February 11, 2026 - Our Lady of Lourdes (School Mass) - Miracles flow when we listen to Mary

 

168 years ago today, the Blessed Virgin Mary began appearing to a poor peasant girl in a small village called Lourdes in France. The poor peasant girl’s name was Bernadette. Bernadette was 14 years old. She was poor. She was not a strong student. She had asthma and was often sick.

One day, while gathering firewood near a rocky cave called the Grotto of Massabielle, Bernadette saw something amazing. She saw a beautiful Lady dressed in white with a blue sash and golden roses at her feet.

The beautiful Lady was the Blessed Virgin Mary. From February 10 to July 15, 1858, Mary appeared to Bernadette 18 times. Mary didn’t give long speeches. Rather, Mary told Bernadette to do simple things: Pray, especially pray the Rosary, and to do penance for sinners.

Furthermore, the Virgin Mary requested that a chapel be built at the grotto so that people could come there in procession.

During the ninth apparition, on February 25, 1858. Mary instructed Bernadette to “go, drink at the spring and wash yourself there.” Bernadette, seeing no spring, instinctively dug with her hands in the muddy ground. Soon, clear water began to flow, and this spring has never ceased.

Over the last 168 years, millions of people each year have made pilgrimage to Lourdes, to the miraculous spring there, to wash in those waters, for it has become a place of countless miraculous healings. People who are sick and crippled and even dying have been miraculously healed there at Lourdes. Many more have received peace, consolation, strength, and renewal of faith.

In the Gospel today, we read the story of the wedding feast at Cana, when Jesus performed the miracle of changing water into wine. And notice, Mary was part of the story. Mary was paying attention to the needs of the wedding party. She detected that they had run out of wine and brought that need to Jesus. Mary then directs the servants of the wedding party to bring the jars of water to Jesus. “Do whatever he tells you.” And because they listened to Mary, they became witnesses of the miracle of Jesus and benefited from it.

When we listen to Mary, and does as she tells us, God works miracles. Lourdes is proof of that. Real miracles—miraculous healings—miraculous renewals of faith—occur every year at Lourdes. But not just Lourdes: those who take seriously Our Lady’s message—to pray the rosary and do penance for sinners—we see God doing amazing things all the time.

You don’t have to be Catholic to pray the rosary and you don’t have to be Catholic to do penance for sinners—penance like fasting, abstaining from meat or dessert or video games regularly. But if you do, I promise, you will begin to see God doing amazing things in your families and in your community. You will know peace and strength like you’ve never known.

May Lourdes continue to be a source of faith and healing for the Church, may it inspire us to turn to Mary as the heavenly helper God has made her for us. For Mary always helps us to follow Jesus more closely and to love Jesus more deeply for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Trusting in God’s mercy and in the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us bring our prayers before the Lord.

For the Church throughout the world: that she may continue to proclaim Christ boldly and lead many people to the waters of salvation.

For those who do not yet know Jesus or who have wandered away from Him: that Mary may gently lead them the healing waters of Christ.

For those who are sick, suffering, or discouraged, especially members of our school families: that through Mary’s intercession they may receive comfort, strength, and hope.

For all who have died, especially those who suffered greatly in this life: that they may now share in the joy of heaven.

Priest: Heavenly Father, you gave us the Blessed Virgin Mary as a loving mother and helper. Hear these prayers we offer with confidence, through Christ our Lord.

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - Salt

 

I remember as a kid, my dad telling stories about working in the salt mines under Lake Erie when he was a younger man.  Morton Salt has about 3 miles of salt mines 2000 feet underneath our great lake.  . This salt is an important source of revenue for the State of Ohio, and the salt is utilized in a number of ways: particularly as a seasoning for our food and on our roads during the winter. With 3 miles of salt mines, it kind of makes you wonder why we supposedly have a winter salt shortage this year. But I degress.

Immediately following the Lord’s teaching on the beatitudes, which we heard last Sunday, the Lord says that his disciples must become like salt. Talk about bringing us down to earth. In order to attain heaven, you must become like salt.

Salt was used in a number of ways in Jesus’ time, just as it is for us. And those different ways salt is used can certainly help us to understand what Our Lord meant when he told us to become like salt.

First salt is used as a seasoning. So, too, Christians are to be a sort of seasoning to an otherwise bland world.  There is nothing more interesting—no one more full of life than a true Christian saint filled with the life of Christ. The saints are the best season we can imagine, and we must become like them. Do you know the names of any famous athletes, actors, businessmen, or politicians from the 13^th century? But we certainly remember names like Francis, Clare, Dominic, Anthony of Padua, Elizabeth of Hungary, Hedwig, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Raymond of Penafort, Albert the Great. So why would we want to be like athletes and actors? Strive to be truly remembered for your holiness, for seasoning people’s lives with the goodness of God.

How else is salt used? Salt is necessary for life. Even the most stringent nutritionists have to admit that salt is a necessary component of the human diet. The ancients, too, understood, salt was necessary for good health.  Similarly, Christians need to be salt in this way. The health, the survival of a society depends on Christians—doing what Christians do, infusing societal life with the life and goodness and truth and beauty of God. Our mission isn’t just to come to Church and leave our faith at the door. Our mission is to infuse this neighborhood with the saltiness—the life—of Christ because without the life of Christ it will die.

