3rd Week of Easter 2026 - Friday - Eucharist and Supernatural Life

Last week, remember, we read through the Lord’s conversation with Nicodemus in which Jesus speaks of supernatural and spiritual rebirth. Through baptism, we are born again through water and the spirit. What is spiritually dead in us is brought to new life, and not only that, but God’s supernatural grace raises—elevates—our human nature. The intellect is elevated by grace to know God not merely by natural reason, but by faith. The will is elevated enabling us to love God with charity, which is far beyond merely natural love or moral goodwill. 

Through baptismal grace we share in God’s own life and are now capable of acting in a way ordered to the ultimate supernatural end: union with the Trinity. Human nature, left to itself, cannot attain the beatific vision. No amount of natural intelligence, moral discipline, or sheer human effort can reach it. But through baptism, our earthly life can culminate in heavenly life.

But, in the Gospel today, Jesus explains that for the supernatural life to be sustained in us, we must eat supernatural food. “Unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood, you do not have life within you.” The Eucharist sustains the supernatural life begun at baptism. 

When the body is deprived of food it languishes and dies; and it is the same with the soul. The Eucharist does not merely symbolize supernatural life; it actually communicates it, because it is not ordinary bread but the living Christ himself. “I am the bread of life”, says the Lord. 

The Eucharist nurtures the deepening of supernatural life. Every time we receive the Eucharist, we are offered a greater share and participation in the life of God, for the Eucharist strengthens the theological virtues. It nourishes faith, because in Holy Communion we entrust ourselves to Christ’s word and presence even when hidden under sacramental signs. It nourishes hope, because the Eucharist is a pledge of future glory, a foretaste of heaven. It nourishes charity, because the life of God is one of love—self-sacrificial love, and in the Eucharist, we become what we receive, says St. Augustine—the very Christ who gave himself as a ransom for many.

Like medicine that strengthens the body weakened by illness, the Eucharist strengthens the soul against spiritual disease—enabling us to withstand the assaults, temptations, and lies of the enemy.

 St. Cyprian, writing in the early third century, says Christians imprisoned and tortured for the name of Christ received from the hand of the Bishop the sacrament of the Body and Blood of the Lord, so they would not yield to a Roman prosecutor and deny their faith. Before going on trial, they pleaded, “Give me Communion, so I’ll be able to resist.” From the very beginning of the Church, this was the reason Holy Communion was brought to the Christians in prison, that they could be strengthened in their persecution and temptations.

Whenever you present yourself to receive the Eucharist, do so with openness to be strengthened in the Christian life, fortified against sin, desiring to grow in the life of the spirit, in faith, hope, and charity, in the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, for the mission of the Church, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

- - - -  

By offering His Body and Blood for us, Jesus reconciles the world to the Father. Therefore, we present our needs to God with confidence.

That the outpouring of charity in Christ’s Eucharistic Self-Sacrifice will become manifest in all of the Church’s activity in the world, in all marriages, in all of our business relations, family relationships and  daily encounters, in our care for the downtrodden and most vulnerable; among friends, strangers, and enemies.  

For Catholics who have fallen away from the Eucharist, that they may know the grace of sincere repentance and return to the table of the Lord.

That all of God's children may have sufficient bread for their physical life and the Bread of Life for their spiritual life. 

That those who have died may share the eternal life that Jesus promised to those who feed on the Bread from Heaven. 

Gracious Father, hear our prayers. Nourish us continually with your Son’s presence in the Eucharist, and grant us the grace to lead others to this divine source of eternal life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

31st Week in Ordinary Time 2024 - Wednesday - Grace, Free Will, and the Cross of Discipleship

 Today's readings highlight a profound mystery of our faith – the dance between divine grace and human free will, and the true cost of following Jesus.

"Work out your salvation with fear and trembling," St. Paul tells us today, "for God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work." 

At first glance, this might seem paradoxical. Are we to work out our salvation, or is it God who works within us? The answer is both. 

God's grace is the initiating force—the unmerited gift that empowers us to seek Him. It's His grace that stirs our hearts, giving us both the desire and the ability to do what is good. Yet, He doesn't override our free will. We are invited to cooperate with His grace, to actively participate in our own salvation. This cooperation involves effort on our part—hence Paul's exhortation to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." This isn't a fear born of terror but a reverent awe at the magnitude of God's gift and our responsibility in responding to it.

In the Gospel, Jesus presents a stark message about the demands of discipleship: "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." 

To apply the lesson from St. Paul “carrying our cross” involves both human effort and reliance on God’s grace. The choice to carry our cross is ours, and our human strength is involved, but that feeble human effort is sustained and strengthened by God’s grace. We aren’t carrying our crosses alone. God is with us at every step.

Let us pray for the courage to embrace the cost of discipleship, trusting that God's grace will sustain and guide us. May we respond generously to His call, allowing His grace to work through our free will, and thus become true disciples who reflect His love to the world, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

- - - - 

I would like to share a message from our bishop, which he posted online this morning, in light of yesterday’s election. His excellency writes:

“We are truly blessed to live in a democratic nation where we can participate in free elections to choose our government leaders. So many people across the globe do not have the opportunity to do so, and we should never take this fundamental right for granted.

Whether your chosen candidates won or lost, never forget that we are all brothers and sisters, created in the image and likeness of God. We are all neighbors, who more than ever, need to come together, united in peace. We must work for the common good, prayerfully, respectfully, and thoughtfully. We must put divisiveness behind us and move forward, together. May we approach one another with open hearts and minds, listen more, and talk less. It is only then that we can engage in meaningful, honest, and civil dialogue with our neighbors, friends and families, who might have opinions different from our own.

Please join me in praying for our newly elected leaders, asking that God grant them wisdom and courage to lead with compassion and justice. Let us pray that they demonstrate respect, kindness and generosity to all people. Let us pray that they uphold the God-given rights we are privileged to possess as U.S. citizens, especially the most fundamental right to life. And let us ask, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, that our Lord fill us with a spirit of faith, hope and love, that we may be peacemakers in our homes, in our communities, and in our great nation.”

