Know - Grow - Go

True peace comes from having our hearts attached to the Lord’s and living out of that center. In letting His words speak to the deep places inside, letting them shape our thinking, our speaking, our choosing — even in our busyness. The Lord knows we lead busy lives. Jesus comes to us anyway and says, “I know you don’t have hours. How about just a few minutes. Can you give me that? Just a few minut...

How desperately we search for peace in all the wrong places: our achievements, possessions, wealth, travels, and more. But true peace can only come from abiding with God. When we serve faithfully, God abides with us. We don't serve others because of who they are, but because of who we are. And when we serve from a place of faith and love, we find that peace doesn't disappear — it grows.   Readings...

Generally in the world we think of peace as an absence. They used to say, ‘Visualize world peace’ and they mean nations not fighting each other. But that is not what Christ is talking about — not an absence of conflict or struggle. It’s a presence; it’s something that can be with you. That’s the peace Christ comes to give us. We can’t say, ‘May an absence be with you.’ It’s a presence within us. I...

Fr. Anthony offers the homily for the Solemnity of Saints Peter & Paul, Apostles.   Readings at this Mass: Acts 12:1–11 | 2 Tm 4:6–8, 17–18 | Mt 16:13–19

Fr. Anthony offers the homily for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (also known as Corpus Christi).   Readings at this Mass: Gn 14:18–20 | 1 Cor 11:23–26 | Lk 9:11b–17

The way we enter into the divine life – and the way we experience the joy and the sense of purpose that come from God – is by fixing our gaze on Jesus, who reveals to us the Father. Real life consists not in fixating on ourselves, but in forgetting ourselves, in letting go and losing ourselves in service to God and one another.   Below is a photo of Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity, which is disp...

Using milk and chocolate syrup, Fr. Bill illustrates our need to stir up the Holy Spirit inside each of us and go out to make a difference with our God-given gifts.   Readings at this Mass: Acts 2:1–11 | 1 Cor 12:3b–7, 12–13 | Jn 20:19–23

Fr. Anthony offers the homily on the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord.   Readings at this Mass: Acts 1:1–11 | Eph 1:17–23 | Lk 24:46–53 

When we praise God in the midst of our storms, we’re declaring that He is still in control – that darkness has not overcome the light. Praise pushes back against the darkness and becomes both a weapon and shield, guarding our hearts from anger, hate, resentment, and the desire for revenge or retaliation. It’s okay to cry out or be angry with God; He can take it. Even Jesus sweat blood in His angui...

When you find yourself confronting something new or something seemingly out of control, and you wish your life was different or that things could just continue like they always have — resist that thought. Resist. Remember: God has known about this time and this situation from all eternity, and He’s known about you from all eternity, and He’s chosen this time and this place for you – from all etern...

Fr. Anthony preaches the homily on Good Shepherd Sunday.   Readings at this Mass: Acts 13:14, 43–52 | Rv 7:9, 14b–17 | Jn 10:27–30

Fr. Bill speaks to the children celebrating their First Communion about how Jesus accompanies us every day, everywhere, through the Eucharist.   Readings at this Mass: Acts 5:27–32, 40b–41 | Rv 5:11–14 | Jn 21:1–19 

The first and most important job of the Pope is to help us walk together, as brothers and sisters of the Lord. St. Augustine is our guide here. He said, “In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. And in all things, charity.” So, pray for the cardinals this week. Pray for an open and gracious heart. And pray, too, for our new Pope, whoever that will be. Being Pope is a weighty burden. Let’s...

Because of Jesus, no day is wasted. In Jesus, every season of life — whether it be joyful or painful — can become an opportunity for meaning and transformation. When we unite our experiences to those of Christ, life itself takes on new perspectives and meaning.   Readings at this Mass: Acts 10:34a, 37–43 | 1 Cor 5:6b–8 | Jn 20:1–9

Our Lord made the journey to Mount Calvary to take on the sins committed by every human being in the past, present, and future. Tonight, as we journey with Him, is the night to recommit ourselves to live out our identity as Christians; to yearn for the Eucharist, the life-giving and eternal food; and to lay down our lives for one another in service, forgiving faults, and creating peace.   Readings...

God wants to touch your life. To wash your feet. To change your heart. These days aren’t just about remembering what happened to Jesus 2000 years ago. In a very mysterious but real way, they’re about becoming present to Jesus, allowing him to draw us along the path of his Passion, Death, and Resurrection.   Readings at this Mass: Ex 12:1–8, 11–14 | 1 Cor 11:23–26 | Jn 13:1–15

Jesus' ambiguous answer to the question of who He was should also be a challenge for us: do we call Him our King, our Savior, our God? Do we see Him in all moments of our lives? In whatever way we suffer, do we unite our suffering to that of His? Or do we glorify Him only in the good moments, and put the blame on Him when we are suffering, when we are alone and afraid, when we feel abandoned and r...

Judgment is a very dangerous thing. I’m not talking about judging choices, attitudes, or actions, but judging hearts. Condemning and dismissing others. Ridiculing and dehumanizing them. Using them. When we do that, we put ourselves in God’s place — and God takes that very seriously. Only God can judge the heart, because only God can see the heart. Let’s remember that when we’re angry or frustrated...

Our heavenly Father is always seeking us out. He made us for communion with Him and with one another. And when we sin, we break that communion. That’s why every Mass begins with a confession of sin — not because we’ve already made everything right, but because turning back to the Father opens the door for His embrace. God offers us second chances (and third, and fourth, and as many as we need) to...

Praying, fasting, and almsgiving are the remedy for inner peace, helping us to imitate the good things that belong to God. Putting effort into praying, fasting, and almsgiving assists us in staying constant in our relationship with God, while also strengthening our conscience, soul, mind, and heart to be always at ease and in peace. If we consistently and intentionally fertilize our soul, our mind...

Fr. Columba Jordan notes that most of us have little pauses in our day that pop up naturally: we're stopped at a stoplight, waiting for the kids to get out of practice, waiting in line at Starbucks, etc. Those are opportunities when we can practice turning our attention inward for just a minute or so, to listen to God. It’s not much at first, but when you make this a habit, you start to become awa...

Just as nature has seasons and athletes have training cycles, Lent is our "spiritual training season" — a season to refocus and reset our hearts and minds on God. It gives us an opportunity to share and renew our faith with those around us through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.   Readings at this Mass: Dt 26:4–10 | Rom 10:8–13 | Lk 4:1–13

Our speech can act like a sieve that can filter out the bad and negative words a person can deliver to yield the beautiful and good characteristics about this person. In other words, when we listen to our own words/speech, we can filter out the ugly/unneeded husks to reveal the inner soul which should display what is a resemblance of the image and likeness of God.   Readings at this Mass: Sir 27:4...

What we say about Jesus matters because in the end, who Jesus is determines whether we’re able to really know God or only know about God. For the Arians and the Gnostics, knowing God was impossible; God was too far beyond us, inaccessible to mere mortals. For our Christian ancestors, knowing God was the very essence of faith, and the key was the direct, personal encounter with Jesus. In Jesus, God...

Gnostic thinking can creep into all of us, but the answer is simple — trust Jesus. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He sanctified both body and soul, and when we sin, our salvation isn't dependent upon some hidden, secret knowledge. We have something far greater — the Sacraments, where God's grace makes us new.   Readings at this Mass: Jer 17:5–8  |  1 Cor 15:12, 16–20  |  Lk 6:17, 20–26