Salt is also a Preservative: In the days before refrigeration, salt made preserving food. Salt keeps food from decay. So Christians, have the task of preserving our world from spiritual decay. Seeing many of the strong Christian values in our country begin to fade, Christians need to take up again this call to preserve. Christians must preserve our world—and protect our children—from spiritual rot.

Salt is also a Purifier: The salt in the oceans of the world act as a natural cleaning agent, and most water purification systems use salt as a "purifier." Christians are to be the world’s purifiers: opposing the corrupting powers of malice and perversion and greed. Each of us too needs to seek the constant purifying of our minds from the world’s corrupting influence. In his second New Testament Letter, St. Peter writes, “make every effort to be found without stain or defilement.” So, we must constantly purify our minds through study of God’s word, interiorizing the doctrines of our faith, imitating the example of the saints.

Salt also has a destructive power.  As a kid, I’d run to the kitchen to get a salt shaker when I found a slug in the garden.  In the ancient world, when an army would conquer their enemy, they’d knock down the walls, raise the city to the ground, then really to rub it in sometimes they would cast salt upon the earth so that nothing would ever grow there again. Are Christians to be a destructive power in society? In a sense we are! We are to be a an opposing force against the powers of evil and the manifestations of the Antichrist.

Satan is like that slug, a garden slug, and he is diminished when Christians really get salty with the life of Christ. We are meant to disrupt the work of the antichrist to deface the dignity of the human person. Satan seeks to pervert life, lead souls away from God, and we must get salty in this battle. We need to take back territory and claim it for Christ.

Another use for salt: as we know all too well, living here in Cleveland—Salt is used for the melting of ice. Salt makes things flow that are frozen.   The Church’s task is to loosen up a world frozen in its own self-regard, frozen in violence and selfishness, frozen in habits of “oppression, false accusation and malicious speech” to quote our first reading.  When we are faithful to Christ, we have a melting influence.  

Think of the power of one saint. Saints melt hearts frozen against Christ. Hardened atheists have come to Christ by finding about the goodness of Francis, the piety of Padre Pio, the selfless charity of Mother Theresa and Elizabeth Ann Seton. Many souls have been converted to Christ because they saw Christians selflessly engaged in acts of charity. When the Church is faithful, we have that melting influence to get cold hearts flowing in the right direction again.

Finally, just like it’s used on our roads, in ancient times salt was also used to prevent people from slipping on slippery paths.  Christians are called to help souls from slipping into damnation—promoting the teachings of Christ on a societal level which give stability to civilization, pointing out when fellow Christians begin down slippery paths away from God. We call them fallen Catholics because they have slipped. The reason why we are to take Catechesis and strong moral formation is to help people from slipping and falling

You and I are called to be salt. But the Lord warns that salt can lose its flavor. Perhaps maybe you have lost a bit of enthusiasm for the Christian life. Perhaps Christ is not the vital force in your marriage that he should be.  Maybe you don’t feel like you are having a positive influence on your neighbors, or the fallen away members of your family. 

The solution: Pray, pray, pray.  You cannot be salt without constant prayer.  A priest who does not pray is worthless, husbands and wives who do not pray will not have the strength and power to faithfully live out the Christian responsibilities of the marriage sacrament.  Young people who do not pray will not have the strength to withstand the nearly unending torrent of evil from our culture. 

Salt: an ordinary substance with tremendous potential, which is why the Lord tells us to be salt: ordinary people with tremendous potential, many uses, vital to life and civilization. We must become salt by bringing Christ into our workplaces, into our conversations, into our civic life, in our family life. Be salt, my friends, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

4th Week in Ordinary Time 2026 - Wednesday (School Mass) - David Trusts in God's Mercy

 

Today’s readings tell us two stories that might seem very different—a story about King David sinning against God and a story about Jesus being rejected by the people of his home town. But these stories are really about the same problem—the same choice.

In the first reading, we heard about King David. David was a good king. He loved God. But one day, he made a mistake. He told his army to count how many soldiers he had. That doesn’t sound very bad—until we understand why he did it. For a moment, David trusted numbers and power more than he trusted God.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for David to realize his sin. And notice, he didn’t make excuses. He didn’t blame anyone else. He said: “I have sinned. I have been very foolish.”

Then God gave David a choice about what would happen next—and David said something very important: “Let us fall by the hand of God, for he is most merciful.” In other words, David was saying: “If something bad has to happen, I would rather put myself in God’s hands—because God is kind, and God knows when to stop.”

David remembered something very important: God is always more merciful than we expect.

Now let’s look at the Gospel. Jesus goes back to his hometown—the place where everyone knew him growing up. He teaches in the synagogue, and the people are amazed… but instead of trusting God, they start to doubt. They say: “Isn’t this just the carpenter?” “Isn’t this Mary’s son?” “Who does he think he is?” And the Gospel says: “They took offense at him.”

In other words, they rejected Jesus—not because he did something wrong, but because they thought they already knew him. They trusted their assumptions instead of trusting what God was doing right in front of them. And because of their lack of faith, they were unable to witness the miracles of Jesus.