- - - - - 

For the Church, that we may faithfully respond to God's grace as we carry our daily crosses, cooperating with His divine will in building up the Kingdom. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our newly elected leaders, that God may grant them wisdom, courage, and compassion as they serve the common good of all people. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our nation in this post-election period, that we may heal divisions, engage in respectful dialogue, and work together as brothers and sisters created in God's image. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those struggling with the demands of discipleship, that they may find strength in God's grace and support in our Christian community. Let us pray to the Lord.

For those facing heavy crosses of illness, loneliness, or hardship, that they may experience God's sustaining presence and our compassionate care. Let us pray to the Lord.

For our parish community, that we may grow in our ability to recognize and cooperate with God's grace in our daily lives, becoming true disciples who reflect Christ's love to the world. Let us pray to the Lord.

We pray in a special way during this Month of November for all of the faithful departed; for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom, that they may experience the fullness of God's grace in eternal life. Let us pray to the Lord.

Merciful Father, you call us to discipleship and provide the grace we need to follow your Son. Hear these prayers and help us to respond generously to your call. Through Christ our Lord. 

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024 - My grace is sufficient

 In the lives of the saints, we find records of extraordinary mystical phenomena, special visions,  and  revelations from heaven.

For example, St. Faustina, the little polish nun from the beginning of the 20th century had visions of the Lord Himself, who tasked her with making known the message of His Divine Mercy. 

The holy children of Fatima, St. Bernadette and St. Juan Diego were visited by Our Lady.

St. Theresa of Avila, as well as St. Francis of Assisi, Alphonsus Ligouri, and St. Padre Pio are said to have sometimes levitated, they began to hover above the earth, as they became enraptured in mystical prayer.

St. Catherine of Siena’s life was filled with mystical phenomena: such as ecstatic raptures, and her mystical marriage to the Lord Himself.

The mystics experienced both mystical ecstasies as well as mystical sufferings: St. Francis, Padre Pio, St. Catherine, suffered the mystical stigmata, the wounds from Our Lord’s passion and crucifixion appeared in their flesh. St. John Vianney would be harassed and physically assaulted by the devil, often when a long-time sinner would be making a good confession to Fr. Vianney.

The New Testament describes several mystical experiences of the Apostle Paul: we know Paul had a life-changing encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. He saw the Lord, spoke with Him, and gave his life over to Him. In II Corinthians, Paul writes about being mystically brought up to the third heaven: I do not know what that means, perhaps he experienced levels of closeness to God in heaven like Dante in the Divine Comedy.

And, in the second reading today, Paul writes about an “abundance of revelations” he received from the Lord. But then, Paul writes of this very strange phenomenon,  “a thorn in the flesh was given to me,” he writes, “an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.”

Perhaps this “thorn in the flesh” referred to the stigmata, a wound from the Lord’s Crown of Thorns? But, we honestly don’t know exactly what Paul means. Some wonder if it was embarrassing skin affliction. Or it may have referred to a reoccurring sensual temptation, an unwanted attraction to something he knew was bad for his soul that he had to remain vigilant against. Or maybe he was referring  to a particularly difficult challenge in his ministry, a certain group of people that simply would not convert. But we really don’t know exactly what he’s talking about. We can surmise that Paul is clearly not talking about some little passing problem. It was a thorny circumstance that wouldn’t go away.

What we do know is what Paul tells us: he prayed to be delivered of this “thorn in the flesh”.  “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me.” In other words, over and over and over Paul begged God to be relieved of this suffering. I think we can all relate to Paul here. Who here hasn’t had some challenge, some hurdle, some temptation, some suffering, that no matter how often we prayed, we couldn’t be rid of it?

I think many people who struggle with addiction relate to Paul here. Many addicts will even use the same language, “my addiction is like a demon that I can’t be free of.”

But no doubt, every one of us has some thorn, something physical or psychological, emotional or spiritual, some problem that won’t go away, even when we pray for deliverance, for help. 

So why won’t the Lord deliver us, why won’t he free us from our thorns? Likely, to teach us the same lesson he taught Paul. “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you.” God wants to teach us that his grace is sufficient for us.

What do we mean by grace? The unmerited love of God, the strength and help and power that God gives…is enough. No matter what our suffering consists of—an illness, a loss, a temptation, God’s grace is sufficient for us…to what?…to flourish!…to become the people God made us to be! When the Christian is reliant on God’s grace we have everything we need to overcome temptation, to get through difficulty, to carry our cross, and to remain on the road to heaven. 

Every illness, every loss, every temptation, can become an opportunity to grow in grace. For the Christian, behind every curse there is a blessing, behind every suffering, there is joy, in knowing God’s grace sustains us.

St. Paul, St. Catherine, St. Padre Pio had these amazing mystical experiences, but they also had their thorns—they had great ecstasies but also great afflictions. And they teach us that the Christian life will always be filled with both: joys and sorrows. We will never be free from thorns during our earthly journey, but we are also never abandoned. 

The thorns are proof that God wants something great from all of us: he wants great trust in His grace, he wants not mediocre Christian faith, but great sanctity. He wants us to be the Francis’ and Paul’s and Catherine’s of this age.

The thorns are reminders that none of us are finished products: we never reach such a point of sanctity that we become independent of God. In fact, as the saint grows in holiness, they recognize their utter dependence on God.

In the Gospel today, Jesus Himself is rejected by his neighbors. What a thorn that must have been: to be rejected by the people you grew up with! So too the Christian, if we are living our faith authentically, it’s likely we’ll face similar rejection. You might be mocked for being a Christian, you might be mocked for going to Church every week, your children and grandchildren might laugh at your faith. But in those times, we need to trust that our task isn’t to be liked by everybody, but to share the Christian Gospel and to live the Christian Gospel faithfully. Being rejected for the Gospel isn’t proof that we are doing something wrong, but doing something right.

Similarly, remaining faithful to the Church’s moral teaching might feel like this painful thorn in the flesh. But we don’t just practice Christianity when it’s easy. We discover, like Paul, that our weaknesses are made strong by God’s grace, and what we endure for His sake brings about powerful conversions and transformation in our world and in our souls.

