From His Word to Our Hearts

We are so fortunate to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints on a Sunday this year because this feast reminds us that we are all called to live holy lives, we are all called to be saints. Yet we often fall far short of that goal! Jesus redefines happiness in the Beatitudes, reminding us that earthly happiness isn’t as important as being part of the kingdom. The book of Revelation reinforces that l...

This week the Pharisees and the Sadducees, strange bedfellows indeed, unite to challenge Jesus about the Law. They hoped to create a question too controversial for Jesus to answer, but Jesus’ creates an answer that is irrefutable… love God and love neighbor! The passage from Exodus helps us understand who we must see as our neighbor: strangers, foreigners, widows and orphans, the poor, and the vul...

The Pharisees and the Herodians, groups that typically oppose each other, unite in this week’s Gospel to challenge Jesus; unfortunately, his response is often misinterpreted. We shouldn’t repeat their mistake by misunderstanding Jesus’ words, but all too often, we do that very thing! God, however, can use anything to bring about good things for us, just as he used the Persian king, Cyrus, to retur...

All of our readings this week touch on some type of banquet, feast, or plentitude. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the Parable of the Marriage Feast, although its message is often misunderstood or misinterpreted. Isaiah describes the banquet God will provide for his people, a feast of plenty where every hunger and thirst will be satisfied. Even Paul’s letter reminds the Philippians that he has lived no...

In this week’s parable, Jesus is still trying to reach the chief priests, but they still don’t understand. Jesus’ words echo Isaiah’s love song for God’s vineyard, but the chief priests don’t make the connection. Even the Psalm tells the Jewish religious authorities that they are the vine planted in God’s vineyard, but that God is unhappy with the fruit they produce, and he withdraws his protectio...

This week Jesus tells another parable to challenge the chief priests in the temple; to teach them that they are being dishonorable and unjust, but they don’t understand his message. Through Ezekiel, God told the house of Israel that even an honorable man will die for his sins, but that a wicked man will live if he repents. Paul reminds us that though Jesus was honorable and just, he emptied himsel...

This week Jesus tells the parable of a man who hires laborers to work in his vineyard, going out not just in the morning but throughout the day, paying a full day’s wage regardless of how long each worked because the man is both generous and fair. Isaiah reminds us that God’s ways are not our ways – that God is both generous and fair, even when we don’t deserve it. Paul tells us that the whatever...

Peter thinks he is quite generous when he asks if he should forgive seven times. Jesus says that’s not nearly enough, that there should be no limit on forgiveness… not if we want God to forgive us! If we forgive others, Sirach assures us that our sins will be pardoned and that every decision we make should be with God’s judgement in mind. However, we know that God is merciful and that he does not...

This week’s readings are all about correction, reconciliation, and love. Through Ezekiel, God tells us that it is our responsibility to correct someone if they are doing something that God has declared to be evil or wrong. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us precisely how we are to go about doing that! We should start privately and gently, if that works – then we are reconciled which is great! If that...

Peter goes from being a hero to becoming a stumbling block, from having the right answer to getting things all wrong. That can happen to us, too! That happens when we deceive ourselves, when we listen to the wrong messages, when we misunderstand Scripture, when we distort the Gospel, and when we pick and choose what we like rather than accepting everything Jesus said. Paul tells us we must not be...

Jesus asks the disciples to share some of the gossip they have heard about him, about who people say that Jesus is. They provide a number of interesting answers, but then Jesus asks them who they say he is. Peter makes a profound statement of faith, not gleaned from his human insight or understanding, but because God revealed the information to him. We have the Bible, we have the Church, we have t...

All of this week’s Scriptures deal with outsiders, foreigners, Gentiles… and we are reminded that God always intended people of all nations to be part of his plan, that no one was to be excluded, no one was to be rejected. All too often, in today’s world, that message is forgotten or ignored. The Jews were the Chosen People – all the rest of us are Gentiles! We are the foreigners; we are the outsi...