Here’s the connection between the two readings: both are stories about how we fail to trust God. Like David, we trust in our own strength, thinking we can overcome life’s obstacles by our own power, or military might. Like the people of Nazareth, we fail to take the time to know Jesus.

But David shows us what we must do when we fail to trust God: run back to God as soon as you can. Sometimes, like David, we mess up. But the good news—the very good news—is this: God is merciful. When we admit we’re wrong…When we say we’re sorry…When we trust God again…God always wants to forgive, to heal, and to begin again.

So today, let’s remember: Don’t be afraid to trust God, even when it’s hard. And when we fall, let us trust in God’s mercy—because, like David said, “The Lord is most merciful.” For the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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Trusting in the mercy of God, who is always faithful even when we struggle to trust Him, let us bring our prayers before the Lord.

 For the Church throughout the world: that she may always trust in God’s mercy and help all people turn back to the Lord when they fall away.

For our Holy Father, bishops, priests, and teachers: that they may humbly serve God’s people and help others recognize Christ.

For all students in our school: that we may grow in faith, learning to trust God more than our own fears, assumptions, or doubts.

For those who struggle to believe or who have turned away from God: that they may encounter His mercy and be given the grace to trust Him again.

For those who are sick, sad, or in need of healing: that they may be comforted by God’s loving care and feel His mercy close to them.

For those who have died, that they may rest in the peace and mercy of God forever.

 Merciful Father, you are slow to anger and rich in compassion. Hear the prayers we offer today with trust in your love, through Christ our Lord.

4th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - Healing Division through Humility

 

For the first six sundays of ordinary time this year, our second readings are taken from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.

Throughout his letters, St. Paul gives us a glimpse into those early Christian communities: the Philippians, the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Thessalonians, the Corinthians. Like our own, each of those communities had its own history, its unique and diverse gifts and particular challenges.

Paul praised the Philippians for instance, for their generous support of the poor, and for their commitment to working together. The Philippians took seriously the need for Christians to cooperate in the spread of the Gospel. Yet they were not without challenges. Paul had to address disunity and rivalry among them.

The Galatians too had their gifts. Paul describes the tremendous outpouring of the holy Spirit in Galatia; miracles, even, were evident there. Yet Paul had to address how members of the Galatian church were being swayed by a "different gospel," as he called it. Some members were insisting that gentiles had to be circumcised if they were to be saved. And where does Jesus teach that? He doesn’t. So, Paul had to correct their sacramental theology: that it is baptism, not circumcision which unites us to Christ, our Savior.

So, too, the Ephesians. Paul praised their strong faith in Christ and their love for the saints. He thanked God for the profound spiritual blessings evident among them. Yet, the Ephesians, too, had challenges. Paul detected some willful ignorance in them, hardness of heart, callousness, licentiousness and impurity. And so he challenged them to grow in Christian maturity—to get serious about casting off their old way of life and to put on the new way of Christ.

And then there were the Corinthians! Oh, the Corinthians. Thanks to St. Paul’s extensive correspondence with the Corinthians, we are better informed about the church at Corinth than probably any other first-century Christian community.

Paul extolled their knowledge, their eloquence in speech, and the diversity of their spiritual gifts. Yet,  just because they knew the faith and were eloquent in explaining it, didn’t mean they were living it. There were divisions and quarrels among them. The Corinthians had allowed the sexual immorality of the pagan culture take root in their community. They had disagreements about Christian marriage and food offered to idols. They also had arguments about theology.  They had issues with disorder in worship. Their church politics was causing division. All of these divisions, theological, earthly, and moral were threatening their mission and their souls.

This is why Paul began his letter, as we heard last week, urging the Corinthians to strive for Church unity—unity in faith, behavior, and worship. Why? Because division hinders the mission. It makes it hard to prove that Jesus is the Way of peace and reconciliation and holiness, if our divisions are disrupting that peace. So Paul urges the Corinthians to make every effort to strive for unity among them.

That concern for unity is exactly why Paul turns, in today’s passage, in our second reading, to the teaching on humility.

“Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters.” Our calling to what? To be first and foremost, witnesses of the Gospel. And it’s not because we were rich, powerful, and wise that God chose us, but because we are foolish, weak, and sinful, in other words, we were in need of saving. No amount of earthly riches and worldly knowledge or wisdom could get us to heaven. We can’t get to heaven on our own. We can’t find peace and joy and fulfillment on our own. We need God. We need Jesus Christ. And the Christian is first and foremost a soul who humbly admits he needs God.

That brings us directly to the Beatitudes. In the Gospel today, we hear the beginning of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, this series of short but powerful teachings, known as the beatitudes: teachings about the dispositions, attitudes, decisions Christians are to practice if we are going to live a blessed life on earth that leads to eternal blessedness in heaven.

The Lord begins his Sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” It is not arbitrary that Jesus teaches this beatitude first. For it is not one Beatitude among many. It is the fundamental beatitude that is necessary to obtain the others—It is doorway to all the rest, and instruction that every Christian is to adopt at a fundamental level.

When the Lord says “blessed are the poor”, he’s not saying that poverty is holy. He’s not saying that all poor people are holy, and by virtue of their poverty, they are automatically going to heaven. He’s not saying that all Christians need to be materially poor.