So pray for each other and pray with each other, to remain faithful when we suffer the thorns of this world. May we all come to really trust that amidst all the thorns and challenges and rejections and illnesses and setbacks and great sufferings of our lives, that Lord’s grace is sufficient. That through them, the Lord works to transform us into saints, into the people he made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Sunday of Lent 2024 - Joyous Eucatastrophe

 Some of you may have heard of the celebrated 20th century author J.R.R. Tolkien. He gained some popular notoriety a few years ago when his books, the Lord of the Rings saga and the Hobbit, were turned into very-well done blockbuster movies by the New Zealand film director Peter Jackson.

JRR Tolkien, you may not know, was a devout Catholic, and his faith deeply influenced his work. The Lord of the Rings is imbued with Catholic themes such as the struggle between good and evil, the importance of self-sacrifice, and the power of grace. Tolkien's heroes are often the small and humble who are called to do great things and carry heavy burdens. His world, called Middle-earth, is one that values tradition, ritual, knowledge, virtue, and a proper ordering of things.

Tolkien believed that myths and fairy stories could convey deep spiritual truths. He saw them not as mere escapism, but as a means to connect with reality at a deeper level. You’d be surprised that many young people credit Tolkien as part of their journey home back to the faith. A very good priest friend of mine even told me that he never would have entered seminary, had it not been for Tolkien’s stories.

In one of his essays, Tolkien discusses how stories can invoke real joy within us, particularly through what he called "eucatastrophe," a term he coined for a joyous turn of events that brings unexpected grace and victory over sorrow, failure, and death.

Think of that moment in Les Miserables where the criminal Jean Valjan is arrested for stealing from the Archbishop. And instead of condemning him and demanding back his silver, the Archbishop says no, take the silver, use it to begin a new life dedicated to grace. The unexpected act of mercy bought his soul for God.

Or think of those old pictures of the Allied forces, rolling in to liberate those concentration camps, and the jubilation that came after those months of starvation and impending doom. 

Or a few years ago, remember, the miraculous rescue of those 33 miners trapped underground for 70 days in Chile brought the world together in a shared experience of relief and jubilation. 

We love these types of stories. They exemplify what Tolkien called eucatastrophe—the triumph of goodness that we didn't see coming, which sparks profound joy.

Did you catch the eucatastrophe in our first reading today?

Our first reading today mirrors this concept. Despite continuous warnings, the people of Judah persisted in their infidelity, leading to the destruction of Jerusalem and their exile to Babylon—a direct result of their defiance against God. It was a desperate situation, one they had brought upon themselves, threatening the very existence of their civilization.

But then, the miraculous turn: God moves the heart of King Cyrus to allow the Jews to return to their homeland. And this of course brought profoundest joy.

The Jews knew they were lost, they were beaten, and they were totally at the mercy of their captors. They could not save themselves.

But in his mercy, and fidelity to the promises that HE had made, God saves them. Because God is faithful even when we are unfaithful and undeserving. And that is the cause of our joy. 

This narrative found in Chronicles is analogous to humanity's state before Christ. We were in exile, a predicament of our own making. Despite warnings, we sinned. The ripple effects of our sins damaged our minds, bodies, and souls, deserving eternal separation from God. We deserved hell for our sins—endless sorrow of being excluded from God’s presence for all eternity, the knowledge that its duration would continue forever without possibility of rest, the knowledge that it could have been otherwise had we remained faithful, and the understanding that our punishment was entirely our own fault. 

But then the joyous eucatastrophe--the greatest unexpected grace: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

The joy of the Christian life does not come from the fact that God has freed us from our earthly sufferings—each one of us here still suffers. Evil bombards us. 

Rather, the joy of the Christian life is the experience of salvation—the knowledge and understanding that we have been saved by Jesus Christ when we were deserving of hell. And from experience of salvation blossoms joy that no earthly suffering can diminish—because God’s grace pierces through those evils every time—and shows us the way to heaven. 

This is why Christians can experience joy on our death beds. We’re given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, and we can still have joy because we know that God has given us the way to walk through the cancer to eternal life. We can experience joy when we have been stripped of all things, like Jesus stripped of his clothes on calvary. Because it’s not the earthly things that bring us joy, it’s the thing that can’t be taken away, our union with Christ.

And the only reason a Christian can end up in hell is because of his choice to walk away from Christ up to his final breaths—the rejection of the grace of repentance. But we know, that God reaches out to those souls all the time. He brings about eucatastrophes in their lives—unexpected graces—to help them see the light in their darkness.

And this is why our penances and prayers, during the season of Lent and throughout the year, are so important. Penances undertaken on behalf of others cause beams of God’s light to shine into the darkness of their errors and sins. Our prayers whispered to God help them hear God whispering in the depths of their hearts amidst all the noise of the world.

Christians we don’t just do penance and pray without cause, as if we would anger God if we didn’t. God uses our prayers and penances to help save the lost. And that brings us joy, doesn’t it. To know, that our prayer is powerful, our sufferings offered up, are powerful? When we offer up our sufferings in union with Christ, God works. 

This is why we are to be generous, lavish, with our Lenten prayer and penance and almsgiving. People say, I don’t like to give anything up for Lent. Fine, we aren’t supposed to necessarily enjoy penance. But those things that you don’t like to do, but you do them anyway because they are the right thing to do, deepen your joy in Christ because you are united to Him in his suffering and in his saving mission.

So let us be generous in our Lenten penances and prayers, offering them up for those who have fallen away from the Church or do not yet know Christ. Our sacrifices, united to His cross, become channels of grace that God can use to work eucatastrophes in their lives.

May the joy of our salvation in Christ pierce through every darkness and lead us and those we pray for to the eternal light of Heaven for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

Ferial Day of Christmastide 2021 (EF) - Monday - Grace made visible

Between the great Feast of Christmas and the Epiphany, Christmastide finds the Church reflecting upon the mission and identity of the Christ child.

Yesterday, on the Christmas Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, we reflected upon the meaning of his name. The name of Our Lord, “Jesus”, the name announced by the angel, means “God Saves”. Jesus is God and Savior. He is the God who saves.

