May 17, 2026: 7th Sunday of Easter

We hear God's promise that He will abide with us in the Holy Spirit.

So we look to God as He unfolds this promise.

Furthermore, we ground ourselves in the revelations of God made in Jesus Christ.

Even now we experience Eternal Life because through these revelations, we have come to know God, and we can trust God and count on Him to continue making Himself known as He leads us deeper into the Mystery of Himself.

May 17, 2026: Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

Christ appeared to His Apostles and disciples for 40 days after His Resurrection, so that they would embrace the reality of His Risen Presence.

It was a mystery that they would still need to understand more, since they asked Jesus about the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel.

Even in the scene in the Gospel reading, the Apostles go to the mountain in Galilee to meet Jesus, doubting, yet also worshipping Him.

He instead told them to seek the great power that would come upon them, which would send them on mission to build God's Kingdom over all the world.

Then Jesus was lifted up from them.  He was out of sight, and their relationship with Him entered a new phase, in which they would experience His mystical Presence abiding within them as they carried out His mission.  The men in white came to help point them to this new reality.

So Jesus continues to abide with His church, and that is our hope.  By His Ascension, He is our Exalted Head, and He is at work as we heed His command stated in the Great Commission at the end of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching them.  We do this because He remains powerfully with us so that the world may know the reality of God with us.  He Who came as the promised Emmanuel, God with us, makes this promise clear again as He makes Himself mystically and powerful present.

May 10, 2026: 6th Sunday of Easter

We continue to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ because His Risen Presence abides with us in the Spirit, Who enables us to be in tune with God's Presence, so that we always know that God has not left us orphans.  And we proclaim what Christ has done, and, as St. Peter writes, we may "sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts" as we live in hope and testify to it with reverence and gentleness, thus showing how God is active in us.

Furthermore, we truly experience God's love when we obey His commandments, which keep us in tune with God's life.  It is the love we share in our earthly relationship that makes God real, especially as we celebrate Mothers' Day.

He further supports us by the Spirit He sends to be our Advocate, so that we know that as the Father and the Son are in each other, God is in us.  (Truth is something I have in mind as I celebrate the 10th anniversary of my MLIS graduation in the Dominican University community.)

The Spirit is the great revelation of how God is alive in us, and we can live in joy, testifying to God's marvelous works.  This joy truly comes from the Risen Christ, and it is our joy that has no end.

May 3, 2026: 5th Sunday of Easter

We see in Christ the path to continue following in the new way of Life the Resurrection has made possible for us.

In the powerfully rich part of the Gospel according to St. John, Jesus has so much to say to us about our relationship with Him, declaring Himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life", Who fully reveals the Father to us.  Because of the Resurrection, we no longer need to fear, because Christ has opened for us the presence of God, which we will experience in fullness one day, and we experience even now.

God has transformed us to be a holy people who offer spiritual sacrifices in praise of our Savior Jesus Christ, Who died and rose again for us, just like St. Peter writes in the 2nd reading.

This reality helps us to see the needs of the world and work to meet them, as described by a situation in the first reading when the early Church had to find the best way to address a gap in supporting those in need and work to effectively assist them.

Furthermore, Jesus remains mystically present with us, doing even greater works.  It's amazing to realize that Jesus can be at work all over the world making His Presence known.  Today we celebrate the birthday of St. Carlo Acutis, who created a website on Eucharistic miracles, proclaiming the glorious Presence of God with us through a medium that makes it worldwide, and did so much else to evangelize.  Truly, God is alive and active among us as we cooperate with His grace that expands upon the earthly ministry of Jesus.

Like St. Peter writes in the 2nd reading, we are all living stones, each of us taking our part in the Church of God, upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, so we may live to the praise and glory of God.

April 26, 2026: 4th Sunday of Easter/Good Shepherd Sunday

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, Who leads us on the path to Eternal Life.  He has served as a faithful Shepherd even to the point of laying down His life.

It is sobering to realize that our sins were the reason He was crucified, as the audience in Acts is "cut to the heart".  Yet they don't stay in a state of guilt.  They ask what they should do.  They heed St. Peter's call to repent and change their lives through baptism so they could receive forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit to guide them in the ways that lead back to their Shepherd.  Amazingly, 3000 people joined the Church that day.

