Spiritual ideals can be wonderfully inspiring and spur us on to greater holiness. However, ideals can also be discouraging and paralyzing when we find ourselves far from them and unable to draw closer to them. And whereas one doesn’t want to simply debunk ideals out of frustration at not being able to reach them, it […]

Christ’s harsh words in this morning’s gospel are the kind we have come to associate with his dealings with the Scribes and Pharisees, except that today’s excerpt begins with the phrase: Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him—that is, his disciples. This serves as a reminder that although Christ embraces the sinner with […]

Just as the trees growing alongside the river of the water of life provide both food and medicine, nourishment and healing, so the Eucharist which draws its life from the stream of living water flowing from the pierced side of Christ (as from the temple) is also both food and medicine, nourishment and healing. However, […]

Just as the sun that rises on the bad and on the good would cease being the sun if it didn’t shine on the bad and the good, so God (whose very being is Love) would cease being God if he stopped loving. And so Jesus’ call to be perfect just as [our] heavenly Father […]

Colloquially, we sometimes speak of “dying for a cup of coffee” or “dying for a vacation.” Teresa of Avila had a similar longing, but it wasn’t for coffee, but a consuming desire to see God. As a child she briefly ran away from home with her brother hoping to go to the land of the […]

The sin of our first parents resulted in their expulsion from Eden and humanity’s tragic exile and alienation from God. It was to undo the disastrous effects of their disobedience that the Father sent his Son to redeem us. Today’s gospel gives a symbolic sign of this redemption. For in the feeding of the four […]

In the light of our first reading we might ask: Which is the truer human freedom: Being able to do something you want to do, or (out of love) not doing something you would like to do? In our Christian tradition, true freedom is inseparable from love. Thus, just as true love is not possible […]

In instructing The Twelve to shake the dust off their feet in places where they are not welcomed or listened to, Jesus may be warning them of the contagious nature of unbelief and how at moments of weakness we can be susceptible to its influence when witnessing unbelief in others. However, this can also be […]

God’s timing can frequently be at odds with our impatient desires, expectations, and anxieties. Saint Mark doesn’t tell us what was going through the mind of Jairus when Jesus interrupted his journey to establish who in the crowd had touched him. It’s fair to assume that they weren’t happy thoughts as every second that Jesus […]

In the spiritual life, faith and hope are closely linked to the virtue of waiting in trust for the fulfillment of God’s promises. This can be difficult when spiritual growth seems excruciatingly slow and God’s promises of salvation, freedom from sin, and eternal union with him appear untrustworthy. Simeon, however, seems to have been able […]