On this ferial day, we read in our epistle, St. Paul reflecting upon the identity and mission of Christ. Paul writes to titus that the grace of God has appeared. Jesus, the Lord, is the grace of God made visible.

Mercy has a name, mercy has a face, mercy has a heart, as Pope Benedict XVI has said. And through Jesus, who is the love, mercy, and grace of God made visible, salvation is offered to all, Jew and Gentile alike.  Jesus is truly God and savior.

St. Paul then goes on to explain how salvation involves us being trained to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly. In the face of God’s overwhelming goodness and mercy and grace made visible by Jesus, we are to respond by rejecting all that is godless. Aware of God’s love for us, we respond by engaging in training. Like an athlete or soldier trains, we are to train our minds, bodies, and souls to reject what is worldly and godless. And this might be difficult for a good many of us, for the worldly and godless is deeply ingrained in us. So great effort is to be exerted, suffering is to be endured, to be trained in grace. 

But we willingly do so in order to live in a pleasing manner for the one born for us as savior.

St. Paul then mentions temperance, justice, and devotion, specifically. These three virtues regulate how we deal with the created things of the world, how we deal with other people, and how we relate to God. By temperance, we are to practice self-control in moderating our use of the goods of the earth. By justice, we regulate our relationships with others, treating people with the respect, patience, and generosity owed to them. And by devotion, or piety, we give to God what belongs to God—worship and obedience and prayer and faithfulness in our God-given mission to evangelize.

On the feast of Epiphany, we find Magi from the east, bringing gifts to the newborn King gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. This reading from St. Paul to Titus is a beautiful prelude to the Epiphany, hinting at the fact that the Lord desires more than these physical gifts, the one in whom grace has been made visible desires his grace to be made visible in us, that the  gift of grace may fill our lives, transforming them, delivering them, purifying them, sanctifying them, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - - 

 A reading from the epistle of St. Paul to Titus

Brethren: For the grace of God has appeared, saving all and training us to reject godless ways and worldly desires and to live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age, as we await the blessed hope, the appearance of the glory of the great God and of our savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to deliver us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people as his own, eager to do what is good. Say these things. Exhort and correct with all authority: in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Luke

At that time, when eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - God's grace and human effort

 This last week, we had a little cookout for the parish council and finance council over in the rectory courtyard. Always a nice event. Everybody brings something.. It’s one thing I love about being Catholic…the pot lucks! Our parish picnic too a few weeks ago, along with the wonderful company, of course, we had some really good food! Not only did we have enough to go around, but we even had some folks passing by along west blvd stop by and grab a plate.

In the Gospel, this weekend, we heard of a community meal of sorts: the feeding of the five thousand. 

In the 19th Century, there was a German Protestant biblical scholar by the name of Heinrich Paulus. And it seems he was the first to put forth the theory regarding this passage of the multiplication of the loaves and fish, that you may have heard.

Heinrich Paulus claimed that the real miracle occurred when the crowds saw the generosity of the boy who shared his lunch, that they all brought out bread that they had secretly stashed away, and shared it with each other. And that’s why there was really plenty of food to go around.

Now, I guess that’s a nice idea. The charity of one inspires charity in others. If ordinary Christians, like you and me, we were all just a little more generous and a little more trusting of each other, we’d have a lot more resources to share for the work of the church. A nice moral lesson.

And yet, is that the really point of the story? For, the passage itself indicates that the Lord Jesus did something ordinary people could not do. He effected a miracle in which twelve wicker baskets were filled, not with fragments stashed in everybody’s knapsacks, but from the five barley loves.  

To read this passage as if Jesus did not perform a miracle is to do violence to the Bible - it's distorting the words of the text, not interpreting them.

The text is clear: there was not enough food to feed everybody. Not even a year's salary (two hundred denarii) could buy enough for such a feast, as Philip nervously points out.

Again, what’s the point of the story? There are problems in this world that we cannot solve on our own—neither science nor politics nor simple humanitarian effort.  There are problems that money cannot solve. Man’s natural talents and ingenuity are incapable, ultimately, to defeat the forces of evil. Human strength is insufficient to overcome selfishness, lust, and greed that rage within the human heart. No amount of human cunning, cleverness, brute force, or application of natural resources are able to bring about a solution to sin or death.

Only when we put all that we have and all that we are into Jesus’ hands will we ever be truly fed, united, and delivered. Because Jesus is God. That’s the point of the story. We must go to God to be fed, united, and delivered and he is abundant in feeding us, uniting us, and delivering us when we bring ourselves to Him.

This of course is not to say that we should not exert great effort in feeding the hungry of the world, working for peace through political means, and seeking to heal the sick and relieve human suffering. Christians even need to work together with people of different faiths to accomplish these goods.

However, human endeavors ultimately fail, when they are not rooted in God. In vain do the builders labor, unless the Lord builds the house.

And yet, more is at stake than mere earthly, temporal peace. Ultimately, this passage is about eternal life. St. John begins the 6th chapter of his Gospel, which we will be reading through for the next five weeks with this miracle story. John wants us to know, that the Bread, the food, that brings eternal life, comes only through Jesus Christ. For in today’s Gospel Jesus is doing something that human beings cannot do on their own. For he is God. Only He can feed the multitude of the peoples’ of the world. 

And yet, it isn’t helpful to completely ignore the role of the ordinary people in today’s Gospel. Jesus in fact DID ask the apostles to bring to Him the little they had, and he did work wonders with what they gave him.

We are invited, commanded, taught to entrust to Jesus the little we do have. Grace accomplishes what human effort cannot, but human effort is still needed. For what is not given is not multiplied. What is not offered is not transformed.

He does ask of us to bring to him the little we have—the little time, talent, and treasure, which I know you’ve heard before. But when the little we have is given to God it is infused and multiplied by Him. 

Time in prayer, especially, given to God throughout the day becomes a conduit for God to reach into our lives and heal wounds, and transform hearts, and multiply our meager resources, physical and mental, clear away confusion. 5 Minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in the evening with bible in lap, television turned off, phone set aside can do wonders. 

Father, I’m too busy to pray. False. You just haven’t given the Lord the little time you do have, in order for it to be multiplied. Make time for God and he will make time for you.