With our Good Shepherd's guidance, we need no longer fear the troubles of this world.  Instead, we listen for the voice of our Good Shepherd, and follow His way to Eternal Life.  In following this path in this life, we can experience the Abundant Life that comes from our relationship with God as He fills us with abundant graces that give us true purpose.  So we rejoice that Christ is alive and powerfully present with us.

We give thanks for those who have responded to the call of the Good Shepherd to take on leadership roles in the Church.  As I near the anniversary of my baptism, I recall Father Pacocha, who baptized me.  While he has recently departed Earth for the realm of Eternity, I give thanks for his dedicated service to the church.  He is an example of a leader who reveals the heart of Jesus Christ, Who cares deeply for His sheep.

April 25, 2026: Feast of St. Mark

The Good News proclaiming the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ sends us forth.

We are meant to testify to what God has done in our lives and preach it to the world.

God continues to accompany us and as He displays signs that He is working through us as we take the Gospel forth.

It is for all the world.  Like a lion, we proclaim it boldly.

April 19, 2026: 3rd Sunday of Easter

The Risen Christ appears in powerful ways in the days after His Resurrection.

The two disciples on the way to Emmaus struggle with what has happened.  Christ comes alongside them, and seeks to help them understand the new reality in which they've entered.

They feel stirred by Christ, and then they recognize Him in the breaking of the bread.  It's a scene I saw on display, of all places, in the parlor of Montpelier, the estate of James Madison--please see photo below.

Indeed, Christ is present powerfully in the Eucharist, because He was the Lamb Who shed His blood and was slain, but then came back to Life to be powerfully present with us.

And exalted to the right hand of God, He has sent forth the Holy Spirit to make this Good News a reality in us.  It's Good News I have seen in a special way this day as I've served as a Confirmation sponsor for the first time in my life, one of my greatest dreams.

We no longer fear death, because we are alive in Christ.  We keep growing in this new Life as we open ourselves to the ways that the Risen Christ is present around us, and we respond to this reality, putting faith in action.

April 12, 2026: 2nd Sunday of Easter/Divine Mercy Sunday

The Resurrection of Christ is a glorious new reality, and it lives even in us.

We are constantly called to respond to the invitation to open ourselves up to the graces of this reality.

The apostles struggled to embrace it because they were still in great fear in the wake of the Crucifixion, and were in a locked room.  Showing the power of His Resurrection, Christ passed through the locked door and entered the room.  They rejoiced, realizing the great reassurance that He was indeed alive again.  Furthermore, He brought them peace, and the Holy Spirit.

Thomas expressed doubt when the apostles shared the news, reflecting the struggle all of the apostles had in grasping news of the Resurrection.  St. Thomas even want to see and touch the wounds of Christ.  A week later, they were all in a locked room, still struggling with fear.  Christ broke through the locks and their fear to present Himself, and gave Thomas exactly what He sought.  Thomas moved beyond seeing to believing.

As we continue to celebrate the Easter Season, we open ourselves ot the ways that the Risen Christ makes Himself real to us and the power of the Resurrection.  We may not see, but we can still embrace the joy that Christ is Risen and is with us in a powerful new way as we see by faith the ways He presents Himself to us.

His Presence shows how He has overcome evil, sin, and death.  He now bestows mercy in abundance on the Church and the world, so that we can experience forgiveness.  (Today marks the beginning and end of the Sectional War of the 1860s, and today's Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday offers us an opportunity to embrace anew the power of Divine Mercy by which we are forgiven.)

He is present when we gather as Church and when we strive through the struggles of this life with hope that God is bringing us closer to Himself.

April 5, 2026: Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord

We rejoice that Christ is no longer in the tomb but is alive, having triumphed over death gloriously, and it's a reality that lives within us.

In the spirit of what St. Paul writes, we now turn our gaze above, becuase we are no longer bound down by sin and evil in the world.  We can now focus upward and seek to join ourselves to God, Who has opened the way to Paradise through Christ.  Even now, we experience Heaven because He lives in us.