What’s he saying. Fundamentally, essentially, To be poor in spirit is to recognize our need for God—not occasionally, not in emergencies, but always. It is the recognition that we cannot save, justify sanctify, or redeem ourselves. It’s to acknowledge that we are not only incomplete without God, we’re incomplete if God is not the absolute center and primary force of our lives, of every decision and relationship.

If poverty of spirit is not our fundamental disposition, and God is not the absolute center of our lives, then something else is. Something unholy. Pride. Pride, the deadliest of sins because it claims, I’m not poor in spirit, I can get to heaven on my own, I can be fulfilled without God.

Pride, is believing the same lie that the enemy told Adam and Eve in the Garden, you don’t need God, you don’t need to obey, you don’t need to give your heart to Him. You can make it on your own, you’ll be happier without Him.

Pride. It hinders advancement in the spiritual life because it makes God secondary to our own egos. It stalls conversion, halts repentance, obstructs spiritual growth, impedes the mission of the Gospel. It keeps us from the life-giving waters and mercy of Christ, the spiritual fire of the Holy Spirit, and the loving embrace of the Father.

But blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To be poor in spirit means to open wide the doors of ones mind, soul, and heart to God.

This is why St. Paul stresses humility—poverty in spirit—as the remedy for the division and immorality in Corinth. Because as each member of the Church seeks God with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, they are brought in deeper union with God and with one another.

Each of us does well to ask the Holy Spirit to helps us identify how we are called to better strive for and live out that first beatitude. What does it mean to be poor in spirit in my understanding of Catholic doctrine? What does it mean to be poor in spirit in my approach to and celebration of the Sacraments? What does it mean to be poor in spirit in my moral life—in my obedience to the commandments, the call to charity and the cultivation of the virtues? What does it mean to be poor in spirit, to throw open the doors of my heart in prayer?

May the Holy Spirit help each of us to identify who we can take more seriously this first beatitude, to grow in surrender and trust and obedience to God, who heals the wounds of sin and division for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - Church Unity, Nicene Creed

 

Two months ago, back in November, Pope Leo set out from Rome for his first apostolic journey as Pope, to Turkey and Lebanon. He visited the Christians in places like Ankara, Istanbul, and Beirut, with a significant stop at a city called Iznik in Turkey, which is the new name for an ancient city very significant to Church history and to our faith, the ancient city of Nicaea. In the year 325, the bishops of the Church gathered in Nicaea to address a theological controversy that was causing much division in the Church.

There was a heretical priest named Arius who was teaching that Jesus was not fully God—that Jesus, the Son of God incarnate, was not really of the same substance as the first person of the Trinity, God the Father. And the heresy had spread far and wide throughout the Church. Even some bishops became confused.

And so the Bishops of the Church gathered at Nicaea 1700 years ago to clarify the Church’s faith—that Jesus is fully God—truly of the same substance and equal in divinity with the Father. From the Council of Nicaea comes the Creed we recite every Sunday in which proclaim that Jesus is consubstantial with the Father.

What does it matter? Why did the bishops discern the need to gather and to clarify Church teaching? Because the Church is to be united in faith. As we heard St. Paul in our second reading today, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.”

St. Paul was concerned with Church unity because Jesus Himself was concerned with the unity of his followers. He prayed for the unity of his disciples at the last supper. He prayed, “I pray that they may be one, as you and I Father, are one.” Jesus understood that part of his mission was to unite divided humanity—humanity divided by error.

So the bishops at Nicaea gathered to address the error being spread by the heretic Arius. In addition to directly addressing this error, the bishops composed the Nicene Creed that enunciated the Church’s faith.

Throughout the history of the Church, Creeds have been used to express and hand on the faith. 

The English word ‘Creed’ comes from the Latin word “credo” which means "I believe“, from which we get words like credible and credit. A Creed is a statement, formula, or expression of belief—a list of beliefs.

The Apostle’s Creed was the ancient formula of faith used in Rome.  Those being baptized in Rome in the earliest centuries learned and recited the Apostles’ Creed, which we still use today. It is called the Apostle’s Creed because it is a faithful summary of the faith and teachings of the twelve Apostles of Jesus.

The Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed are formulas of faith which help us to express, learn, celebrate, and share with others, the truths of the faith.  Through the centuries, in so many languages, cultures, and nations, the Church has used the Creeds to help Christians live in unity of faith.

St. Paul writes: “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” and that is what we are called to: one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

On the 1700^th Anniversary of the Council of Nicaea Pope Leo traveled to Nicaea and also issued a wonderful Apostolic Letter to the whole Church titled “In Unitate Fidei” in the unity of faith.

He writes, “In the unity of faith, proclaimed since the beginning of the Church, Christians have been called to walk in harmony, guarding and transmitting the gift they have received with love and joy. This is expressed in the words of the Creed, “I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God… for our salvation he came down from heaven,” that were formulated 1700 years ago by the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical gathering in the history of Christianity.

