Unfortunately, unlike Bartimaeus (see Mk 10:46-52) who knew that he was blind and wanted to see, this was not true for many whom Jesus confronted.

How about us? Are we aware of our blind spots? Are we willing to allow Jesus to shine his light and love in our direction? Will we cover our eyes because the light is too bright and withdraw further into the shadows, or will we remain still and allow our eyes time to adjust so that the brightness of the Mystery of God will reveal to us that which has kept us bound? Will we justify or rationalize our behavior or will we be transparent, repent, believe in the Gospel, and walk further into the light and the embrace of Jesus? Will we stand in the brilliance of God’s love and truth and let the fire of his love burn away all that is not of him?

Let us resist the path of those Pharisees and scholars of the Law who imposed heavy burdens without being willing to help others along the way. It is important for us to know the Catechism, the Bible, Canon Law, participate in the sacraments, and be people of prayer and service. The purpose of each of these pursuits are not for themselves along though. We do so that we will come to know Jesus and the love he shares with the Father who is the Holy Spirit. We have been created for nothing less than to participate in the very love of God, to become divine through our participation in the life of Jesus. This love and relationship with God increases when we confess our sins, are forgiven, and then having received God’s mercy, share what we have received with others.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them. In fact, his interpretation and expansion of the law was much more demanding than the Pharisees or the scribes. The difference was and continues to be, that, Jesus meets us where we are and loves us where we are. He does not lower the bar but raises it. He wants us to realize that we can only follow God’s law with him. Without Jesus we won’t be able to even come close. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing, but with him, all things are possible.

In admitting our weakness and revealing to Jesus our poverty, he then gives us the strength mature, for he is our “rock and salvation” (Psalm 62:2-23). He is the solid foundation upon which we can stand and build. “The whole aim of any person who is beginning prayer – and don’t forget this because it’s very important – should be that he work and prepare himself with determination and every possible effort to bring his will in conformity to God’s will” (St. Teresa of Avila).

In aligning our will with Jesus, we are empowered to fulfill the prescriptions and practices that God has commanded, not for God’s sake but for ours! God’s prescriptions that we receive in the Old and the New Testaments are not to restrict but to free us from our slavery to sin.

In identifying and renouncing our sins, we will experience freedom from the false truths, diversions, distractions, and attachments that the enemy has been poisoning us with. Through daily reading, meditating, and praying upon God’s law and putting them into practice we become like a tree planted near a fresh running stream that will never wither and fade. Our roots will run deep and continue to receive nourishment and sustenance we were created for: the eternal spring of the Holy Spirit which purifies and heals us.

Jesus beckons us to come out from the shadows and into the radiance of his light. As we experience his love and mercy, he encourages us to continue to move out of our comfort zones, attachments, and slavery which is paralyzing us. Jesus calls us to experience freedom. When we trust him and walk with him, our souls will experience the rest that it is starving for, the peace that we yearn for, and the love we have been created for.

Photo: As each sun sets, may we repent from our sins and die to our false selves, so that we may rise the next day with the light of Jesus in our hearts!

Link for the Mass readings for Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Perseverance and trust are two key attitudes that will help us in prayer.

“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Lk 11:9).

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues to teach his disciples and us about prayer. The key point he is emphasizing is to be persistent in our prayer and to trust in God. He is our Father who cares for us more than any human can. He cares and will provide for us more than our own earthly parents or friends.

Yet, we can be at times frustrated in prayer because when we do make the time to pray, we may feel or think that nothing is happening or has happened. We may pray for a specific petition for our self, or for a particular intention for another and felt, or thought, that there was not an answer from God. One may pray a sincere, seemingly selfless prayer for a loved one, a child, a spouse, a friend, to be healed and the person still dies. They may be deeply hurt because they did what Jesus said; they asked, they pleaded and begged, but felt they did not receive the healing; that which they sought for, was not given and, instead what they found was nothing but pain and heartache from loss; they knocked until their knuckles were raw and experienced no one on the other side.

Our attitude and orientation to prayer matters. When we sincerely turn our hearts and minds to God in prayer, something happens between us and God, though it may be beyond our cognitive grasp to understand or our sensory awareness to experience. There may indeed be emotional highs and consolations experienced in prayer, but if seeking those is the primary motivation for prayer we will find ourselves more frustrated than not. There may also be lows in prayer, dryness, even desolations, and even feeling God’s absence are also a reality. Emotions are fleeting and not a good barometer when measuring the effectiveness of prayer.

