Jesus continually calls us to an alert vigilance.  He does this to make us aware of the great opportunities of love and service that fill our ordinary lives.  At the beginning of a new school year, it is good to foster an eager alertness in our souls, an excitement for the work that lies ahead of us.  If we find ourselves dull and without energy, we can start by asking Jesus for more strength, more enthusiasm.  If our lethargy persists, we can pray and practice a greater love of interior struggle as an opportunity to love heroically. 

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Jesus tells us to pray to have the strength "to stand before the Son of Man."  When we die we will be judged by God.  This is a hard truth but also a truth that saves us.  If we ask God for the courage to see ourselves as we really are now, we will be prepared for our death and God's judgment.  Reliance on God's grace, fostering sincerity with ourselves and others, living charity, and regularly examining our conscience are all ways to avoid self-deception and to prepare for our definitive meeting with God.  

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Originally published 8/15/2020.

The Assumption of Our Lady is one of God's wonderful works.  It provides an opportunity for us to increase our faith in God and to contemplate our Lady's presence with her Son in heaven. 

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Jesus promises his disciples a joy "that no one will take from you."   To be joyful we have to be attentive and sensitive to the great goods in our life.  Among these are God's constant love for us and our own ability to love and serve him in return.  Pride obscures our vision of true goods.  To serve joyfully and find joy in serving, we need to foster humility.

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Large, desperate crowds would press in on Jesus to hear and touch him.  He was the focus of all of their attention and desires.  Our Lord should be just the same for us: central to our lives.  We meet Jesus in the Eucharistic Bread, in Sacred Scripture, in our habitual presence of God, and in others. 

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Originally published March 2021

As Good Friday approaches, we reflect on Jesus' death on the Cross.  In his Passion and death, Jesus turns suffering into love.   Love gives his suffering meaning and makes it fruitful.  Jesus invites us to likewise accept suffering as a means to loving God and others. Suffering is unavoidable in this life, the real question is what will we do with it?   

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Humility is a crucial virtue for the Christian life.  Living it demands some courage given our tendency to prop ourselves up and to protect our self-esteem.  Admitting our sinfulness and even our nothingness before God, however, is ultimately liberating and fruitful.  Our humility must be accompanied by a deep sense of God's reality and his love for us.  If it is, we will experience that "he who humbles himself will be exalted."

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Jesus' visit to Martha and Mary contains great insights for our Christian life.  Mary's attention to our Lord is a great act of appreciation and love.  Jesus' correction of Martha is not owing to her being busy serving, but more for her being distracted and worried.  Love, which includes prayer, is the one thing necessary.   And love unites our attention, giving focus and purpose to all that we do.

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Moses describes God's law as "near" to the people of Israel.  God's Word is also very near to us.  Thanks to Jesus, we know what it takes to live life well and enter eternal life.  The problem is actually wanting to do it.  Like the scholar of the law, we wish to justify ourselves by overthinking, by making excuses, by hiding our basic unwillingness to love and obey.   God's grace can change our unwillingness to willing submission and all of our obstinate "no's" into loving "yes's."

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King David's fall into adultery and murder is a lesson in how sin happens and how we can respond to it.  David's sin is preceded by idleness and sloth.  Once fully aware of his sin, however, he appeals immediately to God's mercy.  Our first response to sin should always be a radical trust in God's mercy and, when necessary, a prompt recourse to confession.  In addition to trust in God's mercy, we should be resolute in our struggle against sinful habits.  

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