Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Hear our Parent's voice:
You are worthy to receive.
All. No exceptions.

Gn 14:18-20; Ps 110:1-4; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11b-17

Saturday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Serve God or mammon?
One brings fun, and one brings joy.
But which gift will last?

2 Cor 12:1-10; Ps 34:8-13; Mt 6:24-34

Friday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Earthly treasures fall.
Wonder is all you will need.
Delight in weakness.

2 Cor 11:18, 21-30; Ps 34:2-7, 18; Mt 6:19-23

Thursday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Holy foolishness!
Forgive and be forgiven.
Whose will shall be done?

2 Cor 11:1-11; Ps 111:1-8; Mt 6:7-15

Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

Be like your Parent.
Live with generosity.
Signal virtue, not.

2 Cor 9:6-11; Ps 112:1-9; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18

Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

See the one you hate.
Help them. Befriend them. Love them.
"Praise the Lord, my soul!"

2 Cor 8:1-9; Ps 146:1-9; Mt 5:43-48

Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

A human doormat?
Trust in salvation alone?
"Wondrous deeds", indeed.

2 Cor 6:1-10; Ps 98:1-4; Mt 5:38-42

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

God: Three equals one.
They are strange! Alleluia!
More to say. Not now.

Prv 8:22-31; Ps 8:2-9; Rom 5:1-5; Jn 16:12-15

Easter Sunday – The Resurrection of the Lord

The tomb is open and here is your hope: "Seek what is above."

Many will call this escapism. They find hope in the power of smart people and smart ideas. They place their faith in utopian promises of transforming our world into something better, something beautiful. But such dreams, noble as they might be, always end in death and despair. For they are human schemes, and such things always come with the human baggage of greed, arrogance, and brutality.

Which is why our Parent asks us to "think of what is above, not of what is on earth." This is not a call to deny the reality of the culture of death, but an invitation to see that reality for what it truly is. Things we perceive as ugly or futile are actually steps in a grand plan that might take decades or centuries to come to fruition. God always produces what they desire, which is why love always wins.

Yes, accepting this invitation brings great challenges, but not an impossible task. And once you gaze through your Parent's eyes, you will never want to look away. You will come to know that your purpose is not to fix the world, but to weave your small piece in the grand tapestry of life. In short, you will find something wonderful, something that makes every day worthy of rejoicing and being glad.

So once more, here is your hope: "Seek what is above." Will you take it?

Acts 10:34-43; Psalms 118:1-24; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-9

Good Friday of the Lord's Passion

We are a brutal species. Our record of murder and warfare stretches back thousands upon thousands of years. We can cry out "never again" all we want. We can march and protest day after day. We can strategize and legalize and proclaim all sorts of noble things. But we will still kill one another, over and over and over again. As long as we are human, we will kill one another. It is what we do.

And today, of all days, we are called to confront this truth. For the cross is not a moral aberration. No, it is who we are: abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, gangs, genocide, honor killings, terrorism, vigilantism, et cetera, et cetera. Is there any doubt that ours is a culture of death? Even if we never pull a trigger or plunge a dagger ourselves, we all enable it and we are all drowning in it.

Yes, hope lies just beyond the horizon. But we are not there yet, not today. Today, we are called to lie in the tomb; to sit with who we are and what we do; to recognize that hope is not the product of smart people or smart ideas; to see that while the culture of death might be our reality, we do not have to live there. Yes, hope is within reach, if we are brave enough to wait in the tomb for her arrival.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalms 31:2-25; Hebrews 4:14-5:9; John 18:1-19:42