Another big misconception is that we pray to God as if he were a gumball machine. It may seem a silly analogy but how many of us really do pray and worse, only pray that way, and when we do not receive the specific thing we asked for, at the time specified, when we wanted and as we wanted, we brood and think God doesn’t care or does not, in fact, even exist. We may even slip into the barter posture. God if you grant me this, I will do that. If we are only open to receive what we want on our terms, again we are setting ourselves up for frustration.

The very desire to pray is the beginning of our awareness of God’s invitation, for God is the one who reaches out to us first. The answer to what or who we ask, seek, and knock is found at the end of the Gospel reading for today: “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Lk 11:13)?

God knows what is best for us, he sees our potential, he wants us to experience joy and be fulfilled. How can we best live our lives in this world to attain that reality? We do so by receiving the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit? The infinite, communal love expressed between God the Father and God the Son. Our goal in prayer is to enter into God’s reality, the infinite communion of Love.

We pray first and foremost to help us to grow in relationship with God. This happens through our participation and conformation to the life of Jesus. When we take time to learn, meditate, pray with, and put into practice Jesus’ teachings as his disciples did we will start to see as he sees, we will come to see the truth of empty promises, apparent goods, substitutes to fill our emptiness and faulty defense and coping mechanisms that we have been utilizing as guideposts to merely survive and get through life.

When we stay consistent in an authentic life of prayer, God won’t bend to our will, but we will change. Instead of God becoming smaller to our demands, he expands our hearts and minds to be capable to receive his love. As we mature, we will begin to bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (cf. Galatians 5:22-23)?

Why may God not appear to answer a prayer for our healing or for a loved one with a chronic condition or one who is dying? I do not know. But we need to resist running from the pain of loss and be willing to trust that God has not abandoned us but is with us. The tears that arise from our suffering can then become a healing salve, a doorway into the open arms and embrace of Jesus who awaits us in the depth of our grief and pain. Even our loved ones who have died have not come to an end but have experienced a new beginning. JoAnn often would say in her last few weeks that she was just changing her address.

Ultimately, what we ask, what we seek, and what we knock for when we pray is to be loved, to belong, to be a part of someone greater than ourselves. We have been created as a living, craving hunger, and desire to be one with God and each other. This is true for the atheist and the mystic alike. We have been created to be loved and to love.

The Holy Spirit is the gift of prayer that is open to us all. He is the love shared between the Father and the Son, that we too can experience. This is why he is the answer to our prayer, though sometimes to be aware of his presence takes perseverance. It may not be that God is not answering, but that we are not patient enough to receive the answer. We need to be patient enough to be still and know God. Prayer is about building a relationship and like any other relationship, that takes time and work.

To mature in our relationship with God not only takes perseverance, we also need to trust him. One of the enemy’s chief tactics is to sow the seeds of doubt and mistrust. Trust in God’s love for you. Trust that he hears every prayer. Continue to show up each day and pray. Even if you feel nothing is happening, God is working within you, fighting for you, helping you to feel safe, heal and grow in trust. It is also important to spend regular time in quiet, for God’s primary language is silence.

“Leave it all to God and leave your interests in His hands. He knows what is fitting for us… No matter: tell Him honestly, candidly, and ask Him to help you trust Him.” – St. Teresa of Avila

Photo: St. Teresa of Avila from St. John of the Cross Catholic Church

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, October 9, 2025

Are we willing to do likewise, and show mercy as the Good Samaritan did?

It is interesting that the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, and here in today’s Gospel account, a scholar of the law, instead of genuinely seeking to learn the truth from Jesus, they all “test” Jesus. They seek to prove him wrong, trip him up, or attempt to present him in a compromising light.

The scholar indeed knows the law well. He knows the foundation of the law which Jesus himself calls the greatest commandment in Mark and Matthew. In combining Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18, the scholar answers his own question that one can “inherit eternal life” by loving “the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

Jesus commends his answer and acknowledges his understanding. Jesus then shares an important point to any law or teaching: “Do this and you will live” (Luke 10:28). It is not enough to know, we must put what we know into practice. Otherwise, there is no fruit. What we “know” will atrophy, it will whither away and die if we do nothing with what we have learned.

Not only does the scholar miss the point, he continues on his course to press Jesus further, seeking to “justify himself” by asking who is his neighbor. Jesus without missing a beat, sings the song of the Good Samaritan. In it Jesus presents who ought to be the heroes, the priest and the Levite, two law abiding Jews. Each know the law but each are unwilling to take the risk of breaking the law of ritual impurity by touching a dying man. Or they do not want to risk their own safety and refuse to fulfill the deepest root of the law, loving their neighbor as themselves. So they walk on. Jesus does not give the reason for their refusal to help.