“…during every Sunday Eucharistic celebration,” the Pope writes “we recite the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, the profession of faith that unites all Christians. In these difficult times in which we are living, amid so many concerns and fears, threats of war and violence, natural disasters, grave injustices and imbalances, and the hunger and misery suffered by millions of our brothers and sisters, this Creed gives us hope.”

And this is so true, isn’t it. We live in a very chaotic world, with so many opinions and conflicting ideas about what is most important in life, what is true. The good news is that many people every year from all corners of the globe, many people who were raised without religion, are turning to the Catholic Faith because she is the bastion of truth.

They recognize, and so should we, that in all of the confusion and chaos of modernity, the Church is rooted in something solid, something that has withstood the test of time because it is true. Year after year, century after century, the Church stands firm in what has been received from Christ and passed on to the apostles and spread to us.

Our faith, expressed in the Creed gives us hope, that there is something we can build our lives upon, something that can give us real meaning and purpose, and something that helps us to attain the end for which we were made—eternal life with God in heaven.

Considering the importance of the Creed encourages us to do two things. First, to understand our Faith as best as you can. The better you understand the Catholic faith, the more it will inspires you and guide you.

In the bulletin last weekend, I suggested a number of resources to help you to deepen your understanding of the faith. In this 1700^th anniversary year of Nicaea, I certainly recommend reading through the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter on the Nicene Creed, and other materials on the scriptural, historical, and theological foundations of the Creed. Even just going through the Catechism’s treatment of the Creed will certainly be helpful.

So, firstly, I encourage you to seek to understand the Creed with greater depth. Secondly, I encourage you to share the Creed. In the Gospel today, Jesus tells Peter and Andrew that he will make them fishers of men. To be fishers of men--this is a task given to all of us—to share the faith, to catch souls for Christ. There are people who are yearning for the truth of Catholicism, but those chaotic waters of our culture are making it hard to find their way here. So we need to do our part, to cast out into the deep, to be courageous in sharing the faith. The better we understand, the better we can help others understand.

In a world that is divided and torn apart by many conflicts, the Church united in faith, is a powerful instrument of peace, and the instrument of salvation. God uses Christians filled with understanding and conviction for the faith to catch souls and set them aflame with divine love for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

January 21 2026 - St. Agnes (school mass) - Treasuring Christ

 Today, we celebrate one of the beloved martyrs of the Church, who was killed for being a Christian at a very young age. When she was martyred, St. Agnes was just thirteen-years-old, the age of our eighth graders. By then, though, Agnes had already given her heart to Jesus in a profound way. She had made a special commitment to God, a religious consecration, vowing never to marry, but to spend her life in total dedication and prayerful service to Jesus and the Church.

She was arrested and killed because the world hated that she loved Jesus more than anything. Can you imagine? She was a holy soul, a pure soul, a soul devoted to God. And she was hated for it. The world can be an evil place. The hearts of those who hate the message of Jesus can be selfish, prideful, twisted and cruel. 

But Agnes reminds us of the beauty of belonging to Jesus without hesitation. 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells two short stories. He says the Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, and like a pearl of great price. In both stories, when the person discovers how valuable the treasure really is, they do something very important: they give up everything else so they can have it.

That is exactly what St. Agnes did. Agnes discovered something far more valuable than popularity, comfort, or even her own safety. She discovered that loving Jesus, belonging to Him, and following Him was the greatest treasure anyone could ever have. And no one could take that away from her, not even when they threatened her life. 

Now, Jesus is not telling us that we aren’t real Christians unless we are martyred…But He is asking us an important question, the most important question there is: What matters to you most? If the answer is not Jesus, you’ve chosen poorly. 

Sometimes we treat other things like they are more important than following Jesus--fitting in, worldly success, earthly possessions, having the newest things, or getting our own way. But those things don’t last. They disappear, break, and often disappoint us. Jesus never does.

St. Agnes shows us that even a young person can make Jesus their greatest treasure. She teaches us that holiness is not about how old you are—it’s about how much you trust and love God. When we choose what is right, when we pray, when we are kind even when it’s hard, when we are generous, and seek wisdom, we are choosing the treasure of the Kingdom.

May St. Agnes help us to recognize how precious loving Jesus and following Jesus truly is. And may she help us to have the courage to choose Jesus—again and again—as our greatest treasure, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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To God the Father almighty, dear brothers and sisters, may every prayer of our heart be directed, for his will it is that all humanity should be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

That during this season of Ordinary Time, Church leaders and all Christians may grow in the practice of the virtues and make use of their spiritual gifts in service to God. 

That faith, hope, love and Christian courage, patience, and generosity may flourish in our school community.

For all those preparing for baptism and full initiation: that they may be open to the grace of conversion and the joy of the followers of Christ.  

For those who struggle because of addiction, mental illness, chronic sickness, unemployment, or ongoing trials of any kind: that they may be healed and strengthened in Christ. And for the victims of the fires in California. 

For the repose of the souls of our departed loved ones…

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain.  Through Christ our Lord.

2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - Servant, Sacrifice and Savior

 

The readings on this 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time invite us to reflect on who Jesus is and, inseparably, who we are called to become in him.

