A day early, we are looking at the reading for the Feast of the Finding of the Head of John the Baptist.

Who am I? This question, once answered, unlocks the path to understanding our relationship to God and neighbor.

Though we are both spirit and body, we often live simply as animals and need to cultivate a desire for higher and spiritual things.

How often do we live as though there were no God? And how can we reorient our lives to repent of this?

Childlike humility will allow us to receive the kingdom because it allows us to receive the grace and mercy of God.

Take the lowest place so that when the master of the feast sees you, he may ask, "Did you not know that a higher place has been set for you? Come, take your rightful place at my side."

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

God is near to those who stand afar off. If we want God to be near us, let us too go and stand afar off.

Fasting does not earn us Heaven. No action of ours earns us Heaven. Only the mercy of God can make us heavenly beings.

You are not the exception; you are not the sinless one. You, like others, need the mercy of God. Rejoice in that.