Furthermore, in the spirit of what St. Peter said to those gathered in the first reading, God has shared the best news of all with specific witnesses, including us today, who profess this reality.  We now go forth to share this Good News that is working gloriously in us.

We go forth in Christ our Hope and participate in advancing this joy in all the world.

April 4, 2026: Holy Saturday

As the Church once again awaits the Resurrection, so God's people have waited throughout the age for God's redemption.

He created the Earth in goodness, and sought to restore it from a fallen state.  God revealed His works in various ways, ultimately culminating in the Resurrection of Christ.

This event is a reality that lives deep within us as we join ourselves to Christ, seeing in Him the Savior and the One Who makes possible for us newness of Life.

April 3, 2026: God Friday

The Cross was a means of agonizing execution.

Yet God demonstrated how much power He has over evil when Jesus Christ went upon the Cross and transformed it into the means of salvation.

We now seek to join ourselves to Jesus and His Cross with the assurance that suffering, even unto death, has a purpose, as God works His Truth in us to transform us.

April 2, 2026: Maundy Thursday

God delivered His people from slavery in Egypt, and upon freeing them, directed them to keep the Passover perpetually.

We now keep the Passover of the Lord as the Church as we remember Christ offered the sacrifice of His Body and Blood, the Eucharist instituted at the Passover meal.

In this New Covenant, we uphold the command Christ gave us to love one another.

The meal in His Body and Blood sends us forth to be His Body as we show to the world He has shown us in the offering of Himself.

We go forth, giving thanks for the offering that makes us free to be God's presence in the world.

March 29, 2026: Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord

There's an irony to Holy Week because Jesus Christ enters Jerusalem with great exultation as the crowds praise Him as savior.  He is rightly acclaimed as Savior becuase of what happens after the crowds turn on Him later in the week, demanding His Crucifixion.

While Jesus struggles in His humanity to face the agony of His Passion in Gethsemane, He ultimately sets Himself steadfastly to fulfilling God's plan for Him.  He remains steadfast when His enemies mistreat Him and His Apostles desert Him.  In the Passion, the worst of the world was on display and so was the best of God's love and power at work to redeem the world that had strayed into sin.

Furthermore, God's power was displayed so immensely during the events of Holy Week because after Christ suffered agony and died on the Cross, God exalted Him.  So now, we are invited to praise Him as our Savior and live devoted to Him Who has saved us as we enter more deeply into the mystery of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection.

March 25, 2026: Solemnity of the Annunciation

In an exchange between the Angel Gabriel and Mary came a profound moment.

Mary consented to God's plan for her life, and she became the vessel by which God entered into the world and became our Savior.

As she offered herself for God's plan, so Christ offered Himself.

Indeed, God does great wonders as we offer ourselves, even through small gestures, that become part of God's great plan for our world, for His praise and glory.

March 22, 2026: Fifth Sunday of Lent

As we near the Triduum and the commemoration of Christ's Death and Resurrection, we hear important words by which God promises the Resurrection means new life for us.

We don't have to wait for the End of Time when the dead are raised, because Jesus has come to us and made the Resurreciton a reality now.

Even when we feel like we're dead in sin, God works great power to raise us up.  He sustains abundant Life in us through the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.

And so even though we experience death in our lives and our mortal bodies, we have great hope in the promise that we will live by professing belief in Jesus Christ, Who is the Resurrection and the Life.

This promise sustains us now to embrace the ways we can rise up as we hear Christ call us, and summon the Church to come alongside us and help free us from what binds us to sin and death so we can live the Abundant Life that emerges from the Resurrection.

As the Earth in the Northern Hemisphere emerges into springtime, so we have hope, based on Christ's promises, that we will rise above death into newness of Life.

March 19, 2026: Feast of St. Joseph

God has marvelously unfolded His plan of salvation throughout history.

St. Joseph played an important role as the guardian of the Son of God on Earth.

The angel who came to him in a dream addressed St. Joseph as "Son of David".  Clearly, what God was asking of St. Joseph was in line with the unfolding of this plan.

