Jesus is our Good Shepherd. He calls us each individually by name (see John 10:3), but he also calls us to come together to belong to His flock. He may leave the ninety-nine sheep to save the one who has strayed (see Luke 15:4) but he leaves them in order to bring the one back into the fold. This is where we belong, in the community that is the Church. A flock of sheep out…
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. – John 21:3 In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples after His Resurrection in a familiar way. He first called them when they were fishermen in this same place (see Luke 5:1-11). Sometimes the Bible names the Lake…
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” – John 20:27 We each have wounds—wounds that have healed, wounds that are still healing, wounds that are still fresh and sore. In a mysterious way, being wounded is part of the human condition (CCC 405). Jesus became man precisely so He could enter into…
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! – Psalm 126:5 Alleluia! The season of Easter joy has arrived! Jesus promised His disciples that although He would suffer and die and they would have to hide while mourning Him, their suffering would be replaced with joy. Jesus told His disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your…
Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.” – John 8:11 As I watch the Gospel scene of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) play out in my imagination, I notice the looks on the people’s faces. The Pharisees and scribes who brought the woman look judgmental and disgusted. They “forced her to stand in their midst.” Imagine her trapped there between all these…
What’s going on with the barren fig tree in today’s Gospel? It’s growing in an orchard and a gardener cares for it. It should have everything it needs to bear fruit, but it’s barren. So what’s the problem? When the orchard owner tells the gardener to cut down the barren tree, the gardener asks him to spare it: “Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize…
…from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks – Luke 6:45 This scripture passage is convicting to me. It’s not enough to “watch my mouth” and try to limit my speaking only to what is true, good, and beautiful. I must think about what is true, good, and beautiful first. Even before that, this makes me realize that the types of things that I “plant” in my mind will bear fruit in my thoughts,…
Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one. – 1 Corinthians 15:49 Imagine an artist creates a clay sculpture of a person. It bears a striking resemblance to the model it was sculpted after. Now imagine that the sculpture was damaged in an earthquake. It toppled and fell to the floor. It was not entirely broken, for it still bears resemblance to…
Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream: it fears not the heat when it comes; its leaves stay green; in the year of drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit. – Jeremiah 17:7-8 In mid-February, I start daydreaming about being outside working in my garden or taking walks under…
Once you begin to read the Old Testament with the New Testament in mind (and vice versa) you start to see the amazing ways that these two parts of the Bible connect to each other. One way to interpret our first reading, “The Call of Isaiah,” is as a powerful prefigurement of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Isaiah sees the Lord on His throne surrounded by a choir of angels singing, “Holy, holy, holy…