Not only our time, but our talent is held back from God. Sometimes we minimize what we could do, so we don’t have to do it. But the Lord wants our meager talents, our parish needs live people showing up to do work. Our legion of mary, our svdp, our garden club, for example, could really use some new members. It’s becoming clear that the Lord is presenting us with some mighty challenges, some wonderful opportunities, but we need folks to show up. It just can’t be the same small handful of folks. Your pastor is appealing to you. Get involved. Bring your ideas, your talents, your words of encourage. In your daily prayer ask God, what can I do for you today that I’ve never done before?

And folks. I know. I’ve been there. I ask the Lord what do you want from me, an idea pops into my head, and I’m like…how about something else. Can’t I just do your will sitting in my office? Can’t I just stay at home? I’d have to rearrange my schedule if I were to do that…Lord, can’t you think of something more convenient for me?

But trusting in him, willing to give up our plans, our time, our treasure into his hands, he multiplies them, transforms them, making us his instruments for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

December 8 2020 - Immaculate Conception - God could do it, He saw its fittingness, He did do it

About seven hundred years ago, there was a little Franciscan Friar by the name of John Duns Scotus, teaching Theology at the University of Paris, probably the most important school in the world in the 1300s.  One day, one of his students asked him to explain the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, and he said simply, in Latin of course,” potuit, decuit, ergo fecit”.Four simple words.  God could do it, it was fitting and decent that he would do it; therefore, he did it.

Could God preserve Mary from all stain of original sin from the moment of her conception?  Absolutely.  The Archangel Gabriel in the Gospel today said it perfectly: “nothing is impossible for God”.  

Was it fitting? When we consider the fittingness of something we do not deny that God could have done things otherwise. It is fitting that “he who was like us in all things but sin” would draw his humanity from one who is sinless. 

Did he do it?  Yes!  Not only is it the consistent teaching of the Church for nearly two thousand years, but we have biblical evidence for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. When Gabriel met Mary, he greets her with a very specific word, a very unique word. “Hail, full of grace!” is a somewhat inadequate translation of the Greek word kecharitomene, a word not found anywhere else in scripture. The Greek word is literally translated “she who has been made and continues to be full of grace”. 

It would have been strange for Gabriel to greet a woman who had Original Sin that she was made and continues to be full of grace.  Rather, Gabriel rightly describes Our Lady’s spiritual ontology here. She was made full of God’s grace at the moment of her conception, and she has not lost grace, as did Adam and Eve through sin, but has continued to remain full of grace throughout her life. 

St. Ambrose, whose feast we celebrated yesterday, said beautifully, “Mary, a Virgin not only undefiled but a Virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free of every stain of sin.”

Why is this an important feast for the Church to celebrate? Well, it is right and just to celebrate the mighty and wonderful works of God, and Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception, is the greatest thing God has ever created. A human creature with a heart and a soul and a body so full of grace she is worthy to become the mother of God. And if that were the only reason, it would still be fitting for the Church to establish a solemnity, the highest class of liturgical feast, to celebrate the Immaculate Conception.

We honor her also because she is an image of hope, and icon of hope. Our Lady shows us what humanity looks like when it is fully conformed to God. Perfect faith, perfect hope, perfect charity, perfect surrender to the will of God, perfect selflessness. By applying the fruits of Christ’s redemption to Mary from the moment of her conception, God has made her whole life an icon of what he will one day do for all of us.

Mary thus shows us what we an be–and will become–as a result of Christ’s death on the Cross, if we only persevere in the Christian life.

May God be praised on this great feast of his greatest work. And may Our Lady help us this day and all days be conformed like her to her Son for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

That Mary’s maternal care and heavenly intercession will help us all to reach the moral greatness befitting true children of God.  

That through Immaculate Mary, Queen of Peace, hatred, violence, and cruelty will cease in the world.  

For blessings on all expectant mothers, newborn infants, and young families. 

That from the moment of conception all children will be preserved from bodily harm; for the overturning of unjust laws that permit the destruction of innocent life; and that the minds of all may be enlightened to know the dignity of every human life.  

For all those who have died, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for all who have fought and died for our country’s freedom, and for [intention below], for whom this Mass is offered.  

We pray, O Lord our God, that the Virgin Mary, who merited to bear God and man in her chaste womb, may commend the prayers of your faithful in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.

12th Sunday of OT 2020 - The sin of Adam and the Grace of Christ

After many months, Lent, Easter, and the Feasts of Pentecost, Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi, we have returned again to the Sundays of Ordinary Time, called such, for we focus not on any Extraordinary, major event from the life of Christ or major dogma contained in our creed, but on how the grace of God is meant to animate the ordinary aspects of our life.

For the remainder of Ordinary Time, all the way until the end of November we will read extensively from the Gospel of Matthew, and until mid-September we’ll read from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Matthew and Paul will be our spiritual directors, helping us to open our minds and heart to the grace of God in the ordinary circumstances of our lives.

And since we’ll be spending so much time with them, I’d like to say a word about Paul’s letter to the Romans. Paul’s letter to the Romans is a great masterpiece of theology, a clear, thorough, and systematic presentation of the Christian faith. Profound enough for an ordinary Roman to be intrigued by the Christian faith, and clear and systematic enough that an ordinary Roman could understand it. The Letter doesn’t tell a story, like the Gospels, which follow a narrative structure. Rather it unpacks the theological implications of Our Lord’s incarnation, saving death, and glorious resurrection. What does it mean for the Church, for saints and sinners like us, that Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

If you’ve never read Paul’s letter to the Romans from beginning to end, this is a perfect time. Reading the letter in its entirety will help you internalize Paul’s message and teaching. Every Christian at least once in our lives should read the Bible in its entirety, not necessarily straight through from Genesis to Revelation, but at least each book of the Bible in its entirety, some time in your life. Speaking of the ordinary life of the Christian, reading the Bible should be part of our Ordinary Lives, our every day lives.

A day shouldn’t go by, where we don’t read something of God’s Word. Even if it’s just a single paragraph that you read and ponder throughout the day, God’s Word will ground you, and enlighten your path in these chaotic times. God’s word helps us to understand our reality and understand ourselves. It helps us to put our priorities in order. It guides our actions, and helps us to have a rightly ordered mind and heart, and it increases our hunger and thirst for the righteousness described in its pages.

