From His Word to Our Hearts

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,...

Everything begins with fidelity… being faithful to the Father, being faithful to Jesus, keeping our baptismal promises, keeping the commandments. And if we put in all the hard work, what do we get in return? We get good things, certainly - God’s love, Jesus’ presence, and the Holy Spirit which give us faith, hope, life, courage, love, happiness, and joy. But we aren’t promised only good things! Je...

Jesus has prepared a place for us in the kingdom, and he expects us to do great works in his name, to serve others, to pray without ceasing, and to love unconditionally. Jesus also tells us he is the way, the truth, and the life, so if we listen to him, if we follow him, if we are obedient to his commands, then he will take us to himself, we will be chosen and precious, we will be called out of da...

On this Fourth Sunday of Easter, as we observe Good Shepherd Sunday, Jesus tells us that he is the door to the sheepfold and that he came so that we might have life abundantly. The 23 rd Psalm presents us with beautiful pastoral images, reminding us throughout that the Lord is our Shepherd. Peter tells his listeners to repent and be baptized, reminding us that Jesus suffered for us, that his wound...

On this Third Sunday of Easter, we accompany two disciples as they walk the road to Emmaus and encounter the Risen Christ. This road is one that every disciple must walk for it is where we come to know Christ in all the Scriptures; it is where he is made known to us in our shared Eucharistic meal, the breaking of the bread; it is necessary so that our hearts, too, burn within us. Those disciples r...

On this Octave Day of Easter, the Second Sunday of the Easter Season, we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday and are reminded of the gifts of peace and joy that come only from God through his Son, Jesus. We are told that we are blessed because we did not see the Risen Christ and yet still believe in him, blessed because we have a new birth to a living hope through Jesus’ Resurrection, blessed because we...

Welcome to the Triduum! And welcome to a very special bonus release. I am so grateful to be able to share with you a full version of the theme song for this podcast.  I want to especially thank my production engineer - who also happens to be my son, my co-collaborator, and my co-performer - for all the amazing work he did on this project! We hope you enjoy this song and that it draws you more deep...

Happy Easter! Alleluia, let us rejoice and be glad! We made it through the 40-days of Lent and now celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus with great joy! Jesus’ Resurrection is the central mystery of our faith and the promise which gives us hope… hope for the future, hope for our own resurrections, hope for eternal life. Throughout the coming 50-days of the Easter Season, we will – once again – hear...

On Good Friday our hearts and minds traverse sacred ground as we recall the day that Jesus died for us. The Church celebrates no Mass this day, instead she kneels in solemn witness to a love beyond time and space, a love beyond human understanding, a love that is divine and eternal. We hear the same readings every year because we need to hear them, but our challenge is to know and accept that we a...

The Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the only Mass the Church is permitted to celebrate on Holy Thursday, presents us with a different picture of the Last Supper than the one we typically encounter. This version isn’t about bread and wine, it’s not about betrayal, it’s about love… it’s about service… it’s about the example Jesus establishes for us to follow. Certainly, the Last Supper was a Pass...

Palm Sunday ushers us into Holy Week where we are starkly reminded of everything Jesus endured for our sakes. From the heights of acclaim during his entry into Jerusalem to the depths of betrayal, torture, and death just a few days later, Jesus experienced what is for us a nearly unimaginable range of physical and emotional pain… done for all of us out of love. Let us enter into this sacred time w...

Palm Sunday ushers us into Holy Week where we are starkly reminded of everything Jesus endured for our sakes. From the heights of acclaim during his entry into Jerusalem to the depths of betrayal, torture, and death just a few days later, Jesus experienced what is for us a nearly unimaginable range of physical and emotional pain… done for all of us out of love. Let us enter into this sacred time w...

On this Fifth Sunday of Lent, our readings focus on life and death. From Ezekiel’s prophecy that the Israelites will be raised from their metaphorical tomb of exile in Babylon to Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from his four-day sleep of literal death in the grave, our understanding of what it means to be fully alive is challenged. And we are reminded that it is never too late to turn away from sin and...

On this Fourth Sunday of Lent, also called Laetare Sunday, we cautiously rejoice as we draw closer to the end of the penitential season of Lent and draw nearer to the full joy of Easter. Just as water flowed through last week’s readings, sight and blindness – light and dark – are woven throughout our readings this week. These Scriptures invite us to open our hearts and see with the eyes of faith,...

On this Third Sunday of Lent, we are always invited to visualize the extraordinary in the ordinary. Water, a common everyday item for us, becomes a source of transformation for the Samaritan woman Jesus encounters at the well. The absence of water, something almost unthinkable for us, becomes the basis of a confrontation between the Israelites and God in the desert. The peaceful movement of water,...

On the Second Sunday of Lent, we always hear an account of the Transfiguration because we always need to be reminded of the glory Jesus left behind, and the humility Jesus demonstrated, when he took on human flesh to save us. Paul reminds us that we are all called to bear our share of suffering for the gospel, and Genesis tells us that just as Abram left the comfort of his own home and country to...

We always hear of the Temptation of Jesus in the Desert on the First Sunday of Lent. We hear that the devil challenges Jesus’ identity as the Son of God and even quotes Scripture to do so. Jesus, however, knows his destiny and is not deterred. Through Adam – the first man – sin and death came into the world; through Jesus – the new Adam – obedience to the Father’s will brings abundant grace and th...