In the First Reading from Isaiah, we hear one of the great “Servant Songs” in which Isaiah prophecies that God will raise up a servant, who from the womb will be a light to the nations that God’s salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” 

Christians have always recognized that this passage finds its definitive fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Recall that Gospel story of the angel appearing to Joseph—while still in the Virgin’s womb it is revealed that the child was to be named Jesus—which means God saves. Jesus’ very identity is God who saves. He has come to gather what is scattered, to bring salvation to the whole world.

Jesus’ identity as Savior is made unmistakably clear in today’s Gospel. John the Baptist sees Jesus approaching and declares, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” “Lamb of God” is not simply a poetic title. In Jewish worship, the sacrificial Lamb was offered as a way of pleading to God for the forgiveness of sins.  

But John doesn’t just call Jesus a sacrificial lamb, but the Lamb of God. The sacrificial Lamb that God makes of Himself for the forgiveness of the sins of all people. 

I saw an internet video this last week where a Muslim man was arguing with a Christian, claiming that the most high God would never take on something as lowly and corrupt as human flesh and die such an ignoble death as crucifixion. “Why, why would the Most High God do such a thing” the Muslim argued. To which the Christian responded, “because God loves us, and wished to save us from our sins.”

As Lamb of God, Jesus reveals the glory of God’s love for us.  He willingly embraces suffering and death out of love. So our readings, reveal that Jesus is Servant, He is Savior, He is the Lamb, He is Love incarnate. But our readings don’t just reveal who Jesus is. They also teach us about ourselves, what it means to belong to Him and follow Him.

St. Paul, addressed the Corinthian Christians with a striking description: “you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, [are] called to be holy.” 

Paul explains here that Christians who have been sanctified by Christ, reborn in the waters of baptism, washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, are called to be holy. Christians are to be about the business of growing in holiness—of becoming as holy as we possibly can.

Holiness is not an optional spiritual upgrade for a few particularly devout people. It is a universal calling—a calling for every member of the baptized. To follow Jesus means to willingly walk the path of holiness.

Vatican II articulated this universal call to holiness. Prior to Vatican II, there was confusion, at least at the level of common Catholic culture, about whether holiness was even possible for people who did not enter religious life. The common understanding was that if you married and raised a family, you could never reach true sanctity. But Scripture is clear, the testimony of the saints is clear: all those who have been sanctified through baptism are called to be as holy as you possibly can. All are called to strive to become canonizable saints, whether you are married, single, a member of the clergy, or a member of a religious congregation. 

And we have seen laity—married and single in this past century canonized. Think of the married parents of St. Therese and Lisieaux—Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, and the recently canonized teenage St. Carlos Acutis. It is not hubris to make canonization our goal: nothing less befits our baptismal calling and Christian identity. 

The Psalm today gives us a particular insight into our call to holiness. “Sacrifice or offering you wished not…Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not”…but “ears open to obedience”.

There was a school of thought in the old Jewish practice that as long as we simply offered the right animal sacrifices, followed all of the ritual purity laws, that’s what was pleasing to God. But the Psalm is clear, that God doesn’t want or need mere external adherence to ritual laws, he wants the trust and hope and surrender and love of our hearts, he wants hearts that delight in obedience out of Love for Him. 

In this, Jesus is the model for us. He is the Humble Servant who offers himself to the Father out of burning love. Yes, of course, we are called to be faithful to the formalities of liturgical law and the moral precepts of the Church—whether we like them or not. But God doesn’t just want surface level adherence—he wants hearts open to being transformed from the deepest depths of ourselves—pious hearts which desire what is good because God is good and wish to be completely pleasing—hearts which are conformed to the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord which enthusiastically present themselves to God every day, again in the words of our psalm today “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” In your law and in your purposes are my delight.

To seek holiness doesn’t mean that God expects us to be flawless right now. If you are struggling with sin, which is all of us, to be holy is to seek God’s mercy and help in overcoming sin because you wish to have a life that is in union with the Father. If you have been given gifts, holiness means seeking God’s help in putting those gifts into His service, for His purposes, not our own selfish whims. Holiness means doing what we can with the time, talent, and treasure we have been given to serve God with hearts that delight in Him.  

Each time we come to the altar, each time we present ourselves to receive Holy Communion, we aren’t just fulfilling our religious obligations—our hearts are truly meant to echo and resound with the words of the Psalm, which Christ made his own: “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.” May those words be not just a hallow refrain; may they become the pattern of our lives—lives of holiness, obedience, and loving service, united to Christ the Servant, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

1st Week in Ordinary Time 2025 - Wednesday - Healing for the body, light for the mind, deliverance from evil

 After the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord this last Sunday, our weekday readings this week all through Lent, take us through a sequential reading through the beginning chapters of St. Mark’s Gospel. Monday, we read of Jesus beginning his public ministry preaching “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.” He then called the fishermen, peter, james, Andrew, and john, to be his first followers.

Yesterday, we read of Jesus coming to Capernaum and commanding and casting out the unclean spirit.

Today, continuing still through chapter 1 of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus brings physical healing to Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, and then many people, and drove out many demons, and then goes on to preach throughout Galilee. 

Throughout Mark's Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as the Messiah who brings about the Kingdom of God through his words and deeds. He is a man-of-action who backs up his teachings with miraculous work.