The one who is willing to come close, the one who fulfills the letter of the law is not a scholar, a Pharisee, one of the high council, or even a common Jewish man or woman, but a Samaritan. Samaritans were considered enemies for different reasons. They were not pure-bloods. They were of the northern tribes of Israel and many of the Jews that survived the Assyrian occupation intermarried with the Gentiles. They also worshipped, not on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, but on Mount Gerizim. Sprinkling in some violent interactions and you have a recipe ripe for division and distrust.

Yet, it is this Samaritan who lives out the fullness of the law of God by loving his neighbor who is in need. He not only comes close to check on him, he provides aide, brings him to an inn where he can rest, heal, and all on his dime. Did the scholar go and do likewise? We do not know. Just as when the rich young man walked away sad after Jesus invited him to sell all he had and follow him, we don’t know if he ever came back. Are we willing to treat each other with mercy as did the Good Samaritan?

We can know the Catechism inside and out, know the Bible chapter and verse, we can attend daily Mass, but it does not mean that much if we do not allow what we have learned to shape and soften our hearts and our minds such that we come to know Jesus, his Father and the love shared between them, the Holy Spirit. Our faith is about experiencing God’s love and loving one another as he loves us.

To grow in our relationship and experience of God’s presence we need to slow down, slip away from the fast pace and the instant gratification mill. What we receive in our time of reading, studying, meditation, prayer, and worship, we need to ponder and sit with, put into practice, and share with one another as God leads. “God works in depth, in the slow time of trust” (Pope Leo XIV).

We are not perfect. We all fall short of the glory of God. The enemy seeks to distract, divert, trip, beat us down, and leave us for dead, just as we read about the man on the Jericho road. The good news is that in our times of desperation, when we find ourselves down and almost out, the Good Samaritan is Jesus. He is not only willing to come close, if we are willing to allow him, he will lift us up, restore us to health, save, redeem, and give us new life.

As Jesus does for us, let us go and do likewise for each other.

Painting: “The Good Samaritan” by Dan Burr

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, October 6, 2025

Want to be great? Reject self sufficiency and depend on God like a little child.

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me” (Mt 18:4-5).

Children during the time of Jesus were seen, if there were acknowledged at all, to have little worth. They were vulnerable, had little if any status in society. They were often nothings, nobodies, and completely dependent on their parents for survival. Jesus invites a child to come to him, identifying himself with the child, as a response to the disciples’ question as to who would be considered the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

Jesus taught his disciples, and us today that we need to be completely dependent on God our Father, just as a small child is totally dependent on his or her parents. What leads us to greatness in the Kingdom of heaven is our turning away from the temptation to curve in upon ourselves, resisting the urge to feed our ego, place ourselves first, and as St Thomas Aquinas taught, resisting the cultural lures and substitutes for God: power, pleasure, honor, and wealth.

We are also to reject the image of the Übermensch, the super man, popularized by Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher. Nietzsche wrote that God was dead and promoted the idea that humanity needed to create a world that would create new values based on the power of their will alone. Supermen and women striving for complete autonomy and self-sufficiency. Jesus teaches the exact opposite. We need to place our complete dependency and trust in and on God and rely on him for everything.

Participating in the reign of God is not one of lordship over another. Instead we are to assume the humility to accompany, walk along with, and serve each other along our journey in this life. Jesus embodied this reality. He, as the Son of God, entered into our human condition. He did not grasp at his divinity but instead surrendered it to his humanity. While remaining fully divine, he became fully human when through the power of the Holy Spirit was conceived in the womb of Mary. In such vulnerability and weakness, he developed through his period of gestation, and was born into our world. As an infant and child, he was completely dependent on Mary, Joseph, and God his Father.

As Jesus continued to grow as a young child, he experienced the fullness of the human condition. He laughed, he cried, he got sick, he was tempted, he felt pain, he experienced heartache and joy. Throughout his life, and especially during his public ministry, he experienced human suffering up close and personal. He understood the suffering of his neighbor and experienced his own human and finite limitations. He loved and wept as we saw in his encounters with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.

Jesus invites us to relate to God as our Father often in the Gospels, in the best sense of that intimacy of dependence. St Thérèse of Lisieux, whose memorial we celebrated yesterday got this. “Jesus has chosen to show me the only way which leads to the Divine Furnace of love; it is the way of childlike self-surrender, the way of a child who sleeps, afraid of nothing, in its father’s arms.”

