REAL Word

By our Baptism, we are called to share the Good News. We are called to be prophets - but being a prophet isn’t easy! There will be skeptics and doubters. There will be people who vehemently disagree. People will look at our past - they will look at our failings and point out our faults - all in an attempt to discredit us and call into question anything we say. But we have to remember the words of...

We need to remember that our God doesn’t bring death and destruction upon us - our God created us for righteousness and immortality. Unfortunately, there is evil in the world and it has other ideas, which is the very reason we are called to love and support one another. We are called to be generous and fair to everyone. Sometimes life can be more than we can bear alone; so we need to rely on each...

Because God is somewhere out there, beyond our sight and beyond our comprehension, we can forget that God also became man and walked the same earth that you and I live on today. We think of God as the all-powerful one who created everything and can put limits on the seemingly limitless. But let’s not forget that we are made into new creations through that same power - the power of Jesus Christ - a...

This week, the theme of planting seeds of faith and letting them grow is front and center in our readings but the idea of having hope and patience is also there. Each time a seed is planted - whether an actual seed or a seed of faith - we need to have patience and nourish it if we can. And when a seed grows into something much larger and stronger, we experience a miracle. The seeds of faith take r...

On this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we should start by remembering that we are all meant to be one in Christ - we are meant to be unified with God. Even though we’re flawed, imperfect beings, Jesus poured out his blood and offered us a new covenant. But just like the old covenant, there are expectations around how we keep up our end of the bargain. We haven’t been saved so...

There is no way to deny that Christ came to redeem and save everyone - not just the select few - so we need to encourage Christians - especially our fellow Catholics - to stop acting that way. The Good News is meant for everyone, so those of us who have been Baptized and Confirmed need to acknowledge our gifts and start using them. We need to get off the couch and out of the pew and engage with th...

Our Baptism is more than entry into the Catholic club - it’s a challenge and a command to leave our selfishness behind and live our lives according to Jesus’ commands. We have to try to live humbly and be gentle, truly living in peace with each other and all of creation. But we can’t stop there. We need to accept the gifts, support, and guidance offered by the Holy Spirit and share the Good News w...

God loves us all and doesn’t play favorites, so we need to start doing the same. And if we can manage to love more, then we’ll experience God in our lives more because God is love. So let’s stop trying to weasel out of it. Let’s simply strive to live Jesus’ command to love each other as he has loved us!

During this season of Easter, when so many adults have made the choice to join the Church and so many young people are being Confirmed and welcomed as full members as well, it should be very apparent that Jesus can change hearts. For those of us who have been in the Church for a long time, we might also need a little help in changing OUR hearts. We might need to be inspired to be less complacent a...

Being a true Christian is a risky proposition. For the most part, the world just doesn’t understand. But we should take comfort in the fact that Jesus is our cornerstone - and our cornerstone was a misunderstood outcast as well. Our cornerstone was rejected - and put to death because of it. And how powerful is it that our rejected savior is the one who clearly says we are called to be one flock? T...

We are all human and even though we are created in the image and likeness of God, we are going to make mistakes - we are going to sin. We should obviously avoid sinful ways but we should not FEAR sin because Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Lord. If we repent and turn to God by following Jesus’ commands, then we will be forgiven. And if we can truly open our minds and hearts to the Scriptures...

The mission of the Church is a continuation of the mission of Christ on Earth. But we sometimes forget that WE are the Church - the Body of Christ - and we are called to care for each other and conquer the things of this world. The Resurrection has brought new life - has conquered death - and sharing in the Resurrection is being offered to all of us because Jesus wants us to believe!

The Catholic Church is rich in Tradition and symbolism - and a lot of it isn’t even known by most of us in the pews. It’s interesting when I’ve gone to Mass with someone who isn’t Catholic and afterwards I get all of the, “Why do you do such-and-such?” type of questions. And even after all my years of ministry and education, I still don’t know all the answers - I’m still finding out things I didn’...

The readings this week really do support a rather common Christian theme, which is that being a Christian isn’t necessarily easy. Unlike the ancient Hebrews, we don’t worship God because we believe our lives will be all sunshine and rainbows - we don’t believe the Lord will make all our troubles go away. We believe because we know life is likely to deal us up a heaping helping of hardship from tim...

The love that God has for us is in our hearts, and it was written there by His hand. It’s something that is so much a part of us that, like Jesus, we shouldn’t try to hide it. We should live it and proclaim it! We should do our best to let it show… to share it with everyone we meet. It’s what we’ve been called to do by our Baptism. It can sound intimidating, but think of it this way: Everyone love...

Jesus died for us - to redeem us from sin and offer us salvation - even though we didn't "deserve" it. The simple fact is, there is nothing we can do to "deserve" or "earn" salvation. That's why God gave us the gift of his only begotten son - a gift that came from his mercy. But during this season of Lent, we need to remember that action FOLLOWS belief. If we start with belief and acknowledge the...

Through the Sacraments of Initiation, we are welcomed into the body of Christ and the new life promised through the Paschal Mystery. We might not understand the mind of God - but we don’t need to. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and we accept both Christ and each other by living God’s “Laws of Love” every day of our lives.

Discerning the voice of God can be really difficult, especially when there are so many seemingly legitimate, logical people who are claiming to hold the “truth.” But no matter how charismatic or convincing someone sounds, we need to remain vigilant and continue to try to discern God’s true call. And when we hear God’s call, we need to be ready to respond, no matter what the world thinks. Ultimatel...

Water can wash us clean in more ways than one. The story of Noah demonstrates the awesome power of God - as well as God’s love for us, through the new covenant - but in Jesus we experience a different kind of flood. The Gospel message - the Good News - is that, by his resurrection, Jesus Christ has conquered death. He has redeemed us from sin and offers us eternal salvation. And all we have to do...

It could be argued that casting out a few people to protect the majority is a wise choice but it's a slippery slope. Far too often, we simply cast out people because we don't understand them. Whether they have an affliction we don't know how to cure or treat - or whether they have feelings and beliefs we don't understand - we find it easier to simply banish them and try to pretend they don't exist...

We don't completely understand God. God's ways are not our ways. We don't believe that suffering and tragedy is punishment from God - we understand that bad things can simply happen to the best of people - but we do believe that God can bless us in many ways. One way to be worthy of God's blessing is by freely sharing the Good News through our words and actions, ensuring that everyone knows the Fa...

It can be frustrating - even overwhelming at times - watching all of the madness infecting the world today. I watched, appalled, as people waved crosses and pictures of Jesus while they stormed the US Capital and chanted death threats. But people who support that - who preach that it’s the righteous, Christian thing to do - are the false prophets. Don’t listen to them! We’re called to live our bes...

It doesn’t matter what we think of ourselves - how bad we’ve been or how many rotten choices we’ve made - God offers everyone love and forgiveness. Yes, we need to repent for any wrongs we’ve committed; but then we need to make changes in our lives. We have to live as if Jesus is coming today. Not tomorrow. Not a year from now. But TODAY! And when Christ calls - when he asks us to lay down our net...

We have so many worldly desires and goals - things we really want to do and accomplish - and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But we can’t confuse our worldly desires with God’s call. And just because some of our worldly goals aren’t in conflict with God’s call, doesn’t mean they’re part of what Jesus is calling us to do. We should strive to be the best version of ourselves - the version of our...

Our savior - the quiet servant the Lord promised to send - has arrived and he will persevere in his quest to bring peace and justice to the world. But even though he can't be broken or snuffed out, he's not supposed to do it alone. Through his example and by our Baptism, we are called to evangelize. We are called to bring the light of Christ to the world - to heal hurts, right wrongs, and set capt...