He brings life to the body, light to the mind, deliverance from the powers of evil. Those of us who follow him now, recognize that he continues to do these things in our lives and in our world.  

He brings life to our bodies. Even though we continue to experience physical illness, the ailments of age, we are not discouraged by these things. United to Christ, our physical struggles bring about an increase in trust in God, and reminder that this passing earthly life is an anticipation of the resurrection.

He gives light to our minds through the truth of his teachings which guide us, they help us to know our purpose, they help us discern between right and wrong, they help us to recognize the futility of living only for the things of the world, they help us to cooperate with God’s grace which enables us to become the people God made us to be.

And, he delivers us from the powers of evil. He helps us to be free from the bondage of sin, he helps us to be faithful to God in times of temptation, he helps us destroy the works of the devil in our society. 

And doing all these things for us personally, he transforms us to be instruments in his hands, to encourage the afflicted, to instruct the ignorant, to preach his Gospel, to help other break the bonds of sin in their own lives.

What we see Jesus doing in the Scriptures, we see him doing in our own lives, and he sends us out to be his instruments in the world. “Very truly I tell you,” he says in John’s Gospel, “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.”

As we read through the Scriptures during Ordinary Time, may we come not only to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is, and appreciation for what he has done for us, but come to a deeper cooperation with Him, in who we are called to be, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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With confidence in Jesus Christ, who proclaims the Kingdom of God and brings healing, light, and deliverance, let us offer our prayers to the Father:

For the Church, that she may faithfully proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom of God in both word and deed, and that through her ministry many may come to repentance, healing, and new life in Christ, let us pray to the Lord.

For those who suffer in body, especially the sick, the elderly, and those burdened by chronic illness, that united to Christ they may find strength, hope, and trust in God’s promise of resurrection and eternal life, let us pray to the Lord.

For those struggling against sin and temptation, that Christ, who drives out the powers of evil, may grant them freedom, perseverance, and the grace to live as faithful disciples, let us pray to the Lord.

For our society, that the works of the devil—violence, deception, injustice, and division—may be overcome by the transforming power of the Gospel, and that we may be instruments of peace, truth, and mercy, let us pray to the Lord.

For the faithful departed, that having shared in Christ’s sufferings in this life, they may now share fully in His resurrection and glory, let us pray to the Lord.

For the prayers we voice in our hearts, and for X, for whom this mass is offered.

Heavenly Father, you sent your Son to proclaim the Kingdom and to heal your people. Hear the prayers we offer in faith, and make us willing instruments of your saving love, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

1st Monday of Ordinary Time 2026 - God transforms the Ordinary

 

Now that the Christmas season is ended, we enter into a few weeks of Ordinary time before Lent, beginning early this year, on Wednesday, February 18.

Ordinary Time unpacks the teaching, preaching, and miraculous workings of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

On this first day of Ordinary Time, we hear the first words uttered by Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, “This is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”

Jesus uttered those words at the beginning of his earthly ministry to announce that God was breaking into history in a decisive way to fulfill his promises, to usher in the new era of the kingdom. Jesus was announcing a turning point—a turning point in history for fallen man to turn back towards God in order to live anew in God’s grace. 

These words are so fitting as we begin Ordinary Time. For, this is the time of the year in which Christians are to cooperate with the grace of God to transform our ordinary lives.

God is with us after the high holy days when the tree is taken down, the nativity is put away. God’s grace is to animate the ordinary moments of life, our ordinary relationships and ordinary habits. 

God’s grace is to animate us when we go grocery shopping, when we are folding socks and washing dishes and shoveling snow. His peace is meant to mark our ordinary conversations with the people we see every day. His wisdom is meant to guide the governance of our families and our civic life. God’s grace is meant to transform the ordinary.

Notice that in this very same Gospel passage that the Lord announces to ordinary fishermen, that they were going to be transformed as well. Following him brings transformation. Christians no longer live simply for ourselves, for catching fish to put food on our table and feed our families. Jesus brings an added dimension to life—we are now meant to be about God’s purposes—transformed into His instruments.

Ordinary fishermen and transformed into fishers of men. Hearing this at the beginning of ordinary time is a reminder that we too are to be about God’s work in catching souls. Following Jesus means being open to being used as his instruments—as fishing poles and bait—to catch souls for Him—through our prayers, in our speech, in our witness.

God’s grace is to mark our ordinary behaviors and relationships, but those activities are now oriented to something new—they have a purpose—to lead souls to God. Always in the background in our minds—in each conversation, in each activity—how can I help this soul to Jesus—how can I glorify God in this activity. 

May God’s grace mark the ordinary, but also keep us mindful of our new task of leading souls to Him for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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To God the Father Almighty we direct the prayers of our heart for the needs and salvation of humanity and the good of His faithful ones.

For the holy Church of God, that the Lord may graciously watch over her and care for her.

For the peoples of the world, that the Lord may graciously preserve harmony among them.

For those preparing for baptism and to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church, that this time of instruction and prayer may be a time of fulfillment of God’s promises in their lives.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, immigrants and refugees, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For our beloved dead, and for the poor souls in purgatory.

For X for whom this mass is offered, and the prayers we voice now in our hearts.

O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.

