Have you ever tried to break in a new pair of boots? We all have at some point. Breaking in. New pair of boots is a good analogy for us in life; the mere fact that we have to break them in despite the discomfort. Jesus wants to break in "our boots"--he wants to "break in" our lives. But the only way He can do it is if we let Him in and surrender. 

Today we hear the famous John 3:16 verse at Mass: “for God so loved the world He sent His only Son!” Before that though Jesus speaks of being lifted up like Moses lifted up serpents in the desert. Huh? What’s He talking about? It’s a type (foreshadowing of what is to come). But then why did God send the serpents in the first place? Because the complained at what was sent to them as food. How often do we grumble at the Bread that has come down from Heaven--the Eucharist? 

We continue our preaching series on the Our Father. Today we explore the first and second petitions: "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What does it mean to say "Thy kingdom come?" What are we asking for when we beg for His kingdom to come? It has to be an individual petition. I have to first beg the kingdom to come into my own life. Then His kingdom can spread on earth. Then and only then when I have allowed His kingdom to come into my own life I can ask for His will to be done.

Over Lent Fr. John and I will be doing a preaching series on the Our Father. Today we will be looking at the first two sentences "Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name." With the Our Father falling on this day where we also hear the gospel from the Transfiguration we realize that the our Father and Transfiguration tell us three things about God. It tells us who God is, they show us who we are, and it shows us that God is trustworthy.

During the season of Lent we must remember the 3R's: repentance, renewal, and relationship. Repentance means to change direction and repentance leads to us renewing our commitment to God, which leads to us having a relationship with the God who loves us!

The joy of a leper! He was bold recognized his dirtiness and he was humble. That is exactly what we must be this Lenten season. We ourselves must be Lepers. Bold in in our approach to Jesus, we must recognize our sinfulness but we first must be humble--submitting ourselves before the King of Kings.

There has got to be more! The Apostles knew there was more that is why they were able to drop their nets and follow after Jesus. Do we know there is more? Are we hungering for Jesus? If He isn't first--He's last. 

Today the Kings/Magi bring Jesus the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Often times we feel that we are empty-handed before our king and have nothing to offer him. But these gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh are actually symbols of what we're actually to offer Our Blessed Lord.

The ancient tradition for this feastday was that January 1 marked the circumcision of and the naming of Jesus. It was Mary and her obedience and love to God that lead Jesus to the temple for the circumcision and who gave him His name. It is our Blessed mother who wants to pierce our hearts so that we may receive new hearts and who wants to reveal the name of her Son to us.

God didn't just have a gameplan, He became the gameplan. He doesn't want to lose you. He wants, more than anything this Christmas, for you to draw near and approach Him in the manger. Where are you on the journey?