In today’s second reading, Paul seeks to explain one of the most important questions ever, a question that philosophers and theologians, mystics and poets and ordinary folk have grappled with, since the moment we gained the ability to ask such questions: why is there suffering in the world? Why do we suffer? Why do people die in earthquakes and plagues, and through famine. Why do families, and nations become divided and go to war? Why do innocent babies suffer. Why do children seem to turn on their parents, why do parents neglect their duties to their children. Why are peoples subjugated and enslaved to satiate the greed and lusts and pride of those in power?

The different world religions all attempt to answer that question. St. Paul, once the student of the great Jewish Rabbi Gamaliel, and now a convert to Christ, a believer that Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, seeks to answer that question in his letter to the Romans: why is there suffering? And he does so, drawing upon his Jewish roots and his new-found Christian faith. He traces the suffering of the world all the way back to Adam and Eve and he shows that the solution to the suffering, salvation from suffering, comes through the New Adam and His Church, the New Eve, the new Mother of the saved.

Where did suffering come from? According to Genesis, there was a time before suffering, when Adam and Eve lived in a state of friendship with God. In the garden of Paradise, Adam and Eve walked in harmony with God in the cool of the evening in easy fellowship. Their minds and wills were effortlessly attuned to God’s mind and will, the way friends are naturally attuned to one another. Adam and Eve’s physical, emotional, and spiritual needs were met through their friendship with God; they were without suffering.

But then, as St. Paul explains in our reading today, “Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death.” Prior to sin, our inner life and outer life were ordered according to the will and mind of God. But turning our will against God through sin, nearly everything about us became disordered. We desire too much of what we don’t need: money, power, and pleasure; and too little of what we do need: prayer, good works, obedience, patience and peace. Human life, which was meant for immortality and grace, becomes disordered toward mortality and selfishness. From that disorder arises all the suffering and war  of the human race.

St. Paul having identified sufferings origins, then identifies sufferings remedy. Though death reigned throughout the generations of Adam because of the sin of the one man, through the gracious gift of another man, Jesus Christ, death is defeated, humanity is reordered to God and we are saved of suffering and death.

Yes, death and disorder continue to wreak havoc in the lives of the members of our human family. Just turn on the news, right? But what the news does not often report, the most miraculous and marvelous activity in our world today: how Jesus Christ continues to transform lives, how the grace of God overflows into the members of the Christian family, the body of Christ, the Church. The news, for the most part does not report how faith in Jesus Christ transforms the lives of ordinary people, enabling us to overcome what is fallen in us, what is perverted in us, what is selfish in us.

Turn on the news, you will find one story after another of division along political, racial, national and international lines—the effects of fragmentation in the human family, to effects of death and greed and corruption. You want proof of original sin, turn on the news. But open the bible, read St. Paul, study the lives of the saints and you’ll find a different story. Had we spent more time cultivating the grace of Jesus Christ, how different the nightly news would be.

So, if the 24-hour news cycle won’t report it, our task, is clear, Our Lord is clear in the Gospel today: shout the Good News from the rooftops. Christian grace can overcome all transgression. You want to build a society of peace, turn to Christ. You want to overcome the division in your family? Turn to Christ. You want to overcome your fallen tendencies—your lust, your pride, your selfishness? Turn to Christ. Shout it from the rooftops.  Because the news won’t report it and our politicians won’t acknowledge it.

On this Father’s Day weekend, many of us our so grateful of the faith of our Fathers, our Fathers who have been instrumental in our reception of the faith. And yet, perhaps too we think of all those fathers in the world today, maybe the fathers of our grandchildren or nephews or neighbors who want little or nothing to do with the saving faith—who have forgot their most important job, to help their children become righteous.

Ordinary Time is a wonderful time to pray and fast for those fathers, and to look for opportunities to call them to action—to take up, once again, the mantle of being a leader—a faith leader--for the sake of their families and for the future of our society. For only a house built on the solid foundation of Christ, can ever hope to withstand the intense and destructive winds of the world. If you truly care about these Fathers, call them back to the Faith, back to church.

Where will you find the words to say? Ponder the Scriptures. This week, turn to God’s word and ponder it every day. Ask God to enlighten you. Ask God how His holy word can help you in the concrete, ordinary circumstances of your life, with your ordinary sins, and your serious sins, with the ordinary drama and trials of your family, and the serious ones. If he is quiet, ask him all the more, in the words of the psalm today, “Lord, in your great love, answer me.” Revive my heart, enlighten my mind, transform me by your grace, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

29th Week in OT 2019 - Wednesday - Weapons of Righteousness

A few years ago, Pope Francis was asked in an interview: “Who is Jorge Mario Bergolio?” And the holy father answered simply: “I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner.” He said something similar  when he was asked by the Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel if he would accept his election. He said to them: “I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

St. Paul is quite clear in our reading this morning that even after our rebirth in baptism, sin continues to have a certain sway in us and in the world. We are all sinners, we experience temptation, and fall, some of us many times, into the same-old sins. And yet, God is every merciful and patient, as Pope Francis says. And when we humbly and sincerely approach the mercy of God, we begin to experience a freedom from those sinful tendencies.

And something amazing happens when we humbly approach the mercy of God: the parts of our personalities which were held under the sway of sin become “weapons of righteousness” St Paul says today. Pride when handed over to the mercy of God is transformed into a humility that shames the devil. Greed when handed over to the mercy of God is transformed into generous self-giving through which God feeds and nourishes his people. Lust when handed over to the mercy of God is transformed into passion for prayer and the works of charity. Sloth when handed over to the mercy of God is transformed into diligence and piety which build up the Church.

Slaves of sin are transformed by grace into slaves of righteousness, Paul says. A saint is a sinner who has kept trying.

This is why we do well to examine our lives and humbly acknowledge those sinful tendencies which remain, because those are potential weapons for righteousness. For the person who fails to examine his life and acknowledge his sins will ultimately fail to grow in righteousness. That which is not handed over to God will not be converted, which makes empty confession lines quite concerning.
And the Lord’s parable this morning speaks of the eternal destiny of those who fail to acknowledge their sinfulness and  hand their lives over to God.

