Daily Reflections with Fr. John

On this Labor Day, we remember these three truths: through our work, we participate in God’s creation; through our work, we serve others and the common good; and through our work, we learn to trust God rather than living in constant anxiety.

Saint Paul tells us what a transformed Christian life looks like in practice.

The Sabbath was God’s gift to his people. It was meant to provide rest, restore their relationship with God, and remind them that their lives belonged to him.

Jesus says, “New wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.”

"At your command"

Jesus enters the home of Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law is very sick with a high fever. The people in the house tell Jesus about her. And what does Jesus do? Jesus notices her. He goes to her, stands beside her, and heals her.

Before the first hymn is sung, before the priest reaches the altar, before anyone makes the Sign of the Cross, something important has already happened: God's people have gathered.

Familiarity can sometimes close our hearts to grace.

Do not let the culture around you set the pattern for your life. Do not let power teach you how to treat people. Do not let status determine your worth. Do not let anger, division, retaliation, or prejudice shape the way you see others. And above all, do not give your deepest loyalty to anything that belongs to this world.

When the truth becomes costly, will I still remain faithful?

Keep your lamp filled

Monica spent many years praying for her son Augustine. She watched him wander away from God, pursue an immoral life, and embrace beliefs far from the Christian faith she cherished.

Your outside is spectacular but what about the inside?

Jesus calls every one of us to become His disciple. There is an enormous difference between being a Catholic and being a disciple.

Saint Bartholomew reminds us that discipleship begins when we allow ourselves to be known by Christ.

Relationships grow because we spend time together. We talk. We listen. We share what is going on in our lives. We begin to know what matters to the other person, what brings them joy, what hurts them. And over time, that relationship begins to shape us.

Mary our queen who humbled herself and said yes to God.

How do we bring people closer to Christ?

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of a king who prepares a wedding feast. Everything is ready, the invitations have gone out, and yet many of those invited simply do not come.

We often say that we want God to be generous but sometimes we mean generous to us. When God is generous to someone whom we believe has done less, arrived later, or deserves less, we can begin to complain.

Every believer eventually reaches a moment when inherited faith must become a personal choice.

The problem is not simply that the young man possesses many things. The deeper problem is that his possessions possess him.

“Send her away.”

Mary’s Assumption is not something she accomplished by her own strength. It is something God did for her. It is the final fruit of God’s grace in the life of a woman who opened herself completely to his will.

Today the Church celebrates Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan priest whose life reveals what it truly means to belong completely to Christ.