St. Joseph was obedient, trusting in God's faithfulness.

We open ourselves to the wonders God is doing in our own day when we trust in His faithfulness that He has manifested throughout the centuries down to our own time.

March 15, 2026: Fourth Sunday of Lent/Laetare Sunday

We rejoice at the midpoint of Lent that God has brought into our darkness great Light.

This Light calls us to a new way of living, because we see as God sees.

Like God told the prophet Samuel, He sees into the heart, and works there to transform us.

The blind man healed by Jesus progressed from calling Him a prophet to worshipping Him.

This progression reveals how we are brought alive, as the Spirit brings us to new life, as I saw yesterday at the Confirmation Masses at Ascension Parish.

We rejoice that we are given a new lease on life in God's light by the Spirit.

March 8, 2026: Third Sunday of Lent

We get physically thirsty as humans, but we also have deeper spiritual thirsts that only God can satisfy.

The Hebrews got thirsty during their desert journey, and their complaining showed their lack of trust in God and a deeper spiritual thirst.

The woman came to the well to get water, but had deeper spiritual thirsts as revealed when she told Jesus she had no husband.

It's telling that Jesus was physically thirsty and asked the woman for a drink of water.  Yet He also thirsts for us to come to Him and have our deeper spiritual thirsts satisfied by His endless well of life-giving water.

While we might try to satisfy our thirsts in other ways, only water meets our bodies' need in the fullest way, and God alone offers us living water that can keep us whole. It's similar to how we don't just feed on bread alone but on God's Word.

We turn to Him because when we were sinners, Christ died for us, and from His death and Resurrection, He has poured out the Holy Spirit into our hearts so we can constantly be in touch with living waters that invigorate our souls.

I recall being at St. Augustine Mission, founded by St. Mother Katharine Drexel, 13 years ago on the 3rd Sunday of Lent.  She saw great need among the African Americans and Native Americans, and thirsted for someone to meet it.  Pope Leo XIII told her to be the missionary to them.

Her thirst drove her to find her purpose in life, and then to work in fulfilling the thirst of the needy, just as we can do when we draw constantly on the living water of God.

March 1, 2026: Second Sunday of Lent

This journey in a spirit of penance and great intentionality through Lent gives us a new perspective on life.

Abram gains a new lease on life when God calls him to go forth to a new land, and in this new way, God will bless him and then Abram's descendants will be a blessing in all the world.

Jesus offers a new perspective to three of the Apostles.  Up to this point, He has talked about His Passion.  Then He leads three Apostles up a high mountain, and gives them a glimpse of His glory when He is transfigured.

They saw the glory that would come when Jesus was raised from the dead, just as we're reminded of where we're headed during this Lenten journey.

Even as much as St. Peter talked about staying in that glory, much like we might want to, we descend the mountain, and follow the way of Christ, as God commands us.

Christ is truly the Beloved Son of God, sent to fulfill God's will, to bring about a greater good, and a greater glory.

So we can be courageous in following the way of Christ as His disciples, bearing hardship, yet with great reassurance that we are bound for glory, as we open ourselves to the transformation God works in us to unveil His glory.

As I celebrate Nebraska's birthday today, I recall how 13 years ago this week, I went forth with a group for a service trip at St. Augustine Mission in Winnebago, NE, a week that gave me new perspective and glimpses of Heaven, and truly transformed me, in the spirit of St. Mother Katharine Drexel, who went forth, devoted herself to God as a religious sister, and making an impact by serving.

February 22, 2026: First Sunday of Lent

Adam and Eve experienced the goodness of God.  But then a doubt planted by the cunning serpent caused them to turn away from God, and the effects harmed teh succeeding generations of humanity.

Then Jesus came and reversed the curse of sin.  He also showed what faithfulness and obedience look like.  In comparison to the Hebrews, who were unfaithful in their desert journey, Jesus, led by the Spirit, contended with the devil in the desert and showed obedience in three different temptations, drawing from the Word of God to show what it means to be in a relationship with God.

So when the transgressions of Adam and Eve unleashed the fury of sin and death upon the world, Christ, by His obedience, offered us the gift of forgiveness and life, which was a truly great gift.

