Just before the Ascension the disciples ask, ”Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Lord Jesus, this is what we’ve been waiting for! Is this when you will make all things right here on earth? Will you show everyone that You are the Messiah after all? Jesus replies, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own…
St. Teresa of Calcutta said, “The words of Jesus, ‘Love one another as I have loved you,’ must be not only a light for us but a flame that consumes the self in us. Love, in order to survive, must be nourished by sacrifices, especially sacrifices of the self.” In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that the defining mark of discipleship is love. “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have…
“For the Lamb that is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water” (Rev 7:17). On this Good Shepherd Sunday, we’re reminded of the loving care that Jesus provides for us. “We know that the Lord is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends” (Ps 100:3). How do shepherds tend their sheep? They protect and defend them from harm. They…
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit” (Lk 6: 43). What is this good fruit that Jesus speaks of in our Gospel today? Fruits of the Holy Spirit are “perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory…[they are]: ‘charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity’” (CCC 1832). In the allegory of the Vine and…
Today’s readings point to our roles as missionary disciples. In the first reading, Isaiah feels unworthy. But once his lips have been made clean he responds, “Here I am…send me!” (Is 6:5-8). Similarly, we may feel unworthy to tell people about God. After Isaiah was purified, he was confident and bold; perhaps after we’ve been purified in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we too may feel more confident in proclaiming the Gospel. In the Psalm, we…