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Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross - September 14, 2025 (Year C)

In this set of readings, we have a rare opportunity to hear from Jesus how the imagery from the Old Testament is retold in the New Testament through Jesus.  Usually these glimpses into the "rhyming" nature of the Old and New are revealed less plainly and alluded to, but here Jesus does not mince his words.  In the Old Testament, the people sinned against God and repented to Moses asking him to seek God's forgiveness.  To this end, Jesus tells us that He has become that symbol of forgiveness, that saving grace.  And the Second Reading succinctly summarizes this notion that we must keep in mind: God sent Jesus for us and our salvation.  Jesus was not sent to this earth for His own benefit or to take control; on the contrary, He suffered here and was "obedient to death", at which point God raised His Son to become the exalted symbol of His Love for all. Disclaimer: This will be at the bottom of all reflections, but I’m not intending to put out any sort of professio...
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Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 7, 2025 (Year C)

This week, we are challenged by the words of Jesus.  He tells those who were traveling with Him that no one can truly follow Him without "hating" their family.  Taken at just that line, it seems an insurmountable task, to disregard the love of those closest to us for the eternal love of Jesus.  But two keys lines, one from the First Reading from Wisdom and the second from later in the Gospel Reading, help me to (hopefully) make sense of Jesus's proclamation.  In the next part of the Gospel Reading, Jesus continues to compare being a disciple to preparing to construct a tower.  Taking that example, all other context is removed - the builder's family obligations, their taxes due, etc... - and it's a simple exercise in having the right resources to achieve the goal.  We too must remove the outside context, or distractions, and see what it is we truly need to do in our lives to be true to God, and sometimes that can be our family or our jobs or even our hobbies...
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Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 31, 2025 (Year C)

The set of readings for this Sunday represent a good reminder of our need for humility.  We must approach life with the knowledge that God has made everything in our lives possible.  We are the poor, and Jesus is our benefactor.  Without the gifts bestowed to us by God, we cannot begin to fathom the mysteries, the wisdom, the love that has been left on this earth (and beyond) for us.  We must take our place, the lowest place at the table, and wait for our turn to be elevated.  In humbling ourselves by accepting that place, we allow ourselves to re-built and shaped by our Creator, the One who Loves each of us more than we can possibly ever know. Disclaimer: This will be at the bottom of all reflections, but I’m not intending to put out any sort of professional critique, attempt at a homily, or investigation into the historicity of the readings, but will “let the Spirit move me” as some say, to share what has spoken to me in my reading and reflection on the set of...
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Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 24, 2025 (Year C)

I feel like I'm writing an multi-part piece on delayed gratification, as today is all about making the hard decisions.  From Isaiah, we hear that God will send out "fugitives" to the land, and we hear from Jesus in the Gospel that we should strive for the narrow gate.  How often have we read/heard of how Jesus, his disciples, and the prophets of the Old Testament were ostracized and treated like fugitives for spreading the word of God?  Often in this life, we must go against the grain, make the disciplined and hard decision to be a follower of Jesus.  The opportunity has been offered to us, but we must steel ourselves against the temptations and distractions of the day to be able to truly receive the gift that has given.  Disclaimer: This will be at the bottom of all reflections, but I’m not intending to put out any sort of professional critique, attempt at a homily, or investigation into the historicity of the readings, but will “let the Spirit move me” as some...
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Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 17, 2025 (Year C)

This week is about the hard truth of the Gospel.  God, through Jesus, has promised salvation, and this is undeniable.  However, we may (and will) endure hardships if way follow the way of Jesus.  Too often, it is easy to be like those in the besieged city who cast Jeremiah into the well - we bury the truth we hear from God because it is hard to accept.  It is temping to avoid the hardships, put them off for today in vain hopes that they will disappear into the ether and tomorrow will not share that burden.   But that is not how life works.  Even Jesus tells us in this Gospel reading that to follow him will be hard, and we may end up standing in contrast to those we hold dearest to our heart.  And yet, we must try to stay firm in our pursuit of the truth and love given from God.  Think of the devotion with which Paul writes to the Hebrews, speaking of the freedom we can give ourselves if only we shed the burdens of temptation and sin that surr...
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Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 10, 2025 (Year C)

The delay of gratification.  That can be an accurate summary for the Christian Life.  At all times, we are called to balance the needs of our basic, primal nature as creatures of the earth with the higher, spiritual needs that await us beyond.  And as Christians, we are called to skew that balance, to take less than we need and give more than is comfortable.  But do we always do that?  I know that I cannot claim to do so.  And yet throughout of history as laid out in God's Word, we see the rewards to those who have been able to master themselves.   This weekend, we hear a line from Jesus's parable in Luke's Gospel that is so impactful and meaningful to me that I have the verse written on a post-it note and placed on my dresser.  The notion that Jesus tells all of us that, and I'll paraphrase a little here, to those of us who have been given much, much will be expected.  We all have gifts given to us from God, and we are all called to use...
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Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - August 3, 2025 (Year C)

This week, the fleeting desires of this world (and our desire for them) is put squarely into focus.  It is easy (too easy, perhaps) to put ourselves as the voice in Ecclesiastes, complaining that we have worked and worked to acquire all of this stuff, and yet it doesn't make us happy - we are not fulfilled.  And if that leaves us empty, to what end should we direct our efforts?  Enter St Paul to answer that question.  If we do as we say in our beliefs, we have nothing to seek but Heaven itself, through Jesus.  We need to ensure our compass is calibrated towards God and Heaven, so that our efforts will not be lost and left behind when ultimately it is our time. And this is what Jesus was speaking to in His parable.  Yes, there are times to accumulate, grow, and share the resources that we have with those around us.  But if we knew that tonight would be our last, would you be more likely to spend it adjusting your retirement portfolio or with your loved ...
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