Epiphany 2026 - They went home a different route

 

Happy Epiphany everyone. 

The word Epiphany certainly isn’t an everyday word. And that’s sort of fitting because an epiphany isn’t something you typically experience every day. 

Epiphany comes from the Greek word which means “Revelation”. An epiphany reveals something.  The Christmas season feast of the Epiphany celebrates the Revelation that Jesus Christ, the one born in Bethlehem, is God and Savior of the entire world. This is an epiphany that has certainly changed things--all time is now structured around this moment. 

In today’s Gospel, we hear of those three wise men from the east, whom tradition names Melchior, Balthezar, and Caspar: how the Christ Child was revealed to them as Savior of all people, times, and places.

After receiving this epiphany, and traveling to Bethlehem where they found the newborn Savior, they worshipped him and adored him.  Then in a dream an angel told them that King Herod whom they had met on the way to Bethlehem had terribly vicious designs to kill the Messiah, to kill baby Jesus.  So as we just heard, they departed for their home country by another way, they went home by another route.  

There’s that notion of epiphany: “they went home by another route”. They searched for the savior, they found him, and upon finding him, they were changed forever.  There is the important spiritual truth: Once you truly meet Jesus Christ and adore Him, once his identity is revealed to you, once receive that epiphany, once you place your faith in Him, your life is changed forever. And that means even though you return home, you go home differently, you go home by a different route.  

That is why the word Epiphany is so fitting for today’s feast. An epiphany changes you. We love stories about epiphanies don’t we?  Some of our favorite non-biblical stories contain characters who have life changing epiphanies. 

Think of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, indifferent to the suffering of others, including his overworked, underpaid employee Bob Crachett. Scrooge has a dream in which he is given a glimpse of his past, present, and future—a revelation of his life, if you will. And this experience, coming to understand the consequences of how he treats people, how his greed and self-centeredness brings misery to others leads him to change his life. The epiphany of the goodness he was capable of, changed his life, and he would go on to live a life of charity that would impact the lives of others.

Another one of my favorite literary epiphanies is that of Jean Valjean from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. The hardened ex-convict Jean Valjean is welcomed into the home of a kindly bishop. But, in the midst of night, Valjean decides to steal the bishop’s silver candlesticks. He is quickly arrested and brought before the bishop. But, rather than condemning him, the bishop shows Jean Valjean radical kindness and mercy. The compassion and mercy of the bishop leads Valjean to an epiphany, that God is real and that there is goodness in the world, and he is called to a life of goodness. So Valjean dedicates his life to helping others, even at great cost to himself, including raising the orphan daughter of a prostitute. 

But epiphanies don’t just happen in fiction. The lives of the saints are full of life-changing epiphanies. The murderous pharisee Saul, has an epiphany on the road to Damascus, that he is silencing and persecuting the Word of God. He definitely went home by a different route, dedicating his life, as an apostle, to the spread of the Gospel.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, began life, an arrogant nobleman, seeking fame through war, full of ambition, vain about his appearance, addicted to gambling and immoral in his relations with women.  He went everywhere armed, looking for a fight, obsessed with proving himself in battle. But an epiphany occurred in his life, which changed him forever. 

After rushing into battle, his legs were shattered and wounded by a cannonball.  And as he lay convalescing in bed, his sister-in-law gave him two books, a life of Christ and a collection of the lives of the Saints.  There in his solace, shattered, broken, he met Christ.  He repented of letting his vanity, and his pride, and lust, and violence rule his life.  He began to pray, and dedicated himself to Christ.  He founded the Jesuit Order and became a soldier in quite a different sense, soldiers in spreading the Gospel throughout the world—to the deepest jungles and most foreign lands.

Perhaps some of you here have also had life changing epiphanies, in fact, I hope you have. Maybe you were raised without religion, and came to understand the truth of Christ. Maybe the faith was practiced in a lukewarm way in your family, and upon meeting Jesus you have come to a deeper practice of the faith than your parents. 

Even if you were baptized Catholic as an infant, I hope you’ve had many ephiphanies as well, that the Lord is calling you deeper, to deeper union with him, more devoted prayer, more intentional practice of the virtues, a deeper understanding of the truths of our faith than you received in 8th grade, and a deeper commitment to charitable service.

Later this month we will celebrate the Rite of Acceptance for members of the OCIA who have come to the epiphany that Christ is calling them to follow him as fully initiated Catholics.

But, God wants to continue to reveal himself in epiphany moments in our lives as well.  Our daily prayer, when we kneel, humbly before God with our desires for conversation and for peace and healing—those are meant to be epiphany moments.  

Vatican II called Sunday Mass the source and summit of the Christian life: like the wise men who encountered the Christ child, we too who encounter Christ in word and sacrament and should return home a different route.  Do you come to Mass desiring that? Hoping for that? Open to that epiphany moment? where your encounter with the Lord Jesus at Mass changes you, so that you go home a different person than when you came? I hope you do. Perhaps, go home a different route today, pondering a little more deeply how the Lord is calling you to something profound in this year of our Lord 2026.

After encountering the Lord in the Eucharist today, you will be sent out into the world. Deeper prayer, intentional virtue, more generous service, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.