We are called during this Lenten season to turn away from our own desires and more deeply embrace God and His grace that is truly life-giving because it enables us to live obediently to the One True God.

Because He saved us in Christ, we look to Him as the One worthy of worship.

Normally, February 22 is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.  In the Gospel reading for that Feast, we read how St. Peter declares Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  This Feast speaks to our Lenten journey as we are called to honor God and live His way, proclaiming Who He is.

It's also the birthday of George Washington, another example of leadership, and as he contributed to starting a new nation, he had a sense of noble principles which to strive for and realize for the flourishing of all people.

When we live as God calls us to, seeking a relationship with Him, Who is the Truth, we find true freedom, acclaiming God as God alone, Who rules the world.

February 18, 2026: Ash Wednesday

We are called to repent, changing the focus of our lives.

We are reminded that we have come from dust and we will return to dust.

Yet even with this world broken by sin, God provides a way for us to return to Him, through the Gospel.

So we turn anew to the Gospel to believe the Good News it proclaims and live the reality of being reconciled back to God.

We do so with hearts that seek to be pleasing not to people but ultimately to God, Who provides the way of salvation for us out of sin and into Eternal Life.

February 15, 2026: 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The commandments of God have life-giving power, if we go beyond just the words.

Jesus clearly stated in the Gospel reading that He didn't come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.  He fulfilled it by showing how the Law calls us to shape our interior disposition to reflect God's character, to be people of integrity and display holiness in our relationships, not seeking to tear others down, but to edify them.

This is the greater wisdom of which St. Paul writes that embraces God's presence, rather than repelling Him.

So even now that Christ has come to Earth, the Law remains.  Furthermore, Christ grants us the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit so we can go beyond just following the letter of the Law to heed its intent and to live it so we can embrace the heart of God and show it in how we live.

February 8, 2026: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus Christ calls us to be salt and light, becuase God has created us to be filled with His goodness and shine forth His love that He pours into us.

Like St. Paul writes, in humility, we magnify the power of God as we put love in action through deeds that serve others.

And as the prophet Isaiah writes, as people of faith, we don't just settle for religious rituals.  We are called to transformation that leads us to meet the needs of others, and to be charitable, holding back from malicious speech, and then our Light shines as God truly works through us.

We are not meant to live for ourselves, but to find fulfillment as we are transformed to shine what God has put into us.

February 2, 2026: Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

The people of Israel marveled at God's Presence descending on the Temple in Jerusalem.

When Mary the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph brought Jesus Christ to the Temple to offer Him in accordance wiht hte Law, there was rejoicing anew in the presence of God coming to the Temple.

Two faithful people, Simeon and Anna, praised God for the appearance of Jesus Christ in the Temple.  Simeon rejoiced in the Savior Who is a Light to the nations and the glory of God's people Israel.

We spent Advent preparing to welcome Christ, and we spent Christmas Season marveling at how God manifested Himself in Christ.  Once again, we behold how God has revealed Himself in Christ and open our hearts to let Christ transform us into Temples of His Glory, so that, free from disordered desires, we may bear His Presence into the world.

February 1, 2026: 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time

God came to us when Jesus Christ humbled Himself and took on human form.

He showed us the power in being humble, and He elaborated upon it in offering us the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.

In these statements, we see what it means to be blessed when we are in a lowly position and seek after what only God offers, which truly satisfies in a profound way.

When we think of ourselves less, we are more open to how God can work in us and how He can build the Kingdom of God on Earth through us, making Heaven real here.

January 25, 2026: 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

God speaks His Word, Who is Jesus Christ, and is a light in the midst of darkness.

We are freed from the burdens of the darkness as Christ comes proclaiming the message of repentance, that we might change the course of our lives to be fully devoted to Him.

Bishop Barron noted in his homily this week that there was lots of division among the tribes of Israel.  Ultimately, Christ came to bring back the tribes together and establish the Church that would be One in Him.

Normally, January 25 is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.  We see in him a great example of someone who wholeheartedly devoted his life to Christ after a powerful encounter with Him, and is a pillar of the Church.

