Manere in Christo: Sticking with Jesus

                While reading the Gospel for this Sunday , I could not help but think of a friend of mine.   Sh e made the dumb (brave) decision to pray for humility.   This is one prayer that the Lord always answers, and He answers it in ways we could not have imagined.                 For my friend, the Lord answered it by showing her what some of her friends and acquaintances say about her when she is not around.   Unfortunately, it was not things that build you up, rather it was pretty bleak.   Hearing that people you considered friends were talking poorly about you behind your back would deliver a big blow to anyone’s self-esteem.   My friend was no exception.                 Sunday’s Gospel shows us how to react to these situations.   Often times, our human instinct is to retaliate or get the person who wronged us back.   However, Jesus shows us a different way.   In St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus tell us to, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who

                “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,” is the easiest way to summarize the first half of Sunday’s readings (Jer 17:7).   However, it leaves us wondering, “why?”   Why should we trust in the Lord?   Why should all of our hope rest in Him?   Thankfully, the Gospel Acclamation tells us why!   “Rejoice and be glad; your reward will be great in heaven!” (Lk 6:23).   If we trust fully in the Lord, we will be rewarded immensely in heaven.                 In the reading from the Prophet Jeremiah, the differences between the one who trusts in himself and the one who trusts in God is clearly laid out.   We hear that the man who trust in himself, in the world, is closed off from God.   His “… heart turns away from the Lord,” and he is focused not on God but on himself (Jer 17:5).   In drawing the image of a “barren bush in the desert,” we are shown that our true strength, our life, comes from God and not human desires (Jer 17:6).   For if we could sustain ourselves

I was very fortunate to be able to speak at Adore at St. Anne last night.  Adore is a monthly Holy Hour on the first Wednesday of the month at St. Anne.  It features a guest speaker, praise & worship music, Eucharistic Adoration, and Benediction.  I was asked to share some thoughts on getting ready for Lent.  Below is my talk.  I hope you enjoy. ________________ Readying Ourselves for the Desert                 If you’re like me, you can’t believe Lent is only a month away.   It seems like we just finished putting up the Christmas decorations and pulling out the green vestments for Mass.   Soon violet will dominate the sanctuary, and we will enter the desert of Lent in preparation for Easter.   Often times, we think of Lent as preparing ourselves for the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we forget that Lent is its own journey that needs its own preparation.   Thankfully, we’ve got a month to get ready for Lent.                 Lent b

                When reflecting on Sunday’s readings , I cannot help but think of the current state of the Church.   After Jesus tells Peter to go back out into the water for another catch, Peter replies that they had already gone fishing that night and had “caught nothing” (Luke 5:5).   Right now, it feels like the Church is the same.   Whether it is the sexual abuse crisis, shrinking Mass attendance, dwindling numbers in Religious Education, or trouble evangelizing, it seems like the Church has also been out fishing without much success.   But, I believe the Church, and each of us individually, must sometimes go through a dry period to get ready for a big catch.                 In the first reading, we hear of the Prophet Isaiah being cleansed of his sins.   Then the Lord God asks Isaiah, “Whom shall I send?   Who will go for us?”   To which Isaiah replies, “Here I am … send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).   This encounter and request is not unique to Isaiah.   At the moment of our baptism