Accepting Thérèse’s image is an acknowledgment that we are just as dependent on God and others, that we are not self-sufficient, that we are not capable of living radically independent lives, nor are we supposed to. God created us to be loved and to love, to be in community, to care for, empower, and support one another.

Our guardian angels, whose memorial we celebrate today, are at the ready awaiting our call. When we have the humility to ask for their help, we will realize that we are not alone. When we experience some supernatural support, from God, his angels and the saints, we might just be willing to seek help from and support each other. We can offer a shoulder to lean on, a smile, a hug, a voice that speaks for the voiceless, a soul open to pray with and for others, an ear to hear, and we can embody the courage to serve and stand up for the dignity of each other.

St Mother Teresa was willing to come close and pick up that first dying man in the street. She did not ask his religion, was not concerned if he was of a different race or nationality, was not afraid to risk illness or injury by attending to him. She knelt down and was present in his time of dire need. We are at our best when we follow Jesus, St. Thérèse, St Mother Teresa, the saints, and our guardian angels, and surrender to, and place our dependency and complete trust in God and support each other by doing little things with great love.

To be loved and to love in return is why we are here at this time. Photo credit François Le Diascorn

Mass readings for Thursday, October 2, 2025

Jesus has entered into and experienced suffering to free us from our own suffering.

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

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

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

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

The reality is that the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One, is Jesus. He is the suffering servant, the One willing to give his life on the Cross for all of humanity and creation. Jesus did not do this in some abstract way. He died for each and every human being that has lived, is now living, now reading these words, or ever will live. He died for you because he loves you.

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

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

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

———————

Photo: Just as the sun is present even as clouds gather, Jesus is present in our time of suffering.

Link for the Mass readings for Friday, September 26, 2025

May we shine the light that Jesus gives us.

Jesus said to the crowd: “No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light” (Luke 8:16).

God blesses us and invites us, mere human beings, tiny specks on specks in the universe, to be in relationship with him. He has given us our lives, sustains us, and he is the source of our fulfillment, meaning, and joy! We do not earn nor is there anything that we can do to gain God’s grace. God loves us as we are. All we need to do is accept his invitation to spend time with him and see him in everything, receive, and share his love. We lose the gift of God’s grace and love either by refusing what has been offered, or once accepting and receiving, not doing anything with what we have received. If we are people of faith in name only, but do not follow in action, we are concealing the light we have been given.

January of 2021 was an interesting time for me. It had been just over a year since JoAnn had died and I was not only diagnosed with Covid, but it had done a number on my lungs, full blown pneumonia, as well as compromised many of my other vital organs. Fortunately, after five days on the Covid wing of the hospital and a few months then home on oxygen, I slowly recovered. As with JoAnn’s diagnosis, I accepted what was happening and trusted God and felt his peace through both of those challenges.

JoAnn was not healed in the way that I had prayed but hopefully has now received the fullness of the healing that Jesus has come to bring all of us, eternal life with him and his Father through the love of the Holy Spirit. My time to leave this life and head on to the next did not come in January of 2021. As I recovered during those months, I continued to receive comfort in the gift of reading the daily Mass readings and shared these reflections.

Some have certainly been better than others, but I have been blessed by each step taken with the daily Mass readings, experiencing Jesus’ teachings, and their relevance in my life. I typed what I felt I God wanted me to share. These posts have been one way to reflect the light that Jesus has given me to shine. My hope is that these words can also be an invitation to those of you who are reading them to take your own walk about through God’s living word revealed in the Bible.

God has been a tremendous support and companion in my daily sitting, reading, meditating, praying, and walking with him. I pray that you may experience his closeness as well when you stroll: through the pages of the Bible, along the beads of your rosary, along a path for a pleasant walk prayerfully each day, and in the gift of the relationships God invites you to experience. As you do so, God will light your lamp with his love. Place it in the open and let the gift of God’s love and light shine brightly so it may be an inspiration for others.

Photo: The rising sun radiating through during my holy hour after Mass.

Link for the Mass readings for Monday, September 22, 2025

The victory of the Cross reveals to us our sin and God’s love.

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

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

Is God a loving Father or a harsh taskmaster?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Painting: “The Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John” by Hendrick ter Brugghen. Do we see defeat or victory? May we see the horror of our sin and “what it serves” and so repent and turn back to God’s love.