St. Paul had to tell the Corinthians to stop thinking in terms of associating with one figure, but to fix themselves on Christ, Who alone makes God known to us, Who has saved us, and has established the Church.

My thoughts also drift back 7 years ago to attending Mass on the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time in Panama with Pope Francis.  It was a time of rejoicing in how God's Word was present among us and sending us forth as we came together as One Church.

And as we conclude the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we renew ourselves in our relationship with Christ, Who unifies us, so that we can go forth to make the one God known in our world.

On this Word of God Sunday, we continue to be inspired by the Word that became Flesh among us, and continues to speak so that we can live who we're meant to be as One Church.

January 18, 2026: 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Just as we heard St. John the Baptist point toward Jesus in Advent, so we hear him today point to Jesus as the Lamb of God, the Savior Who takes away our sins.

In baptism, we encounter Christ, Who washes away our sins and transforms us into a new Creation.

Indeed, He calls us to a new sense of purpose.  He has given us His Spirit, just as Jesus was anointed, so that we can follow His way as His Servant and bring light to the world.

We enter into the life of Jesus Christ through our own baptism, and then we're summoned to live out our baptism by bringing the light we have encountered to all the world.  Like the reading from Isaiah says, it's not enough to bring God's blessings to His people: We are meant to bless the whole world.

And we strive in the way that St. Paul writes, as he says the Corinthians are sanctified and called to be holy.

Truly, Christ has given us the great gift of salvation and the means to continously encounter Him as we put this great gift into action.

January 11, 2026: Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

God chose His Son to be His Servant, anointed for the purpose of doing good and bringing liberty in the world.

In obedience to the Father, Jesus came to be baptized.  He didn't need to be cleansed of sin.  He showed the importance of being identified as part of God's people.  Furthermore, He transformed the waters of baptism so that we could rise to fullness of Life as one of God's beloved, as was confirmed when the Spirit appeared at His baptism, and the voice of God spoke.

Indeed, God Who came to be with us as a human has made the way possible for us to join in His Divine nature.  Truly, God made Himself known through the birth of Christ, the visit of the Magi, and the baptism of Christ.  We join in Christ's mission to make God known through living out our baptism, which forms our identity as one of God's own.

January 4, 2026: Epiphany of the Lord Sunday

We continue the spirit of Christmas joy as we rejoice with the Magi, who came from outside of Israel, following the star that revealed God's light to all nations.

It is so wondrous that God sent His Son to redeem His people, and that this blessing spread out to all the world.  (This Feast, like Pentecost, reminds me of World Youth Day, and seeing how the presence of God in the Church is real in people throughout the world.)

And it's amazing to see how the Magi saw the signs and responded by seeking the King so they could worship Him.

Furthermore, on this Christmas Season Feast, we celebrate how God went to great lengths to seek us, even to the point of becoming human.  It is so worthwhile to embrace this God.

On this Feast, we are called anew to walk the path the Magi did to seek God where He is present to His people--just like people are seeking God at the FOCUS SEEK conference in the opening days of 2026.  Just as the nations came to bring splendid gifts, as did the Magi and as is described in the reading from Isaiah 60, may we take the next step and offer God the gift of ourselves.  From these encounters with God, may we go forth transformed to continue walking in God's glorious Light.

Indeed, every time we attend Mass, we experience the real Presence of God Who continues to offer Himself to us, and we are sent forth with something to carry into the world so that God may bless the world with His Presence in us.

January 1, 2026: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Mary has the extraordinary blessing of bearing the Son of God into the world, Who would bring us all salvation.  Indeed, He was named Jesus before His conception, because He would save us, and on the 8th day after His birth, He was marked with that Name and mission.

He entered into time and humanity through Mary, and became our Savior.

When the shepherds received word of what happened, they came to behold the Child, and then spread the Good News.

The text in the Gospel according to St. Luke says that Mary pondered all these great things that had happened.  It must have been amazing for Mary to look at her Baby and marvel that she was holding God.

We, too, are invited to behold this great mystery of the Incarnation, and let God be born in us and in our world.