“He saved us and called us to a holy life…” – 2 Timothy 1:9 This second week of Lent, we travel up Mt. Tabor with Peter, James, and John and witness Jesus’ Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9). This miraculous manifestation of the Holy Trinity seems like a strange detour during Lent. Shouldn’t we be sitting somewhere covered in sackcloth and ashes (Jonah 3:5-6)? Instead, we find ourselves on a mountaintop surrounded by Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, the…
If you’ve never tried Eucharistic Adoration, this week is the perfect time to try it out! Why is that, you ask? This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of the most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus, also known as Corpus Christi. This is the Church’s great celebration of God’s most precious gift to us: The Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Q: What is Eucharistic Adoration? Eucharistic Adoration is a time we set aside for…
…the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. – Romans 5:5 God has a deep, mysterious secret. This makes my head spin, but He has shared it with us! Are you ready for it? HE IS LOVE. God doesn’t simply act in love. It’s not something He feels or does. It’s WHO He is. As St. John taught, “God is love” (1…
Then [Jesus] 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.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” -John 20:28 What a humble, loving, and merciful God we have! He meets our every need. St. Pope John Paul II taught that what humanity needs most is God’s merciful love: “There is nothing…
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Luke 4:3-4 Do you ever wonder how Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days? It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking, “Jesus is God. He doesn’t need to eat!” But “Jesus Christ is true God and true man, in the unity…
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 this Sunday? 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). These are most definitely “good fruits.”…
On this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Christmas season concludes. St. John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus in the Jordan, points us to Christ: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). This is the same scripture that the priest says when he holds up Jesus in the newly consecrated Eucharist for us to adore before we receive Jesus in Holy Communion. Christmas is a…
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help. -Hebrews 4:16 We’re coming to the end of the Church year. Our Mass readings start pointing to the end of time, the saints in heaven, and are directed to the feast of Christ the King at the end of November. As our King, Jesus sits on a glorious throne in heaven. If you want to get…
The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman. – Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 1 I want to issue a challenge in this reflection. I bet you $10 that if you’re reading this you already believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Either that, or you’re at least a little curious about…
“…my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” – John 6:32-33 God is the giver of all good things: “…all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). The very best gift–the most perfect gift– God the Father gave us was the gift of His Son:…