Link for the Mass for Sunday, September 14, 2025

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

“From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” What are we filling our hearts with?

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

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

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

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

At the moment we have a thought in our mind, we want to be aware of it and decide where and from whom this thought is coming from. Then, what to do with that thought. Many thoughts come from ourselves, others come externally from our experiences, our observations, our concupiscence – our tendency to sin, and yes even some from demonic influences.

What we listen to, read, and/or watch on a regular basis matters. We need to discern each thought or influence that comes our way. It is important to be aware what we are feeding on, literally and figuratively, and honestly assess our thoughts before we speak and act. Thinking through and deciding on what we will say and do is different from immediately or impulsively reacting.

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

Violence and the worst of our humanity continue through multiple media outlets, also, they horrifically materialize in real time, and ad nauseam on 24/7 cable coverage. The starting place to counter evil is to resist returning evil for evil, and to learn and put into practice Jesus’ teachings which will help to expose the darkness in our own hearts. We will see more precisely how to clear out the plaque of our own fears, wounds, frustrations, disruptions, and disordered affections. Then there will be more room for the love of the Holy Spirit to flow. With our hearts flowing with love, we will react less, listen, think, and speak better, and choose to act in ways that promote healing, understanding, forgiveness, reconciliation, and love.

——————————

Photo: Would that each of our hearts were open and receptive to God’s love as these flowers.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, September 13, 2025

Real love has a cost.

Our Gospel today, may not appear to be related or confusing in the analogies that Jesus is making. Jesus first begins by stating that to be a disciple of his, there is a need to, first hate “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life,” and then be willing to “carry his own cross” (cf Lk 14:26-27). Jesus continues to talk about the wise builder calculating the cost of materials and labor to be sure he has enough to complete his project. In the same way, a king preparing for battle, assesses whether he has enough soldiers to win, and if not, he needs to be honest and prudent enough to “ask for peace terms.”

With each point, Jesus is emphasizing the cost of his discipleship. Nowhere in the Gospels and definitely not here in today’s, does Jesus say, follow me and all will be wonderful, there will be no pain, no suffering, and you will have all the material pleasure this world can offer. There is a cost to discipleship and those who seek to follow him in his time and our’s must pause and be aware of the cost.

Is the cost really to hate our mother and father, family and friends, and ourselves? This is graphic language. It is also an important reminder that each word and phrase we read in the Bible is to be read in the context of the whole Bible, not on its own or in isolation. Dr. Brandt Pitre identifies where the same Greek work miseō translated here in Luke as hate is used in the same context in Genesis 29:31, “When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb…” The way miseō is used in this context in Genesis helps us to interpret Jesus’ usage which is to “prefer one person over another” (Pitre). Jesus is saying, starkly, that we are prefer God over and above anyone or anything else.

Another help to recall where Jesus himself, in Luke 7:27, is emphatic that we are to love our enemies. To say that we are to love our enemies and hate, in the sense of loathing, our family would not make sense. It does make sense in the context of we are to place God first before any other person. This interpretation also aligns with the fourth commandment which is to honor our father and mother. We honor our father and mother best by living out the first three commandments that have to do with putting God first.

Context also helps us to understand that the hyperbolic language used by Jesus is a rhetorical strategy common to rabbis to make a point by waking up their listeners to get their attention. This statement did just that and continues to do so. The Catholic author, Flannery O’Connor, can help us to understand what Jesus is doing in describing her own writing shared that: “To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures”. 

Why? To awaken the listener’s from their spiritual stupor. But even when we step back from Jesus’ hyperbolic language, the message to a first century Israelite, as it is for us today, is still hard to fathom.  Jesus is making it clear to the multitude that is gathering around, and letting them know clearly, that if they really want to follow him, there will be a cost. God must be first in their lives before all else, even the closest of family members and most intimate of friends.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus is consistent about the demands of being a disciple of his. A relationship with God is not just knowing about him, but knowing him intimately, and that means transformation. Not only is God to be first before family and friends, God is to be first before even ourselves. Being self-reliant, self-focused, and self-centered will not do. St. Teresa of Avila puts it quite well: “We shall never learn to know ourselves except by endeavoring to know God; for, beholding his greatness, we realize our own littleness; his purity shows us our foulness; and by meditating upon his humility we find how very far we are from being humble.”