So may we be generous and diligent in repenting of sin and handing more and more of our lives over to God, that we may be transformed in righteousness for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - - -

That all Christians may know the grace of sincere repentance and seek to grow in virtue and the fruits of the spirit.
For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of October, “that the breath of the Holy Spirit may engender a new missionary ‘spring’ in the Church.
That young people be inspired to respond generously to God’s call to sanctity, and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
For all the sick and suffering, and for all those in hospitals, nursing homes, and hospice care, for all those who will die today, for their consolation and that of their families.
For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our family, friends, and parish, for the deceased clergy and religious of our diocese, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.
God of mercy, hear our prayers, ease the sufferings and comfort the weakness of your servants, and bring us to eternal life, through Christ our Lord.

14th Sunday in OT 2018 - Thorns in the flesh

In the lives of the saints, we find records of extraordinary mystical phenomena, special visions,  and  revelations from heaven.

For example, St. Faustina, the little polish nun from the beginning of the 20th century had visions of the Lord Himself, who tasked her with making known the message of His Divine Mercy.

The holy children of Fatima, St. Bernadette and St. Juan Diego were visited by Our Lady.
St. Theresa of Avila, as well as St. Francis of Assisi, Alphonsus Ligouri, and St. Padre Pio are said to have sometimes levitated, they began to hover above the earth, as they became enraptured in mystical prayer.

St. Catherine of Siena’s life was filled with mystical phenomena: such as ecstatic raptures, and her mystical marriage to the Lord Himself.

The mystics experienced both mystical ecstasies as well as mystical sufferings: St. Francis, Padre Pio, St. Catherine, suffered the mystical stigmata, the wounds from Our Lord’s passion and crucifixion appeared in their flesh. St. John Vianney would be harassed and physically assaulted by the devil, often when a long-time sinner would be making a good confession to Fr. Vianney.

The New Testament describes several mystical experiences of the Apostle Paul: we know well that Paul had a life-changing mystical encounter with the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus. He saw the Lord, spoke with Him, and gave his life over to Him. In II Corinthians, Paul writes about being mystically brought up to the third heaven, whatever that means.

And, in the second reading today, Paul writes about an “abundance of revelations” he received from the Lord. But then, Paul writes of this very strange phenomenon,  “a thorn in the flesh was given to me,” he writes, “an angel of Satan, to beat me, to keep me from being too elated.”

Perhaps this “thorn in the flesh” referred to the stigmata, a wound from the Lord’s Crown of Thorns? But, we honestly don’t know exactly what Paul means. Some wonder if it was embarrassing skin affliction. Or it may have referred to a reoccurring sensual temptation, an unwanted attraction to something he knew was bad for his soul that he had to remain vigilant against. Or maybe he was speaking figuratively—referring to a particularly difficult challenge in his ministry, a certain group of people that simply would not convert. We don’t know. He’s clearly not talking about some little passing problem.

We do know, that Paul prayed to be delivered of this “thorn in the flesh”.  “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me.” In other words, over and over and over Paul begged God to be relieved of this suffering. I think we can all relate to Paul here. Who here hasn’t had some challenge, some hurdle, some temptation, some suffering, that no matter how often we prayed, we couldn’t be rid of it?

I think many people who struggle with addiction relate to Paul here. Many addicts will even use the same language, “my addiction is like an angel of satan, a demon, that I can’t be free of.”

But no doubt, every one of us, has some thorn, something physical or psychological, emotional or spiritual, some problem that won’t go away, even when we pray for deliverance, for help.

So why won’t the Lord deliver us, why won’t he free us from our thorns? Likely, to teach us the same lesson he taught Paul. “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you.” God wants to teach us that his grace is sufficient for us.

What do we mean by grace? The unmerited love of God, the strength and help and power that God gives…is enough. No matter what our suffering consists of—an illness, a loss, a temptation, God’s grace is sufficient for us…to what?…to flourish!…to become the people God made us to be! When the Christian is connected to God’s grace, we become instruments of God’s will, even when we suffer, through what we suffer!

In other words, you can endure anything when you live by God’s grace. In fact, every illness, every loss, every temptation, can become an opportunity to grow in grace. For the Christian, Behind every curse, there is a blessing, behind every suffering, there is joy, in knowing God’s grace sustains us and accomplishes miracles through us.

St. Paul, St. Catherine, St. Padre Pio had these amazing mystical experiences, but they also had their thorns—they had great ecstasies but also great afflictions. And they teach us that the Christian life will always be filled with both: joys and sorrows. We will never be free from thorns during our earthly journey, but we are also never abandoned..

The thorns are proof that God wants something great from all of us: he wants great trust in His grace, he wants not mediocre Christian faith, but great sanctity. He wants us to be the Francis’ and Paul’s and Catherine’s of this age, by deflating our inflated egos and infusing them with grace.

The thorns are reminders, that none of us are finished products: we never reach such a point of sanctity that we become independent of God. In fact, as the saint grows in holiness they recognize their utter dependence on god

In the Gospel today, Jesus Himself is rejected by his neighbors, his townsfolk. What a thorn that must have been, to be rejected by the people you grew up with! So too the Christian, if we are living our faith authentically, it’s likely we’ll face similar rejection. You might be mocked for being a Christian, you might be mocked for going to Church every week, your children and grandchildren might laugh at your faith. But in those times, we need to trust that our task isn’t to be liked by everybody, but to share the Christian Gospel and to live the Christian Gospel faithfully. Being rejected for the Gospel isn’t proof that we are doing something wrong, but doing something right.

Similarly, remaining faithful to the Church’s moral teaching might feel like this painful thorn in the flesh. But we don’t just practice Christianity when it’s easy.

We discover, like Paul, that our weaknesses are made strong by God’s grace, and what we endure for His sake, brings about powerful conversions and transformation in our world and in our souls.
So pray for each other and pray with each other, to remain faithful when we suffer the thorns of this world.

