Know - Grow - Go

Jesus administered spiritual CPR when he breathed into His disciples to take away their disappointment and fear and give them His peace (Jn 20:21-23). He resuscitated and revitalized them, giving them strength to carry out the work of being instruments of God’s mercy. He does the same for us to take away our wounds, our shortcomings and sins. Examine your conscience at the end of each day to deter...

We proclaim "Christ is risen" not akin to a slogan like "Elvis Lives". No! It is the truth that this life has been broken into by eternity. Our destiny is not utter annihilation. It is a reality that is the complete fulfillment of all that is good here on earth.

Jesus was no helpless victim. The events of the Passion didn’t just happen to him. He chose freely, consciously, and deliberately to stand between us and the powers of Evil, undergoing torture and humiliation and an excruciating death in order to save us all. Good Friday is a day to remember his sacrifice and give our hearts once more to him who gave – and continues to give – everything for us.

Whatever it is you’re called to be, each of us is called to live as a servant leader, to be in charge of how we are carrying out and giving away yourselves in the service of others. To become like the Servant Christ is to give of ourselves for the good of the others. As Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us, in giving of ourselves we receive much more.

God is here with us not only in the good moments of our lives, but also when we are suffering, when we are afraid, when we are alone and feeling abandoned. And not only that, God is reaching out to us through his Son, through His death and resurrection.

Through our baptism, God has written his very name on our hearts and claimed us for his own. We are reminded of this fact every time we dip our fingers in our baptismal font and bless ourselves with the sign of the cross. Instead of just following rules, we simply need to look into what God has written in our hearts. And what do we find there? A cross: Jesus' cross. And with that cross, you are re...

We have three weeks of Lent still in front of us. Where are you falling prey to scattering, division, and discouragement? How might God be inviting you to open your life more fully to the power of graciousness, connection, and hope?

A heart is often used to represent emotional love, which involves feelings of deep affection, care, and emotional attachment towards another person. The crucifix also represents love - sacrificial love, doing what is best for others to the point where we are willing to lay down our lives. Jesus' sacrificial love is unconditional; He gives us His love even when we don't deserve it. Put your crucifi...

In Lent, the Church offers us ways to look at things differently. We are called to be open to a special indwelling of the Holy Spirit; to pray more, to fast, and to do works of charity. I also challenge you to make yourself available to mountain-top experiences. All of these things help us be more open to God’s grace in our lives - to change and transfigure us.

Lent, at least in the northern hemisphere, is one of those happy confluences of the exterior and the interior world. The world outside us waits for the new life of Spring; we wait for the new life of Easter. Those waitings enhance one another. God is in our hearts and in the church, and it’s important to attend to Him there. But He’s also out there. So this Lent, get up out of your chair and go me...

Giving and receiving valentines (or, in Charlie Brown's case, not receiving valentines) is an example of the consequences of conditional love: if (fill in the blank), then I will love you/give you a valentine/etc. We are not called to practice conditional love, however, but unconditional love - because that is how Christ loved us. We live out that unconditional love through the three pillars of Le...

God calls each one of us to love and to care for one another. Human beings are made to be in communion with each other in physical and embodied ways. When we bring care, love, and support to others, we help them to experience Christ’s compassion and healing touch.

Jesus knows suffering. He knows doubt. He knows abandonment. In fact, by his suffering, he expresses in the most profound way that he is I AM. He is with us. Let his name reverberate in your mind. May it help remind you that God does indeed care, and that, in both your darkest moments and your greatest triumphs, I AM is with you always.

We don’t need to go searching in all these other-worldly places – or even in the more usual worldly places – for meaning and purpose and empowerment. God has a plan for each of us, a purpose he’s held for us since before the world began. You begin discerning your life’s purpose by being faithful to the duty of the present moment. The great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote, “The myster...

“Come, follow me” is the call of Jesus for us to embrace our vocation as the beloved sons and daughters of God, to let go of what paralyzes us, and to cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus. Spend some time this week in prayer recalling your baptism into Christ and give thanks to God for His invitation to come follow Jesus, knowing everything else will follow.

Regardless of our disappointments and failures in our relationships with others, God always offers us another chance, often in a way we never expected. While the world offers us guilt, shame, and accusation, Jesus offers us the hope that, with His help, it is never too late to resurrect those broken relationships.

This weekend's homily title is meant to be playful, but there is a point here. To be desirable, attractive, special - that's one of those deep desires of the human heart we all experience. In the end, the more we try to manufacture our own acceptance and attractiveness, the more we’re bound to be frustrated. Conversely, the more we open our hearts to God and His embrace, the more attractive we bec...

There is only one person in Jesus who has two natures: fully God and fully Man. This is why we honor Mary as the Mother of God, and doing so leads us to her Son, our Lord. As he was born under the law to ransom those under the law, we now are the adopted sons and daughters of God. So glorify, praise, and give thanks to God always that He, through Christ, has intimately opened for us a way to be Hi...

God gives us the virtues of contemplation, obedience, humility, and love to create harmony within our families. Consider how you are living out these virtues in your own family. In what ways could you improve and grow to create a more loving environment for your family?

The power of Christ in our hearts can transform all our insecurities and fears if we let go and let the "good news of great joy" steep in our hearts. The Good News of Christmas proclaims that the birth of Christ ushered in a new beginning where sin and death no longer have to dominate us. Remember how much God was and is willing to do for you. He loves you and is with you all the way, in the good...

As Eucharistic people, we are called to reverence each other: to honor and show respect to each other, just as Jesus did, because all are made in the image and likeness of God. Through our reception of the Eucharist, let us reverence, honor, and show our love for God and those around us. Show them that we desire communion with them, to be helpers and healers, and through such reverence help build...

At Communion time, the Lord comes into our hearts; thus, whenever we receive others into our heart, the Lord is there to meet them whether they realize it or not. The Lord asks us to be Communion for those outside of Communion: to be the love by which others come to know and accept the love of Jesus, even if they don’t know it’s the love of Jesus. It’s as if Jesus uses our love to slip in past the...

Many of us have a go-to "comfort food" when we are sick. During the Last Supper, Jesus entrusted His disciples with the Eucharist, the ultimate "comfort food" that heals us and removes the distance between us as we come together to as one in the Body of Christ. We are entrusted with the same mission at the end of Mass, to bring that Eucharistic healing and comfort to others after having received i...

While Mary is full of God's grace, since her immaculate conception, she is also obedient and faithful to the Father and eventually to her Son. Mary's humility and willingness to accept God's plan for her is an example for us to imitate in our own lives. May the Immaculate Virgin Mary intercede for us as we aspire to live an immaculate life: a life of total abandonment to the will of God.

We are all called to love in sacrificial ways. Be watchful this week to the needs of those around you who need to see the love of God through you. Be a catalyst of God's love and give yourself in service to another person in need - or, as St. Ignatius of Antioch described, pour yourself out like wheat to be crushed so as to be bread for the world.