Have you ever wondered why religious life is not a Sacrament? The reason is simple: the Sacraments are signs of the Heavenly kingdom, while consecration is the reality of Heavenly life, begun here on earth. As such, while all the Sacraments will ultimately pass away, religious life will endure even in Heaven – because there, every soul is totally consecrated to God!
Read MoreOur Lord’s words to the lone thankful leper (“Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”) provide a window into the way our ingratitude grieves His Heart. We as Passionists, however, have the great joy of being able to console Him by our vow of gratitude – “to promote devotion to and grateful remembrance of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ”!
Read MoreWhy, some may ask, is humility so important after all? The answer lies in our creation in the image and likeness of God. "Humble yourself the more, the greater you are," urges our First Reading, and the greatest example of this is God Himself.
Read MorePerhaps we are not struggling with mortal sin, but how closely do we resemble God? Our standard for holiness is not “everybody else,” but the Lord Himself: “Be perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
Read MoreThe Greek word that our translation renders as “burdened” literally means “pulled away”; Martha’s anxiety over her “to-do list” was actually pulling her heart and attention away from Jesus. This is a classic example of how the devil loves to take a thing that is good in itself and make it into an obstacle, by encouraging us to place excessive focus on it.
Read More“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you …” Such an approach obviously runs counter to our natural instincts, and it takes the grace of Christ to make such a lifestyle even possible. But when that grace is given and received, how amazing the results can be!
Read MoreOur Lord’s first sermon at Nazareth is vehemently rejected and almost leads to His death. Why, a Sister asked, does God send His messengers (and even His Son!) when He knows they will not be accepted? And how could a person with such an apparently “fruitless” mission find strength to persevere?
Read MoreAs always, Holy Mother Church uses the first Sunday of this season to call our attention to the Baptism of Jesus, the beginning of His public ministry which we will be exploring throughout the coming weeks.
Read MoreEach day it would appear that the widow only had “a handful of flour” and “a bit of oil” left, and she would have to renew her trust that the Lord would, indeed, continue the miracle. How often He acts the same way with us! God always gives us the grace we need for today – but not for tomorrow!
Read MoreObedience to God is not a matter of force, but of peaceful surrender; He wishes to form us, not to destroy us! “See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear Him, upon those who hope for His kindness, to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine,” as the Responsorial Psalm asserts.
Read MorePs. 54 is a song of lament, but all of a sudden we see David breaking forth into thanksgiving and praise. He is so confident in the Lord’s deliverance that he begins his thanksgiving while still undergoing trial!
Read MoreVery often in our day, obedience to God’s law is portrayed as blind, unthinking anti-intellectualism. However, Moses here insists that the opposite is true! Secular society may paint religion as childish, but the example of saints throughout history proves that mature obedience to God and His commandments is ultimately the path of “wisdom and intelligence.”
Read MoreJesus is the Son of God, the all-holy One, and we find Him weeping at the tomb of a friend, passionately decrying abuses of the Temple, and – in this Sunday’s Gospel – being “moved with compassion” at the sight of those in need.
Read MoreGod does not ask us to “fix” our own weakness, but to bring our brokenness to Him, humbly admitting that we can do nothing without Him. It is at times like this, when we are faced with the reality of our own weakness, that He calls us to take the sometimes-scary step of total trust in Him
Read More…This story shows God’s utterly personal love. Jesus is fully attentive to both situations, seeing the individuals rather than just the task to be done. In His Divine wisdom and providence, He uses this situation for the benefit of both.
Read MoreWhen we are “anchored” in Him, though He may not always take away the storm, we are able to maintain peace of heart even as the wind and waves rage. Saint after Saint testifies to the fact that the Lord wishes to bring us to this deep peace, which paradoxically becomes more obvious when we are undergoing external or even emotional/spiritual distress. God Himself is our “harbor,” and by dwelling in Him we can weather any storm.
Read MoreIt is actually an act of God’s infinite mercy to humble us when we begin to rely too much on ourselves. He does not cast us from our self-made thrones simply to leave us in misery; rather, He does this so that we can become one of the lowly whom He raises high. The Lord wants our happiness and glory with all His Heart, but He knows that we as creatures can only achieve this fulfillment on His terms.
Read MoreGod’s Word is infinitely rich, and even though we hear the same Scriptures over and over again during the 3-year Lectionary cycle, we will never exhaust their treasures. Sometimes, for instance, familiar passages suddenly come alive with new meaning when we are facing a particular challenge. This was certainly the case for us as we pondered this Sunday’s readings in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Read MoreSt. Paul’s words to the Corinthians are the earliest record of Christian men and women voluntarily foregoing marriage “for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven,” as Our Lord Himself suggested. Nearly two thousand years later, God is still calling people to this special state of life, one that is focused on becoming “holy in body and in spirit.”
Read MorePope Francis has declared this the “Sunday of the Word of God” – a special time to study the Scriptures and grow in our love for them. This theme inspired the first part of our sharing for this week, as we pondered how each of the readings emphasizes the power of God’s Word in our lives and in salvation history.
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