May we all come to really trust that amidst all the thorns and challenges and rejections and illnesses and setbacks and great sufferings of our lives, that Lord’s grace is sufficient. That through them, the Lord works to transform us into saints, into the people he made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

December 8 2017 - Immaculate Conception - Prepared by grace for service to God

In my homily for the 1st Sunday of Advent, I reflected upon how we prepare for the important events in our life. Parents prepare for the birth of their children, our second graders prepare for the sacraments of reconciliation and first eucharist, our eighth graders prepare for the sacrament of confirmation. Our teenage parishioners prepare to obtain their driver’s license, they prepare for college, for their jobs. Preparing to become a priest requires nine years of seminary preparation. The most important things in life require great preparation.

We see this truth reflected most gloriously in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For today we celebrate the way God prepared Mary to become the mother of our savior. In preparing Mary to be the Mother of Jesus, God did not wait for her to graduate high school; he did not wait for her to learn to read and write; he didn’t wait for her to learn to speak or walk. God prepared Mary from the very moment she became a human being, the very moment of her conception, the very moment she became a baby in her mother’s womb.

From the very moment Mary existed, she was filled with a special grace from God never before given to any other member of the human race: the grace of being immaculately conceived, the grace of being clean of all sin. Could God do it? Of course! He’s God! The Archangel Gabriel in the Gospel today said it perfectly: “nothing is impossible for God”. 

Mary's greatness doesn't come from her intelligence, good looks, charm, bubbly personality - it doesn't come from her natural qualities. Her greatness, her true beauty, comes from being filled with the grace of God and surrendering to God’s plan for her life.

And that’s true for us as well. What matters most in life is allowing God to fill us with grace and cooperating with that grace. Just like Mary, God has a plan for each of us. But it is up to us, like Mary to respond generously to God’s plan, to trust in God, to learn from the events of our life, to become the people God made us to be.

What does God want from us? The same thing he wanted from Mary: Sinlessness, selflessness, and cooperation with his grace.  In the epistle, Saint Paul wrote, “God chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish”.  God chose Mary, and God choses us, but it is up to us to respond generously to God.

And so we pray today that Mary’s yes and radical surrender to God may resound in our life, may the sinless immaculate ever-virgin Mary assist us in turning away from the selfishness and self-centeredness and fear and material attachment which keep us from great holiness, may she help us discover God’s will in our life and help us respond to God with wholehearted surrender, obedience, and trust, and prepare well for all God has in store for us, for His Glory and the salvation of souls.

Homily: Dec 8 2016 - Immaculate Conception - Mary's Way of Grace

On Monday evenings between Labor Day and Easter I meet with groups of adults wanting to become Catholic. Some of them were baptized in a Protestant denomination; others were never baptized; but each of them possess this growing desire to become Catholic. Some are attracted to the beauty of our rituals, the clarity of our teachings, our faithfulness to the Word of God—each person, no doubt, gains a deepening sense that God is calling them.

Last Monday, I presented to them a lecture on the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I showed them pictures, paintings from throughout the centuries. I showed them Renaissance Painters like Michelangelo, and Fra Angelico, and Leonardo Da Vinci.  The earliest Christians had a deep love for Mary, Jesus had a deep love of his Mother, and so, it is no surprise that much Christian art depicts the Mother of Our Lord.

Particularly, I showed them several different paintings of the biblical passage we heard today, the story of the Annunciation. And one of my favorite depictions of the Annunciation, one that I have showed even in several of the classrooms in the school is by the Italian Renaissance painter named Sandro Botticelli. Botticelli is probably most famous for his painting of the Greek goddess Venus, emerging from the sea shell; and he brings that same mastery of his art to painting Our Blessed Mother.

In his painting of the Annunciation, Botticelli paints Mary ever so gracefully, so fluid, like a ballet dancer; it is amazing how Botticelli is able to depict Mary turning from her reading of the open Bible toward the Archangel Gabriel who greets her, “Hail Mary, Full of Grace”. Where Adam and Eve sinfully and pridefully turn away from God’s plan; Botticelli depicts Mary trustingly and lovingly turning toward God’s plan.

And what’s amazing is how Gabriel appears to be approaching Mary very slowly, very cautiously, like he doesn’t want to scare her. But also, this angel of God approaches Mary, this human woman, so reverently, as if he is more scared of her. The angel is almost trembling as he delivers his message from God.

Typically, in scripture, when an angel approaches a human, the angel has to reassure the human not to be afraid. But Botticelli shows Gabriel nearly fearful, like a scared cat coming out of hiding. Why does he do this? Because Mary was unlike any human he had ever met. Mary was unlike any human God ever made. From the moment of her conception, God made Mary clean of every sin that has ever tainted the human soul.So even in a painting of the Annunciation, Botticelli is able to show the grace that filled Mary's life at every moment.

Through this special grace—the grace of her Immaculate Conception—God prepared Mary for the monumental mission of being the mother of Jesus and the mother of the Church. God gave Mary everything she needed to fulfill her mission in life, but it was still up to her to respond freely and generously to the angel's invitation. And thanks be to God she did. Amazing things, wondrous things happen, when we, like Mary trust God, and make use of the grace he gives to each of us.

Whenever I read the story of the Annunciation or gaze upon Botticelli’s beautiful painting, I hear questions being asked to me, questions God asks each of us: Are you as full of grace as you should be? Are you using the grace God gave you?

Each one of us, when we were baptized received God’s grace. Each one of us, when we receive Holy Communion receive God’s grace. We have been blessed, as St. Paul said in the second reading: “with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.” What have I done with that grace?

So often, instead of protecting and guarding that grace, nurturing it, growing it, using it for the intentions of God’s will, we turn right back to the old sinful ways of Adam and Eve. How often have you used the tongue God gave you to hurt others with your words or to lie? How often have you spent your time on selfish pursuits, instead of using that time to better your mind and heart and help others?

Instead of turning to the example of Adam and Eve, we Christians need to turn  to the example of Mary, who trusted God, who kept herself pure and without blemish, who made serving God the highest goal of her life.

On this great Feast, let us recommit to Mary’s way of grace: turning toward God every day in the sort of prayer we need, practicing the self-control we need, developing habits of generosity as we should, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.