June 30, 2019: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

At a time when we celebrate freedom in the United States, the readings for this Sunday help us understand what freedom means in the context of faith.  Christ, by the Paschal Mystery, has set us free from sin.  This freedom now grants us new purpose in life, as He calls us to serve Him, a call to wholehearted devotion that consumes us.

He has placed His presence upon us and within us, like when Elijah placed his mantle on Elisha, and calls us to serve Him with wholehearted devotion, as evidenced by what Jesus says to would-be followers, following after Him all our days, all the while making His presence to others.

No matter what we face, we have assurance in Him as we make Him the center of our lives, He Who has rescued us from death and brought us alive in abundant Life that we live when we follow obediently in answering the call day by day.

June 29, 2019: Feast of Saints Peter and Paul

We have much to celebrate in these two saints today.

God chose them to fulfill special roles in building on the foundation of the Church He lay.

They give us a great example of living faith boldly, rooting ourselves in a strong foundation in Christ that can strengthen us in troubles and allow us to bring Life to the world as Christ radically brings us alive, as He did Saints Peter and Paul.

June 28, 2019: Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

There is something about the Love of God that is so deep so as to leave us in such a profound state of wonder.

Father Brankin put it well in his homily at Mass this morning at St. Odilo, saying that God must see something valuable in us so that He would save us, like a shepherd having such loving care for His sheep.

God's love, flowing from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, is so deep, that He would die for sinners and bring us to new Life, continually sustained in His Love flowing forth.

This is the Love that grants us peace the world cannot give.

On this day marking 100 years since the Treaty of Versailles, may the overflowing, abundant Love of God continually flow forth into and around us so we may live in Peace He alone gives.

June 24, 2019: Nativity of St. John the Baptist

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist is truly reason for us to celebrate because he was the one who heralded the coming of our salvation, Jesus Christ, the purpose that drove His life's work.

He sets an example for all of us who confess faith in Christ to herald His coming as He enters our world, for this is the purpose for which God calls us.

June 23, 2019: Feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

What a great feast it is, as we celebrate the source and summit of the Christian life, God offering Himself to us through Jesus.

The Eucharist is truly a mystery, that the Bread and Wine become the very Body and Blood of Christ, yet it is a reality that comes so close to us in the Eucharist.  It is the Feast at the heart of the Paschal Mystery, by which God showed us the full extent of His Love, and brings us Life.  We continually remember His offering by eating of His Body and taking up the cup of His Blood, and offering our thanks, just as Melchizedek did in Genesis.

And we continue our priestly duties as people in Whom God dwells, Whom God has fed, as we live to show His presence dwells in us.  For the Eucharist has such great power in how it transforms us, as we partake of Him, to be joined in community as the One Body of Christ, and become His Presence in the world.

June 16, 2019: Most Holy Trinity Sunday

I notice that the readings are quite short for today's Mass that celebrates the Most Holy Trinity, a mystery that is large and unfathomable.

Yet we become aware of the reality of the Trinity through the revelations God has granted us of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We see that God brought everything into a sense of order when He created the world.  And Jesus Christ, in perfect union with the Father, continually reveals God to us, Who made us right in His sight and continues to draw us into a life-giving relationship with the Father.  Jesus tells the apostles at the Last Supper, "Everything the Father has is mine" and He "takes what is mine and declares it to" us.

Indeed, Jesus Christ has filled our hearts with the love of God the Father, through the Holy Spirit Who is God's continued presence in us, which sustains us in hope, so that we can abide in belief and faith because, despite the vastness of the mystery of the Trinity, we believe it is real because of how we experience it.

June 10, 2019: Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

We rejoice that God has granted Mary a special role in serving as the channel by which our salvation entered the world.  Since Mary is the Mother of Christ, Who is the head of Christ's Body, the Church, so she is the Mother of the Church.

And this salvation has been entrusted to the Church as we proclaim the Good News, following Mary's "yes" to God as we devote our lives to pray and worship that leads us to the action of proclamation.

June 9, 2019: Pentecost Sunday

As God promised, He has poured forth the great gift of the Holy Spirit upon His people, summoning forth His Church.  It happened at Pentecost, a Jewish feast celebrating the start of the harvest and the establishment of the Mosiac Law.  Now it has new meaning in the new covenant it has established in Jesus Christ's Paschal Mystery poured forth in the Holy Spirit, the presence of the Risen Jesus in us, God abiding with us always.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to be fully alive in God and proclaim the Good News that Christ, Who was once dead, is now alive forever and ever, sealing His covenant with the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, the Holy Spirit is a great gift that empowers us to go forth using it for God's glory as we proclaim Him and serve others.

Just as happened at the first Pentecost, so today the Holy Spirit continues speaking in many languages, which I thought about at World Youth Day 2019.  Even with so many different languages spoken, we were all united in speaking the one language of faith, praising our God.

Father Hurlbert insightfully pointed out in his homily at Pentecost Mass today that the Holy Spirit helps us communicate in other languages, even beyond verbal-written systems of communication to also nonverbal forms of communication, those sensations we feel inside us that we may not be able to describe fully but are sure signs of God's presence.

So as we conclude the Easter Season with this great feast, we are sent forth to walk with the Spirit to proclaim God, just as the Holy Spirit descended in great force to empower the disciples beyond their human capabilities to proclaim the mighty acts of God.

June 2, 2019: Ascension Sunday

We rejoice that our Risen Savior entered the fullness of His glory in His Ascension.

He has entered the very presence of God, having completed His salvific work of salvation in dying and rising that brings us to God.

By His Ascension, He has blazed a pathway to God the Father Himself.

So we are bound now for glory, and as we strive in this life toward our Heavenly goal, we can experience that glory as we do the work for which God has sent us forth.  We don't merely look upward: we strive forward and outward.  And we wait upon the Holy Spirit to guide us because He is the power that enables us for this work, so we can be His Presence in this world.