Jesus is inviting us today to be his disciple, his student, and to join him in the most wonderful experience and adventure known to humanity. The Son of God who became one with us in our humanity is inviting us to be one with him in his divinity and to share in the communion of love that he shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit. To do so, we need to be as prudent as the wise builder and king. We need to assess the cost that Jesus is demanding of us. We are in the same position in this moment as the young rich man was who asked Jesus, “What do I need to do to inherit eternal life” (see Mt 19:16-22). The man was not willing to accept the cost of discipleship and walked away sad.

We have been created by Love, to receive his love, and to love in return, God, ourselves, and one another. Love is the greatest gift that we can receive and what we all seek in the depths of our souls. Jesus is giving us the key to unlocking the treasure chest and that key is to put God first before family, friends, self, and anything else. The way we put God first is to spend time with him every day. The amount of time is not as important in the beginning. What is most important is to set up a time you can commit to, show up, and let God happen.

If you are not sure what to do when you show up, you can start simply. Make the Sign of the Cross, take three, deep breaths, one for the Father, one for the Son, and one for the Holy Spirit. Continue to breathe slowly and receive God’s love for you and you alone in this moment. Remain until your mind starts to wander, then you can pray one slow and intentional Our Father. One Our Father said with meaning is more important than a thousand rattled of with no meaning. They are just words. When we pray, we are not just speaking words, we are speaking with someone: God our Father, who created us for this very moment: to be loved.

Photo: Spending time with Jesus in prayer each day – priceless!

Dr. Brandt Pitre. “Mass readings explained.” 23rd Sunday in OT

Flannery O’Connor quote accessed from “Listening to Flannery O’Connor” National Catholic Reporter.

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, September 7, 2025

Praying helps us to grow in our relationship with God, as well as in humility and love.

“Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Lk 14:13-14).

At the end of this parable, Jesus is expressing a deeper definition of love that we in our culture may not be accustomed. When we hear someone talking about love, most likely we think of an emotion, a feeling, sentiment, or a state of mind. As I have written often, I follow St Thomas Aquinas in his definition of love as the willing the good of other as other. This definition of love is unconditional. There are no restrictions placed on another for a return of the good given. In fact, as we read Jesus’ words, no return is to be expected.

This is what Jesus means by inviting the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. These are people of his time who had nothing to give to someone who has the means of offering a banquet. They could even come, because of their ostracized status without the proper etiquette to even express the most minimal of thank you for the invitation and the meal, and instead to complain about the food, the decor, and even be insulting to the host. Yet, they would be served with humility and grace anyway, because the point is to give without expectation of reciprocity.

Some may say this is impossible, that nobody gives without expecting something in return. Everybody’s got an angle, even if we do something for a compliment. Jesus would probably agree with this claim, for on our own we may not conceive of giving without looking to get something back in return, let alone make such an offer. Jesus has countered this claim in a different context, but it applies here just as well: “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible” (Mt 19:26).

To be able to love then, to will the good of the other without condition, we need to first be willing to receive the love of God that he offers. We are only capable of love because first and foremost, we have been loved ourselves. If we spend no time with God, no time in his word, prayer, worship, acts of service, or most importantly his silence, we set ourselves apart from the love of God, and separate ourselves from him, the very source of our being. Our very existence, in fact, the reality of all creation, is the result of the outpouring of the love of God.

To receive the love of God, it helps when we respond to the invitation of the Holy Spirit to pray each day. Our very desire to pray, seeking the existence of God, the urge to move out from our self to reach out to the need of another, is the first response we might experience to his invitation even if we may not even be fully be aware. Another important movement to make time for prayer is to resist the many distractions, diversions, and temptations that keep us from praying and make time for God and God alone.

Humility is a key virtue that helps us to resist seeing ourselves as first and foremost. God is God and we are his children. As we enter into relationship with him and receive his love, it is important to resist keeping his love for ourselves. Yes, share with those closest to us, but also with those who will not give back. We need not fear that there will be a finite end to our giving, for with God there is an inexhaustible supply and a joy for its own sake which comes up from within our soul from our loving Father who is the source.

Having received God’s caritas, charity, we are to give until it hurts, as St. Mother Teresa taught. Jesus is not teaching us to build up fame and fortune here in this life, but to build up treasure in heaven where we will receive our eternal reward. If we don’t follow through on the movement of love dwelling up and share, if we only seek a return or equal exchange for the love given, we will often be let down and disillusioned. When the Holy Spirit nudges us to reach out in concrete situations, we are to follow without hesitation and seek nothing in return.

Photo: Divine Jesus Prayer Canvas from ArtisianCanvasPrint

Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, August 31, 2025