Reflections of a beloved son

" If you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; Then the Lord will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land " (Is. 58:10-11a). I believe it is in our nature - fallen human nature - that we try to make sure we are fed, clothed, and well before we really embark on acts of kindness and charity.  It is not unnatural. In fact I think it is common.  Today I met up with a former colleague of mine for lunch and while driving back she commented that she has come to realize more and more how selfish she really is. "I think there is a selfish strain in all of us.  I think it is part of our human nature."  Yes, there is selfishness in our human hearts.  But God wants to give us a heart that can conquer that.  While rebuking His disciples, Jesus said that they were thinking as human thinks and not as God thinks.  Elsewhere we are...

I think it is safe to say that most people, if not all, have experienced some sort of challenge or difficulty in their lives.  For us Christians, we may call them "crosses."  Each person's cross(es) is different.  It is so because each person is unique and is different from the next.  In the Gospel, Jesus shares with His disciples the conditions of discipleship: denying oneself, taking up our cross daily, and follow Him.  Our Lord told His disciples that they must take up their cross daily. Our crosses do not define us. Rather, what we do about them and how we carry them may.  Jesus asked them to take up their crosses daily.  But He didn't say they'd be doing it by themselves.  The last condition after taking up our cross daily is to follow Him.  In following Him, He will be our strength.  And when He sat down with His Apostles and broke bread at the Last Supper, He became our nourishment.  After laying down His life for us on the...

If you have ever been to an Ash Wednesday Liturgy, you would probably have heard the formula or prayer, " Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return."  Or maybe you've heard " Repent and believe in the Gospel ."  Those are the two most common ones I've heard used when the priest or minister is distributing ashes. At face value it sounds a bit harsh - we are nothing but dust and ashes?   There is truth to it though.  In the Book of Genesis we are told that Adam was "formed out of the dust of the ground." So indeed we are dust and ashes.  But the most surprising thing comes immediately after that line.  " ...then the Lord formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."   We are indeed dust.  But God not only formed us but He blew into us the very breath of life  - His own breath.  The breath of the Living God is inside of us and is what makes us ...

In the Gospels we hear of a father who went to Jesus and asked Him to cast out the demons that were causing his son to convulse and foam at the mouth. The father told Jesus that His disciples tried but were unable to cast them out.  Jesus seemed disappointed and wearied but of course He cast out the demons and healed the boy. The disciples asked Jesus why they couldn't cast out the demons. I mean they walked with Jesus, listened to Him, and ate with Him.  If they were so close with the Lord why couldn't they cast out the demons?  Jesus told them, "This kind can only come out through prayer."  Well, what does that mean, Jesus? The disciples may have walked with and listened to Jesus, but did they know Him?  Jesus told His disciples that the kind of demon that was inside the little boy can only be cast out through "prayer."  What is prayer?  Prayer is a relationship.  It comes from spending time with and getting to know the other. The disciples ma...

What does it mean to love someone or something?  Our modern world today tells us "do what you love, do what makes you happy, and do what feels good." So then love makes us happy and feels good.  Yes and no.  When you are in the presence of someone you love, there is a peace and joy in our hearts that do not get troubled.  Even when there are challenges and hardships, where there is true love, peace and joy and hope remains.  Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.   "Where charity and love are, there is God." True and genuine love is the love that comes from God.  The love with which God created us and for which God created us.  Loving is wanting and willing the good of the other.  Sometimes this love feels warm and fuzzy, but sometimes this love comes in the form of discipline. When a parent disciplines his child, he does not because he enjoys it but because he wants what is best for his son.  Likewise, when the son disrespects his father ...

" When the days were completed for the purification according to the law of Moses, Mary and Joseph took Jesus up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord just as it is written in the law of the Lord " (Lk. 2:22-23a).  On February 2nd, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord .  Mary and Joseph carried and brought Jesus to the Temple. Later on, the twelve year old Jesus would stay back in the Temple after Passover where He famously said to Mary, " Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"   The Temple would also be where Jesus drove the money changers away and foretold His Resurrection saying " Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up ."  At the Presentation the righteous man Simeon was patiently waiting for Jesus, the "consolation of Israel," the "Christ of the Lord."  When he saw Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus in, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and ble...