June 30, 2024: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

As the reading from Wisdom indicates, God didn't create us so that we would experience death.  But then Satan wrecked the world.

So Christ came and made possible the way out of death's grip.

In the Gospel reading, He demonstrated His power over death and the ailments that lead to death.  Under the Jewish ritual laws, Jesus would have become impure when the woman affected by constant bleeding touched Him.  Yet she reached out in faith and courage because she knew that He had the power to help her.  He took upon her uncleanness and made her whole, and He acknowledged her faith that saved her.

Then, Jesus entered the room where Jairus's daughter lay deceased.  Without fear, He touched her body and brought her back to life.

Ultimately, Jesus has brought us wholeness by pouring Himself out upon the Cross and taking on our infirmities.  Then He resurrected to new Life so we could experience the fullness of our healing.

We live as people filled with His graces and are called to the mission of sharing them abundantly with others in our lives.

Today was a special day at Holy Name Cathedral when the Marian Route of the Eucharistic pilgrimage was present in the Archdiocese of Chicago.  It was an opportunity for us to experience the powerful, overflowing graces that Jesus Christ continues to offer us in the Eucharist, and then to embrace the mission to go out and share our encoutner with others, as we did when we processed around the Cathedral following the Blessed Sacrament.

Indeed, we have received a great gift in Christ's Presence, and we are called to share it generously and abundantly.

June 29, 2024: Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul

Saints Peter and Paul are two foundational figures in the Church because of the testimony they offered by dying for Christ and by how they lived.

They overcame their flaws that kept them from God so they could boldy proclaim the Gospel.

It happened because God chose them and worked in them, just as He does in us who continue to live by faith that is stewarded by the Church founded upon the testimony of these Apostles.

June 24, 2024: Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

A great Light entered the world when Jesus Christ was born.

God specially chose St. John the Baptist for the role of heralding the arrival of the Messiah, starting from the moment he leaped in the womb of his mother when Mary arrived carrying Jesus in her womb.

Because of the coming of Jesus into our world, we all have a special role to play in announcing the Good News of salvation, and John is our example because his life was devoted to pointing toward the Messiah.

Jesus Christ has bestowed His grace and has transformed us.  Now, by faith, we can live abundantly, with purpose, and participate in the mission to build the Kingdom of God on Earth showing how God is making the earth anew.

June 23, 2024: 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

When the storms of life arise, in our frail human nature, it's easy for us to be afraid and think that God is absent, just as the apostles became afraid when the storm on the lake arose as they were traveling in their boat.

By faith, we are called to recognize how present God is even in the midst of storms.  He will come to our aid, and we must have faith and trust in His power.

He demonstrated this power in the death and Resurrection of Christ, bringing us salvation, and meeting our greatest need. Through this Paschal Mystery, God has now recreated us into a new creation, as St. Paul so masterfully writes.  We are driven by the Love God has shown us through Jesus on the Cross.  He Who created the Heavens and the Earth has demonstrated mastery over Creation by stilling the waves and wind by His word, and then rising from death to new life.

So we are made anew, and by this power of faith, we trust in God at a whole new level, because we are alive in faith in the Risen, Living Christ by which we see the new things that have come.  We don't necessarily ask for immense displays of His power from Him, but by faith, recognize how He has already displayed Who He is.

June 16, 2024: 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God is at work in mysterious ways to grow the Kingdom.

In a parable, Jesus describes the planting of seeds, and while science explains the process by which they grow, there's still an element of mystery as to how they emerge, perhaps because it generally happens underground.

Even more wondrous is how a tiny mustard seed can become a large plant.

God invites us to participate in the work of the Kingdom, to open ourselves to His power at work in us, to walk by faith, and not by sight.

We strive to do good deeds in cooperation with His grace so that His Kingdom flourishes in us.  We do our part, and then behold the element of mystery by which the Kingdom blooms.  Indeed, we may not fully understand it, but seeing through the eyes of faith, we recognize the awesome nature of God's power to spread His reign.

It is marvelous to think of how our fathers sow many seeds in their children that something wonderful emerges. Or in this season of ordinations, we think of how our priests strive so much to advance the Kingdom by leading us to encounters with God. I even think about my work as a catechist, pondering the potential of my students and what wonders of faith will emerge from the encounters with God they have in class.

Indeed, we have the ability to experience greatness as align ourselves to God's divine power, for His glory.

June 9, 2024: 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, broke our relationship with God, and its effects devastated our world.

Yet He provides a way back for us to Him, because He is merciful, and redeems us in Christ.  That was puzzling to people, as the Gospel reading indicates, because people thought that Christ was out of His mind for what He was doing in His work of ministry, even casting out demons.  However, He came from outside our world to uproot Satan's reign and establish the Kingdom of God, which provides a new way for those of us who profess faith in Him.

So we turn away from sins and focus our lives on doing His will through the power that flows to us in the Holy Spirit.  We can truly be part of His family as we follow His way.  Our focus turns from the things of this world, which are fleeting, to the unseen world, which is about that which is everlasting.

June 8, 2024: Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

On the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrated how immense God's love is for us, ultimately shown in the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

We follow that celebration focusing on Mary, who shows us an example of how to respond to God's love for us.  She opened herself to God's presence and pondered it in such a way to more faithfully follow Christ.

So may we follow Christ, growing in love for Him, and living that love as a blessing to others.

June 7, 2024: Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

God's love for us is so abundant.

Even when we turned from Him, He sought after us, and ultimately sent His Son to us as a sacrifice to reconcile us to God.

St. Paul's words provide a fitting response, as we seek to enter more deeply into this love in its height, depth, length, and breath, so that we may be filled with the fullness of God.

Even though this Love is so mysterious, we can experience it as reality and respond by sharing it with others, making known the True Presence of God among us.

It's a fitting feast as I think about the anniversary of my cousins Melissa and Greg.  In joining together on their wedding day, as they continue to do this day 16 years later, the love they share is a blessing and reveals God's heart.  And we all do so when we open ourselves to being filled with God's love for us.

June 2, 2024: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Through blood, God has established covenantal relationships with His people.

The first reading recounts the encounter of the Hebrews with God at Mount Sinai.

Christ then fulfilled that covenant by offering His very Body and Blood for the salvation of His people.  As the Epistle of Hebrews indicates, Christ is the mediator of a new covenant that cleanses His people thoroughly.  We spent several weeks in Lent and Easter Seasons focusing on the meaning of that covenant.

We know that our God continues to be present with us, through the Holy Spirit as we celebrated on Pentecost, through the effects of the Trinity as we celebrated on Trinity Sunday, and today as we rejoice in how Christ continues to be present to us in the offering of Himself in the Eucharist.

We are now called to live our lives in thanksgiving for the gift of the Body and Blood of Christ as we open ourselves to transformation to be His Body in the world.

The Church teaches that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life.  We are drawn to encounter the living presence of Christ, and in the Eucharist, He comes to dwell in us so we can live out His command to love as we go forth from Mass.