Christ invited the Apostles to understand who He is. To help them, He cautioned them to beware the self-seeking leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, which would only make it harder for them to understand. With Lent beginning tomorrow, let us, too, fast from the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, and feast on the words of Christ.

Alix Page sang to her boyfriend, "I can't make a lover out of you, unless you ask me to." Jesus says the same thing to the Pharisees in the Gospel today, and to each one of us.

We can't take a person's suffering from them. But we can stand with them. like Our Lady, as they suffer. And we, even if we are rejected, and, in that sense, take their place, we will be enrich. And we will enrich the community with the life of Christ. It is He who has taken our place. And it Our Lady who stands by Him in His trials, enabling us to as well.

We may be able to worship strange gods, but we can only love what has drawn near to us, in what is familiar to us.

Some will try to cause us to forget who we are. Christ will always be here to remind us of the truth within.

If we allow the wisdom of God to dwell in us - to remain in us - we do not need to be afraid of the world. It can not defile us. We need only be afraid of rejecting wisdom by sinning. Even then, Christ can restore what we have defiled. What mercy!

The Buddhist tries to overcome the tyranny of the self by turning inward, and, in a sense, closing himself off to the world. The Christian, overwhelmed by the presence of God dwelling among us, overcomes the tyranny of the self by going outward, pouring himself out for others, like Christ.

The location of the Temple in Jerusalem foreshadows its fulfillment in Christ - and in His brothers and sisters, like Saint Agatha.

Love can not be generic. Nor can our proclamation of Christ be generic. Today, we ask for the grace to love each person in our lives according to his/her own needs and circumstances, making whatever adjustments we must, to become all things to all people, so as to save at least some.