For this week’s reflection, I want to focus on just one of the types of soil from the parable of the sower: the thorny soil. Jesus said, “The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit” (Matthew 13:22). It’s important to remember that God has chosen us, His disciples, to bear fruit. Jesus told His…
You are a beloved child of God. Each and every human life is precious in God’s eyes. It doesn’t matter what family you were born into; your social status; the amount in your bank account; the positions of power or weakness you hold; your race, creed, color, ethnicity, nationality, class…you name it. None of that is important in God’s eyes. You have dignity and purpose, because you are made in His image and likeness (Genesis…
Grace, love, and fellowship: these are key blessings of our Trinitarian God. In today’s second reading, St. Paul ends his epistle by extending God’s trifold blessings to the Church in Corinth: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you” (2 Corinthians 13:13). The grace of Christ is God’s life living inside of us. It’s God’s supreme gift to us:…
God often feels hidden from us. We cannot see Him with our physical eyes, but only through the eyes of faith. Jesus will reveal Himself to us if we love Him and keep His commandments: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him” (John 14:21). Jesus reveals Himself to us…
Just after His resurrection, Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus. One of the disciples was Cleopas; the other is unnamed. We know that Mary, the wife of Clopas, was one of the women who was present at the crucifixion (John 19:25). Some Biblical scholars have postulated that this Mary could have been the second disciple. So we might imagine a married couple who had been disciples of Christ just days before—one of…
Our first reading tells of the apostles in the early days of the Church. It was a time of togetherness, sincerity, and joyful praise. They met in their homes to worship, pray, and eat together. They shared all that they had, and Love—yes Love with a capital “L”—united them. The Holy Spirit had come upon them just before this at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). It was this Spirit of peace and unity that gave them the…
The first disciples did not have the gift of hindsight, as we do: “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (John 20:9). Jesus said that He would rise again (Mark 9:31), but His disciples had to live through His crucifixion and those deathly quiet hours afterward without knowing what would happen next and armed with only their faith. We can use our Gospel imagination to suppose…
Our journey through the desert of Lent has brought us to this point: Holy Week and the cross. On this Palm Sunday, we walk along beside Christ as He lays down His life for us. Imagine you are there with the Blessed Mother, St. John, and the Magdalen as they walk with Jesus through His passion. Helplessly, you watch Jesus suffer as He is beaten, mocked, spat on, and crowned with thorns. Imagine yourself there,…
Last week’s reflection focused on how sin keeps us from loving God and others, and how to work on a pattern of sin to purge it from our hearts. One reason sin keeps us from loving is that it also blocks us from receiving love. This is especially true of mortal sin, which turns us away from God and cuts us off from God’s grace (CCC 1855, 1861). God pours love into our hearts and…
Sin is a fact of life for all of us in our fallen world. We have sinned in the past, and unfortunately we will sin again in the future. This is the reality of our human concupiscence: “Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man’s moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins” (CCC 2515). We might ask, “What’s the use of trying if we’re…