Jesus goes up into the hills to pray and sends the disciples out in a boat where they encounter a storm and are afraid. Jesus comes to them walking on the sea, and they are even more afraid. Peter hears Jesus’ voice and steps out of the boat – but then saw the wind and began to sink. Our fears overwhelm us at times, and, like the disciples, we take our eyes off Jesus and sink. We look for God amid...

The crowds follow Jesus hoping to see another miracle… and they do. Jesus heals them and feeds them, generously, relying on limited resources but with plenty of food left over. In truth, God invites us all to partake of his heavenly banquet, to be part of his covenant, and have every one of our desires satisfied. But all too often, our desires are improperly ordered. We crave the things of this wo...

Jesus teaches another three parables this week – each one presenting a treasure that must be obtained and protected, but he’s not really talking about worldly treasure. He’s talking about the kingdom of heaven… that is the treasure we should seek to obtain and protect! God told Solomon to ask for anything and he asked for wisdom… we could use some of that wisdom ourselves! Paul reminds us that God...

Jesus teaches three parables this week – the weeds and the wheat, the mustard seed, and the yeast leavening all the flour – which remind us that there is always both good and evil in the world, and not just in the world but within each of us. God doesn’t just wipe out evil, though, which is a good thing for us since we aren’t always good! He does, however, always give us the time and the opportuni...

This week, we enter into a portion of the Gospel where Jesus teaches and explains parables. Using the Parable of the Sower, Jesus teaches us about discipleship, but we seldom fit seamlessly into just one of Jesus’ categories. We are complex creatures – sometimes faithful, sometimes not… at times fruitful, other times empty. God never gives us on us, though, even when we turn away from him! He stil...

This week, we are reminded that Jesus is the humble Messiah promised by Zechariah, that he has come to teach his followers about the Father who, our Psalm reminds us, is good and merciful, compassionate and gracious, slow to become angry with us and abounding in mercy for us when we stumble. While Paul’s message this week focuses on the Spirit, teaching that when we live according to the Spirit, r...

Jesus lists a lot of things that can make us unworthy of him… and that may seem a bit unreasonable at first glance. But once we understand that loving Jesus and being his disciple must always come first, then everything else begins to fall into place. We can love others more – through Jesus; we can bear greater hardships – through Jesus; we can be kinder and more charitable to everyone – through J...

Jesus assures us that his heavenly Father sees value in each of us, so we should have no fear of anything that threatens our earthly life. The only authority we should fear is that which can separate us from God. Jeremiah understood all about earthly fear, yet he still praised God. The Psalm reminds us that God, in his love and compassion, hears the prayers of the needy. And Saint Paul promises th...

Jesus tells us that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; that we should pray for the Father to send more laborers. But if we are God’s people, as the Psalmist says that we are… if we have been reconciled to the Father, as Saint Paul tells us we have been… if we have been saved by Jesus, shouldn’t that make us laborers in God’s vineyard? Doesn’t that make it our responsibility to spr...

That we are fed by the Body and Blood of Christ in the Sacrament of Holy Communion is one of the greatest gifts ever bestowed upon mankind by our Creator. This food was prefigured in the desert when the Hebrews were given manna to eat, but they were not always appreciative of so great a gift… nor are we! Unlike the manna which nourished only fleeting, human life, the Bread of Life prepares and nou...

The Holy Trinity, whose Feast we celebrate this Sunday, is one of the most confounding mysteries that we encounter in the Christian faith. The members of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit – are one God and yet three separate persons, they share one divine substance yet are distinct from each other, each person is entirely God but all three are in relation to each other. It is a stunning myster...

Pentecost celebrates not just the descent of the Holy Spirit, but the birth of the Church as well! Heralded by the spectacle of a driving wind and tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit descends upon the Apostles gathered together in the Upper Room and strengthens them to preach the good news of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Jesus gives us that same Holy Spirit… not for ourselves alone but as a gift t...

This week we celebrate the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. There is plenty of evidence for the historical person of Jesus, his Crucifixion is well documented, but his Ascension was a private affair, witnessed only by a privileged few who knew Jesus best in life and could offer reliable testimony. Yet people still doubt…which is understandable since even Jesus’ disciples doubted. In our modern age,...