A Glimpse of His Love

7th Tuesday in Ordinary Time Feast of Saint Crispin of Viterbo TODAY'S GOSPEL (Mark 9.30-37) recalls moments in Galilee when Jesus told His apostles of His impending death, and how that death should let them understand what faith is all about. When they came to Capernaum, the Lord noticed that His apostles had argued about something along the way. And they told Him about it, He said: If anyone wishes to be the first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. And then He proceeded to illustrate to their faith: Whoever receives this child in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me. There is a single thread that ties together the death of the Lord, the greatness found in servanthood, and the acceptance of a child in a culture that treated a child as nothing of value. That thread is the humility of soul flowing from total submission to the will of God in an environment of total love and devotion. The Lord will eventua...

Seventh Saturday of Easter TODAY'S GOSPEL (John 21:20-25) tells of a final scene before the Lord ascended into Heaven. As the newly appointed leader of the Church that would take care of the Lord's sheep  when He physically goes back to His Father, Peter had started thinking of maximizing the Apostles and disciples under him in order to reach as many Jews and Gentiles as possible. But obviously, he had nothing in mind for the beloved apostle, John. So he asked the Lord, what about him? And the Lord replied: What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of yours? The Lord concluded His response with an exhortation for Peter to do instead: You follow me .  In this account from John, the Lord reminds us of the primacy of God's will as the purpose of our lives. He tells us that our vocations are personal calls of a personal God. And only the person being called can exactly understand that call.  Neither must we concern ourselves for the fut...

Third Wednesday of the Ordinary Time, Cycle C, Year 1   IN TODAY'S GOSPEL (Mark 4:1-20), the Lord tells the parable of the sower, an approach he used when teaching those who are still outside the Kingdom --But to those outside, everything comes in parables (v. 11b). He tells of the soil conditions that the seed of the Word may fall into--the path soil (v. 4); the rocky ground (v. 5); the thorny ground (v. 7), and; the good soil (v. 8).   Reflecting on these soils shows us that all the first three types of soils are pure human conditions empty of the grace of God. In a way of speaking, the Lord tells us how our soul would be like when it is not nourished by the love of God. It will be unstable and vulnerable to open attacks of the Enemy (the path soil). It will be full of unfortunate bumps and hurdles that mean anything to use other than making our lives frustrating (the rocky ground). It will be littered with painful and unhealed wounds as we struggle to survive...